Crazy day at the Worlds

Jonathan 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.

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Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, General Basketball

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Strickland, Celtics at impasse

Joe Vieira of the Boston Globe reports that free agent Erick Strickland could be ready to jump ship if management doesn’t increase its offer. Strickland is being offered a one-year minimum contract worth $700,000. Strickland has made it clear that the team will have to ante up if they wish to retain his services.

''You must understand that I know this place,'' he said. ''I like the city and I've gotten to know the organization, and I like the strides that we made last season. ''But I'm getting old in this league, and this is about my options. If someone offers me a better deal, I'm not going to turn it up. I'm just looking to see that the situation is the best one for me and my future.''

Strickland turned down a one-year, $2.6 million guaranteed contract with the Memphis Grizzlies to sign a one-year deal with the Celtics for $653,350 prior to last season. He said giving the Celtics a hometown-team discount by signing for the league minimum again is not an option. ''I did that last year,'' he said. ''I'm six years in this league now, and I need to worry about my future. I can't keep doing that. I have to look at the best deal available.''

According to Strickland, he has talked to a number of NBA teams, but has only met with Indiana - a meeting he said ''went good.'' He expects to sign on somewhere within the next week or two, but if not, then definitely by the beginning of training camp Oct. 1. He did not rule out the possibility of returning to the Celtics, although general ganager Chris Wallace has said Boston will not sign a 12th man for anything more than the veteran league minimum.

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Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies

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Grizzlies follow Mavs lead?

Last week Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, voiced his concern about letting his international players participate in the World Championships in Indiana due to injury concerns and lack of insurance, and it turns out he is not alone in his fears.

David Williams of the Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that the owner of the Grizzlies Michael Heisley is siding with Cuban. Williams writes that Cuban has vowed to stop five Mavs from competing in the basketball World Championships unless concerns about what he calls inadequate insurance are addressed. He's said that injuries could cost him "millions and millions of dollars." Heisley has similar concerns with his reigning Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol representing Spain in the upcoming tournament.

"I think Mark has made an excellent point," Heisley said Monday in a telephone interview. "It is a huge risk. . . . He's probably got more to be concerned about than anybody because, quite honestly, he's got a lot of players in this thing."

"Obviously he'd like to represent his country. We understand that. I think that's right," Heisley said. Gasol has already suffered a strained left quad while practicing with his national team.

Heisley predicted the league would address the insurance issues, but said he understands why Cuban, who will have Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Bradley, Steve Nash, Michael Finley and Raef LaFrentz participating, is pressing his case.

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Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks

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