*compared to the last FIBA Ranking
The countries not listed above have all 0 points and are therefore all positioned, with the same rank, after the last country mentioned.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Ranking Men after FIBA Americas Championship for Men/Olympic Qualifying Tournament (2007)
Amaré Looks Forward To Season
LAS VEGAS - Sunday was golden for Suns center Amaré Stoudemire, from when he thoroughly enjoyed a pregame one-on-one matchup with a ball boy to a familiar driving dunk in USA Basketball's victory to the moment he bowed to accept a gold medal after Team USA won the FIBA Americas Championship.Stoudemire said he enjoyed every moment of his 17-day USA Basketball experience, capped by Sunday's 118-81 title-game rout of Argentina. After playing in a tournament that the U.S. dominated - winning each game by an average of 39.5 points - Stoudemire was asked if it would be hard to return to the Suns. "Not at all," he answered. "I could see that if I was going back to the (Charlotte) Bobcats. I'm going back to the Phoenix Suns, baby!"
Stoudemire is in love with basketball more than ever since breaking free from the physical and mental limitations caused by knee surgeries in October 2005 and April 2006. After lots of summer days working at US Airways Center and with USA Basketball, Stoudemire is giving himself two days off before going back to "the lab."
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source : azcentral.com
Warriors, Nelson Yet To Agree Oon Contract
OAKLAND -- Barely a month remains until the Warriors' 2007-08 training camp is scheduled to begin, and negotiations between the team and coach Don Nelson remain as they have for weeks: stalled out.
The two sides are scheduled to talk in the next few days with hopes of jump-starting a process that is threatening to fracture the franchise's most successful team in more than a decade. Golden State has secured the commitment of almost every key player from last season's 42-40 club, but without the man who got the best out of mercurial stars such as Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis, it might be all for naught.
"I have a lot of respect for (Warriors president) Bobby Rowell. Our talks are not over and I'm hopeful we can get it done," said John O'Connor, Nelson's attorney.
The only firm offer on the table is not going to get it done. The Warriors have suggested replacing the three-year contract worth $9.3 million in guaranteed salary that Nelson signed in August 2006 with new terms that call for $5.1 million in base salary and an additional $1.5 million in difficult-to-achieve bonuses for each of the next two seasons.
The sticking point is the team's desire to hold an option on 2008-09, while Nelson wants that base salary also to be fully guaranteed. To this point, neither side has formally broached the topic of a partial guarantee on that final year. Nor have there been any counteroffers to the team's initial proposal.
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source : contracostatimes.com
Garbajosa A Go For Spain
Jorge Garbajosa will pull on his Spanish national team basketball jersey today and unimaginable emotion will wash over him.
On this side of the Atlantic, the feeling around the Raptors will be more trepidation than elation.
With insurance issues settled but questions about his health remaining, Garbajosa will suit up for Spain to open the Eurobasket 2007 tournament in Madrid today, giving him a chance to live out one of his dreams.
"When I was growing up I never really dreamed of playing for Barcelona or Madrid, I dreamed of putting on a Spanish national team jersey and so this meant a lot to me," Garbajosa said yesterday in Spain when he was finally cleared to play, two weeks after the Raptors had denied him permission to take part in the event.
It took a series of all-night meetings and negotiations involving the Raptors, the Spanish basketball federation and insurance companies before the 29-year-old got final approval to play.
The Raptors, mindful of Garbajosa's place on their roster and the $8.4 million (U.S.) they owe him over the next two seasons, aren't overjoyed that he'll play, but the insurance issue gave them enough peace of mind to withdraw their objections.
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source : thestar.com
James Leads U.S. Squad Past Argentina To Claim Gold
LAS VEGAS, September 2, 2007 (AP) -- LeBron James put a record finish on the Americans' dominance in the desert.
James scored a team-record 31 points as the United States beat Argentina 118-81 on Sunday to win the FIBA Americas championship.
Dwight Howard made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points, and Carmelo Anthony added 16 points for the Americans, who were never challenged, while winning 10 games in 12 days and will head to Beijing next summer as one of the gold medal favourites.
The Americans averaged 116.7 points in the tournament.
The game was largely meaningless, because both teams had already clinched spots in the Beijing field by winning semifinal games Saturday. But the Americans didn't let up, remaining perfect in four Olympic qualifiers, including 7-0 against Argentina.
James finished the tournament shooting 76 percent from the field - his percentage actually dropped from 76.5 after he made 11 of 15 shots. He was 8-of-11 from three-point range and also led the tournament in that category, hitting 62 per cent.
The game was close for six minutes before the United States blew it open with an 18-0 run. The Americans scored the final 15 points of the first quarter, then Chauncey Billups opened the second with a three-pointer for a 38-14 lead.
At one point in the second, the Americans scored five consecutive baskets on dunks - three by Howard and two by James, with each having one set up by Kobe Bryant, who had a quiet scoring night, but had eight assists. When Howard dunked with 4:58 remaining to push the lead to 51-21, the United States had 16 assists on 18 field goals.
source : NBA.com
Barbosa Unable To Carry Brazil
LAS VEGAS - Leandro Barbosa traded jerseys with Luis Scola once it was over. He just wished he could have swapped places instead.
Scola, the newly signed Houston Rockets forward, scored 27 points to lead Argentina to an automatic Olympic berth with a 91-80 FIBA Americas Championship semifinal victory against Barbosa's Brazilian team.
Barbosa, who finished with 16 points, did not exit the arena with his team, uncharacteristically dodging reporters as he had done all week. His brother, Arturo, said Barbosa wanted to focus on preparing for Saturday's game rather than talk because of its importance. Brazil, with talk of internal strife, now will have to go to a last-chance qualifier in July .
"There are 12 players on the team, but everyone only talks about Leandro," Arturo said before the game.
The onus on the Suns guard became greater Saturday when Nene, the only other Brazilian with NBA experience, injured his calf midway through the first quarter.
Barbosa helped Brazil to a 43-35 halftime lead. He helped stretch the lead to 51-40 in the third with a three-point play and a three-pointer. But with a third foul, Barbosa left the game, and Argentina went on a 14-1 run.
Barbosa went 1 for 5 in the fourth quarter and was late on a critical defensive rotation when Brazil was within three down the stretch.
source : azcentral.com
Anthony Leads U.S. To An Olympic Bid
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 1 — Carmelo Anthony’s introduction to international basketball was all about confusion and chaos and, most of all, discontent. He spent the summer of 2004 on the bench of Coach Larry Brown’s team, watching as the United States finished with a bronze medal in the Athens Olympics.
It will be another year before that memory can be properly expunged, but Anthony seems up to the task. With 27 points Saturday night, he led a 135-91 rout of Puerto Rico in the FIBA Americas Tournament, and the United States (9-0) clinched a berth in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Argentina also earned an Olympic berth, with a 91-80 defeat of Brazil, and will face the United States for the tournament championship Sunday.
The difference in expectations was obvious in the postgame celebrations. The Argentines danced on the Thomas and Mack Center court and twirled their powder-blue jerseys. The United States players shook hands, patted backs and stayed focused on next summer.
As one of the few holdovers from the 2004 team, which lost by 19 points to Puerto Rico in its opening game in Athens, Anthony is clear about the broader picture.
source : nytimes.com
Obligation Will Delay Yi's Grand Opening With Bucks
Since the time the Milwaukee Bucks drafted him on June 28, not much has been routine about the acquisition of Chinese power forward Yi Jianlian.
So it makes sense that getting him into Bucks training camp won't be routine either.
It appears Yi won't be able to report to the Cousins Center until Oct. 3 at the earliest, because he is scheduled to play for the Chinese national team in a tournament from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, the day the Bucks open camp.
October is a big month for Yi for another reason too. He turns either 23 or 20 on Oct. 27. Now he may be a talented player, but he's not talented enough to have two birth dates.
It will be interesting to see how Yi handles the issue of his age when he gets here. The best advice anyone can give him is this - tell the truth.
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source : jsonline.com
Nash To Lead NBA Squad In China
edskySteve Nash, Carmelo Anthony and Greg Oden will be on a team of NBA players that will travel to China this month for an exhibition game against Yao Ming and the Chinese national team.
Baron Davis, Leandro Barbosa and Derek Fisher also will play in the Sept. 14 game in Beijing that will raise money for the Special Olympics, the China Hope Project and the Chi Heng Foundation, which benefits Chinese orphans with AIDS.
"I deeply enjoy working with kids, both in China and in the U.S.," Yao said in a statement. "When Steve and I spoke about this idea, we both became very dedicated to making it happen. Plus, it will be great for the Chinese national team to play with and get to know these great players."
The game is being sanctioned by the NBA, one of the league's record 262 international events taking place this offseason. Beijing, the site of next summer's Olympics, is among the 162 cities hosting an event.
source : sportsillustrated.cnn.com
USA Clinches Olympic Berth And Spot In FIBA Finals
USA 135, Puerto Rico 91
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 1 (AP) -- The United States has a ticket to Beijing — and a team capable of cashing it in for gold.
Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points, Michael Redd had 23, and the Americans clinched a spot in the 2008 Olympics by crushing Puerto Rico 135-91 on Saturday in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament.
LeBron James added 19 points and nine assists, Kobe Bryant scored 15 points, and the three stars keyed a dominant third quarter stretch that showed why the Americans will arrive in China as one of the gold medal favorites. Then they headed to the bench, where they sat while fans chanted their names in the final minutes.
Anthony made four 3-pointers during the near-perfect period, when the Americans hit 14 of 16 shots (87.5 percent), including all eight 3-pointers while outscoring Puerto Rico 43-28.
The United States finished 23-of-36 (64 percent) from behind the arc. Redd was 7-of-8, Anthony hit 6-of-7, and Mike Miller was 4-for-6.
The Americans are without a gold medal in their last three major events: the 2004 Olympics, and 2002 and '06 world championships. But they remain untouchable in the Olympic qualifier, improving to 35-0 — with still only one game decided by single digits.
They will try to complete a perfect run in Sunday's final against Argentina, but the game is ultimately meaningless. Both teams locked up berths by winning their semifinal games, joining host China, world champion Spain, and zone champions Iran, Angola and Australia as teams already in the Beijing field.
Larry Ayuso scored 22 points and Carlos Arroyo added 21 for Puerto Rico, which stayed with the U.S. until a curious substitution pattern in the second quarter — not that it would have mattered after what the Americans did in the third.
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source : NBA.com
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