EuroBasket 2009 (Sept 7th to Sept 20th)

Israel, Latvia, Great Britain, & Bulgaria are out after Preliminary Round. Note that the results of the games between the teams from the same group in Preliminary Round will be take into account in Qualifying Round.

Qualifying Round

Group E

1. Greece 2/0 4
2. France 2/0 4
3. Croatia 1/1 3
4. Germany 1/1 3
5. Russia 0/2 2
6. F.Y.R. of Macedonia 0/2 2

Group F

1. Turkey 2/0 4
2. Slovenia 1/1 3
3. Serbia 1/1 3
4. Spain 1/1 3
5. Poland 1/1 3
6. Lithuania 0/2 2


Game Schedule

11.09.2009
E/1 Russia vs. Croatia -- 9:45 am ET
E/2 Germany vs. Greece -- 12:15 pm ET
E/3 France vs. F.Y.R. of Macedonia -- 15:00 pm ET

12.09.2009
F/3 Turkey vs. Spain -- 9:45 am ET
F/1 Poland vs. Serbia -- 12:15 pm ET
F/2 Lithuania vs. Slovenia -- 15:00 pm ET

13.09.2009
E/4 F.Y.R. of Macedonia vs. Germany -- 9:45 am ET
E/5 Greece vs. Russia -- 12:15 pm ET
E/6 Croatia vs. France -- 15:00 pm ET

14.09.2009
F/4 Spain vs. Lithuania -- 9:45 am ET
F/5 Slovenia vs. Poland -- 12:15 pm ET
F/6 Serbia vs. Turkey -- 15:00 pm ET

15.09.2009
E/7 Russia vs. F.Y.R. of Macedonia -- 9:45 am ET
E/9 France vs. Greece -- 12:15 pm ET
E/8 Germany vs. Croatia -- 15:00 pm ET

16.09.2009
F/8 Lithuania vs. Serbia -- 9:45 am ET
F/7 Poland vs. Spain -- 12:15 pm ET
F/9 Turkey vs. Slovenia -- 15:00 pm ET

http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/ci...ompID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.html

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=4465129

BYDGOSZCZ, Poland -- San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker led France on a 17-3 game-opening run in an 83-57 victory over Macedonia on Friday that kept the French unbeaten at the European basketball championship.

Forward Florent Pietrus and reserve guard Nando De Colo each scored 14 points to lead five French players in double figures in the second-round game.

Earlier, defending champion Russia defeated Croatia 62-59 behind 18 points and eight rebounds from center Timofey Mozgov. Tied at 55 with a minute to play, Russia made seven of 10 free throws down the stretch.

Russia next plays Macedonia on Sunday, and Croatia takes on Germany.

In another Group E matchup, guard Vasileios Spanoulis scored 20 points to lead Greece to an 84-76 victory over Germany. Heiko Schaffartzik had 23 points for the Germans.

The top four teams in Group E and Group F advance to the quarterfinals.

 

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/12/eurobasket.recap.ap/index.html

LODZ, Poland (AP) -- Forward Ersan Ilyasova scored 15 points and came up with a key block in the closing seconds to guide Turkey to a 63-60 win over world champion Spain on Saturday in the second round of the European basketball championship.

Spain had the ball and a chance to win it with 12 seconds to play. Guard Sergio Llull drove to the basket, but Ilyasova got a hand on the shot and teammate Ender Arslan grabbed the rebound.

Center Semih Erden then hit a pair of free throws to seal the Group F win and keep Turkey unbeaten at the tournament.

"It's a big win for us against a good team," said Turkey forward Hedo Turkoglu. "We played hard and played together and won, so I'm happy what we did and hopefully we can continue like this."

Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez led Spain with 16 points.

"It was a very, very close game," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. "Both teams played really hard the whole time. Turkey did better things in the last four or five minutes."

He also had no doubts about the play call in the final minute.

"We saw that Turkey put in four big men and we had quite a good penetrator in Sergio Llull," he said. "He beat his man and had a clear advantage. I don't know if it was a foul at the end."

In another Group F matchup, Serbia beat host Poland 77-72 behind 18 points and eight rebounds from Oklahoma City Thunder center Nenad Krstic.

"I think that for a young team, that is not so experienced, this game was a very big task," said Serbia coach Duzan Ivkovic. "There was a lot of support for the Polish team. I think we controlled the game very well, and I think our defense was at a high level."

Serbia took control early in the second half with a 13-0 run, sparked by a Nemanja Bjelica dunk and capped by a Milenko Tepic 3-pointer, to lead 56-40 halfway through the third quarter.

Poland cut the gap to 64-62 in the fourth on a layup by guard Lukasz Koszarek, but would get no closer.

"In order to catch up to a team you have to use twice as much energy and you can't make any mistakes because they take advantage of them," Poland center Szymon Szewczyk said.

Marcin Gortat, who plays for the Orlando Magic, and Koszarek each scored 16 points to lead Poland.

Also, guard Jaka Lakovic scored a game-high 24 points to lead Slovenia past Lithuania 81-58.

Turkey currently tops Group F, followed by Slovenia and Serbia.

Turkey next plays Serbia on Monday. Slovenia faces Poland, and Spain takes on Lithuania.

The top four teams in Group E and Group F advance to the quarterfinals.

 

Turpis, congratulations for the Macedonia win!

 

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/13/eurobasket.recap.ap/index.html

BYDGOSZCZ, Poland (AP) -- Defending champion Russia slipped past Greece 68-65 on Sunday and France beat Croatia 87-79 to stay unbeaten at the European basketball championship.

Russia, which has only three players from the team that upset Spain in the 2007 final, struggled in the first round of this year's tournament, and has clearly missed its two top players from the 2007 squad -- Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko and J.R. Holden.

But the team has steadily improved since the opening round, and took a big step toward the quarterfinals with Sunday's victory over a previously unbeaten Greece.

"I think that we controlled the game and we deserved to win," Russia coach David Blatt said. "There is really nobody younger and more inexperienced than us. And to beat Croatia and Greece in three days and the way we did is admirable."

Tied at 48 early in the fourth quarter, Sergey Monya hit a trio of 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to give Russia a nine-point lead, and the defending champions hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold on.

Kelly McCarty led Russia with 17 points and nine rebounds, while center Sofoklis Schortsanitis paced Greece with 13 points.

"Greece is the best offensive team here and we held them down to their tournament low and it says a lot about our game tonight," the American-born McCarty said.

France remained perfect at the tournament behind a strong performance from its NBA trio of Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw.

Parker, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs, scored 12 of his 24 points in the third quarter as France turned a five-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead at the start of the fourth.

Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, had 18 points, and Charlotte Bobcats forward Diaw chipped in with 15.

Earlier Sunday in Group E, point guard Vrbica Stefanov scored 25 points to lead Macedonia past Germany 86-75.

Macedonia broke open a tight game late in the third quarter when Dime Tasovski hit a 3-pointer to spark a 14-2 run that made it 69-52 with just under eight minutes to play.

Tasovski finished with 13 points and five steals as Macedonia picked up its first win in Group E.

Macedonia plays Russia in its final second-round group game on Tuesday, Germany takes on Croatia and group-leader France faces Greece.

The top four teams in Group E and Group F advance to the quarterfinals.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E3M_jQQsJM

Jose Calderon interview

ps. I think Spain really miss him.