U-19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Egypt is the talk of the FIBA U19 World Championship
Egypt is the talk of the FIBA U19 World Championship after an amazing come from behind overtime victory over Iran on day 2 in Auckland. The Egyptians trailed by 10 at three quarter time but stormed home behind the play of guard Amro Sherif Abdelhalim, who levelled scores with seconds remaining from the free throw line and scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Egypt outscored Iran 11-7 in overtime to win, 95-91. Host nation New Zealand were again the bridesmaids, pushing European bronze medallist Croatia until the final minute, before the class of Mario Delas (31 points, 14 rebounds) proved too much in front of a large and vocal crowd. Missing their starting centre Rob Loe, New Zealand received outstanding performances from Richie Edwards (29 points, 9 rebounds) and Dion Prewster (13 points, 8 rebounds) who had to battle much taller opponents all night. Greece and Puerto Rico put on a shootout and ASB Stadium, scoring 114 points in the first half, before Greece made the big shots in the last quarter to run out 107-98 winners. Leonidas Kaselakis (20 points, 5 assists), Nikolaos Pappas (20 points, 5 assists) and Kostas Papanikolaou (25 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) made the plays that broke the Puerto Rican resistance. Mike Rosario (28 points), Isaac Sosa (20 points, 7/10fg), Raymond Cintron (15 points) and Jio Fontan (15 points, 6 assists) were superb for Puerto Rico. Australia jumped Spain in the first quarter and never gave the Europeans a chance to get back into the contest. Ryan Broekhoff showed great athleticism on his way to 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Brock Motum continued to impress with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Spain, the best three point shooting team at last year’s 2008 U18 European Championship, could manage just 1/13 from the perimeter for the first half and 5/24 for the game. Their best contributor was 200cm Toni Vicens with 17 points on 7/13 field shooting. The USA made it clear that France will not stand between them and a world championship medal, taking a 35-20 half time lead behind some intense and athletic defence. The Americans ran out 71-55 winners, with guard Seth Curry leading a very balanced scoring attack with 12 points for the game on 4/7 three point shooting. Gordon Hayward (11 points) and Ashton Gibbs (10) were also in double figures. Andrew Albicy was clearly best for Les Bleus with 15 points – including 12 in the first half - 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Alexis Tanghe top scored with 16 points. Argentina recorded a 98-69 win over Kazakhstan, who continue to impress with their efforts despite two losses. Top scorers for the American champions were Luciano Gonzalez (16 points), game one hero Matias Nocedal (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Pablo Orlietti (13 points). Power forward Tyutyunik was the standout for Kazakhstan with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Lithuania handed Angola a basketball lesson, leading by 16 at quarter time, 37 at half, 48 at the last break and 58 at fulltime. Spearheading the 104-46 victory were Gediminas Orelik and Donatas Motiejunas, who both scored 23 points. Canada defeated Syria 99-53 to record their first win of the tournament, tormenting the Syrians on the boards. The Canadians won the rebound count 53 to 27, and also dished out 18 assists to just 8 for Syria. Jordan Baker, Tristan Thompson and Laurent Rivard all scored 13 points as five Canadian players reached double figures. Power forward Hani Adribe led Syria’s major statistical categories with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
NBA players who become free agents on July 1
Atlanta
Mike Bibby, Thomas Gardner (R), Othello Hunter (R), Josh Childress (R), Solomon Jones (R), Ronald Murray, Zaza Pachulia, Mario West (R), Marvin Williams (R).
Boston
Glen Davis (R), Eddie House (P), Stephon Marbury, Mikki Moore, Leon Powe (R).
Charlotte
Raymond Felton (R), Juwan Howard, Cartier Martin, Sean May, Sean Singletary (T) (R).
Chicago
Ben Gordon, Aaron Gray (R), Lindsey Hunter.
Cleveland
Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, Anderson Varejao, Lorenzen Wright.
Dallas
Brandon Bass, Gerald Green, Ryan Hollins (R), Jason Kidd, James Singleton (R).
Denver
Chris Andersen, Anthony Carter, Jason Hart, Dahntay Jones, Linas Kleiza (R), Johan Petro (R).
Detroit
Walter Herrmann, Allen Iverson, Antonio McDyess, Fabricio Oberto, Rasheed Wallace.
Golden State
Rob Kurz (R), C.J. Watson (R).
Houston
Ron Artest, Dikembe Mutombo, Von Wafer.
Indiana
Maceo Baston, Marquis Daniels, Stephen Graham, Jarrett Jack (R), Josh McRoberts (R), Rasho Nesterovic.
L.A. Clippers
Alex Acker (R), Fred Jones, Steve Novak (R).
L.A. Lakers
Trevor Ariza, Shannon Brown, Kobe Bryant (P), D.J. Mbenga, Lamar Odom.
Memphis
Chris Mihm, Darius Miles, Juan Carlos Navarro (R), Quinton Ross, Hakim Warrick (R), Mike Wilks.
Miami
Joel Anthony (R), Luther Head, Jamaal Magloire, Jamario Moon (R).
Milwaukee
Keith Bogans, Damon Jones, Ersan Ilyasova (R), Ramon Sessions (R), Charlie Villanueva (R).
Minnesota
Rodney Carney, Jason Collins, Kevin Ollie, Shelden Williams.
New Jersey
Maurice Ager.
New Orleans
Ryan Bowen, Melvin Ely, Sean Marks.
New York
David Lee (R), Nate Robinson (R), Chris Wilcox.
Oklahoma City
Desmond Mason, Malik Rose, Robert Swift.
Orlando
Adonal Foyle, Marcin Gortat (R), Tyronn Lue, Jeremy Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu.
Philadelphia
Royal Ivey, Donyell Marshall, Andre Miller, Theo Ratliff, Kareem Rush.
Phoenix
Louis Amundson (T) (R), Matt Barnes, Grant Hill, Stromile Swift.
Portland
Channing Frye (R), Raef LaFrentz, Shavlik Randolph, Michael Ruffin.
Sacramento
Calvin Booth, Ike Diogu (R), Bobby Jackson, Rashad McCants (R), Cedric Simmons.
San Antonio
Michael Finley (P), Drew Gooden, Ime Udoka, Jacque Vaughn.
Toronto
Carlos Delfino (R), Joey Graham (R), Shawn Marion, Pops Mensah-Bonsu (R), Anthony Parker, Jake Voskuhl.
Utah
Morris Almond, Carlos Boozer (P), Jarron Collins, Brevin Knight, Paul Millsap (R), Mehmet Okur (P), Ronnie Price.
Washington
Juan Dixon
Key: (R) -- restricted free agent, team retains right to match outside offer. (P) -- player option. (T) -- team option
.......................The Rest of Todays Report
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