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2010 FIBA World Championships: Knockout Round Brackets
The brackets for the knockout round of the FIBA World Championships have been released. The complete bracket can be found here.
In the first bracket, the round of 16 games are Serbia-Croatia and Spain-Greece. The Serbia-Croatia game will be a hotly contested game between bitter rivals. Serbia has looked very good since Nenad Krstic has returned and we like their chances against Croatia. Spain will come ready to play and should take care of the Greeks. Spain will need their best game to get past Serbia in the round of 8 and I look for that to happen.
Turkey looks like the class of their bracket. The hosts first need to dispose of France before facing the winner of the Australia-Slovenia tilt. I look for Turkey to reach the round of 4.
The USA seems to have an easy path the the round of 4. Angola will not be a challenge. Russia will likely get past New Zealand but either way, the Americans will find themselves in the Final 4.
The last bracket is the toughest. Three teams have a legitamate chance of reaching the round of 4. Undefeated Lithuania will get past China and face the winner of the Argentina-Brazil tussle. The Argentina-Brazil match shuld be the best game in the round of 16. The winner will face a Lithuanian team playing at their best. The Lithuania vs. Brazil or Argentina game should be the featured game in the round of 8.
We love the knockout round of the championships which will be very exciting. The Turkish fans will be at their loudest in support of their team, and if Turkey makes it to the round of 4 it will be deafening in the arena.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball.
Bakersfield Jam Hosts Final NBADL Tryout
The Bakersfield Jam will be conducting their last tryout camp in Los Angeles September 11-12th.
All of the camp info and registration forms are on the Jam web site at http://www.bakersfieldjam.com
Head Coach Will Voigt said they will have representatives from the Lakers and Clippers in attendance, as well as coaches and scouts from the PBL, ABA, and overseas teams.
2010 FIBA World Championships: Group Round is Complete
It was the last day of the Group stage which was highlighted by a superb match (Serbia vs. Argentina), a couple of upsets (New Zealand and Ivory Coast over France and Puerto Rico) and a tricky logistical plan (Greece). All mixed to build a very interesting bracket for the final round.
GROUP A
Kayseri was, again, the scene of one of the best games of the tournament. Serbia and Argentina offered us a great battle for the first spot of the group. Dusko Savanovic (19 points) and Aleksandar Rasic were Serbian heroes in their team win in a nail biter (84-82). Serbia led most of the game but Argentina never surrendered led by Luis Scola. The Houston Rockets forward scored 32 points and grabbed 7 rebounds but missed some more help from his team. Nenad Krstic (pictured on left) is back for good and led Serbia with 18 points and 8 rebounds.
Australia clinched the third spot of the group by beating Angola (76-55). The Aussies woke up in the second period and cruised to a victory that brings a match-up against Slovenia in Last 16, avoiding team USA in the first win-or-go-home game. The Australian coach rotated his team and gave David Andersen a break. Patty Mills was the only Boomer to reach double digits with 11 points.
In a game between already eliminated teams, Germany topped Jordan 91-73. NBA prospect Tibor Pleiss shined with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Osama Daghles led Jordan with 22 points and 6 assists.
Standings: 1. Serbia 4-1 , 2. Argentina 4-1 , 3. Australia 3-2, 4. Angola 2-3, 5. Germany 2-3, 6. Jordan 0-5
GROUP B
Brazil clinched the third spot of the group after crushed a disappointing Croatia (92-74) and will meet its neighbor Argentina in a rivalry game in the Last 16. The Brazilians didn’t find any trouble after the second period and cruised to the victory against a Croatia lacking teamwork and competitiveness. Marcelo Machado (pictured on right) scored 18 for Brazil. Leandro Barbosa added 17 points and Anderson Varejao dominated the boards with 12 rebounds. Marko Popovic netted 15 points on Croatian side.
The United States picked up another easy win against Tunisia (92-57) so Coach K found two games to test and rotate his team. The Americans didn’t force the engines and broke the game late in the third quarter. Eric Gordon (pictured on left below) scored 21 points, including 4 three pointers, meanwhile Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook added 14 points each. Marouan Kechrid netted 5 triples for 15 points for the Africans.
Slovenia caught a break after a great group stage but still was able to beat Iran (65-60). Goran Dragic scored 18 points for Slovenians while Arsalan Kazemi led Iran with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Standings: 1. United States 5-0, 2. Slovenia 4-1, 3. Brazil 3-2, 4. Croatia 2-3, 5. Iran 1-4, 6. Tunisia 0-5
GROUP C
Greece and Russia met in the most controversial game of the day. A lot of rumors that the Greeks may not play their hearts out today in order to avoid USA in quarterfinals and, as they thought, Spain in the Last 16. Russia showed the only sparks of intensity (despite Schortsianitis) and beat Greece 73-69. David Blatt’s team took a 16 point lead in the third period and the Hellenic comeback never seemed too serious. Timofey Mozgov scored 18 points for Russia. On the Greek side, Sofoklis Schortsianitis netted 16 and grabbed 9 rebounds.
Puerto Rico was close to beat Russia, Greece and Turkey, but it failed. They needed to win over Ivory Coast, theoretically an easy game, in order to seal its presence in the next round but the failure turned epic. Puerto Rico rallied from a 12 point deficit (and total African domination in the game) to take the lead early in the fourth. But when everybody expected an Ivory Coast meltdown, Puerto Rico was the team that collapsed. Ivory Coast played with no pressure, with the same enthusiasm that they came to Turkey with. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico collected missed shots and bad passes. The Africans opened a ten point gap (74-64) that their rivals couldn’t recover from. BYU player Charles Abouo scored 19 points for the winners. Juan Jose Barea scored 19 points and David Huertas contributed with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Ivory Coast won their first game in a FIBA World Championship. Puerto Rico goes back home.
Finally, Turkey didn’t found any trouble at all against China (87-40), limiting its rival to 13 points in the second half. Semih Erden (18 points and 12 rebounds), Omer Asik (17+13) and Oguz Savas (20 points) were unstoppable inside. Sun Yue reached 15 points for China.
Standings: 1. Turkey 5-0, 2. Russia 4-1, 3. Greece 3-2, 4. China 1-4, 5. Puerto Rico 1-4, 6. Ivory Coast 1-4.
GROUP D
What a great end for a messy Group D in Izmir! New Zealand beat France by 12 (82-70), the exact amount of points they needed in order to take third place from the French, who went from being second to fourth, meeting the host Turkey in the next round. Spain, after a horrible group stage, came out of the blue with the second spot due to tie-breakers with the blues and kiwis. New Zealand played a brave, faithful basketball against a very raw and cold French team, especially at the offensive end. Kirk Penney (pictured on left) scored 25 points (including a clutch 3+1 late in the game) and shared the hero role with Thomas Abercrombie, who scored a three pointer in their last possession to open the 12 point gap. Nicolas Batum ended his bad game (6 points) missing a shot at the buzzer for the third place. Mickael Gelabale was France best man with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Spain did its homework and got past Canada (89-67), not being brilliant but effective, running away in the third period. Fran Vazquez and Rudy Fernandez scored 19 points each for the Spaniards. Gonzaga forward Kelly Olynyk showed his potential again with 14 points.
Lithuania remains as the third unbeaten team in the tournament by top Lebanon (84-66) led by Reinaldas Seibutis (17 points) and Martynas Gecevicius (16).
Standings: 1. Lithuania 5-0, 2. Spain 3-2, 3. New Zealand 3-2, 4. France 3-2, 5. Lebanon 1-4, 6. Canada 0-5
The path to the glory is set. Close rivalries and the re-edition of the Japan 2006 World Championship game are the main events. The brackets are as follows:
Serbia vs. Croatia / Spain vs. Greece
Turkey vs. France / Slovenia vs. Australia
United States vs. Angola / Russia vs. New Zealand
Lithuania vs. China / Argentina vs. Brazil
Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and International Scout and Correspondent Alejandro Gonzalez contributed to this report. Thanks to FIBA.com for the pictures.
2010 FIBA World Championships: Day 5: Round of 16 Getting Set
GROUP A
Milos Teodosic is back! He was back on the court last Monday but today he came back for real. The Olympiacos guard led Serbia to a very important win against Australia 94-79. Serbia will fight for first place of the group with Argentina tomorrow. Serbia dominated the paint as Nenad Krstic, pictured on left, (also back after the 3-game sanction due to the “flying chair incident”) and Novica Velickovic owned the boards and were able to score in the low post. Serbia was better all game long but Australia kept it alive until the last couple of minutes. Teodosic reached 19 points, including a clutch three pointer when the Aussies cut the gap to 3 late in the game. Krstic sealed 14 points and 10 rebounds meanwhile Velickovic added 18 points and 9 rebounds. Patty Mills was very active for Australia (12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists) but struggled shooting the ball. Alecs Maric played against his fatherland scoring 10 points but couldn’t beat the Serbian centers.
A few days ago Germany beat Serbia in a double OT thriller. But now that heroic victory seemed just a higher place for a bigger fall. Germany has lost all its consistency and confidence, melting down dramatically. Today Dirk Bauermann’s team said goodbye to the tournament by losing against Angola (88-92). Angola led most of the game but Germany reacted opened a 10 point gap with just 4 minutes to go in the game. Then they collapsed, missing shots and turning the ball over again and again. Angola rallied (77-76) led by Ambrosio. Schaffartzik missed one of the free throws (78-76) with 22 seconds to go and Bauermann decided to foul and get the last possession. Cipriano made both FT’s and Schaffartzik missed the game-winner at the buzzer. In the OT, Angola was way more solid, clinching not only the victory but also a berth in the Final 16. Joaquin Gomes paced the winners with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Jagla scored 23 for Germany. The African team will play tomorrow against Australia for the third spot of the group.
In the other game of the group, Argentina beat Jordan 88-79. Luis Scola (pictured on right) stays on his MVP mode with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Rasheid Wright netted 22 points for Jordan.
Standings: 1. Argentina 4-0, 2. Serbia 3-1, 3. Australia 2-2, 4. Angola 2-2, 5. Germany 1-3, 6. Jordan 0-4.
GROUP B
Slovenia grabbed second place of the group B by beating Brazil 80-77. Back to back three pointers by Jaka Lakovic saved the Europeans, surviving another big time melt down. The Slovenian consistency has hurt the team for years but today they were able to stop the 15-0 Brazilian run in the last quarter at the right moment. Slovenians big-men dominated the boards and played very well from outside to inside, finding easy shots very often. Brazil wasn’t very fluid offensively. Lakovic was Slovenia’s top score with 20 points, including 6 out of 11 from the three point line. Brezec and Nachbar added 16 and 15 points respectively. Marcelinho Machado’s outside shot (20 points) ignited Brazil’s comeback and Splitter scored 19 points.
The United States found a break after the very tough game against Brazil and crashed Iran (88-51). Kevin Love scored 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in only 11 minutes. Hamed Haddadi collected 19 points for Iran.
Finally, an easy win for Croatia against Tunisia (84-64). The Croatians took an early lead and never looked back. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points for the winners. Ante Tomic added 15 points and 9 rebounds Marko Popovic sealed a versatile game with 16 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
Standings: 1. USA 4-0, 2. Slovenia 3-1, 3. Brazil 2-2, 4. Croatia 2-2, 5. Iran 1-3, 6. Tunisia 0-4.
GROUP C
Turkey found more trouble than expected but came from behind to beat Puerto Rico (79-77) and sealed first place of the group. Puerto Rico managed most part of the game, reaching a 10 points lead early in the third period (30-40). Semih Erden led the Turkish comeback and helped Turkey take a 12 points lead (76-64) with 3 minutes to go in the last period. Angel Vassallo never took it for granted and scored three consecutive triples (meanwhile Turkey was collecting misses from the arc) and assisted to Renaldo Balkman to cut the gap to 1 points (78-77) with only 7 seconds to go. Kerem Tunceri made one of his two free throws and Angel Vassallo couldn’t find the rim in a desperate three pointer at the buzzer. However, Puerto Rico should be able to clinch the fourth spot of the group and advance to the next round by beating Ivory Coast tomorrow.
Russia will fight for the second spot of the group against Greece after beating China (89-80) today. David Blatt’s team is not being impressive but is being able to clinch key wins (Puerto Rico and China), advancing to the next round and now looking for the best possible spot. After a bad start, Russia took the lead in the second period and managed the tempo. Sergey Monya looked for redeem after yesterday’s absurd technical foul (that put his team in trouble) with 17 points and two clutch three pointers when China tried to comeback late in the game. Sasha Kaun dominated the boards with 16 points and 14 rebounds. China’s chances to advance to Last 16 went to a minimum. Yi Jianlian only collected 14 points and 9 rebounds today.
Greece destroyed Ivory Coast (97-60) with a 31-5 run in the first half, taking a 28 point lead at halftime. Greeks just cruised to the victory without any problems, waiting for tomorrow’s match against Russia, where the second spot of the group will be decided. Finally, Nick Calathes got minutes on the court. The former Florida Gators guard showed his potential with 15 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds.
Standings: 1. Turkey 4-0, 2. Greece 3-1, 3. Russia 3-1, 4. Puerto Rico 1-3, 5. China 1-3, 6. Ivory Coast 0-4
GROUP D
Lithuania’s confidence is been one of the great stories of this World Championship so far. A team with almost more absences than players on the roster (Jasikevicius, Songaila, Siskauskas, Lavrinovic brothers, Kaukenas, etc) clinched the first spot of its group today. Kestutis Kemzura’s team rallied from a 14 point deficit in the second period to crush France 63-47. With good defense and quick offensive transition, the Baltics open a 26-7 run in the third period to break the game. Linas Kleiza, who scored 15 points, ignited the run. Jonas Maciulis, with 19 points, was a constant threat for the French defense. Nicolas Batum led France with 13 points.
Spain is living such a nightmare in this World Championship, getting tons of complaints from fans and specialists. Scariolo’s guys caught a break today beating Lebanon 91-57. Spain couldn’t break the game until the third period, when a 23-5 run closed the deal. Marc Gasol dominated inside with 25 points and 8 rebounds. Fran Vazquez added 15 points and 8 rebounds. Both inside players took advantage from Jackson Vroman’s foul trouble. Vroman hurt Spain a lot in the paint (22 points and 9 rebounds) but played limited time, which allowed Spain run away and inside dominance.
New Zealand sealed a berth in the next round by beating Canada (71-61) in a key game for both teams. Kirk Penney led his team again with 18 points, finding help from veteran Casey Frank, who added 16. For Canada it was a do-or-die game they lost its last chance to stay alive in Turkey. Jevon Shepherd was the Canadian top scorer with 15 points.
Standings: 1.Lithuania 4-0, 2. France 3-1, 3. Spain 2-2, 4. New Zealand 2-2, 5. Lebanon 1-3, 6. Canada 0-4.
Day 6 of action tomorrow, with the last games of the group stage. Most of the teams are already qualified for the next rounds, but the bracket is still waiting to be set. Some interesting games like Greece vs. Russia (winner would take Spain in Last 16 and USA in quarterfinals), Serbia vs. Argentina (for the first place of group A), Brazil vs. Croatia (for the third place of group B) and Angola vs. Australia (in order to avoid USA in Last 16).
Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and International Scout and Correspondent Alejandro Gonzalez contributed to this report. Thanks to FIBA.com for the pictures.