Yao Score 21 Points In Charity Game

BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- NBA Houston Rockets center Yao Ming scored 21 points to lead a Chinese all-star team over NBA charity gala all-star team 101-92 here on Friday.

Yi Jianlian, who had been signed by the Milwaukee Bucks as No. 6 pick of this year's NBA draft, added 20 for the Chinese.

Two-time NBA regular season MVP Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony, who played for the Chinese all-star team in the third and fourth quarter respectively, had 13 points apiece while Nash's Phoenix Suns teammate Leandro Barbosa notched game-high 22 points.

The income of the charity game, which was launched by Yao and Nash, will be donated to poor children in Western China.

source : news.xinhuanet.com

Bell Will No Longer Toll

Charlie Bell still has hopes of playing in the National Basketball Association this season but he no longer wants to play for the Milwaukee Bucks.

That was the word Thursday night from Bell's Chicago-based agent, Mark Bartelstein.
The 6-foot-3 Bell and the Bucks have reached an impasse on negotiations for a multiyear contract, and with the start of training camp approaching in less than three weeks, the restricted free agent is ready to move on to a European club or another NBA team.

"A lot of frustration has built up throughout the summer," Bartelstein said. "The Bucks are certainly entitled to do what's in the best interest of the franchise.

"He feels the Bucks have sent him a message about how important he is to them. The waters have become poisoned at this point, and he doesn't want to be in Milwaukee any more."

Bell recently visited Greece and received a substantial contract offer from Olympiakos, one of the top clubs in Europe. Bartelstein said a number of NBA teams were interested in Bell, although the Bucks retain the right to match any offer sheet he will receive.

The Bucks are thought to have offered $3 million per year in a multiyear deal.

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source : jsonline.com

Williams Apologizes, Accepts Responsibility

A written statement released through the team wasn't enough for Shawne Williams
The 21-year-old forward wanted to face the media, answer the hard questions about his arrest earlier this week and ultimately make it clear he was fully prepared to accept responsibility, and punishment, for his actions.

"To me, it's been devastating," Williams said Friday on the main court at Conseco Fieldhouse. "I feel like I let my organization and my teammates down, as well as the Simon brothers and my family."

Williams was suspended three games by team President Larry Bird after forward from Memphis was arrested early Tuesday morning. Though police found marijuana and an unlicensed gun in the vehicle, those items were linked to passengers. Williams was charged with driving without a license, a Class C misdemeanor, and given two traffic citations, one for having expired license plates and one for failure to signal a lane change.

In his written statement issued earlier Friday, Williams said he would not appeal the suspension, saying, "I am very disappointed that I put myself in this position and I take full responsibility and want to be held accountable for my actions."

Roosevelt Rollins, 21, of Memphis, Tenn., is charged with possession of marijuana. The other passenger, Roderick Helton, 32, also of Memphis, is charged with carrying a handgun without a license. Williams described the two as friends of his father and said he would need to be more selective about his future associations.

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source : NBA.com

NBA Launches First Mobile Web Site In China

Beijing, September 14, 2007 – KongZhong Corporation (Nasdaq:KONG) and the National Basketball Association jointly announced today a multi-year partnership agreement and the launch of the official NBA China WAP site that KongZhong will produce and manage. The announcement was made at a press conference with KongZhong Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Zhou Yunfan, NBA China Managing Director Mark Fischer and NBA All-Star Yao Ming.

The new service will provide NBA fans with a broad range of content options including news, scores, editorial content, player interviews, TV schedules, wallpapers, ring tones, video clips and live NBA games.

Users will be able to access the service via the WAP URL cn.nba.com on their mobile handset. The official NBA WAP site will connect NBA fans with the NBA experience anywhere, anytime in China and will feature the latest scores, game and player updates. The site will provide a range of content free to the consumer on an ad-supported basis, as well as offer premium content that users can download.

“We are delighted to be partnering with the NBA to make its compelling content available to Chinese mobile users,” said Zhou. “With the internationalization of the NBA and the nearly 500 million mobile phone users in China, this cooperation symbolizes the rapid growth and the significant influence of wireless Internet as the next-generation media.”

“This partnership with KongZhong provides fans in China yet another way to enjoy the NBA,” said Fischer. “We are thrilled to launch the NBA WAP site in China.”

Yao commented, “The first ever NBA wireless web site in Chinese will give fans access to the NBA anywhere, anytime.”

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source : NBA.com

EURO BASKETBALL 2007 (Final Round) - Update 15 Sept 2007

Quarter-Final Round

Russia - 75 - 71 - France (21-23, 18-19, 14-14, 22-15)

Spain - 83 - 55 - Germany (18-14, 22-13, 26-16, 17-12)

Lithuania - 74 - 72 - Croatia (17-19, 21-16, 15-20, 21-17)

Slovenia - 62 - 63 - Greece (17-14, 17-14, 17-12, 11-23)


Classification Round 5th to 8th Place

France - 69 - 86 - Croatia (13-21, 18-26, 19-14, 19-25)


Germany - Slovenia - In Progress (15.09.2007)


Schedule of Final Round

Semi-Finals

Spain - Greece - 15.09.2007 19:00

Russia - Lithuania - 15.09.2007 21:30

We Meet Again !!

It had to happen again, didn’t it?

Yes, Spain v Greece – a clash of European giants for the second time at EuroBasket 2007.

It is a rematch of the world title game last year in Japan, when Spain overcame the loss of Pau Gasol to injury and, behind the incredible play of Jorge Garbajosa, destroyed the Greeks to capture gold.

Earlier in this tournament, in the qualifying round, Spain defeated Greece 76-58 at the Telefonica Arena.

On Saturday, the game will be at the Palacio Deportes, and the Greeks will hit the court just 20 hours after their stunning come-from-behind victory over Slovenia.

Theo Papaloukas scored 17 points, most of them late in the fourth quarter, as Greece fought back from a 16-point deficit to win 63-62.

Papaloukas put Greece into the lead and scored the final points of the game with a drive to the basket just six seconds from the end.

"If anybody has a heart problem, and this game was difficult for him, we would like to apologize,” Greece coach Panagiotis Yannakis said.

“Basketball is a game until the last second.”

Spain will have had almost two days rest after their comprehensive victory over Germany, and they will have the majority of spectators inside the 15,000-seat arena pulling for them.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Russia, Lithuania Battle For Spot In Finals

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.

“That’s okay,” said Lithuania power forward Darius Songaila. “They’ve had two days to worry about this game, while we have to just go out and play.”

Against Croatia, Songaila and Co. did not play at their best but still managed to win and that’s the sign of a championship-calibre team.

However, Russia can also play much better than they did against France as well, and now that the pressure is off of reaching the semi-finals for the first time in 10 years, David Blatt’s team will be loose and confident.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Germany, Slovenia Look To Bounce Back

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.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Miracle Greece Edge Slovenia

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.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Lithuania Slip Past Croatia, Into Semis

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.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Slovenia Face Tough Greek Test

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’s team put up a terrific fight against Lithuania on Wednesday before fading in the second half and settling for second place in Qualifying Round Group F.

So, despite reaching the quarter-finals with just one loss, Slovenia must take on one of the real powerhouses in the game, the EuroBasket 2005 gold medalists, to stay alive in the competition.

“Greece are still the champions,” Pipan said. “We played two friendly games (this summer) against them but they mean nothing.”

The Greeks finished third in Qualifying Round Group E behind Spain and Russia.

They accomplished this by bouncing back from a heavy loss against the Spanish with a buzzer-beating win against Croatia and a triumph over pesky Portugal.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Lithuania Won't Slow Down

Here's a game of ambitions. Lithuania have no intentions of stopping in the quarter-finals no matter what team stands in their way, they came here to go all the way and can't afford to lose.

Croatia are satisfied with their results so far although they would obviously like to go on but, in case of a loss today, no heads will be chopped off.

And that is great news for Jasmin Repesa's side. The last time they went into a game as clear underdogs with no pressure to lose a game was in their group win against hosts Spain. Then again since that shock result, Croatia have lost three games in a row, all in the qualifying round.

Lithuania will have the best passer of the tournament, Sarunas Jasikevicius, on court. He won't be 100% fit, but there's no chance he's going to sit out.

Coach Ramunas Butautas declared his team can play very well even without him and will hope they'll do it again, as was the case in the second half against Slovenia, so that his key player can be rested as much as possible before the semi finals.

The winners of this game go through to the semi-finals to meet Russia, while the losers will face France to fight for the Olympics qualification berth.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Spain March On To Semis

Two years ago, Jose Manuel Calderon missed a three-pointer at the buzzer as Spain lost to Germany in the 2005 EuroBasket semi-finals. On Thursday the star point guard made sure it wouldn't come down to the final shot, scoring 17 points in spear-heading the world champions' 83-55 drubbing of Germany.

Rudy Fernandez and Juan Carlos Navarro both added 12 points for the superb Spain attack, shooting 57% and the Spanish defense held Dirk Nowitzki to 11 points and the German offense to 33% shooting in their quarter-final showdown in Madrid's Palacio de Deportes.

"We are where we wanted to be, which is the semi-finals. We have the crowd behind us, we are playing as one and we have to take advantage of this," said Calderon.

"We never looked at the score today. All we wanted was to put pressure on Germany and take advantage of their mistakes. Our style is to play with the same intensity for 40 minutes. We have played really well on defense, helping each other out and we have been successful in limiting Dirk Nowitzki."

With the victory, Spain exacted a bit of revenge following Germany's 74-73 victory over Spain in 2005 in Serbia, where Nowitzki buried a baseline jumper over the out-stretched arm of Jorge Garbajosa to pull ahead with three seconds left before Calderon missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Russia End 10-Year Wait

Russia made more of their free-throw attempts down the stretch than France did and that proved the difference as David Blatt’s men won 75-71 to reach their first EuroBasket semi-final in 10 years.

With the game tied at 69-69, J.R. Holden hit both his shots from the line to edge his team ahead 71-69 with 24 seconds left to play.

Nine seconds later, France’s Boris Diaw – who once had an 0 for 11 performance from the foul line against Slovenia in this event two years ago – blew his chance to tie the score when he missed both attempts from the charity stripe.

However, Zakhar Pashutin left the door open for Les Bleus when he did the same as Diaw.
Unfortunately for the 2005 bronze medallists, Tony Parker could only make one of two and Pashutin then made amends for his mistake by sinking a pair from the charity stripe to make it a 73-70 lead with four seconds left.

Russia fouled Parker again and the playmaker hit his first shot before intentionally missing the second in the hope that one of his team-mates getting an offensive rebound. But it wasn’t to be. Holden admitted afterwards a lot of thought went into Russia's "fouling strategy" late in the game.

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source : eurobasket2007.org

Germany Face Big Hurdle Against Hosts

Germany lived to fight another day by beating Italy to reach the quarter-finals of the EuroBasket, but now world champions Spain stand in their way.

The hosts, who lost to Croatia to finish second in Group B, have rebounded nicely with victories over Greece, Russia and Israel to win their qualifying round group.

Pau Gasol played just 18 minutes against the Israelis but scored 26 points, and Jose Calderon provided further evidence that he is on the verge of superstardom with 15 points off the bench on seven of 10 shooting from the floor.

Calderon is shooting 40% (eight of 20) from three-point range in this tournament.

Germany beat a Pau Gasol-less Spain two years ago in Belgrade at EuroBasket 2005 with a late Dirk Nowitzki turn-around jump shot.

Spain coach Pepu Hernandez was not in charge of the team then, but even if he had been, he hinted that that game doesn’t have much significance.

"My team is motivated enough without having to think about avenging what happened in Belgrade," Hernandez said.

For Dirk Bauermann’s team to be successful, Nowitzki’s supporting cast will have to rise too the occasion as they did against Italy, when Johannes Herber and Jan-Hendrik Jagla excelled coming off the bench.

"I like Germany because how they have reacted against adversity,” Hernandez said. “Against Italy, they have played like a team not relying solely on one player. That makes Germany a very dangerous team."

Germany will have to play just one day after their last qualifying round game, while Spain go into the day on two days rest.

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source : eurobasket2007.org