National Teams Archives - Page 22 of 22

Finalist Announced For U.S. Women’s Olympic Team

January 26, 2016 by admin

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 11: USA versus France during their Basketball Game on Day 15 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the North Greenwich Arena on August 11, 2012 in London, England. Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

25 player’s have been chosen to compete for a spot on this summer’s Olympic team that will compete in Rio de Janeiro from August 5-21. Finalists for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team include: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird(Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Tina Charles (New York Liberty), Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky), Skylar Diggins (Dallas Wings), Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics), Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx), Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Briann January (Indiana Fever), Jantel Lavender (Los Angeles Sparks), Kayla McBride (San Antonio Stars),Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx), Chiney Ogwumike (Connecticut Sun), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks), Danielle Robinson (San Antonio Stars), Odyssey Sims (Dallas Wings), Breanna Stewart (University of Connecticut), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky), Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx), and Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm).

This pool is a mix of veterans, youth and USA basketball experienced players. There are several players on the finalist list that have already secured gold in past Olympic games. Leading the pack with three gold medals a piece are Bird, Catchings and Taurasi. Augustus, Fowles and Parker have all earned two gold medals, while Charles, McCoughtry, Moore and Whalen have won one. This pool of players is so deep that the U.S. could very well field two teams in Rio. The final roster will include 12 players and will be selected by he USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee. Those include, Reneé Brown, WNBA chief of basketball operations and player relations; Dan Hughes, head coach and general manager of the San Antonio Stars; and Chris Sienko, vice president and general manager of the Connecticut Sun; and three-time Olympic and two-time FIBA World Championship gold medalist Katie Smith, serves as the athlete representative.

I’m wondering what new faces may possibly earn a spot on this year’s team. There is some high quality young talent in the pool of 25 who i’m sure are eager to show their talent and compete for one of the 12 spots on the team. The USA Basketball Women’s National Team has won five-straight Olympic gold medals and I don’t see that changing for quite some time. Spain, Australia, Russia and France usually field very competitive squads in the Olympic games and may put up a challenge if they come up against the U.S. Do you see any country giving the U.S. a real challenge? I’m confident in my prediction of the U.S. bringing home Olympic gold medal number 6.

EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers Round 2

November 26, 2015 by Andrew

FIBA/Alberto Nevado

November 25, 2015

A handful of new teams made their debuts in this format after not playing on Saturday. Slovenia, Belgium, and Finland joined in as Latvia, Poland, and Sweden did not play. All of the other groups have seen all teams playing two games now.

Group A:

Slovenia saw their first action, controlling the second half in Kedainiai to record a key 73-64 road win in Lithuania.

Lithuania vs. Slovenia 73-64 LTU Sulciute 16/6r Gutkauskaite 11 Nacickaite 10 Petronyte 8/9r Okockyte 8 Kuktiene 7 Solopova 4 Grigalauskyte 0 Paugaite 0 Pikciute 0 Siksniute 0 Visgaudaite DNP SLO Erkic 19 Oblak 16 Lisec 12 Baric 11 Pirsic 9/8r Trebec 4 Zdolsek 2 Ljubenovic 0 Rupnik DNP Jakovina DNP Gjerkes DNP Prezelj DNP

Standings: Slovenia 1-0 Latvia 1-0 Lithuania 0-2

Group B:

Croatia shook off a sluggish start in Tallinn to win 67-55 in Estonia as Shavonte Zellous led the way. France eventually pulled away from the Netherlands to win 76-52 in Amsterdam.

Estonia vs. Croatia 55-67 EST Nikolai 13 Koster 12 Puu 6 Anderson 6 Mesila-Kaarmann 6 Bratka 5 Pokk 3 Sokman 2 Piibur 2 Rosenfeldt DNP Kosk DNP Perv DNP CRO Zellous 21 Ciglar 14 Rezan 11 Sandric 6 Premasunac 5/9r Ivankovic 4/6r Ivezic 4 Dzankic 2 Begic 0/6r Dojkic 0 Borovic 0 Packovski 0

Netherlands vs. France 52-76 NED Treffers 14/7r Broring 11 Halman 9 Van Den Adel 6 Butter 5 Klein 4 Van Grinsven 2 Bettonvil 1 Ligthart 0 Klerx 0 Ndiba 0 Bettonvil 0 FRA Miyem 16/8r Johannes 15 Amant 10 Skrela 9 Ayayi 7/11r Gaye 6 Dumerc 6 Ciak 4 Gomis-Halilovic 3 Lardy 0 Michel 0 Kamba 0

Standings: France 2-0 Croatia 1-1 Netherlands 1-1 Estonia 0-2 [Read more…]

EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers Round 1

November 22, 2015 by Andrew

November 21, 2015

Group A:

Latvia was one of the teams hoping to benefit from having a full strength team in the middle of the season and they beat their neighbors Lithuania 65-62 at home in Riga.

Latvia vs. Lithuania 65-62 LAT Teilane 15/6r Jekabsone-Zogota 15 Basko-Melnbarde 12 Steinberga 9 Rozenberga 6 Putnina 5 Babkina 3 Melnika 0 Krastina 0 Eibele DNP Priede DNP Vitola DNP LTU Nacickaite 14 Okocyte 11/8a Sulciute 11 Petronyte 10 Kuktiene 7/9r Siksniute 4 Paugaite 4 Gutkauskaite 1 Grigalauskyte 0 Solopova 0 Pikciute 0 Skadaite DNP

Group B:

Endene Miyem led France past Estonia 69-41 in Bourges. In Amsterdam, the hosts controlled the second half to upend Croatia 76-67 win Zera Butter leading the way.

France vs. Estonia 69-41 FRA Miyem 22 Ciak 13/6r Amant 9 Ayayi 8 Kamba 5 Skrela 4 Bernies 2 Dumerc 2 Salagnac 2 Tanqueray 2 Gaye 0 Michel 0 EST Pokk 12/6r Puu 7 Anderson 7 Mesila-Kaarmann 4 Piibur 4 Nikolai 3 Perv 2 Koster 2 Bratka 0/6r Rosenfeldt 0 Kosk DNP Maaring DNP

Netherlands vs. Croatia 76-67 NED Butter 23 Treffers 14/6r Halman 14 Van Grinsven 8 Van Den Adel 5 Ligthart 4 Klein 4 Bettonvil 2 Broring 2 Ndiba 0 Kuijt 0 Bettonvil 0 CRO Ciglar 19/7a Ivezic 14/7r Sandric 9 Rezan 7/7r Premasunac 7 Zellous 6 Ivankovic 5 Begic 0 Borovic DNP Dzankic DNP Dojkic DNP Packovski DNP [Read more…]

EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers Preview

November 20, 2015 by Andrew

A new qualification scheme for EuroBasket comes into place as teams look to earn spots in the summer of 2017. As before, hosts qualify automatically, so the Czech Republic knows that it will be one of sixteen teams there. Unlike previous editions, all of the other countries who wish to join must go through the qualifying process. This is possible because qualification is held during the club season instead of the summer. Teams that were involved in global tournaments used to be given a break from qualifying to represent the continent on a wider scale. The teams have been divided into nine groups with three groups containing three teams and six groups containing four teams. Each winner of the group’s double round robin advances. The second place teams are then ranked with six of the nine taking the final places in the tournament. In order to ensure a fair comparison between groups of different sizes, results against fourth place teams are removed before comparing teams. The first two rounds of games will take place this Saturday and Wednesday. There will also be two rounds of games in February with the qualification process wrapping up with two more rounds in November. [Read more…]