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30 Oct 2009 19:45
Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List announcedKnight Turns Down Hoosier HospitalityS'craft men's hoops fires 2 coaches, dismisses 5 playersSpartans picked to win Big 10Kansas runaway choice for No. 1 spot in preseason AP pollJudge denies psychiatric evaluation request on alleged Pitino extorterAdreian Payne picks Michigan State over Kentucky and ArizonaNCAA passes rules to limit third-party recruitingCalifornia picked to win Pac-10 hoops titleAmaker ready to take Harvard to greener pasturesNCAA endorses measures to clean up recruiting Diamantidis led Panathinaikos with 22 pts, 5 rebs, and 4 assists In its first Euroleague home game as defending champ, Panathinaikos treated its fans in Athens to a basketball recital on Thursday, blowing out Khimki Moscow Region 101-66 to seize first place in Group D. After two weeks, Panathinaikos is 2-0 and alone atop the group, while Khimki fell to 1-1 - and fell hard. The Greens jumped all over the visitors, who were playing their club's first Euroleague road game, and didn't let up much the rest of the way, going over the 100-point mark in the last minute on a free throw by youngster Giorgos Bogris. Long before that, the superstar outside-inside duo of Dimitris Diamantidis and Nikola Pekoic had taken care of business for the Greens. Diamantidis finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Pekovic had 20 points, Vassilis Spanoulis 12 and another youngster, Giorgi Shermadini, 10. Altogether, the Greens shot 64% (31 of 48) on two-pointers and dished out 24 assists to just 3 for Khimki. The visitors put only one scorer in double figures, Keith Langford with 14 points, as they failed to muster any challenge after the first few minutes.Matt Walsh led Olimpija in defeat with 32 points on 7-of-9 from three Maroussi BC registered its first Euroleague win in club history by downing Union Olimpija 75-81 in epic fashion in Group C in Ljubljana, Slovenia on Thursday night. Maroussi overcame key absences and improved to 1-1. It faces undefeated Group C leader Lottomatica Roma next week. Meanwhile, Olimpija dropped to 0-2 and hosts Caja Laboral in already a critical showdown for both teams. Dimitrios Mavroeidis paced the winners with 18 points. Jamon Lucas added 14, Pat Calathes had 13 while Jared Homan got 12 for Maroussi, that travelled to Ljubljana without Kostas Kaimakoglou and Michalis Pelekanos, both sidelined with the H1N1 flu. Matt Walsh led Olimpija with 32 points on 7-of-9 three-pointers. Sani Becirovic added 13 while Saso Ozbolt had 11 for the hosts, that committed as many as 22 turnovers tonight. Olimpija led 49-48 late in the third quarter but Marios Batis and Mavroeidis allowed Maroussi to get a 52-58 edge soon after that. Walsh buried three consecutive three-pointers to tie the game, 64-64, midway through the fourth quarter. A 2-14 run that Levon Kendall capped with consecutive layups allowed Maroussi to seal a well-deserved win.Splitter’s career-high 26 points and 7 rebounds leads Caja Laboral Caja Laboral survived a stern test from Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv for an 86-81 win behind All-Euroleague center Tiago Splitter’s career-high 26 points and 7 rebounds. All eyes were on former Maccabi player Lior Eliyahu, who did not disappoint with 12 points and 7 rebounds off the bench for the winners, but it was the play of Splitter and Marcelinho Huertas that led Laboral to its first win in Group C. Next week head coach Dusko Ivanovic's men travel to face Union Olimpija. Maccabi, now also 1-1, hosts CSKA Moscow next. Splitter dominated early and had 19 first-half points in taking his team to a 55-44 halftime lead with plenty of help from Eliyahu. Laboral still led by double digits late in the third quarter when David Bluthenthal showed up. He buried 3 three-pointers in a 0-14 Maccabi charge that gave the visitors a 69-73 lead early in the fourth quarter. The game would remain close after that, but 2 Maccabi missed free throws and a pair of clutch plays by Fernando San Emeterio saw Laboral reclaim control and Maccabi was unable to answer with big plays in the final two minutes. Huertas finished with 16 points – 10 in the last six minutes – and San Emeterio added 12 for the winners. Maciej Lampe led Maccabi with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Chuck Eidson scored 16 and Andrew Wisniewski and Bluthenthal netted 12 apiece. Although Maccabi shot 50% from downtown in making 14 triples – led by Bluthenthal's 4 for 4 – its 14 turnovers compared to the hosts' 8 proved meaningful in the end.Bojan Popovic leads Lietuvos Rytas over Entente Orleanaise Lietuvos Rytas kept Entente Orleanaise winless with a 62-69 road win on Thursday evening at the Zenith Arena in Orleans, France. Last year’s Eurocup champ is now tied with Unicaja for first place in Group B with 2-0 records and will host Efes Pilsen next week. Orleans made its home debut before a packed crowd, but L. Rytas applied suffocating defense from the opening tip and took the Orleans fans out of the game till the last quarter. L. Rytas showed great poise, especially from its floor general, Bojan Popovic, by knowing how to respond to every Orleans attempt to get back into the contest. L. Rytas broke the game open on a 4-22 run that stretched over the closing minutes of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, and then Popovic ensured the victory by dominating the third quarter. Orleans never gave up however, and fought to the very end, but could not overcome the lead L. Rytas had build in the first half.Charles Smith led Efes Pilsen’s win with 18 points Efes Pilsen registered its first win in Group B by edging Partizan 77-67 in front of 8,000 fans at Abdi Ipecki Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday night. Efes improved to 1-1 and ties for third place in this group, right behind undefeated leaders Unicaja and Lietuvos Rytas. Meanwhile, Partizan dropped to 0-2 and needs to start winning right away to get closer to the Top 16. Charles Smith led the winners with 18 points. Preston Shumpert added 17 while Igor Rakocevic had 14 for Efes. Aleks Maric led Partizan with 19 points. Bo McCalebb and Jan Vesely each added 10 for the guests. McCalebb also had a game-high 7 assists for Partizan, that led 35-37 at halftime. Smith took over with a dunk and consecutive three-pointers in a 10-0 run that put Efes ahead for good, 55-47. Partizan kept trying and Maric singlehandedly brought his team within 70-66 with under 2 minutes left. A key basket by Kaya Peker and an outstanding Rakocevic allowed Efes to seal a well-deserved win.Juan Carlos Navarro led Barcelona with 20 pts Regal FC Barcelona confirmed its status as a strong contender for the title when it got its first home in on Thursday against Cibona, 81-59. After a tight first half in which Cibona defense managed to keep Barcelona scorers rather quiet, Juan Carlos Navarro and Boniface N'Dong sparked up a third-quarter storm that allowed the hosts to break the game open for good. Terence Morris and Roger Grimau joined the party later to confirm a new win that lifts Barca to the top of the Group A standings with a 2-0 record, while Cibona loses its second in a row and drops to 0-2. Navarro led all scorers with 20 points and Morris added 17 for Barca. For the guests, Marko Tomas led the way with 16 points and Jamont Gordon posted 12 for the losers. For Cibona, Antonio Graves finished the game with a surprising 0 of 7 from the field.Siena’s balance swamps Zalgiris Montepaschi Siena improved to 2-0 in Group A by routing Zalgiris Kaunas 84-64 before a delighted home crowd on Thursday night. Zalgiris came in looking for the upset and played hard during the first half, but the Italian champs proved to be too much on both ends of the court and confirmed they will be a major force this year in the Euroleague. The key to Montepaschi’s big victory was a 13-0 run to close out the first half after Zalgiris had fought back to within 5 points. Benjamin Eze led the winners with 16 points. Henry Domercant and Romain Sato added 15 and 13, respectively while Terrell McIntrye scored 9 points and dished out 7 assists. Marcus Brown had a game-high 17 points for Zalgiris. Dainius Salenga scored 13 and Travis Watson 10 in the losing effort.Hapoel holds on, claims tourney berthCSKA suffer first blow in Euroleague In 1954 the 24-second clock is used in an NBA game for the first time in Rochester, New York. The purpose is to increase fan interest by increasing scoring. They succeed on both counts, as the host Royals beat the Boston Celtics, 98-95. In 1993 in the first-ever NBA pre-season game in Puerto Rico, the Miami Heat defeated the Denver Nuggets, 109-103, before a sold-out crowd at San Juan's Roberto Clemente Coliseum. ------------------------------------ In 2001 John Stockton steps onto the floor with the Utah Jazz on Opening Night, beginning his 18th season with the same team, thereby establishing a new record for longest tenure with one NBA franchise. ------------------------------------ Alex BradleyPhil ChenierTom CopaKevin Edwards J.R.HendersonKareem RushMaurice Taylor
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