All games will live on ESPN 360. The official website http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/default.asp Group A Greece Croatia Macedonia Israel Group B Russia Germany Latvia France Group C Spain Slovenia Serbia Great Britain Group D Lithuania Turkey Poland Bulgaria Competition System http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/ci...ompID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.html p.s. The top 6 teams will qualify for the 2010 world championship. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The schedule for Premilinary round Sept. 07, 2009 A/1 F.Y.R. of Macedonia vs. Greece -- 10:30 am ET B/1 Russia vs. Latvia -- 10:30 am ET C/1 Great Britain vs. Slovenia -- 12:15 pm ET D/1 Poland vs. Bulgaria -- 12:15 pm ET A/2 Croatia vs. Israel – 13: 15 pm ET B/2 France vs. Germany -- 13:15 pm ET C/2 Serbia vs. Spain -- 15:00 pm ET D/2 Turkey vs. Lithuania -- 15:15 ET Sept. 08, 2009 A/3 Israel vs. F.Y.R. of Macedonia -- 10:30 am ET B/3 Germany vs. Russia -- 10:30 am ET C/4 Slovenia vs. Serbia -- 12:15 pm ET D/3 Lithuania vs. Poland -- 12:15 pm ET A/4 Greece vs. Croatia -- 13:15 pm ET B/4 Latvia vs. France -- 13:15 pm ET C/3 Spain vs. Great Britain -- 15:00 pm ET D/4 Bulgaria vs. Turkey -- 15:15 pm ET 09.09.2009 A/5 F.Y.R. of Macedonia vs. Croatia -- 10:30 am ET B/5 Russia vs. France -- 10:30 am ET C/6 Spain vs. Slovenia -- 12:15 pm ET D/5 Poland vs. Turkey -- 12:15 pm ET A/6 Israel vs. Greece -- 13:15 pm ET B/6 Germany vs. Latvia -- 13:15 pm ET C/5 Great Britain vs. Serbia -- 15:15 pm ET D/6 Lithuania vs. Bulgaria -- 15:15 pm ET
Poland played really well. Their froncourt is great and Ignerski is a ideal guy on the outside. They can do it all on the offensive end, tough their problem is defense. They can't defend pick and rolls.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/07/euro.champ.ap/index.html WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Serbia used a stingy defense to upset world champion Spain 66-57 Monday on the opening day of the European basketball championship. Looking like one of the formidable Yugoslav teams of old, the young Serbian squad without any NBA stars thoroughly outplayed a lackluster Spain, clamping down on a Spanish attack led by Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol. "I think tonight my team absolutely deserved this victory," coach Duzan Ivkovic said. "We won with extremely great defense." The Serbs used a 14-4 run in the last five minutes of the first half to open a 38-23 lead at the break. After a cold first half, Spain still couldn't find its shooting touch after the break, making just just 2 of 19 from behind the arc and 54 percent from the line for the night. Serbia's lead was never less than eight points in the second half. "They played a very good game, especially on the defensive end," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. "Our shooting percentages were tonight really low. So offensively we struggled, part due to the good defense of our opponent, and part we missed very, very open shots and free throws." Gasol, who is coming off minor surgery on his left index finger after injuring it last month, struggled all night to find his range. The Lakers star shot 4 of 10 from the field, and hit just 1 of 8 free throws to finish with 9 points. Serbia tops Group C along with Slovenia, which beat Britain 72-59 earlier Monday. Defending champion Russia also won its opener, jumping out to an early lead against Latvia and then holding off a late challenge to win 81-68 behind 24 points and 9 rebounds from American-born Kelly McCarty and 22 points from point guard Sergey Bykov. Latvia cut Russia's lead to 65-63 with 4:08 to play on a pair of free throws from Kaspars Kambala before the Russians closed with a 16-5 run. France joined Russia atop Group B with its 70-65 win over Germany. San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the last 2:38 to carry the French down the stretch. Germany sorely missed its NBA star, Dirk Nowitzki. The Dallas Mavericks forward led all scorers at the 2007 championships with 24 points per game, but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has refused to allow him to play in the tournament. Greece, the 2005 European champion, jumped to an 18-5 lead in the first five minutes to open the tournament with an easy win over Macedonia in Group A. Point guard Vassilis Spanoulis led Greece with 17 points, and center Yannis Bourousis chipped in with 11 points and 8 rebounds. "We didn't really know them and we'd heard that they could cause us trouble," Bourousis said. "But in the game, we started strong and stayed that way throughout." Hedo Turkoglu scored 19 points to lead Turkey to an 84-76 upset of Lithuania in Group D. Also host Poland beat Bulgaria 90-78 in Group D, and Croatia downed Israel 86-79 in Group A.
Second half of Macedonia - Israel is going to start in few minutes. Here is link http://zulu.mk/live/sitel (it's pretty good stream with Macedonian audio) Go Macedonia!
That match is over sorry... Will be posting links for Spain - Great Britain and Bulgaria Turkey in few minutes (just to check sure that are the games played and the links are valid)
Pops hasn't shown up in this game yet. If he cannot play against Gasol brothers, it would be hard for him to make our team.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/08/eurobasket.day2.ap/index.html WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Pau Gasol scored 9 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter to carry world champion Spain past Britain 84-76 on day two Tuesday of the European basketball championship. After dropping their tournament opener to Serbia a day earlier, the Spaniards started strong against Britain, jumping to a 12-0 lead behind 7 points from Gasol. But Britain refused to go away, and in the fourth quarter went on a 12-0 run, capped by a Mike Lenzly three from the corner, that gave the British their first lead at 68-66 with 6:32 to play. Then Gasol took over. The center scored on a put back, hit a free-throw and then a three pointer to put Spain back in front for good at 74-73, and put the world champion back on track in its quest for a first European title. "We kept our nerves under control and we also hit some important shots and played some good defense," coach Sergio Scariolo said. "We stay alive and stay in the competition." Earlier, Germany upset defending champion Russia 76-73 behind 19 points and 11 rebounds from Jan-Hendrik Jagla. Russia, which only has three players from the team that upset Spain in the 2007 final, fell behind early and trailed by double digits for most of the game, before narrowing the gap to 68-67 on two free throws from forward Nikita Kurbanov with just under two minutes to play. But Heiko Schaffartzik hit a 3-pointer for Germany, which held on for its first win in Group B. Germany is without NBA star Dirk Nowitzki. Russia also clearly missed the top two players from its 2007 squad -- guard J.R. Holden and Andrei Kirilenko. But the Russians lost on Tuesday at the line, where they hit just 28 of 49 free throws. "I don't know what to say about the free throws," said Russia coach David Blatt. "Sometimes it's contagious. If you see one guy miss, others miss as well." In Group C, a young Serbia looked nothing like the squad that stunned Spain on Monday, falling to a hot-shooting Slovenia 80-69. Serbia coach Duzan Ivkovic said his team struggled after two early fouls on captain Nenad Krstic. "We lost the chemistry and the balance under the basket," Ivkovic said. "From that moment, the Slovenian team was absolutely dominant." Forward Bostjan Nachbar led Slovenia with 17 points and 6 rebounds, while point guard Goran Dragic chipped in with 16 points as Slovenia improved to 2-0. In other action, traditional power Lithuania continued to struggle, losing to host Poland 86-75. Forward Maciej Lampe led five Polish players in double figures with 22 points and 10 boards, while center Marcin Gortat added 15 points and 17 rebounds. Turkey also remained undefeated in the group, pounding Bulgaria 94-66. Also, point guard Tony Parker scored 23 points to lead France past Latvia 60-51 and atop Group B with two wins. In Group A, Macedonia slipped past Israel 82-79 behind 19 points and six boards from center Pero Antic, and Greece improved to 2-0 with a 76-68 win over Croatia. Greece, the 2005 European champion, led by 19 with 7:39 to play before Croatia went on a 15-2 run to cut the gap to six with just under two minutes to play. But Vasileios Spanoulis hit a pair of free throws and a three pointer for Greece at the end to push the game out of reach. "This is a big win. The (Croatians) are good and have the same kind of targets that we do," Spanoulis said.
Macedonia - Croatia is starting: http://zulu.mk/live/sitel (great video with Macedonian audio) GO MACEDONIA!!! and Russia - France : http://www.fromsport.com/video-70601.html
I can't believe that we were leading by 17 at one point in the game and we lost by 10... Anyway, links for: Spain - Slovenia : http://www.fromsport.com/video-70469.html Poland - Turkey : http://www.fromsport.com/video-70470.html
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/09/eurobasket.ap/index.html WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Ronny Turiaf had a double-double and Tony Parker added 17 points Wednesday to help lead France to a 69-64 win over defending champion Russia and finish the group phase undefeated at the European basketball championship. After carrying the French in their opening two games, Parker finally got some help Wednesday from Turiaf and Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw. Turiaf, the Golden State Warriors center, had 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Diaw added 19 points and seven boards. "It was a tough game, very hard for both teams," Turiaf said. "We stayed focused for 40 minutes and played together and we are very happy to have beaten a tough Russian team." Russia, which has only three players from the team that upset Spain in the 2007 final, has looked far from capable of defending its title in Poland, and has clearly missed its two top players from that squad -- Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko and J.R. Holden. The Russians still managed to squeeze into the next round, however, despite Latvia beating Germany 68-62 on Wednesday to force a three-way tie in the group behind first-place France. All three teams finished 1-2, but Russia and Germany advanced due to a better point differential. In Group C, world champion Spain outlasted Slovenia 90-84 after Slovenia center Erazem Lorbek hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to force overtime. Both teams finished 2-1 in the group and move into the next round. Juan Carlos Navarro led the way for Spain with 21 points, while Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez chipped in with 19 points. "We made one step forward, one more, we know we are consistently improving our performances," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. "We are satisfied. Also, we know that we have steps to do in front of us to get to the level we want to be." Serbia beat Britain 77-59 to grab the group's third spot in the next round. In Group A, Greece remained unbeaten, pounding winless Israel 106-80 behind 18 points and five assists from guard Vasileios Spanoulis. Croatia secured another spot in the next round with an 81-71 win over Macedonia, which also advanced. Trailing by 14 at the half, Croatia opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run and then pulled away down the stretch. Turkey took the top spot in Group D, beating Poland 87-69 behind a game-high 22 points from Omer Asik. Poland dropped to 2-1, but had already advanced to the next round. Lithuania also advanced with a 84-69 win over Bulgaria. The top three teams in each group advance to the second round.
