USA – Russia will b the 3rd matchup of the 1/4-finals in Turkey. Both teams had no problems beating their opponents and easily moved on to the next round. The Americans outpowered Angola who had nothing to oppose (USA – Angola 121-66 ). Russia delivered another display of their brick wall defense, restricting New Zealand to 58 points (Russia – New Zealand 78-56).
A little more excitement and suspense was to be seen during the last day of 1/8-finals. China led early on in their game against Lithuania, but struggled towards the end when Linas Kleiza proved everyone present in the arena why he was awarded the Alphonso Ford Trophy (Europe’s elite competition’s top-scorer). Kleiza scored 13 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter as Lithuania held off China for a 78-67 win.
The match of the night however faced Fiba N1 ranked team Argentina and their South American rivals Brazil. It was probably the most exciting game of the tournament so far as the Argentinians won 93-89. Close till the end, both teams didn’t want to give anything and it was NBA veteran Luis Scola who made the difference. Scola finished with 37 points, 22 of them in the second half.
The quarterfinals are thus completed and set the following matchups:
Spain – Serbia (8.9. 17.00)
Slovenia – Turkey (8.9. 20.00)
USA – Russia (9.9. 17.00)
Lithuania – Argentina (9.9. 20.00)
It’s unbelievable but it’s true! Ashley Logue, a 23 year-old and 1,88 m tall US-American, that should enforce the women’s team of US Heffingen, came on Friday to Luxembourg and immediately told the club officials that she felt homesick and that she would fly back to the USA as soon as possible. The responsibles of US Heffingen tried to change her opinion … without success. Now the promoted team hopes that it will soon find another foreign player to enforce the team.
Spain vs Serbia and Slovenia vs Turkey are the first 1/4-finals at the Fiba 2010 World championships. The defending champions edged Greece (80-72) in a thrilling game that was very balanced up to the last seconds of the game. The Spaniards, lead by Juan Carlos Navarro struggled to pull away from a Greek team that always managed to fight back when it seemed like Spain was making a spread. The Spainsh bench was the key to their success, outscoring the Greek reserves 26-3.
Serbia beat Croatia in a game just as tight as the Spain game 73-72. Slovenia easily beat Australia 87-58. Turkey cliched their spot by defeating France 95-77.
US Heffingen is the last Diekirch-League-club to announce the name of its female import player. The promoted team of new coach Jean-Pierre Guillot signed Ashley Logue. The 23 year-old and 1,88 m tall US-American studied at the Saint Joseph’s University, where she averaged 9,5 ppg and 5,3 rpg, and played last season for the Pennsylvania Lazers (WBCBL).
All the female import players:
Black Star: Stephisha Walton
Racing: Siarre Evans
Résidence: Charlee Underwood
Basket Esch: Meagan Samis
T71: Diane Barnes
Musel Pikes: Christine Fisher
Etzella: Katie Donovan
Contern: Amanda Stowe
Amicale: Candyce Bingham
Heffingen: Ashley Logue
Jeremy Buttell will not begin the season as the import player of the Musel Pikes’ men’s team. The 23 year-old US-American already left the club and will be replaced by Trenton Wurtz (picture), a 27 year-old and 2,03 m tall US-American, that played for the George Mason University, the Indian State Sycamores and the last two seasons for Christchurch Cougars in New Zealand.
The preliminary round of the Fiba World championships ended today with little to no surprise in terms of who’d make the cut. In group A, favorites Argentina and Serbia clinched the first 2 spots, followed by Australia and Angola. The young German team failed to qualify after losing 3 games by 4 points or less. Team USA dominated group B, only being challenged once in their qualifying round in a tight game against Brazil. Along with the US, Slovenia, Brazil and Croatia qualified for the knockout phase. Iran and Tunesia were left behind in this group. In group C, the host Turkey managed to get through the first rounds with a clean bill, securing their spot for the 1/8 finals along with Greece, Russia and China. Defending champion Spain had to fight for it’s place in the next round, after losing twice, against France and Lithuania. These 3 teams along with New Zealand qualified for the later stages of the tournament.
The 1/8 finals will start on saturday with the following setup:
Serbia – Croatia
Spain – Greece
Slovenia – Australia
Turkey – France
USA – Angola
Russia – New Zealand
Lithuania – China
Argentina – Brazil
