Now that's what I like to see! Slovenia 77- Italy 67 Bostjan Nachbar 26 minutes, 21 points, 5-6 FG, 2-6 3 pt. FG, 5-9 FT, 2 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block Sorry all I could find were the stats but Boki led both teams in scoring in only 26 minutes played. link
Wow!! Kirilenko predicted that Yugoslavia (now called Serbia & Montenegro) would not repeat from last summer, and Russia proceeded to crush them by 15 points, behind 29 pts by Kirilenko. And yes, Peja was playing..."<i> He shot horribly from the field, finishing 5 for 21 (2 for 7 on threes) for the game.</i> http://www.eurobasket2003.com/uk/nyheter.asp?showid=692 btw: why does S&M have to play. I thought they had a bye to the Olympics. Or do they always compete in these European Championships?
here's a game recap. Slovenia 77 Italy 67 SWEDEN. Slovenia won a convincing victory over Italy in the first game of group A, 77-67. The Slovenian side went ahead early in the game and never looked back. Slovenia opened the first quarter best. They scored easy points while Italy had to fight hard for theirs. At the end of the quarter Italy got their game somewhat together and started to score. In the second quarter Slovenia made a good start again. They dominated the boards and grabbed rebounds both defensively and offensively. Once again Italy responded. At half time Slovenia had the lead 36 to 34. In the second half, Bostjan Nachbar scored a lot of valuable points for the Slovenian side. He had 21 points in the game. Another player that convinced was Boris Gorenc, who added 14 points for the Slovenian side. Slovenia were ten points up when the 4th quarter started. They played consistently and although they had team fouls early in the quarter Italy couldn't reach them. The Slovenian victory was never really threatened. link
I'd say because for them European Championships is greater than the Olympics and only beaten by the World Championships. So they want to play.
Wouldn't you die to have him alongside Yao though? With his range, and his surprising rebounding numbers, he'd be a very nice fit for this team. Ofcourse, I don't think he's an All Star or anything like that...Just one of those players that is REALLY good at something, and that something would benefit us more than many other teams. As for the Euro Championships, they play it anyway. There's no such thing in basketball, but it's similar to the league/cup/supercup format of soccer. Basically, it's another trophy, another claim to being the best in Europe, so they would play it anyway.
No becuase Divac, tomasevic, bodiroga (do you know him, he could play in NBA and be allstar but...), Jaric... there aren't on the team. They won the World Championships so they will play the Olympics for that. And doesn't matter they lose all games of this Eurobasket. The most important championship for all teams (and can be americans, europeans...) are the Olyimpics games. And here USA should go with all his superstars. If Francis (yes, not Kidd, he was the worst player of USA for me in the preolympics of america), Shaq, Kobe, Garnett don't go to Atenas, they can lose against Yugoslavia again. The better teams on the Eurobasket of Suecia are: Spain (favourites), Greece, France, and maybe Germany, but no Serbia-Montenegro (thay have a half of their authentic team). Today's game Spain- Russia can say a lot of things. Slovenia will play against Bosnia so another win to Boki... possibly they will lose against France and will be 2ºs of his group. They will play against Letonia or israel in 1/8s and against Spain in 1/4s. Then I will see Boki play in TV for first time!!! This game will be the most important for Boki. The specialist defenders of Spain can drive him crazy. Gasol can make 30 points against Slovenia without Nesterovic. And Navarro... I will see the defense of Boki then.
I guess this is that light at the end of the tunnel that we've been looking for since we picked him up over a year ago. Let's see what he does in the preseason, and see if he is ready to start.
Again, I will suggest that Boki was the ultimate reason why Posey was allowed to go and Boki is the only one who could, with his play, justify the decision.
Jodete, I never said that they had to play to be in the Olympics, I said they wanted to be there. And the World Championships is the top prize, not the Olympics, this was also mentioned by many of the teams/players during the last WC. I'm not sure about EC ranking above the Olympics, but it has significant value and teams want to be there for the games itself.
Heath is right. Sure, there were a few quotes from a few players about the importance of the Olympics. But the vast majority of foreigners seem to regard the World Championships as more important.
I don't think this warranted a new thread but Slovenia beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 73-62 today. Boki didn't perform near as well as yesterday: 30 minutes, 1-4 FG, 2-6 3pt FG, 1-2 FT, 9 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound http://www.eurobasket2003.com/uk/hem.asp
I believe that title belongs to Hedo Turkoglu. Jeeez!!! Turkey, with Hedo, Mehmet Okur and Mirsad Turckan (Euro player of the year '02) have already lost to Ukraine (without Medvedenko and Potapenko) and Greece!!!!
I remember somebody saying that on NBC when they were telecasting the game with Argentina and Yugoslovia.
