TOP 50 Basketball Stories of the Day
FRANCE
The Playoffs are set The French League regular season came to a close on Wednesday as the matchups for the playoff quarterfinals were set, while the second team to get relegated also became known. The top four teams in the standings all won their regular season finales to go into the playoffs on high notes. First placed Le Mans beat Dijon 93-84 behind 18 points from Nebojsa Bogavac, Sluc Nancy bested Clermont 88-67 to wrap up second place, Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne claimed third after defeating Strasbourg 86-59 and defending champion Chorale Roanne beat Pau-Orthez 83-77. In the quarterfinals, LeMans will get Cholet in the quarterfinals, Nancy meets Vichy, Asvel takes on Hyeres Toulon and Roanne gets Le Havre. The first games of the best-of-three quarterfinals are set for May 20-21. At the other end of the table, Gravelines-Dunkerque held on to beat Orleans 79-88 behind 19 points and 11 rebounds from Marcus Slaughter, keeping its spot in the league and effectively demoting Paris-Levallois, which bit farewell to the league by beating Cholet 74-77 as Kimani Ffriend recorded 24 points and 9 boards.
EUROLEAGUE
Europe’s Basketball Minds Meet Some of the most important members of Europe's basketball community gathered at Euroleague Basketball headquarters on Wednesday to work together on several issues. During the meeting, all parties were able to discuss several pending issues, including draw dates and the coordination of calendars so as to not have any conflicts in the European club competitions. For the 2008-2009 season the participating members in European club competitions will be able to apply the eligibility rules in force in their respective national competitions. Both FIBA Europe and ULEB agree to create a joint commission to discuss the standarditation of the eligibility rules across Europe. ULEB and FIBA Europe agreed to create and appoint a joint commission to approve the list of referees, including those who would be able to maintain the international license when older than 50 years. Finally, all parties agreed to work together on a proposal to present FIBA World seeking to encourage bringing forward the implementation date of the rule changes approved by FIBA last April.
NCAA
Myles Brand has "new information,"
and promises to investigate O.J. Mayo
Brand, speaking Tuesday in Houston to kick off this week's Division II National Championships Festival, said that "our enforcement division has new information" about Mayo's case "and as a matter of fact, when we have new information on any case, we will investigate." He would not comment further on the specifics of Mayo's case. NCAA rules prohibit giving college athletes money or other gifts. Brand said the schools have more of a direct obligation than the NCAA to shield their athletes from sports agents, boosters and other outsiders. "We are not the cops on the corner," Brand said. "The schools themselves have the responsibility to follow the rules and that means, and includes, separating agents from interfering with student-athletes." At the Final Four last month, Brand and NBA commissioner David Stern announced a cooperative effort to improve areas of youth basketball. Brand said Tuesday that one of the main initiatives of the partnership will focus on "revising recruiting and other activities." "Pre-collegiate basketball is something we definitely need to address," he said. "We're really focused on changing that environment. Yes, I am concerned about it." Brand would like to see the NBA require players to stay in school for "two, three or four years," but says he's powerless to sway any decision. "The NCAA has no ability to influence, in any way, the age rule," he said. "So any age limitation rules, the 19-year-olds who are so-called "one and done," are the result of bargaining negotiation between the NBA and the players' association. The NCAA was not involved in any way in that bargaining in setting up the rule. Only the NBA management and the players association set those rules." Brand said he won't be afraid to sanction USC or any other high-profile school caught in violation of NCAA rules. He admitted that punishing the schools sometimes is not enough to deter agents and other outsiders from influencing players with cash, gifts or other benefits. "This is not acceptable behavior and on occasion, it's illegal," Brand said. "You get thrown in jail if you rob a bank, but people keep robbing banks. The fact of the matter is these kinds of activities are unacceptable, they are unfortunate. We expect the schools to enforce the rules and protect our student-athletes." Mayo declared for the NBA draft after the season and hired BDA Sports' Calvin Andrews as his agent.
GREECE
Play Off Upsets Continue Maroussi have leveled their play-off series against Olympiakos at 1-1 after beating the Reds 97-90 on Tuesday. The home side needed overtime to grab the win after the game finished 81-81 at the end of the fourth quarter. The two teams meet again on Thursday at Olympiakos's Peace and Friendship Stadium for game 3 in the series. Maroussi reached the semifinals after causing another upset by eliminating Thessaloniki club Aris in the best-of-three quarterfinals, 2-1, following two away victories. On Tuesday night, Maroussi rebounded from a poor performance in the series opener to stand firm for most of the game. Maroussi trailed 16-25 at the end of the first term, led 49-45 at halftime, and sustained thei lead for a 66-60 advantage at the end of the third term, before being pegged back for an 81-81 score at full time.
CHINA
NBA, Anschutz near deal for new China arenas Billionaire businessman Philip Anschutz's AEG firm and the National Basketball Association are near a deal to open up to 12 arenas in China, Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal reported on Monday. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal, the newspaper reported the partnership between the US sports firm and the NBA would develop and operate arenas under AEG's global expansion plan and NBA hopes for an Asian league. The NBA and AEG have partnered to run a new 18,000-seat arena for basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and together would manage and operate the Wukesong Indoor Stadium after the Games, splitting revenues evenly from a facility owned by the Chinese government. Expanding upon that base, the NBA and AEG are in the process of finalizing a plan to include other Chinese areas such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou, the Journal reported, saying the deal is expected to be announced within weeks.
SPAIN
Marc Gasol reigns in Spain as Player of Year Spain international Marc Gasol capped his remarkable campaign on Monday by being named MVP of the 2007-08 ACB. The Akasvayu Girona center, who will play for his country at the Beijing Games this summer, collected 10 more votes from the coaches and 10 more from the players over nearest challenger and good friend, Rudy Fernandez of DKV Joventut. "It's something very beautiful and important for a player,” Gasol said. When asked about surpassing world legend and former Real Madrid star Arvydas Sabonis of Lithuania with the respect to the number of times he has was voted ACB Player of the week in one season, Gasol replied: "To me, it seems too much merit because Arvydas Sabonis is the best center there has been in Europe." Gasol earned the weekly honor 11 times – one more than Sabonis. Ricky Rubio, the 17-year-old phenomenon of DKV, was third in the voting while Bilbao’s excellent Brazil international Marcelinho Huertas was fourth. All four players were last week named in the ACB’s Ideal Quintet, along with Real Madrid big man Felipe Reyes. Joan Plaza of Real Madrid was voted the ACB’s Coach of the Year after steering his club to a first-place finish during the regular season.
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