FIBA: Canada targets Olympic success after first World Cup bronze

MANILA -- Small forward Dillon Brooks said Canada would take "good momentum" into next year's Paris Olympics after beating the United States to win bronze at the FIBA World Cup on Sunday.

Canada won 127-118 in overtime in Manila to claim their first World Cup podium finish, denying the United States a medal for a second straight tournament.

Canada had already qualified for their first Olympics since 2000 by finishing as one of the two highest-placed teams from the Americas at the World Cup.

Brooks, who finished the game as Canada's top scorer with 39 points, said the medal would fuel their ambitions when the new NBA season starts next month.

"It's good momentum for us, we'll hold on to that throughout the season," he said.

"I'm going to see a lot of my team-mates during the season.

"Guys that weren't here, that's motivating to them as well, to want to join us, to get better, to make a run at the Olympics."

Canada led for most of the game and built double-digit leads in both the first and third quarters.

They looked to have the game won until the United States' Mikal Bridges hit a game-tying three-pointer with 0.2sec remaining.

Canada quickly took control in overtime, with Brooks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in imperious form.

"This team was amazing, special, it's the beginning of something that's going to last for a long time," said head coach Jordi Fernandez.

"All 12 guys came in and worked every day since August 1, they got at least 1 percent better every day.

"They built the identity that we just showed."

Fernandez said Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 31 points, was "to me the MVP of this World Cup".

Bridges called Canada's point guard a "slithery" player to defend.

"He knows how to get away from you," Bridges said of Gilgeous-Alexander.

"He's an unbelievable player."

Fernandez paid tribute to Brooks's leadership after the Houston Rockets player helped keep the United States' stars quiet while scoring points at the other end.

Brooks was booed by the Manila crowd earlier in the tournament but they serenaded him with chants of "MVP" against the United States.

Brooks said he was determined to help the team win after losing in the semi-finals to Serbia.

"Having that edge every single game, how I prepared for the game, how I was trying to be a leader out there for my team-mates, I've got to bring this back to Houston," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Popovich 'thrilled' as US qualifies for Tokyo 2020 basketball

SHANGHAI – Team USA coach Gregg Popovich spoke of his joy after the reigning Olympic basketball champions qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Games on Monday.

The United States, which will be chasing a fourth Games gold in a row, secured its berth for next summer after beating Brazil 89-73 at the World Cup.

Argentina also confirmed its place in Tokyo.

"We're thrilled that we qualified for the Olympics," said San Antonio Spurs mastermind Popovich, whose team will now face France on Wednesday in the World Cup quarter-finals.

"With this new situation of qualifying, you don't want to have to do that every year. So it's a pretty big grind," said the 70-year-old.

But first, the US has the small matter of winning a third world crown in a row and Popovich's young team is building up a head of steam in China.

The Americans were already assured of a place in the last eight but they still made it five wins in a row to top Group K in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers led them against the Brazilians with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Brazil saw their coach Aco Petrovic ejected in the first half and they refused to attend the post-match press conference.

Having struggled to defeat Turkey in overtime in the first round, this Team USA missing its megastars seems to be warming to the task.

Sunday's victory for Spain over Serbia, who had been title favorites after the Americans' slow start, put Popovich's men back as the team to beat.

There are seven Olympic places up for grabs at the World Cup.

Iran will return to the Games for the first time since Beijing 2008 after they grabbed one of them.

source: philstar.com

Emboldened Australia closes on another first at FIBA World Cup

SHANGHAI – With a historic win over the United States, then three victories in a row at the World Cup in China to top the "Group of Death" — Australian basketball is setting new landmarks for itself.

Now the Boomers are eyeing another first, having never gone beyond the quarterfinals in 11 previous World Cup appearances.

"We speak about it a lot: in international basketball, you need the size, you need the beef, there's big men playing this game," said coach Andrej Lemanis after his team beat European heavyweights Lithuania 87-82 in a gritty encounter in Dongguan.

The hard-earned victory on Thursday — the game was tied with just under two minutes left  made it three wins in a row to start their World Cup, a first for the Boomers.

Australia not only survived the "Group of Death" also including Canada and Senegal, they topped it.

Putting the gloss on the evening, defeat for neighbors New Zealand against a Giannis Antetokounmpo-inspired Greece propelled Australia into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the best team in Oceania.

Next, San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills and the rest of the Boomers play surprise-package the Dominican Republic on Saturday in the second round.

They will be favorites to triumph over the Dominicans, who have the joint-shortest roster at the 32-team World Cup and were well beaten 90-56 by France on Thursday.

On Monday, with the quarter-finals in sight, Australia will face their toughest task yet in the form of France, who finished third at the 2014 World Cup.

Going for gold

Australia, the Asian champions and 2016 Rio Olympic semi-finalists, have been building up to this.

They are missing a couple of big players in Philadelphia 76er Jonah Bolden and his teammate Ben Simmons.

But their roster still has a slew of NBA standouts and in the lead-up to the competition they ended the USA's run of 78 consecutive wins in major competitions and exhibition games.

The 98-94 victory in Melbourne was the Boomers' first victory against the world and Olympic champions.

But rather than being cowed by increasing expectations, the likes of Mills, the Utah Jazz's Joe Ingles and seasoned veteran Andrew Bogut have flourished.

Phoenix Suns center Aron Baynes roared to the fore against Lithuania with 21 points, 13 rebounds and two assists.

"Phenomenal, right?" Lemanis purred.

Veteran United States coach Gregg Popovich labeled Australia "top contenders" in China in the build-up.

Mills called it "Australia's best-ever team".

And in a refreshing change from coaches who trot out the usual banalities about "one game at a time", Lemanis refuses to talk down his team.

"Our goal — I think like every team here — is to win the gold," he said after the Lithuania victory.

"That's the goal that we set ourselves and as a group we have a great belief that that's something we can achieve.

"Our goal, absolutely, is to win the gold medal," Lemanis repeated for emphasis.

source: philstar.com

Australia stuns Team USA in World Cup tuneup

MANILA, Philippines — Australia scored an emphatic upset over Team USA, 98-94, in their second Pre-FIBA World Cup match on Saturday for the country's first ever win against the Americans in basketball.

Held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, the Boomers shocked the record 52,079-strong crowd with their inspired play against the defending champions.

San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills led the Australians in the historic win with 30 points, 14 of which were scored in the final quarter.

Fellow NBA player Andrew Bogut chipped in with 16.

The Gregg Popovich-led Team USA was missing many of their NBA superstars who opted to skip the World Cup.

Australia will open their 2019 FIBA World Cup campaign against Canada on September 1.

source: philstar.com

FIBA World Cup: Gilas Pilipinas falls just short of overtime upset of favored Croatia

The Philippine national men’s basketball team came close to shocking upset victory in their introduction to the world stage after giving Group B favorite Croatia all it could handle in an 81-78 overtime loss in their opening contest of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Seville, Spain.

Andray Blatche bounced back from a rough first half to finish with 28 points and 12 rebounds while gunner Jeff Chan added 17, including four threes, to lead a gallant Gilas Pilipinas stand.

Gilas came back from eight points down in the fourth period to go into overtime. Blatche scored all seven of the Philippines’ points in OT but fell just short near the end.

Blatche gave Gilas the lead, 75-73, with two minutes left in the extra period but Croatia got a big basket from 7-foot-2 center Ante Tomic and some immaculate free throw shooting from Bojan Bogdanovic to restore a four-point lead, 79-75.

But Blatche wasn’t done, hitting a three with just 5.4 seconds remaining to open the door ever so slightly for Gilas but could not get the job done in the end.

The Filipinos fell behind early after Croatia scored 13 unanswered points in the opening period to open up a 17-4 lead.

With Blatche struggling, missing six of his first seven shots, and the outside shots not falling, the Philippines limped to a 23-9 deficit after the opening 10 minutes.

But they played some trademark Philippine basketball in the second quarter.

Marc Pingris brought a spark early while Gilas coach Chot Reyes matched Croatia’s size with a Blatche and June Mar Fajardo combination in the frontcourt to stem the tide until the Gilas shooters finally got going.

Chan knocked down the first three-pointer for the Philippines and Jimmy Alapag wowed the crowd with a successful four-point play from a few steps behind the three-point line.

Chan closed out with another three that barely beat the buzzer to cap a 7-0 run for the Filipinos.

The Philippines trailed by just six, 37-31, at the half with Blatche, who shot 3-for-13 in the first half, Chan and Pingris leading a balanced Gilas offense with six points apiece.

The Philippines’ naturalized star did much better in the third, scoring eight points on 3-for-4 shooting as he gave a glimpse of his full offensive arsenal.

He pump faked his defender and stretched in for a layup plus the foul early in the period and later scored five straight points on a three and a two as he helped lead the Philippines to within four, 50-46.

After a dunk from Croatian big man Luka Zoric, Jayson Castro brought the team to within three points, 52-49, before getting some tough breaks to end quarter.

Castro, who was knocked off balance, was whistled for a technical foul for flopping. Croatia’s Krunoslav Simon hit both free throws and Damir Markota beat the buzzer with a three to give the Europeans a 57-49 lead entering the fourth.

True to its battlecry of ‘Puso’, Gilas refused to go away in the fourth.

They traded baskets with Croatia but still trailed by eight points, 64-56, halfway through the period before making their move.

Chan hit another three-pointer, Pingris toughed it out for two underneath and Blatche connected on another trey to tie the game at 64-apiece.

Zoric hit two free throws to give Croatia a 66-64 lead but Chan was fouled taking a three from the corner and he took care of all three attempts to give the Filipinos its first taste of the lead, 67-66, with 2:49 remaining.

Blatche followed it up with a jumper that gave them a 69-66 advantage with 2:20 left on the clock.

But Croatia got a big three from Simon to tie the game and Saric scored on a putback to give them back the lead at 71-69.

Castro, though, came up big for the Filipinos, driving and scoring with 39 seconds left to ensure the game would go to an extra period.

The scores:
Croatia (81) – Bogdanovic 26, Simon 12, Saric 10, Tomic 8, Markota 5, Ukic 5, Lafayette 4, Rudez 4, Zoric 4, Babic 3.

Gilas Pilipinas (78) – Blatche 28, Chan 17, Pingris 10, Castro 6, De Ocampo 5, Alapag 4, Tenorio 2, Norwood 2, Fajardo 2, Lee 2, Aguilar 0.

Quarterscores: 23-9, 37-31, 57-49, 71-71 (reg.), 81-78 (OT).

source: interaksyon.com