jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 14, 2007 Slovenia Face Tough Greek Test By Jeff Taylor 14 September 2007 Slovenia must do something for the first time at EuroBasket 2007 today when they take on Greece if they are to stay on track for a medal, bounce back from a defeat. Ales Pipan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 14, 2007 Good News, Bad News: Day Ten By Yarone Arbel 14 September 2007 The start of quarter-final action taught us that Russia is far from a one man team and that free-throw shooting is critical in crunch situations. It Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 14, 2007 Lithuania Slip Past Croatia, Into Semis By David Hein 14 September 2007 Zoran Planinic missed two foul shots with 1.02 seconds remaining, allowing Lithuania to hold off a motivated Croatia 74-72 and book their spot in Saturday's semi-finals against Russia. Darius Songalia scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and gave Lithuania the winning basket with 46 seconds left. Linas Kleiza collected 19 points and nine rebounds and Sarunas Jasikevicius dished out eight assists as Lithuania remained the only perfect team in the competition. "It should have been an easier game, but it was very difficult for us psychologically. Croatia are a very good team, but every team in the quarter-finals is good," said Ramunas Siskauskas, who was held to just two points. "We were a bit nervous at the beginning, but not in the final seconds and that's what helped us to the win." Lithuania are hoping to repeat their 2003 run to the EuroBasket title - which they won with a perfect 6-0 run. The Baltic powers are going for European crown number four. Croatia limped into the quarter-finals having lost their last three games after beating Spain, but Jasmin Repesa's men gave Lithuania all they could handle, especially Planinic, who collected a team-high 16 points as well as three rebounds, five assists and seven steals. The Tau Vitoria guard however missed when it meant most. After Marko Popovic was off target on a three-pointer with three seconds left, Planinic was fouled with 1.02 ticks remaining. He missed the first and then purposely missed the second and Lithuania ran off the clock for the win. Popovic finished with 12 points and Marko Tomas added 10. Croatia, who will play France in the 5th-8th classification games, shot themselves in the foot, making just eight of 19 foul shots (42%) while holding Lithuania to 40% shooting (23-of-58) for the game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 14, 2007 Slovania 62 - Greece 63 Miracle Greece Edge Slovenia By Dave Hein 14 September 2007 Theo Papaloukas's driving lay-up with 6.7 seconds remaining completed a furious 14-1 flurry to the finish as Greece overcame a 12-point deficit in the final 2:30 to knock off Slovenia 63-62 and live on for another chance to defend their EuroBasket title. Papaloukas added yet another chapter to his superstar and legendary status with 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, setting up another showdown with world champions and hosts Spain in Saturday's semi-finals. "Slovenia played more intelligent than we did and better than us for 39 minutes. But we played better in the last minute. We had no chioce," said Papaloukas, who had two points and zero assists at half-time. "We pressed, made lay-ups and we got the job done. We showed character to come back. We've been in these situations before." "I'll never forget this game, this moment. This team is unbelievable. It's not the first time it's happened to us. But it shows that we never stop believing," said Nikolaos Zisis, who hit two foul shots and a three-pointer in the thrilling 14-1 spurt. Lazaros Papadopoulos added 10 points for the reigning champs, who forced Slovenia into four turnovers and two missed three-pointers in the final 2:30. Jaka Lakovic had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists but his potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer fell well short of its target. "It's heart-breaking. We played a great game until the final 2:30 and Greece are simply more experienced than we are," said Slovenia big man Erazem Lorbek. Radoslav Nesterovic collected 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Matjaz Smodis added 10 points but it was not enough for the Slovenians, who lost their second straight game and face Germany in the 5th-8th place classificiation on Saturday. Both teams came out ready to play and gave the fans a real back-and-forth battle with four lead changes and six ties. A late Lakovic three-pointer gave Slovenia a 17-12 advantage, which Greece trimmed to 17-14 to end the first period. The see-saw affair continued in the second half and Greece went ahead 28-25 on Vasileios Spanoulis's jumper with three minutes left. But Ales Pipan's men responded with a 9-0 run, featuring a three-pointer by Erazem Lorbek and a driving lay-up at the buzzer by Goran Dragic to send the teams into the locker-room with Slovenia ahead 34-28 - after 12 lead changes and eight ties. Slovenia came out working hard on defense and held Greece without a basket for the first 3:34 in building a 41-28 lead. A three-pointer by Dimitrios Diamantidis trimmed the margin to 49-40, but the Slovenians were ahead 51-40 going into the fourth. Uros Slokar's inside basket increased the Slovenia lead to 16 points - 58-42 - with less than eight minutes to play. And Lakovic's three-pointer made it 61-49 with 2:41 left. But Greece finally woke up. Zisis and Panagiotis Vasilopoulos both made two foul shots followed by one free throw by Lakovic for a 62-53 scoreline with 1:37 to go. After a Slovenia turnover, Papaloukas scored a driving lay-up but failed to convert the three-point play. Another Slovenia turnover ended in Papaloukas draining a three-pointer. And after yet another turnover, Zisis buried his only three-point attempt of the game to trim the deficit to 62-61. Domen Lorbek stepped up for his team but missed a three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to give Greece a final chance to finish the run and Papaloukas proved once again why he's widely considered the best player in Europe, cutting into the heart of the Slovenian defense for the winner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 14, 2007 SCOREBOARD Semi-Finals 15.09.2007 Spain 15.09.2007 19:00 Greece Russia 15.09.2007 21:30 Lithuania Classification Round 5th to 8th place 15.09.2007 France 15.09.2007 14:00 Croatia Germany 15.09.2007 16:30 Slovania Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 14, 2007 13.09.2007 44/A Russia 75 - 71 France 43/A Spain 83 - 55 Germany 14.09.2007 46/A Lithuania 74 - 72 Croatia 45/A Slovenia 62 - 63 Greece Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
athena 0 Report post Posted September 15, 2007 it was unbelievable the way we turned this game around when all looked liked we were gonna lose. amazing stuff.. great game! GO GREECE!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
serbianeagle 0 Report post Posted September 15, 2007 quote: Originally posted by athena:it was unbelievable the way we turned this game around when all looked liked we were gonna lose. amazing stuff.. great game! GO GREECE!! congrats sister,go Greece Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 15, 2007 France, Croatia Battle For Beijing By David Hein 15.09.2007 France and Croatia may be down after losing in their quarter-final showdowns with Russia and Lithuania, respectively but a spot in the pre-Olympic tournament is up for grabs when they hook up Saturday in the 5th-8th classification round. The winner advances to the tourney while the loser has one final chance to make the pre-Olympic event in the game for 7th place. Both France and Croatia missed free throws in the waning seconds which could have evened the game. So, expect both teams to try to eventually pull away and put less pressure on themselves from the foul stripe. Last Time Out: France lost to Russia 75-71 in the quarter-finals while Croatia fell to Lithuania 74-72. Key Match-Up: Zoran Planinic vs Joseph Gomis - the Croatian had a great game against Lithuania but missed his two foul shots with one second remaining. Expect Planinic to be extra motivated against the French and will a size mis-match against Gomis - 1.97m to 1.80m. Florent Pietrus may move over and try to shot down the Tau Vitoria star. X-Factor: Tariq Kirksay, the veteran American-born small forward has scored in double digits four times thus far - never in more than 24 minutes - and he's averaged 2.75 steals over the past four games. Those numbers could come in handy against Croatia. Stats: France allowed Russia to hit 50% (8-of-16) of their three-pointers and they can't do that against a top shooting side like Croatia. The Croatians came into the Lithuania showdown hitting 77% of their foul shots but made just 8-of-19 (42%) from the stripe in the quarter-final. Sounding Off: France forward Florent Pietrus: "The tournament is far from over. We still have a lot to play for with the bid in the pre-Olympic tournament still there for the taking. The loss against Russia has been digested and all of our attention is on this game." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 15, 2007 Germany, Slovenia Look To Bounce Back By David Hein 15.09.2007 Slovenia and Germany both come into their showdown in the 5th-8th classification round wanting nothing more than to forget their last game. Slovenia saw defending champions Greece use a 14-1 run over the final 2:30 in an absolutly heart-wrenching quarter-final loss and Germany were blown out by Spain, trailing by 37 points in the fourth period. Regardless of their last results, Saturday's game has loads of meaning - namely a berth in the pre-Olympic tournament for the winner. The losers have one more chance to reach the pre-Olympic event in the game for seventh place. Last Time Out: Slovenia were shocked by the Greece come-back 63-62 while Germany were thrashed by world champions Spain 83-55. The teams met earlier in the tournament as Slovenia pasted Germany 77-47 in the qualifying round on Monday. Key Match-Up: Matjaz Smodis vs Dirk Nowitzki - this game very well could be decided at this position. Smodis scored 22 points in 20 minutes against Germany earlier in the tournament while Nowitzki has struggled down the stretch of the tournament. X-Factor: The starting German back-court of Steffen Hamann and Demond Greene have combined for just 8.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while averaging 2.1 turnovers. Johannes Herber meanwhile has built up his confidence in the past two games off Germany's bench with 22 points in 41 points. Stats: Nowitzki has scored just 16, 15 and 11 points in Germany's last three games - while averaging 30 minutes - after averaging 29 points over the first three games. Sounding Off: Slovenia coach Ales Pipan: "We can't give up now. We have to win at least one game to reach our goal. It'll be very difficult for us. We have to play tomorrow like it's a normal game. I told my players in the last time out to play tough defense and switch everything on the screens." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 15, 2007 Russia, Lithuania Battle For Spot In Finals By Jeff Taylor 15.09.2007 Lithuania and Russia head into their semi-final showdown on the back of narrow wins, the former edging Croatia on Friday to remain unbeaten at the EuroBasket and the latter scraping their way past France to reach the last four for the first time in 10 years. The Lithuanians, gold medalists in 2003 when the tournament was staged in Sweden, are undefeated but they will not be as rested as their opponents who played the French on Thursday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted September 15, 2007 We Meet Again By Jeff Taylor 15 September 2007 It had to happen again, didn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
