Montenegrin born forward Nikola Mirotic ('91) is written in many reports, is recorded in many videos and is heard in many speeches. Spain is leading its group unbeaten, showing its credentials for the Gold in the U20 Division "A" European Championship of Bilbao. But, is french coach Jean-Aimé Toupane reaching his goal to hide France under spanish shadow? Yes. Of course. France is the other team with no defeats, with 6'6'' SF Evan Fournier ('92) -at the pic- leading the Bleus with 15.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 29 minutes. They are the current champions. Today french kids will face Russia looking for the first final position in the Qualifying Round. If they win and Spain beat Italy both teams will be in the good way to find himselves in the final. What happened yesterday?
In group E France and Russia added again another win, in this case against Montenegro (49-58) and Sweden (67-65). French needed to fight against Buducnost's Bojan Dubljevic ('91), and the power-forward "only" scored 17 points and pulled down 7 rebounds (he averages 25+9). In a really defensive contest 6'4'' SG Romain Hillotte ('91) made his event's high with 12 points, grabbing 3 rebounds. Beside him Leo Westermann ('92), from ASVEL, nailed 11 with 5/6 FG in only 19 minutes, while Fournier struggled: 3 points with 1/8 FG and 3 turnovers in 36'. At the winning effort American born Halil Kanacevic ('91) added 10 with 2/3 behind the arc. Russia is with the same record in this round (4-0) after knocking Sweden after suffering. 6'9'' PF Andrey Zubkov ('91), the best russian in the tournament, ended again as their best scorer with 13 points and 6 boards. 6'4'' PG Ruslan Tumanov ('91) made also his event's high with 12 points, adding 5 rebounds. Swedish kids lost their second tied game in a row (78-80 to Montenegro), having the last ball. Davidson's Chris Czerapowicz ('91) missed it, ending with 3 points (1/7 FG). 6'7'' SF Viktor Gaddefors ('92), from Virtus Bologna, nailed 17 (8/12 FG) and pulled down 8 boards. Andreas Person ('91) added 12 dishing 3 assists. In the last game of the group Latvia took the ticket for quarterfinals with a tied win against Slovenia (89-84). 6'9'' forward Mareks Mejeris ('91) collected a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists) to lead the victory, helped by 6'9'' center Martins Meiers ('91), with 18 points (8/14 FG) and 9 rebounds. Ugis Pinete ('91) had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. At the losing effort Klemen Prepelic ('92) fought with 17 points (4/6 threes), 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. In the last three games he is with great stats: 16.3 points (10/17 threes) and 4.0 assists. 7'0'' C Alen Omic ('92), from Zlatorog Lasko, had 16 with 8/11 FT.
And group F? Spain and Italy, already in quarterfinals, keep chasing the first spot after another win. Spaniards had problems during many minutes but finally beat Germany (73-58) with a great second half. Mirotic shined again (22 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks), in this case helped by Josep Franch ('91) again: 14 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. With Nacho Llovet ('91) sidelined due to a knee injury 6'9'' Miguel Lorenzo ('91) made a good job with 6 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. "American" germans (6 players are in NCAA) found a lot of problems to score, with 6'9'' C Daniel Theis ('92) having 11 points (4/7 FG) and 3 rebounds. Gonzaga's Mathis Mönninghöff ('92) added 10 with 2/4 from downtown. Italy is following the same steps after beating Greece (59-64). Big game for 6'6'' scoring-machine guard Alessandro Gentile ('92), from Benetton Treviso, with 23 points and 4/8 threes. Beside him 6'8'' forward Achille Polonara ('91) helped with 14 points, 6 boards and 4 blocks. Linos Chrysikopoulos ('92) injury during the second half damaged greeks, with Olympiakos Dimitrios Katsivelis ('91) ending with 12 points and 4 rebounds. 6'9'' C Emmanouil Koukoulas ('91) added 10 points and 6 boards in only 16 minutes. In the other contest of this group Turkey beat Ukraine (61-64), with both sides still looking for their quarterfinals chances. 6'11'' C Sertac Sanli ('91) made his best game in the event (18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists), while Furkan Aldemir ('91) had 16 points and 7 rebounds and Can Mutaf ('91) 14 with 4/11 from downtown. Turkish started last quarter 7 points down, but came back. 6'9'' C Maksym Sandul ('91) finished as the best ukranian after collecting a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists). Oleksandr Lypovyy ('91) added 9 with 6 boards.
In the battle for the relegation to Division "B" Serbia is already with a 2-0 record, trying to avoid the disaster. Yesterday they beat Austria (64-83) behind Danilo Andjusic ('91), who nailed 16 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished 4 assists. 6'9'' PF Branislav Djekic ('91) collected a double-double (14 points with 8/8 FT and 10 boards). At the losing effort youngster Jozo Rados ('93) tallied 13, adding 6 boards. Carlos Novas ('92) and Thomas Klepeisz ('91) had 10 apiece. In the other game of this fight Croatia beat Lithuania (76-82) behind 6'11'' C Domagoj Bubalo ('91), who scored 25 points (11/15 FG) and pulled down 5 boards. PG Roko Rogic ('92) added 14 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. At lithuanian side Saulius Kulvietis ('91) battled with 17 points and 5/9 behind the arc. Dovydas Redikas ('92) scored 14 and dished 7 assists.
Standings:
-Group E: France and Russia (4-0), Montenegro and Latvia (2-2), Sweden and Slovenia (0-4).
-Group F: Spain and Italy (4-0), Germany (2-2), Greece and Turkey (1-3) and Ukraine (0-4).
-Classification Round: Serbia (2-0), Croatia and Austria (1-1) and Lithuania (0-2).
Photo: Jonatan González
