Thursday, September 13, 2007

Italy Nudged out of Quarter Final in Euro Basket

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Italy, the bronze medallists in 2003 and silver medallists at the 2004 Olympics, could not hide their disappointment.

Italy's coach Carlo Recalcati said."Today was the worst performance in the whole championship for us,"

Italy totally has won 2 Gold medals, 4 Silver medals and 4 Bronze medals at the European Championships and 2 Silver medals at the Olympic Games, and has participated at 32 European Championships, 7 World Championships and 10 Olympic Games since 1932..

The Italian team had Marco Belinelli of the San Francisco Golden State Warriors, and Andrea Bargnani was the First Round pick of the Toronto Raptors, and Italy was considered by informed observers as having "the strongest team ever". Other Italian players are Gianluca Basile of Winterthur F.C. Barcelona (ESP); Stefano Mancinelli of Climamio Bologna; Matteo Soragna of Benetton Treviso; Denis Marconato  of Winterthur F.C. Barcelona (ESP); and  Marco Mordent of Benetton Treviso;  Andrea Crosariol of VidiVici Bologna;  Massimo Bulleri of Armani Jeans Milano; Fabio Di Bella of VidiVici Bologna; Luigi Datome of Legea Scafati Basket;  Angelo Gigli  of Benetton Treviso.

 

In the Quarter Finals, Germany will face  world champions Spain.

Lithuania, the only unbeaten team left in the Euros, will face Croatia,

Greece will take on Slovenia, and

Russia will play France.

 

Germany Beat Italy 67-58 to Make Quarters

 

Guardian Unlimited

From Reuters

By Mark Elkington

September 12, 2007 

 

MADRID,-Germany overcame Italy 67-58 to take the last quarter-final slot and send their rivals home from the European Championship on Wednesday.

 

The 2005 silver medallists put in a vastly improved performance from their last outing, when they were humiliated 77-47 by Slovenia, with a strong all-round display.

 

Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds but this time was helped by team mates Johannes Herber with 15 points and six rebounds and Steffen Hamann with 10 points.

 

Italy's impressive youngster Marco Belinelli notched a game-high 25 points, despite missing about 10 minutes to have treatment on an ankle injury. He was let down by the rest of the side, however.

 

"It was a must-win game and we were all really focused with contributions from all along the bench," Herber said.

 

Germany's prize for finishing fourth in Group F is a daunting quarter-final showdown with the red-hot favourites and world champions Spain.

 

Italy, the bronze medallists in 2003 and silver medallists at the 2004 Olympics, could not hide their disappointment.

 

"Today was the worst performance in the whole championship for us," coach Carlo Recalcati said.

 

PERFECT RECORD

 

The other quarter-final pairings were decided after the late game when Lithuania powered past Slovenia 80-61 to take top spot in Group F.

 

Lithuania, the only unbeaten team left in the Euros, will face Croatia, holders Greece take on Slovenia and Russia play France.

 

Slovenia's perfect record was undone by Ramunas Siskauskas who scored a game-high 21 points in an intense contest. He was supported by three others who made double figures from his team.

 

"Lithuania is a very strong team and tonight they were simply better than us. We stayed in the game until midway through the third quarter," Slovenia's Jaka Lakovic said. "They play team basketball with everybody playing tough defence and strong offence." The victory was achieved without playmaker Sarunas Jasikevicius who did not come out for the second half because of a hamstring injury.

Looking ahead to the Croatia game, Lithuania coach Ramunas Butautas said: "Sarunas is very important for us but we can play well without him. Croatia are a strong team so we are expecting a big challenge."

 

In the day's other game, France beat already eliminated Turkey 85-64.

 

The quarter-finals get underway on Thursday with Spain playing Germany and Russia facing France.

 

 

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