Round the Globe

In the hoop world toaday it looks like Jason Kidd will stay in Dallas, Rasheed Wallace may go to Boston and Hedo Turkoglu will go to Toronto.

From FIBA here is the Day 4 report of the Under 19 World championships as reported on: www.fiba.com

AUCKLAND (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Day 4 of the FIBA U19 World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand belonged to Puerto Rico guard Mike Rosario.

The 191cm guard, who attends Rutgers University, scored a remarkable 54 points, including 17 final quarter points to carry his team back from the brink, after France had taken an 83-76 lead with 3:20 remaining in the game.

Rosario hit three key baskets down the stretch, including a two pointer to tie scores at 89-89 with 40 seconds to play. Andrew Albicy (28 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steal) was outstanding for France all night, but missed an open three point shot to win the game with three seconds to play.

Raymond Cintron grabbed the rebound and rushed down the court, finding Kevin Young under the basket, who was fouled with 0.6 seconds remaining. Young missed the first but made the second and, fittingly, Rosario stole the inbounds pass to secure an incredible win for his country.

Egyptian Amro Sherif Abdelhalim also had a day to remember, recording 26 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals. Unfortunately for him, his team went down 94-73 to Lithuania after leading 17-8 after five minutes, and trailing just 40-42 at half time.

Gediminas Bertasius (24 points, 9/1 fg, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) was excellent for Lithuania, as were Donatas Motiejunas (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Gediminas Orelik (14 points).

The USA outlasted Greece, who impressed in the first half put could not maintain their intensity for four quarters, losing 85-69.

The chief destroyer for the USA was Howard Thompkins, who relished the physical battle in the paint to collect 22 points on 10/14 shooting. The USA out-rebounded Greece 38-26 and scored 34 points in the paint to Greece’s 18, thanks largely to Thompkins.

For Greece, only Nikolaos Pappas could break the Americans shackles in the second half, scoring 7 of his 11 points. Pappas grabbed 4 rebounds and handed out 4 assists, but received scant support down the stretch, with only Kostas Sloukas (10 points) joining him in double figures.

The host nation New Zealand finally claimed its first win after three heartbreaking losses, defeating Syria 93-75. Centre Rob Loe was outstanding with 25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, and drew 8 fouls on Syria.

Richie Edwards collected 17 points and 7 rebounds for New Zealand, while Tarek Al Jabe scored 15 points and Orwa Al Shatti 14 for Syria.

In the other classification game, Angola won their first game of the tournament, coming from 12 down at quarter time to overrun Iran, 62-53. Forward Eduardo Ferreira led the way with 19 points, and Miguel Kiala continued his excellent form inside with 14 points, 20 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Captain Arsalan Kazemi with 19 points, 20 rebounds and 4 steals for Iran.

Argentina claimed an emotional win ion the ‘Latino derby’, with an 11-4 Argentinean run late in the third quarter and an unsportsmanlike foul by Spaniard Marcos Molina the keys to the result.

Molina fouled Matias Nocedal heavily on a fast break lay-up with 4:11 remaining in the game with Argentina leading 69-64. Nocedal made both free throws and nailed a three point shot on the ensuing possession to extend the lead to 10 and effectively end the contest.

Nocedal finshed with 22 points, Gonzalez with 17 points and Lisandro Rasio 13 points and 13 rebounds. For Spain, star point guard Daniel Perez finished with 19 points, 3 assists, 3 steals but 5 turnovers.

Guard Cory Joseph led Canada to a winning position against Croatia, but Croat Dino Butorac nailed three triples in a tense final quarter to seal an 83-77 win, and keep his team’s unbeaten record in tact.

Despite both being subdued by the Canadian defence in the second half, Mario Delas (26 points, 10/16 fg, 10 rebounds) and Toni Prostran (29 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) were clearly Croatia’s best players.

Joseph finished with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers, and received scoring support from Mangisto Arop (22 points, 5 rebounds).

Australia made light work of Kazakhstan, rotating their bench from the first quarter and running out easy 87-54 winners. Reserve guard Jason Cadee led the scoring with 17 points, along with star forward Brock Motum.

For Kazakhstan, the dependable Alexandr Tyutyunik performed well with 20 points, and he was joined in double figures by big men Omirzak Akhmet (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Alexandr Zhigulin (10 points, 7 rebounds).

Paulo Kennedy
FIBA