Basketball – Page 55 – North Platte Post Archive

Webster Helps New Zealand Advance in FIBA Basketball World Cup

Posted on September 4, 2014

It went down to the final shot, but Tai Webster and New Zealand advanced to the Round of 16 at the FIBA Basketball World Cup with a 67-65 win over Finland on Thursday.

Webster finished with five points on 2-of-4 shooting before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. He has started all five games for New Zealand, averaging 5.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. New Zealand will now take on Lithuania, which won Group D, in Barcelona on Sunday at 9 a.m. central.

New Zealand, which placed fourth in Group C with a 2-3 record, were seemingly in control and built a 20-point lead, at 53-33 with 6:22 left in the third quarter. They led 57-39 with 1:27 left in the third quarter before Finland stormed back, scoring the final six points of the quarter and then nearly erased the entire deficit in the fourth quarter, outscoring New Zealand, 20-10 in the final 10 minutes.

Finland pulled to within 66-65 and had a pair of possessions to take the lead in the final minute before Mika Vukona’s free throw with four seconds pushed the margin back to two points. Finland had one final chance to send the game into overtime, but Petteri Koponen’s jumper at the buzzer was off the mark, sending New Zealand into the next round.

Puerto Rico and Jorge Brian Diaz were not as fortunate Thursday, falling to Croatia, 103-82, and finished with a 1-4 record in Group B. Diaz played five minutes off the bench and was held scoreless.

Diaz, who played in four of five games while making his international debut for the Puerto Rican National Team, averaged 1.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while averaging 9.2 minutes per outing. He played at Nebraska from 2009 until 2012.

US Tops Ukraine to Finish Basketball Worlds Group

Posted on September 4, 2014

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — James Harden scored 17 points, Stephen Curry added 14 and the unbeaten U.S. national team wrapped up pool play with a 95-71 victory over Ukraine on Thursday at the Basketball World Cup.

Anthony Davis finished with 12 points for the Americans, who were still waiting out the final results from Group D in the Canary Islands to determine who they would play Saturday night in Barcelona. They would draw the fourth-place finisher in the round of 16.

The margin was far closer than the U.S. result against a methodical Ukraine team coached by former NBA coach Mike Fratello, but the Americans were never in any danger of losing in the second half after seizing control just before halftime.

US Beats Dominicans 106-71 at Basketball Worlds

Posted on September 3, 2014

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Kenneth Faried kept up his sharp shooting with 16 points and the U.S. national team rolled to a 4-0 start with a 106-71 victory over the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night.

The Americans surpassed 100 points for the second time in the tournament — and they were “held” to 98 points in their other two games.

They led by only three points after one quarter but had no trouble extending that as the game went on, as the Dominicans’ willingness to push the pace simply played into the Americans’ hands.

Faried made 8 of 11 shots, a 73-percent clip that actually lowered his percentage for the tournament after the Denver forward came into the game hitting 81 percent.

The Americans will finish Group C play Thursday against Ukraine before playing their round of 16 game Saturday night against the fourth-place team from Group D, which is still to be determined.

The Dominican Republic (2-2) will face Turkey on Thursday, still in position to advance.

Unbeaten US Routs New Zealand 98-71 at Worlds

Posted on September 2, 2014

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 21 points, Kenneth Faried had 15 and the U.S. remained unbeaten at the Basketball World Cup by beating winless New Zealand 98-71 on Tuesday.

James Harden added 13 points for the Americans, who will play two more games here before moving on to Barcelona for the round of 16. They face the Dominican Republic on Wednesday before wrapping up Group C play on Thursday against Ukraine.

Two nights after having to rally from a halftime deficit and pull away in the fourth quarter for a 98-77 victory over Turkey, the U.S. led this one wire to wire. The game was close only for a little more than a quarter.

BJ Anthony scored 11 points for New Zealand, which fell to 0-3.

Huskers at the FIBA Basketball World Cup Update

Posted on September 1, 2014

Lincoln – New Zealand’s chances of advancing to the quarterfinals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup were damaged Sunday, as New Zealand fell to the Dominican Republic, 76-63.

Husker sophomore Tai Webster was held to two points on 1-of-5 shooting, but tied for the team lead with three assists and added four rebounds in 26 minutes. With the loss, New Zealand fell to 0-2 in Bracket C play and will have a day off before playing the United States on Tuesday. The top four teams in each bracket advance to the round of 16.

Former Husker Jorge Brian Diaz did not play for Puerto Rico in an 82-75 loss to Senegal, as Puerto Rico falls to 0-2 in Bracket B. Puerto Rico takes on Greece Mondaymorning.

Down at Half, US Beats Turkey in Basketball Worlds

Posted on September 1, 2014

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Kenneth Faried scored 22 points, Anthony Davis all of his 19 in the second half, and the U.S. rebounded from a rare deficit at halftime to beat Turkey 98-77 on Sunday in the Basketball World Cup.

A night after beating Finland by 59 in its biggest rout ever while using NBA players in the former world championship, the Americans couldn’t take control against Turkey until early in the fourth quarter.

They trailed 40-35 at halftime and Turkey led by six early in the third before the Americans could finally get the game into the quicker tempo they prefer and pull away to win the rematch of the 2010 gold-medal game in Istanbul.

But it was a much tougher one than expected after the Americans hammered Finland 114-55 while Turkey was being outplayed for most of its opener by New Zealand before pulling out the victory.

Huskers Make FIBA Basketball World Cup Debuts

Posted on August 30, 2014

Lincoln – Two players with Nebraska ties saw action, but were on the losing end in their games at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain today.

Husker sophomore Tai Webster started for New Zealand and totaled seven points, five rebounds and a pair of assists, but a late comeback by Turkey stymied New Zealand in a 76-73 loss.

New Zealand led 72-61 on Corey Webster’s jumper with 5:22 left, but Turkey stormed back with 15 unanswered points, taking the lead on Emir Preldzic’s 3-pointer with3:13 left.

Trailing 76-73, New Zealand had two shots in the final 20 seconds to tie the game, but 3-pointers from Corey Webster and Kirk Penny were off the mark.

Another former Husker was in action, as Jorge Brian Diaz played 6:32 in Puerto Rico’s 98-75 loss to Argentina, grabbing four rebounds, but missed both of his shots from the field.

Both Webster and Diaz will be in action on Sunday, as pool play continues. New Zealand takes on the Dominican Republic at 5:30 a.m. central, while Puerto Rico takes on Senegal at 10:30 a.m.

Basketball World Cup has Record 45 NBA Players

Posted on August 30, 2014

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — The Basketball World Cup started Saturday with a record 45 current NBA players on the rosters of the 24 teams.

There were 75 players in the tournament who have played in the NBA, along with 17 more who have been drafted and whose rights are owned by NBA teams.

All 12 players on the U.S. roster are on NBA teams. Host Spain is next with six current NBA players.

Only three teams in the tournament have no players who have either played or been drafted by NBA clubs. Cleveland and Houston both have a league-high four players in the field.

The previous record was 44 active NBA players in the 2010 tournament.

Davis, US Beat Slovenia in Basketball Exhibition

Posted on August 26, 2014

LAS PALMAS, Canary Islands (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 18 points and teamed with forward Kenneth Faried to dominate the inside, leading the U.S. national team to a 101-71 victory over Slovenia on Tuesday in its final exhibition game before the FIBA World Cup of Basketball.

Faried finished with 14 points for the Americans, who next head to Bilbao, Spain for their tournament opener Saturday against Finland. The defending world champions will also face Turkey, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic and Ukraine in pool play.

The Americans weren’t particularly impressive throughout the last of their four warmup games, their first since picking their final 12-man roster on Saturday. But they were aggressive, with Davis and Faried wearing out the Slovenians — and even hooking up on a rare big-to-big alley-oop when Davis threw down Faried’s lob pass for a 65-39 lead midway through the third quarter.

NBA Unveils New Rules to Make Baselines Safer

Posted on August 26, 2014

The NBA is expanding the area that must be clear behind the basket and cutting the number of photographers along the baseline in an effort to improve player safety.

The new regulations, calling for an extra foot of open space on both sides of the basket stanchion, were sent to teams Tuesday by league president of operations Rod Thorn in a memo that was obtained by The Associated Press.

The “escape lanes,” the unoccupied area on either side of the stanchion to the closest photographer spot, will increase to 4 feet. Only 20 camera positions, 10 on each baseline, will remain, down from 40 during the 2010-11 regular season.

Thorn says changes were planned for “several years” and teams were informed in July, before Indiana’s Paul George broke his leg crashing into the stanchion.