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 General Basketball WiretapCrazy day at the WorldsJonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicls writes that Vlade Divac may have been confident in his team’s chances against Team USA, but he never said they would beat Spain. A crazy day at the Basketball World Championships saw two incredible upsets. The Grizzlies’ Paul Gasol and his Spanish team beat Divac’s Yugoslavian club and the team from Brazil defeated Turkey in spectacular fashion. Yugoslavia fell behind by 19 points in the first half against Spain. They mounted their comeback in the second half, finally taking a lead with 7:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. Spain recovered as Divac fouled out. A pair of 3 pointers gave Spain the lead with 45 seconds remaining. Paul Gasol was fouled with 27 seconds left giving him a chance to extent Spain’s lead to 4 points. After scoring 25 points in the game, Gasol missed both free throws. Yugoslavia’s last second attempt rattled out and Spain had a 71-69 victory. In the other game, the favored team from Turkey built a 16-point lead against Brazil but the Brazilian team fought back. After 2 missed free throws by the Truks, Brazil had a chance to win with 15.6 seconds left. Brazil isolated Marcelo Machado on ex-NBA player Mirsad Turkcan. Machado ran the clock down to his last possible chance before launching his shot just before the buzzer and just beyond Turkcan's reach 22-feet from the basket. It swished, giving Machado a 30-point afternoon and Brazil the 88-86 win. Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, General Basketball Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Nowitzki, Germans Give U.S. a GameSteve Wyche of the Washington Post reports that not only is Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki the best player at the World Championships, he was almost good enough to beat Team USA all by himself. The Dallas Maverick forward scored 34 points and actually had his German team in the lead in the third quarter against the Americans. Team USA's Paul Pierce rose up when Nowitzki wore down and the U.S. squad emerged from a prolonged scare to defeat Germany, 104-87. Pierce finished with 26 points, scoring 15 of those during the third quarter when Team USA went from a 67-65 deficit to a 77-67 lead entering the fourth quarter. "In the first half I was frustrated with the way I was playing," said Pierce. "The first half I settled for the three-pointer instead of driving to the basket. I'm able to adjust in the middle of the game and I was able to get going, give my team some confidence, give them some momentum." In the fourth quarter, the Americans pulled away racing to a 22 point lead as Nowitzki ran out of gas. After three quarters of carrying the German team, he could only muster four points on free throws in the fourth. "Dirk's the one, two and three option on that team," said U.S. forward Michael Finley, who had 21 points. "We just wanted to eliminate his touches [in the second half]. We knew when he got the ball good things were happening for him so we tried to deny him the ball and when he got it, contest it." The United States (2-0) will play its first-round finale Saturday against China, which defeated Algeria 96-82 tonight behind 38 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocked shots by 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming. Though China isn't expected to test the United States like Germany did, U.S. Coach George Karl said, "I think we're going to be in two, three, four more games like this." Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, General Basketball Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Marbury to serve jail time, miss season openerThe Associated Press reports: Phoenix Suns guard Stephon Marbury will serve 10 days in jail after pleading no contest Friday to drunken driving. Marbury, acquired a year ago by the Suns in the trade that sent Jason Kidd to New Jersey, was stopped Feb. 8 while driving his Bentley convertible 25 miles above the speed limit on a busy street. He registered a 0.18 blood alcohol level, more than twice Arizona's legal limit. A level about 0.15 is considered extreme driving under the influence. Marbury, who entered the plea in Scottsdale Municipal Court, also agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and attend alcohol education classes. He was scheduled to start serving the sentence Saturday, according to court records. ''Rather than extend this process and try to avoid my obligations, I fully intend to serve the required penalty levied by the court,'' Marbury said in a statement. The NBA suspended Marbury on Friday for one game as a result of the plea. He will sit out Phoenix's season opener at Seattle on Oct. 30. Marbury also will match the fine his suspension carries with a contribution to alcohol abuse and awareness programs, the Suns said. ''Most important to me, however, is that the message be heard loud and clear that I was wrong to do what I did,'' Marbury's statement read. ''I am fortunate no one was hurt by my actions. I pledge I will do what I can through personal and financial outreach to heighten the awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving.'' Suns president Bryan Colangelo said that while he was disappointed in Marbury's actions, ''I do believe he has learned a great deal from this experience and that he is regretful for his actions.'' Phoenix Suns, General Basketball Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Aug 2002 Archive
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