Category: FIBA

EuroBasket 2022 News: Spain trims Guerra and Nu˜ez in final roster cuts

Brandon King

This national team journey has , unfortunately come to an end for Fran Guerra and Juan N¨˜ez, who were the last players cut from the Spanish national team by head coach Sergio Scaiolo. Guerra, a 29-year-old center who played for Lenovo Tenerife of the Spanisch ACB league, averaged 2.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9 minutes per game in the two World Cup Qualifying matchups. N¨˜ez, an 18-yea-old 6’3″ point guard who has drawn some attention from NBA scouts with his playmaking and ability to run a team, averaged 1.0…

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FIBA World Cup: Greece’s Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Antetokounmpo to undergo MRIs

Brandon King

In their match up with Serbia, guard Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Antetokounmpo both reported feeling knee discomfort. Although Sloukas was able to remain in the game, Antetokounmpo was not able to continue, having Te exit the game in the first half. Upon the team’s return to Athens from Belgrade, both players will undergo an MRI. Next up for Greece is a Sunday matchup in Athens against Belgium in more World Cup Qualifiers action. The status of Sloukas and Antetokoumpo are both unknown, as is also the case for forward Ioannis…

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FIBA World Cup: Serbia gets by Greece 100-94 in battle of MVPs

Brandon King

Serbia and Greece was a highly-anticipated matchup that featured teams led by the only two winners of the NBA MVP award over the past four years, in Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and neither the current or the former MVPs disappointed and it was the Serbs who managed to claim victory, 100-94 in over time in front of a record crowd of 19,150. In his first official game with his national team since 2019 Giannis did not disappoint, turning in a monster performance I registering an international career-high of 40…

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FIBA World Cup: Markkanen’s 28 leads Finland past Israel

Brandon King

Finland got their second round shouted off on the right foot with a hard-fought 79-73 victory over Israel. Lauri Markkanen was big again, scoring 28 points, but the five he scored in the game’s final two minutes were critical to Finland securing the victory. A pair of free throws and a three-point play extended the Finnish lead from 73-71 to 77-73 with sixty-six seconds remaining in the contest. In losing effects, Roman Sorkin scored 14 and grabbed 8 rebounds, Nimrod Levi put in 13, and Yam Madar chipped in 11.…

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FIBA World Cup: Slovenia beats Estonia, 104-83

Brandon King

It was a night of easy work for the Slovenian national team as they cleaned up Estonia 104-83. In the first ten minutes of the game, Luka Dončić put a game’s worth of production for some players, racking up 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Dončić finished with a near triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Goran Dragić turned in another strong performance with 19 points and Vlatko Cancar added 14 points. In a losing effort, Kerr Kriisa paced Estonia with 14 points. The win lifted…

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FIBA World Cup: Latvia smokes Turkey 111-85

Brandon King

Behind not shooting and a big game from Kristaps Porzingis, Latvia obliterated Turkey, 111-85. Kristaps Porzingis led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Latvia connected on 20 of their 35 three-point attempts (57%) and led by as much as 31 points in the victory. Davis Bertans scored 17 points, knocking down 5 of his 7 three-point attempts. Rihards Lomazs chipped in 15 points, with Rolands Smits contributed 11. In a losing effort, Cedi Osman and Shane Larkin put in 15 points apiece.The loss drops Turkey to…

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FIBA World Cup News: France blows out Czech Republic, 95-60

Brandon King

France tipped off their second stage of 2023 World Cup Qualifiers in resounding fashion by laying a 95-60 smack down on the Czech Republic. Despite being without Tomas Satoransky, Jaromir Bohacik and Vit Krejci, the Czech Republic carried a 42-38 lead into the half, but the French defense choked out the Czech offense in the second half, only allowing 18 points. The Czech Republic were outscored 60-20 in the painted area and shot a frigid 35.5% from the field. The second half was delayed due to an issue with one…

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FIBA World Cup News: Giannis in, Papagiannis and Papapetrou out for Serbia game

Brandon King

The Hellenic Basketball Federation announced their 12-man roster for their 2023 European World Cup Qualifier matchup against Serbia in Belgrade. One of those names listed that should be pleasing to Greek fans, and to a lesser extent Milwaukee Bucks fans, is Giannis Antetokounmpo. Back and knee soreness had limited Antetokounmpo to just two of Greece’s pre-competition friendly matchups, albeit he did show up big in those pair of games, averaging 27.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per contest. However the squad will be without Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Giannis…

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EuroBasket 2022 News: Andrew Albicy returns to French national team

Brandon King

Monday morning the French Federation of Basketball announced that point guard Andrew Albicy has been medically cleared to rejoin the senior national team. Albicy had been on the shelf for the past three weeks due to a thigh injury. His return to the team now swells the roster to 13 , meaning there will have to be at least one player trimmed to comply with FIBA rules, which allows for 12 players. There is also hope that center Moustapha Fall can rejoin the team; he was initially cut because of…

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FIBA World Cup News: Dennis Schröder not going to Sweden for Qualifiers

Brandon King

The German basketball federation announced that team captain Dennis Schröder is undergoing treatment in the nation and will not make the trip to Sweden for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. Schröder, 28, injured his ankle against the Czech Republic in the Hamburg Super Cup Tournament and missed the final against Serbia. It is still up in the air whether Schröder will be available for the second game of the Qualifiers, a home game against Slovenia and Luka Dončić. Schröder is the latest injury to the M.A.S.H. unit that has become…

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