123abc
Years ago

World Basketball News 17/3/07

NBA RESULTS

Dallas 106 def. Boston 101

Leading Scorers:

Dallas: Nowitzki, Howard 30pts

Boston: Pierce 29pts, Green 25pts

Major Stat line: Nowitzki 30pts, 12/13 FT Made, 12rebs, 2asts, 2blks in 37mins

-----------------------------------

Heat 103 def. Kings 97

Leading Scorers:

Heat: O'Neal 23pts, Williams, Jones 19pts

Kings Artest 32pts, Bibby 21pts

Major Stat line: Artest 32pts, 10/13 FT Made, 11rebs, 4asts, 2stls in
39mins

Recap:

O'Neal Carries Heat to Ninth Straight Win

Shaquille O'Neal scored 23 points, Eddie Jones and Jason Williams had 19 apiece, and the Miami Heat extended the NBA's longest current winning streak to nine games with a 103-97 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
James Posey added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the defending champion Heat, who've won 14 straight at home and pulled into a virtual tie with Washington for the Southeast Division lead. Miami (36-29) is two percentage points behind the Wizards (35-28), who were idle Friday and host New Orleans on Saturday.

More

-----------------------------------

Hornets 92 def. Knicks 90

Leading Scorers:

Hornets: Paul 20pts, West 18pts

Knicks Francis 21pts, Frye 20pts

Major Stat line: Francis 21pts, 7/7 FT Made, 3rebs, 10asts in 40mins

Recap:

West, Hornets Edge Knicks to Snap Losing Streak

David West made the go-ahead jumper with 55 seconds remaining, and the New Orleans Hornets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 92-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night.
West finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who erased an 18-point deficit. Chris Paul, playing with a stress reaction in his left foot, had 20 points and eight assists, and Rasual Butler scored 17 points.
Steve Francis had 21 points and 10 assists, but missed a potential winning 3-pointer as the Knicks had a disappointing start to a four-game homestand.

More

-----------------------------------

Other Scores:

76ers 89 def. Jazz 88
Boxscore
Recap

Rockets 114 def. Raptors 100
Boxscore
Recap

Clippers 102 def. Bobcats 93
Boxscore
Recap

-----------------------------------

Chris Bosh Chat

Drew, Denver: Is your body tired from the world basketball championship? Do you ever get sick of basketball?

Chris Bosh: Ha-ha (Laughing) Of course not! I love playing basketball and basketball loves me! I'm not tired. I had been out since late March, so I saw it as a good boost for me, a way to stay in shape playing with some of the best players in the world.

Craig (Aurora): Chris let us know about TJ Ford the man (his comeback was inspiring) and how you envision playing with him.

Chris Bosh: T.J. Ford is a good guy, easy to get along with and a funny guy. Of course, he brings hard work and unselfish play to the Raptors. He's a great talent, but he is not a bragger. He comes to work and does whatever he can do. He'll help us run. He's very explosive for his size. I think he'll bring fastpaced, exciting basketball to Toronto, which should help us accomplish two things: win games, and provide some great entertainment for our fans.

Lisa , San Antonio, TX: Chris- What do you think about having Rasho to help you hold down the paint now?

Chris Bosh: Ha-ha (Laughing) I'm excited about that. We've had some trouble at center and to have a big guy who can finish around the basket and make plays will be very big for us as a team.

More

-----------------------------------

Chris Bosh Chat

Jon, Wilkesboro: BK, You are the nicest player on the Bobcats team, you are always friendly. Question, how will the new rookies fit in with the existing team? What is the chemistry between yourself and the new players? Have a great season, see you at the game!!

Brevin Knight: Our chemistry will be fine. Our rookies will come in and see that we never quit here, we always keep competing. I think they'll fit in fine with our system and we will compete as a team.

Howard, Richmond Virginia: Hi Brevin! I wanted to know how you felt when you learn that Michael Jordan was joining the bobcats?

Brevin Knight: I was excited. Any time you get a chance to work with, arguably, the greatest player to ever play the game, that's a good thing. We'll listen to everything he has to say, and we'll also try to beat him in games of one-on-one so we can have something to tell our grandkids about. But, as an organization, it's fantastic for us to have someone of his stature, with his knowledge and experience, as part of our team.

Henderson NC: What is like playing with Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor?

Brevin Knight: It's high energy with Gerald and intellect on Emeka's side. Gerald is always on the go and Emeka had some injuries last year, but we think he'll be back stronger than ever for us.

More

-----------------------------------

GORDON'S BLOG

We're on a nice little roll right now at 39-28 having won our last four. This is actually the most games over .500 that we've been all season, which is what you want as a team when you are getting closer to the playoffs. Our schedule over the next couple of games is favorable we play Memphis, the Clippers, Denver, Indiana and Portland so we really want to capitalize on this and make sure that we don't drop games that we feel we should win.

Memphis is a team that has been struggling all year and they're actually one of the teams people were mentioning that I could be traded to. They've got talent, but they're young and it has shown in their record. We're not underestimating them, but that is a game we definitely think we should go in and get. The other teams like the Clippers and the Nuggets, they are two teams that have beaten us already. Even though they are different teams from when we saw them last, we still have a bit of payback on our minds.

More

-----------------------------------

Defending Bryant Is Costly for Jackson

The Los Angeles Lakers and their coach, Phil Jackson, were each fined $50,000 by the N.B.A. yesterday after Jackson said the league was conducting a "witch hunt" against Kobe Bryant.
Bryant has received two one-game suspensions this season for striking players in the face after taking a shot. The league retroactively assessed Bryant with a flagrant foul for elbowing Philadelphia's Kyle Korver last week, a play that didn't even draw a foul.

More

Knicks Struggle to Get the Ball to Curry

Although it has been the Knicks' key to winning all season, Coach Isaiah Thomas found himself screaming at his players Thursday to get Eddy Curry the ball in the post.

Thomas' frustrations came a day after the Knicks' 10-point loss to the Toronto Raptors, when Curry was held to 13 points and took only nine shots. After the game, without singling out any of his teammates, Curry complained about the number of touches he received.

More

Ex - Cav Boozer Returns to Cleveland

It's been nearly three years since Carlos Boozer spurned the Cavaliers to make more money in Utah. Surely, fans have forgotten by now. Or maybe not.
Fan Gerry Elliot said he hates Boozer.

'He threw the Cavs under the bus,' the 45-year-old said.
Boozer hasn't returned to Cleveland since he left in the summer of 2004. Injuries kept him from playing the Cavaliers when the Jazz visited the last two seasons.

More

San Antonio Express

Streak snuffed in Milwaukee:
Spurs' defense, shooters fail to keep up with Bucks in bid for 14th-straight
victory

The Milwaukee Bucks had a new coach, Manu Ginobili and Brent Barry were back to eating solid food and, still, the Spurs looked up at the Bradley Center scoreboard late Thursday and wondered if anything had changed from two months ago.
Had they simply propped up their feet at home and plugged in a DVD of their last meeting with the Bucks, the Spurs could have saved themselves a little gas money and a lot of time.

More

How
important was the Suns' victory over the Mavs?

Back in January, before the Mavericks started their third double-digit win streak of the season, Suns' coach Mike D'Antoni talked openly about the playoff advantage that would accrue to the team with the Western Conference's best record.

Finishing second in the top-heavy conference, D'Antoni knew, would put a very good team on the same side of the playoff bracket with another of the West's elite teams.

More

Supporting cast leads Heat rescue

For three weeks, the Heat has answered the challenge. It has overcome demoralizing injuries, late deficits and, most of all, many doubters.

'We have to be active participants in our own rescue,' Heat coach Pat Riley said when he challenged his players seven games ago. The Heat's purpose was to not only salvage its injury-riddled season, but to also savor the opportunity to do so. Thursday's 93-86 victory against the Nets at Continental Airlines Arena was the latest episode in the Heat's search-and-save mission.

More

Heat seeking consistency

Before a comeback victory becomes thrilling, it can be telling.
And when the Heat fell behind by double-figures in each of if past two games, coach Pat Riley took note of the reasons for the early struggles and wasn't blinded by the final results.
'I thought the third quarter Sunday night against Washington, I saw the complacency of taking things for granted,' Riley said. ``We've been playing well, playing hard, and then we thought we could just come out and play and not compete the way we'd been competing.'

More

Wizards.com

UPDATE: CARON BUTLER OUT 7-10 DAYS

An MRI exam taken yesterday was negative and revealed no structural damage to the knee.

"There is a lot of stiffness in my knee," said Butler Friday. "The MRI saw that there was no structural damage. It was a relief after I found that out. The way to solve the problem is getting rest, icing, and just giving it a little break. I will be here working so I can get back on the court as soon as possible. It is going to be tough, but I think we have good personnel. Guys are ready to step up."

More

Bulls.com

Bulls glad they didn't deal Deng

Swapping
him for Gasol might have been a grisly move

Luol Deng winced, and not because two jammed fingers on his shooting hand forced him to leave Friday's practice early.

"I knew somebody was going to ask that," Deng said, a pained expression on his face.
The questionhad he let his mind wander to what might have been?came in advance of Saturday's game in Memphis. It's the first matchup between Deng and the Bulls and Pau Gasol and the Grizzlies since the teams engaged in trade talks in February.

General manager John Paxson's steadfast refusal to include Deng in any exchange led to the Feb. 22 trade deadline passing with no deal.

More

Numbers sort of lie; Bulls pull one out
Hinrich's late jumper caps 4th-quarter rally

The last time the Bulls visited the Wachovia Center, they played poorly and lost by 15.

Wednesday night they committed 15 turnovers, shot 40 percent from the free-throw line and still won 88-87 on Kirk Hinrich's 18-foot jumper with 26.9 seconds remaining.
After their second double-digit, fourth-quarter comeback this month, the Bulls are 10-3 since the All-Star break. They have won five of seven road games and stand a season-high 11 games above .500.

"Good teams in this league are the ones who can come on the road and pull out a win like this," Ben Wallace said.

Few could have predicted this on that Nov. 24 night that dropped the Bulls to 3-9 and, worse, contained the incident that set off Wallace.

More

-----------------------------------

Game Report

Maccabi Elite 98 def. Pau-Orthez 94

Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv held off EB Pau-Orthez in overtime 94-98 in France on Thursday night to seal second place in Group D and a meeting with rival CSKA Moscow in the Quarterfinal Playoffs for a spot in the Final Four. Maccabi led from the start until the closing seconds, when Aaron Miles went to the line with his team trailing by 3, made one free throw, missed the second on purpose, then grabbed the rebound and sank a short jumper to tie the game at 89-89 with 2.4 seconds left in regulation. Maccabi captain Derrick Sharp missed a chance to win it with a three at the buzzer and the teams went to overtime. Pau continued its momentum and scored the first 5 points of the extra period, but ran out of steam and Maccabi finished the game with 9 unanswered points. The turning point came when Michael Wright missed two free throws with 12 seconds to go in overtime and Sharp sank to to seal the win with 6.7 on the clock. Maccabi improved to 3-2 in Group D and will host Lottomatica Roma next week in a game for protocol only. Pau dropped to 1-4 and will end its season next week at Tau Ceramica. Tal Burstein had his best game of the season, making up for the absence of All-Euroleague center Nikola Vujcic with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Will Bynum added 20 and Lior Eliyahu posted 12 points and 8 rebounds. Yaniv Green, starting for the first time this season in place of Vujcic, finished with a season-high 10. Wright led Pau with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 11 fouls drawn. He was 12-for-14 from the line before missing the fateful free throws. C.C. Harrison added 17, Miles 14 and 5 assists, Melvin Sanders scored 12 and Ricardo Greer posted 10 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists in defeat.

More

Game Report

Efes Pilsen 82 def. Winterthur FCB 78

Efes Pilsen got its first Top 16 win in Group F by beating Winterthur FC Barcelona 82-78 in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday night. Efes, though already eliminated from teh Quarterfinal Playoffs race, improved to 1-4. Meanwhile, Barcelona dropped to 3-2, is already qualified for the playoffs and will finish in second place no matter what if Panathinaikos beats Prokom Trefl on Thursday. Marcus Haislip led the winnes with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Kerem Gonlum added 18 points, while Cuneyt Erden had 11 for Efes. Juan Carlos Navarro had 16 points for Barcelona, Fran Vazquez added 14 and Jaka Lakovic 12. Gonlum had all his team's points in a 10-0 run that allowed Efes to take a 46-39 lead at halftime, while Haislip took over in the third quarter to make it a 15-point game, 60-45. Roko-Leni Ukic, Vazquez and Lakovic rallied Barcelona to within 78-77 with 41 seconds to go before free throws by Baris Hersek and Gonlum allowed Efes to seal the outcome.

More

Game Report

CSKA - Olympiacos: 83-79

CSKA Moscow wrapped up first place in Group E of the Top 16 and with it home-court advantage in the Quarterfinal Playoffs with an 83-79 win over a spirited Olympiacos Piraeus on Wednesday night in the Russian capital. A close game came down to free-throw shooting in the closing seconds and when Scoonie Penn missed a pair down 3 with 5.9 seconds to go, the hosts were able to celebrate their 16th straight win this season. CSKA is now 5-0 in Group E and will face the second place side from Group D in the quarters. Olympiacos dropped to 2-3 and must beat DKV Joventut at home next week to advance to the next stage. CSKA crushed Olympiacos by 21 in Greece just two weeks ago, but this game developed much differently as the visitors played tough defense that kept them alive throughout the evening. But CSKA had a red-hot shooting night from downtown, with Trajan Langdon and J.R. Holden each drilling four three-pointers as the team shot 12-for-21 (57.1%) from beyond the arc. Langdon finished with a season-high 23 to lead CSKA, while Matjaz Smodis added 20 and Holden 16. Scoonie Penn and Ioannis Bourousis posted 16 each for the visiting side, while Alex Acker had 11 and Sofoklis Schortsanitis 10 before fouling out.

More

-----------------------------------

David Anderson Pics

-----------------------------------

Interview

Kosta Perovic

What would it mean to the fans in Belgrade if there is a game next week against CSKA and Partizan still has chances in a big showdown with the champs?

"It would be something special, for sure. Of course, in Belgrade there is a full gym of 7,000 people whenever we play in the Euroleague. But, if we can beat Joventut and CSKA beats Olympiacos, it would be a special chance for our fans to support us against CSKA with the chance of going to the playoffs. We had a few good chances in our recent games, as against Olympiacos last week, but didn't come through. First, we have to win against Joventut."

As you said, you and the club have been trying for years to get this far. Is it what you expected in terms of excitement and the playing level?

"I don't know what to say about what we expected. What we expected was to make it to the Top 16 every single year, so that was the big challenge. Now that our goal has come through, we are just glad to keep working on it and make it better."

More

-----------------------------------

How do you drive to Spokane Arena from Rock Hill, S.C.?

"Drive to Sioux Falls, Iowa, turn right and drive another 1,298 miles," said Andrew Dys, a reporter for The Herald of Rock Hill. Dys and Gary McCann, the newspaper's sports editor, left Rock Hill around 6 a.m. Tuesday. Two days, 13 cups of coffee and nearly 2,700 miles later, the pair arrived at their hotel in Spokane. "We even made last call," Dys said. Last call might never come in Rock Hill this weekend, not after No. 11 seed Winthrop upset No. 6 seed Notre Dame 74-64 in a first-round game of the Midwest Region. Winthrop advanced to the second round to play No. 3 seed Oregon, a 58-56 winner over No. 14 seed Miami (Ohio).

More

UNLV knocks off Ga. Tech for first tourney win in 16 years

Shades of the Shark? Maybe.
If nothing else, UNLV took a big step back toward the top.
The Runnin' Rebels won their first NCAA Tournament game in 16 years, beating Georgia Tech 67-63 Friday behind 19 points each from Michael Umeh and Wendell White.
The last time the Runnin' Rebels won in the NCAA was under Jerry Tarkanian, who led them to the 1991 Final Four. Now under coach Lon Kruger, UNLV (29-6) has an eight-game win streak.
"Everybody knows that this was a great win for Las Vegas, for UNLV and the Mountain West Conference," junior Curtis Terry said. "But we're not done yet."

More

Theus, New Mexico State hoping for Hollywood ending

When former NBA star Reggie Theus was searching for a coaching job after retiring as a player and then broadcaster, his only experience was acting as a coach on Saturday morning TV.
For three years, Theus played the lead role of coach Bill Fuller on the children's show "Hang Time." Unable to find a job on a major college staff, Theus worked one year as a volunteer assistant at Division II Cal State-Los Angeles. He also coached the Southern California All-Stars, a 17-and-under AAU team, and summer league teams for the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets.
Only five years ago, Theus was driving a 15-passenger van and coaching the Las Vegas Slam of the American Basketball Association.

More

Down by as many as 13, Virginia Tech rallies to beat Illinois

Virginia Tech waited 11 years to get back to the NCAA Tournament. Then it took the Hokies nearly 39 minutes to find a way to stick around.
Deron Washington's banked runner in the final minute Friday night helped Virginia Tech rally from a 13-point deficit with just over eight minutes left and beat Illinois 54-52 in a first-round game in the West Regional.
"It kind of reflects who we are," coach Seth Greenberg said. "We don't shoot it the straightest, we make easy things difficult. But we just keep on going. We have a resiliency about us."
The winning shot, like this defense-dominated game, was ugly.
"I wasn't trying to bank it, but I'll take it," Washington said with a wide grin.

More

Hometown kid overlooked by ACC KOs Duke

It is the perfect March Madness script.
A little-known player who wasn't even recruited by the big-boy schools in his hometown area comes back to exact revenge in an NCAA Tournament game, hitting the game-winning shot to stun the tradition-rich powerhouse and add another Cinderella story to the mayhem.
This year, the role of upset specialist belonged to sophomore guard Eric Maynor, who starred as the game-saving hero for 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth.
Maynor, a Fayetteville, N.C., native, ended Duke's season with a 17-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds left, giving the Rams a 79-77 victory at HSBC Arena and the national spotlight as the only team with a major upset on the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

More

-----------------------------------

STARS Run Away With Win

Youthtown Auckland Stars took advantage of a foul count that robbed their opponents of Americans Mychal Green and Michael Joiner at crunch time, dispensing of Scenic Circle Canterbury Rams 92-79 on the road in the Dominion Finance NBL.
Both Green and Joiner headed to the sidelines early with five fouls each, exposing the Rams' young, raw bench. The Stars, ahead by just three points with a couple of minutes to play, simply closed the game with 12 unanswered points to secure their first win of the season.

More

Other Scores:

Appliance Shed Harbour Heat 72 (Tim Behrendorff 21) Easy LPG Bay Hawks 69 (Kareem Johnson 17)

TET Taranaki Mountain Airs 91 (Link Abrams 19, Garry Hill-Thomas 18, Ben Jeffrey 16, Kaine Hokianga 15) Century City Wellington Saints 80 (George Leafa 19, Troy McLean 14, Adrian Majstrovich 10, Andrew Rice 10)

-----------------------------------

VIDEOS