FIBA World Championship - Thread Retired

[Fresh8]

Team USA win big, Spain win bigger…
The New Dream Team Actually Play Like a Team

By WILL SIT, AP Writer
August 28, 2006

JAPAN (AP) -- Team USA continues to play unselfish team basketball. Their free flowing passing game, hard lock down defence and superior athleticism makes them red hot favourites to win the World Championship. Led by Chris Bosh’s team high 16 points, Team USA had 6 players score in double figures and looked dangerous from start to finish.

Unfortunately for the Australia Post Boomers, they were on the receiving end of America’s best game of the tournament thus far. Andrew Bogut finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds after being constantly hounded by the US rotation of Bosh, Dwight Howard and Elton Brand. He was happy that his team could keep within 20 points of their opponents.

Chris Paul impressed Coach K with another all-around performance starting at the PG spot with 11 points and 7 assists. SF LeBron James finished with 12 points, SF Carmelo Anthony had 11, Dwight Howard had 15 and 10 rebounds while Elton Brand scored 13 points and had 3 blocks. Dwyane Wade showed everyone that he didn’t need to score to make an impact as he started the game and wound up with just 6 points but did grab 6 rebounds and hand out 8 assists while stealing the ball 4 times.

Coach K was happy with his team’s form as they enter into the next game against Spain on a 6-0 record. “Add that (6 wins) to all of our exhibition game wins and we’re looking pretty dangerous,” Coach K said, “But I encourage everyone not to overrate us and I will assure everyone that I certainly don’t think lower of any other team in this competition. Australia put up a good fight and made us play harder. We had to dig in deep to beat them.”

Coach K was once again happy with his role players Shane Battier and Bruce Bowen. The two came on for 8 and 11 minutes respectively and played hard defence and denied the Aussies any hope of a comeback.

“When Bruce and Shane came on, we regained control of the game and stopped Australia from making a run. It was good on their (Australia) part and it was equally good on our part to stop them,” Coach K stated. He was referring to the third quarter when Australian captain Jason Smith scored three treys in a row to cut the lead to 7 points before Battier and Bowen helped stop the Australian attack. Not long afterwards, the Americans would be riding a 14-2 run and stayed in front of their opponents from down under.

Australia just couldn’t survive the American onslaught. Apart from Bogut, the only other player to step up for the Boomers was their skipper Jason Smith who finished with a game high 28 points
The United States now advance to play Pau Gasol and Spain. Pau Gasol led Spain with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists in a 116-71 thumping of Serbia and Montenegro.

Game Images

[Jing]

holy shit... Serbia got destoryed!

by the way sit do you have er... Oden on the USA team? or is he an alternate...

and i see the faces are still pretty fucked up... i think the reason why they are is because you didnt you didnt use the "helper" file they gave it. it gives you an order to which to install the files that may have helped. still... wow.. australia got demolished.

[Lakers08]

wow i thought Australia will win against US
GL in your match against Argentina

[Fresh8]

Screw Oden!!! I got this team for USA:

C: Bosh
PF: Melo
SF: LeBron
SG: Wade
PG: Paul

6: Howard
7: Bowen
8: Battier
9: Arenas
10: Brand
11: Miller
12: Johnson

And yeh, CFs are a bit screwed... i know i installed right... ah well.. i will just get some other patches to fix the NBA faces lol... and played China-Argentina so that will be posted tonight when i get home...

[Kemp]

No Kobe. Well, they can win without Kobe. The USA have lots of weapons on the floor. Man, the Boomers need Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal back.

[Srbija]

Obviously this was rigged.

[funk99]

they tryed hard the aussies boys give them credit

[Mark.]

Ohhh nice win by NZ, haha betting my life savings.

Nice to see the US team playing unselfishly, oh BTW its Mark Dickel, not Mike Dickel

[Fresh8]

Nice to see the US team playing unselfishly, oh BTW its Mark Dickel, not Mike Dickel

- Mark, Mike, Hitler... all sound the same

they tryed hard the aussies boys give them credit

- I remember USA vs Aus in Athens... when we led in that game Watched it till late in the night lol... got up next day at 5 to go to training... the spirit at training was at a high... love it what sports can do to u And yes.. the cyber aussies gave it their all lol

Obviously this was rigged.

- Not really.. i think Serbia hasn't beaten Spain once since Athens lol

No Kobe. Well, they can win without Kobe. The USA have lots of weapons on the floor. Man, the Boomers need Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal back.

- Though I'd make it realistic.. i felt heaps bad when Kobe withdrew IRL... still wanna kick his shins for it!

[Fresh8]

Argentina-China Goes Down to the Wire
When China Thought They Were safe, Argentina Fight Back

By WILL SIT, AP Writer
August 30, 2006

CHN: 27 - 21 - 14 - 25 - 87
ARG: 11 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 83

JAPAN (AP) -- Argentina thought they had China figured out. Boy, were they wrong.

Lucky for the Argentineans, the Chinese let their inexperience and lack of strength be exploited and nearly let the win get away. Please note, ‘nearly’ because it was very close.

Yao Ming had another big game with 27 points (12-18 FG), 15 rebounds and 5 blocks. The Houston Rockets centre has had a stellar tournament thus far and in this game, it was only fitting that he was the one to seal the win with two free throws with 4.6 seconds left. C Wang Zhizhi had another near triple double with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Li Nan and Liu Wei both chipped in 16 points apiece after beginning the game on fire from long range.

PG Pepe Sanchez and PF Luis Scola helped Argentina come back from a double digit deficit after halftime to make the game competitive again. Sanchez had 17 and 11 aisssts while Scola had 17 and 8 rebounds. Manu Ginobili struggled with 10 points on 4 for 12 shooting. He and fellow NBA player Nocioni both fouled out in the second half of the game and this dealt a huge blow to the Argentineans.

China came out of the blocks with a flair and intensity no one has ever seen from the team. Yao started the scoring with a thundering dunk before Liu Wei sunk a deep three. Yao then scored two more baskets before the Argentineans put their first points on the board. The Chinese went on a tear with Wang Zhizhi scoring a lay up, Zhu scoring back to back jumpers and Liu scoring on the fast break.

Argentina tried to get back in it with a short 6-0 run but China’s Coach Kazlauskas called a timeout and the team went back out to watch Li Nan sink a three pointer at the buzzer to keep China in the lead 27-11. The second half began with China continuing their dominance with another two treys from Li Nan and helping China continue a 14-0 scoring run.

Argentina then was called into a time out and came out more focused. The team was led by Luis Scola who out muscled the Chinese on defence while Sanchez leant a hand in scoring. China’s inexperience was exploited and Argentina looked like a far more superior team than they did at the start of the game.

As halftime approached, China struggled to score as Argentina continued to roll on. The third period was no different as Argentina stretched their scoring run to 16-0 over the two quarters. The South Americans also took their first lead of the night midway through the quarter after a Manu Ginobili dunk. Sanchez and Scola continued to burn the Chinese defence as China struggled to keep their opponents at bay. China regained control of the tempo of the game by the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter was a run and gun affair as China went to Yao on every possession and the Argentineans went gunning away from behind the arc. Argentina took a 7 point lead but with 5:32 left, Nocioni fouled out and then 2 minutes later, Ginobili followed him to the locker room with his own fifth personal foul.

At that stage, China was trailing by 5 and took advantage of Argentina missing two of its better players. Liu Wei made a jumper from near the baseline and Wang Zhizhi made a three pointer on the following play to even the scores at 83-83 with 1:15 left. Scola tried to get around Yao but went out of bounds before Liu Wei was fouled on a three pointer. The Chinese PG scored two of his three free shots before the Chinese scrambled back to the other end and held Argentina for the full duration of the shot clock. SG Carlos Delfino took a tough shot from close to the top of the key and it was an air ball.

China took one last time out with 5 seconds left and Yao was then fouled with the ball. He made both free throws to ice the game.

Coach Kazlauskas was extremely proud of his side but also noted that here was plenty of room for improvement, “If we want to contest for the gold medal, we need to play a lot harder and keep our intensity at a high level for the whole game and not for certain parts of it. Maybe we should have won by 20 points but I must say that I’m not complaining.”

San Antonio Spurs star SG Manu Ginobili was a bit shocked with his team’s shock departure but was honest with himself and the media, “Tonight, we underestimated our opponents and we lost to a team that simply played a lot harder tonight.”

Box Score

China
Argentina

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[Fresh8]

The World Keeps On Spinning…
… Greeks and Others Wonder Why!

By WILL SIT, AP Writer
August 30, 2006

JAPAN (AP) -- People are beginning to wonder what this World is turning into as the strangest of events occured yesterday. Nigeria are into the semi finals at the World Championships!

. The Greek National Team coach even said bitterly to the media, “I think the Earth has stopped spinning or maybe I’m just dreaming and I will wake up with a real team winning.”

African Nation Nigeria pulled off another upset after beating Germany in the first round. This time, Greece fell victim to the African nation in the dying minutes of the game. Nigeria hustled ferociously and grinded it out. They denied the Greeks any easy shots and made sure the European champions wouldn’t get anything from their dribbles or passes.

PG Kingsley Ogwudire had another terrific game with 16 points and 13 assists. PF Ekene Ibekwe put up 18 points and 10 rebounds from off the bench while C Julius Nwosu led Nigeria with 22 points.

SF Michalis Kakiouzis scored 20 points while grabbing 14 rebounds and PF Antonis Fotsis had 14 points. However, it was SG Nikos Chatzivrettas who must feel most cheated after he played his best game of the tournament by scoring 39 points and adding 5 rebounds and 6 assists. PG Dimitrios Diamantidis was disappointing as he struggled to find his rhythm, finishing with just 7 points and having only 3 assists.

Chatzivrettas led the Greeks from the start as he scored from all over the floor. Nigeria played hard though and kept up with the Greek star. The two teams traded basket for basket for much of the match with Greece on top most of the game. Chatzivrettas was inspirational when Nigeria took a 2 point lead late in the game.

Chatzivrettas scored on a finger roll then stole the ball and passed to an open Fotsis for an easy lay up and a 2 point lead. Nigeria then proceeded to stun their opposition as SF Ime Udoka scored a near impossible lay up before Ogwudire scored a quick three pointer with just 23 seconds left. After Diamantidis missed a three to tie the game, Ibekwe was sent to the line where he sank two free throws to seal the upset win over Greece.

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[Mark.]

Whoa two big upsets, although Im assuming we are gonna see the Chinese in the Finals and most likely taking the Gold. Zhizhi is playing awesome, way above expectations?

[funk99]

whoa man huge upsets. what a game by wang zhizhi

[Jing]

wait wait wait… Liu Wei… Make… .Jumpers? Sadly this is only a dynasty.
Go China. Good win

by the way… china lost to germany 82-73 in the Stankovic Cup

bumsen Sie die Deutschen! Sie müssen sterben! China Für immer!

[frenchy]

Do not get mad Flite but I do not think that NZ can beat France

[frenchy]

Do not get mad Flite but I do not think that NZ can beat France

[Fresh8]

Whoa two big upsets, although Im assuming we are gonna see the Chinese in the Finals and most likely taking the Gold. Zhizhi is playing awesome, way above expectations?

- Don't let anything cloud your judgement, do not assume, only know. And knowng I will win may not be true... Anyways, being serious and not so homosexual... My odds of going on to the Finals I would say are 2-1 while Nigeria should be like... i dunno 25-1 lol If that works haha

whoa man huge upsets. what a game by wang zhizhi

- Same as real life... Wang and Yao leading our team!

wait wait wait… Liu Wei… Make… .Jumpers? Sadly this is only a dynasty.
Go China. Good win

- Dont worry, I just didn't say how he shot .333 lol Now you know though!!! And Sun Yue and Yi Jianlan are playing shithouse still...

Do not get mad Flite but I do not think that NZ can beat France

- Actually frenchy, I think NZ (Jumping on the bandwagon maybe? lol) has as much chance as any other team... seeing that they are sorta unknown commodities to other countries, they can pull off upsets.. and thats whats great bout sport...

[Jing]

Sun is just playing the way he is in real life... he went 1-3 from the field and 1-4 from the line against Germany... though I seriously think Chen should be kept on the senior team... he scored 10 points in 20 minutes

Yao played decent in his first basketball game in month. He'll get better and China will improve that 14th FIBA ranking

[Fresh8]

Rankings dont mean shit... look at FIFA rankings... not sure how FIBA ranks teams but i guess it does a good job.. at least China isnt like 2nd or 3rd lol... if it were the FIFA system, I reckon due to how we dominate in Asia, we would be a Top 5 team haha...

And Yao had 11 in 24 minutes or so... not bad, he just gotta ease back into the team and playing bball.. should be ready after the next 2-3 games...

Chen can make the team... even if he doesnt, we now know that he is good and got potential (I assume that cause hes a young one)... still, i think he gotta prove himself in an actual game that means something before we go apeshit over him... this reminds me yesterday some dude was talking bout this and I mentioned China and he's like, "All u got is Yao and that Chen guy..."... i was thikinng, "Since when was Chen more important than players like Wang, Zhu, etc... established senior players and stuff..." i guess the world is kinda crazy!

[Fresh8]

I am having heaps of trouble with this question in my library assignment... if anyone whos a rock fan can help me... i cant find the answer...

The Moral Majority were a rock band formed in Canberra in 1986 with Trevor Cameron on drums, Johnny Morris on bass and vocals and Martin Wood on guitar and vocals. The band released a single in the same year with the title:
"Bird Bath"
"Solipsis"
"Anyone for cricket?"
"Graveyard Stand"
"You don't know what you mean to me"

[bigh0rt]

Have you searched google with the field: Moral Majority 1986 single (song title)??

[Fresh8]

I can't even find if they exist or not lol

[Fresh8]

No Fairytale Ending for Tall Blacks
Highest New Zealand Can Finish is Fifth

By WILL SIT, AP Writer
August 30, 2006

JAPAN (AP) -- Italy proved to be a bit better in the end as New Zealand failed to beat a team they considered to be at least equal to their ability. The Kiwi offence abruptly put to a halt as the Italians got down and dirty on defence.

The Italians annoyed their opponents so much that PF Pero Cameron called them ‘dirty.’ A hard foul on PG Kirk Penney triggered Cameron and NBA C Sean Marks to confront their Italian opponents and the two were called for technical fouls leading to two made free throws and Fotsis scoring on the ensuing possession pushing Italy to a 9 point advantage with less than 3 minutes left in the game.

New Zealand couldn’t get any closer after that point and bowed out of the FIBA World Championship Semi-final round.

Kirk Penney led New Zealand with 18 points with Sean Marks chipping in a double double performance of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Pero Cameron scored 13 points. The Athens silver medallists got a game high 26 points from PG Gianluca Basile.

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[Jing]

man i get soo frustrated when shit like that happens man... and you cant change the sliders cause then you would get more fouls on your own team.

[Fresh8]

Americans Stun Spaniards
USA Defence Stifles Spanish

By WILL SIT, AP Writer
August 30, 2006

JAPAN (AP) -- The more the Americans tried to score, the less it worked against Spain as they matched the United State’s fire power. When the Americans turned their focus to defence, they found their key to success.

Pau Gasol was inspirational leading Spain with 28 points and 14 rebounds while Juan Carlos Navarro had 16 points and Jose Calderon had 8 points and a tournament high 15 assists. Team USA was led by Lebron James’ 22 points, Dwight Howard’s 18 and 16 points from Chris Bosh. Dwyane Wade had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Spanish did well by keeping close with the United States for much of the game up until the fourth quarter when the Americans turned to defence and shut down Spain for much of the final period.

Spain was outscored 26-11 and out muscled in the paint as the Americans held a 14-3 rebounding advantage in the final quarter.

Coach K of Team USA was happy with his team’s latest performance, “I think I can safely say that we (USA) are a frontrunner for the gold. Looking at the rest of the draw, I have to admit that Italy is the only team that troubles us now. Nigeria and China are unfortunately not at Italy or our level.”

Team captain Brad Miller was happy that his team made the Semi Final round, “This is a great achievement and I’m sure that the boys are looking to win the gold medal. That’s our aim of this tourney!”

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