European Prospects

Today, the Albert Schweitzer Tournament 2012 saw the semi-finals going on in Mannheim. The games could be followed LIVE on the net so here we go for a little recap of the two decisive games before we are back to the gym tomorrow.

Turkey – Spain 76-90

Both teams started with on a very high speed into the game looking for the first offensive options all the way. Turkey tried to use the mismatch they had with Burak Yildizli against Ilimane Diop as the Turkish big guy faced the basket to beat the long Spaniard of the dribble. This worked quite well especially as Yildizli could also hit the long jump shot or from behind the arc. Spain tried to change defenses in order to stop this situation but the Turkish forward could nevertheless score 21 points in the first half. On the other side though, Josep Perez was doing the same as he came up with 19 points in the first two quarters. He attacked the basket constantly and scored on several floaters. But he was also on fire from three-point land and knocked down 4 long rangers. Additionally, Willy Hernangomez did his job in the paint while Turkey found a good solution against the Spain zone with several high low plays. Spain was up 7 points at halftime but Yildizli had three fouls.

In the second half, Cedi Osman took over the scoring for the Turkish team as he drove several times hard to the basket. The defense on Perez was now a bit better but Turkey could not really reduce the gap significantly. Spain controlled the game at that moment through several scores on second chances while Yildzli remained on the bench. Spain had the better start into the last quarter and could increase the lead to 11 points after a steal and dunk by Javier Marin. Turkey still tried to attack the Spanish zone with high-low situations or attacking the gaps but slowly the defenders knew where the passes were coming. Juan Saiz added a very impressive dunk as well and Spain started their fast break basketball. Tayfun Erülkü tried to bring his team back into the game with several difficult shots but at the two minutes mark, Spain was still up 10 points. Diop did not play anymore in the second half as Saiz was doing a very good job. On the other side, the Turkish defense was better now against Perez who was more limited in his scoring during the last 20 minutes. The Spaniards finished the job from the free-throw line and qualified for the Final on Saturday.

MVP: Josep Perez 26pts (8/13 FGs), 1reb, 2asts, 3stls

Germany – Serbia 58-68

The better start into the game was for Serbia behind an irresistible Nikola Radicevic who showed his full potential in the first minutes with a three-point shot, a mid range Jumper and the score out of the fake to give his team a lead at 16-10. The German team did not find its rhythm yet and several bad choices on offense forced their coach to take a first timeout. However, this did not really help as Radicevic found Mihajlo Andric for the open three-point shot. On the German side, Ismet Akpinar scored several baskets in one-on-one situations but Serbia was already up in double-digits. Radicevic continued his show by scoring several easy baskets and with nearly 7 minutes on the clock in the second quarter, they went up 27-12. Kevin Bryant started to play defense on Radicevic who started to have problems on offense. Germany used these moments to reduce the gap slightly but remained behind in double digits. However, Nikola Rebic who run the point during long moments of the second quarter scored two big three-point shots in the last minute to giver Serbia a 16 points advantage at half.

Germany came out of the locker room in a better shape as they started with two three-point shots from Malik Müller and Paul Zipser. Serbia however continued to control the game with Radicevic attacking the basket at will. Additionally, they controlled the boards on both sides of the court as Germany had not the necessary length to stop Dusan Ristic and Nikola Milutinov. David Taylor made his comeback after his injury and he could speed up the German offense a bit but it did not really help as Radicevic scored another layup on the third quarter buzzer. Stefan Wess scored five points in a row and Taylor managed to hit a difficult layup which brought Germany back to –10 with 8 minutes left on the clock. The score bounced now around these 10 points difference as both teams traded baskets. With only a minute remaining in the game, Serbia was still up by 9 points as Germany was unable to find open shots or good situations for its usual top scorer Zipser who did not have a great game. Serbia reached the final and will play against Spain for the Gold Medal.

MVP: Nicola Radicevic 22pts (8/15 FGs), 2rebs, 5asts, 4tos, 1stl