Your headquarters for Spain basketball during the 2010 FIBA World Championships from Turkey. Check back for roster moves, news, updates and commentary.
| Name (Last, First) | Age | Position | Height (Meters) | 2009-2010 Club Team (League) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calderon, Jose | 28 | Point Guard | 1.91 | Toronto Raptors (NBA) |
| Claver, Victor | 21 | Forward | 2.05 | Power Electronics Valencia (Spain) |
| Fernandez, Rudy | 25 | Guard/Forward | 1.95 | Portland Trail Blazers (NBA) |
| Grabajosa, Jorge | 32 | Forward | 2.04 | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| Gasol, Marc | 25 | Center | 2.15 | Memphis Grizzlies (NBA) |
| Llull, Sergio | 22 | Guard | 1.90 | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| Navarro, Juan Carlos | 30 | Shooting Guard | 1.92 | Regal FC Barcelona (Spain) |
| Mumbru, Alex | 30 | Forward | 2.02 | Bilbao Basket (Spain) |
| Reyes, Felipe | 30 | Power Forward | 2.06 | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| Rubio, Ricky | 19 | Point Guard | 1.90 | Regal FC Barcelona (Spain) |
| San Emeterio, Fernando | 26 | Small Forward | 1.99 | Caja Laboral (Spain) |
| Vazquez, Fran | 27 | Center | 2.09 | Regal FC Barcelona (Spain) |
Spain
- ELA featured on newest TalkBasket Podcast. Let's talk FIBA.
- Freaknick's FIBA 15: The Durantula and BasketBieber
- VIDEO BREAKDOWN: Inside Greece and Serbia's epic brawl.
- FIBA Power Rankings, Take Two: Renaldo Balkman has Puerto Rico in beast mode.
- PODCAST #66: BallinEurope joins the ELA Podcast to talk some FIBA.
- PODCAST: Are Les Bleus sunk without Beaubois? We talk France, Australia and FIBA.
- FIBA 2010 Rankings: The good, the bad and even Tunisia.
- BREAKING NEWS: ELA's new FIBA 2010 tab is rather awesome.
- Euroleague Adventures is going to Turkey.
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@Nikos: Damn. Quite the response, and I appreciate it. But let’s get a couple things straight:
I get it. According to everyone, I’m an ignorant American who (despite running a website devoted to European basketball) has never witnessed more than a few games and highlights of European teams. I only favor US-style of play and am seeing all of these names for the first time apparently. I have no idea what it means to be a “wing” and am silly for thinking Greece isn’t at the very least a top three team in this tournament. I understand all of that. Thank you.
Now as for a couple things you said:
Perperoglou: You call him “univesal” and I agree, but probably in a different way than you do. He is mediocre all-around on offense. The skillset you refer to is a very evenly distributed one yet he has no refined moves and he can rarely use his superior athleticism because playing off of him is OK; he won’t hurt you with his jumper (this is the issue with Childress’ game that bothered most Greeks I talked to). I’ve watched Perperoglou be an offensive non-factor for the last couple of seasons with Panathinaikos, so if we have to differ on opinion here then that’s fine.
Diamantidis: Am I a little unschooled on some of the players in this tournament? Yes, but DD isn’t one of them. Has he played the 3 before? Yes. Is he out of position when he does? Yes. His defense is never a question (ever) but his offensive efficiency shines through when he’s up against a smaller defender he can muscle past or even post up, which both set up his jumper which is wet. I love DD. But a SF? I don’t think so.
Papanikolaou: Did I say he was “the best”? I did not. I said a better fit, as he can provide spurts and a few good minutes here and there, a very important asset to have on any FIBA bench. He shouldn’t be left off this roster.
Zisis: You sure that’s not you? Same name and such a passionate response…Anyways, I like Nikos Zisis. Just because a team’s ranked 7th doesn’t mean that I think all of their players are garbage, even if I see a couple of issues at the wing. And for the record, we’re talking about SF here, so it’s great that he’s a combo guard but that’s not what I refer to. I think we’re both getting a little hung up on the vagueness of the “wing” word. Maybe I never should’ve used it to begin with.
Printezis: One of my favorite players in Europe. Olympiacos would’ve won a ’ship if they hadn’t let him slip away. COming back from the injury the way he did last year still amazes me and any team on any continent would be glad to have him. But as you said, he’s only an SF on defense, and as I’ve mentioned I have no doubt about them as a defensive ballclub.
Kaimakoglou/Vasileiadis: I like Kaimakoglou but he’s solid to me and nothing more. The MVP voting is nice but there comes a point where I have to see if someone passes the eye test. To me, he doesn’t stick out as anything special. As for KV, I probably overlooked him more than I should have. I’m plenty familiar with his game having spent the past year in Spain and think he offers more of the lategame killer I’m looking for.
Calathes: He’s ready for a bigger role and I think he’ll get it. I even said that on a podcast I did with TalkBasket last week. Papaloukas’ absence is going to open some doors for him.
And as for being the first or second most talented team in the tournament, I think everyone’s quick to hate on me for mislabeling Greece yet I doubt many have taken the time to get to know the team that the USA is sending. They ain’t D-Leaguers.
I’ll be updating the rankings in a day or two…maybe Greece will be higher. But maybe not. Thanks for your detailed response though. I learned something.
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Apparently a lot
Sorry, just joking, but Greece is playing awesome lately 
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@Arwyta: I hope FIBA isn’t reading, otherwise it looks like I might have to buy a ticket like everyone else. If they win Gold they’ll never let me live it down…
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Actually, Partizan is thrilled that PAO keeps taking their players every year and this mainly happens because of their extremely close relationship with Obradovic.
Without PAO Partizan would probably not even exist. The money they have given them is not only much more than what any other team would ever pay for those players, but it’s also what has primarily financed and funded their club in recent times.
A huge part of their final four appearance last year is actually owed to PAO and the money they have given them.
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@Eric: Great comment and great point. That’s clearly an angle that I overlooked. Still though, I just wish Partizan could hold onto some of their talent every once in a while, but I understand that it’s not possible with the current financial constraints. Thanks for reading man, and I’ll put out a new list later today.
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Great stuff…I’m a little concerned about the bucket list too.
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I´m from Argentina, I like the article and I agree in a lot of things. Everybody know that the “Golden Generation” (as we call this group of players) is getting older but I think some of the 30+ players are still in their prime (Scola is playing better than ever, and Pablo Prigioni i near his peak). Everybody here wants new blood but the players coming from behind are far far away from this group . Even the starting lineup in this team is much more better than the substitutes. But this team has chemistry, experience, talent and love to play together so I think we still have a chance to be in semifinals. And last but not least, let´s make 9 player that “have celebrated their 30th birthdays by the time they tip things off against Germany”. Leonardo Gutiérrez is 32 (May 16, 1978).
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@Diego: Thanks for the comment man, and the changes have been made; I guess that makes Argentina even older. It’s nice to have your insight as an Arentinian, and I’m wondering what you think about leaving Fernandez off the roster? I think there’s enough left for one solid finals run (at most), but what do you see beyond that? Thanks man.
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it seems as though the Greeks believe that their team is as good as their economy was 3 years ago…hahahah
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There’s not too much beyond this group of players as we can see now. A few years ago the eye was on class 90 (Fernández, Nocedal, Laprovittola, Gaynor) which team finished 5th in the U19 World Championship last year but you cannot see the same level of talent. The star of that group was Nocedal but he´s still trying to find his place, he has a long term contract with Caja Laboral Baskonia who sign him when he was 17 or so but he’ve been playing in different spanish levels of competition, played in Ourense (LEB Oro last season) and now has signed with Jesi in LegaDUE, Italy. The big problem is big men or the lack of them, that has always been a problem in Argentina. I think the national team will find adequate perimeter players (maybe not as good as Manu, Pepe or Delfino) but it has been a miracle to have Oberto and Scola being contemporary and playing together. Regarding Juan Fernandez, I think he will be great but I understand coach Hernández decision. I´m sure that the time he spent practicing with the team has been excellent for his evolution, but Hernández always says he chooses players for big tournaments thinking of what they can do at that moment and not in the future. So he thinks (I suppose) that Cantero (who is a great shooter) is more mature to take decisions playing point guard in the limited time Prigioni will be on the bench. It was tough but very understandable. (PD: Sorry if my english is not very good, hope everybody understand)
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@Diego: That’s great info man. I’d been scouring my resources looking for some young Argentine talent and was having some trouble so thanks for all of the info. I imagine Oberto (35) doesn’t have too much left in the tank so developing some bigs might be a must. I’m pretty sure this tournament will signify the passing of the South American torch from Argentina to Brasil, especially considering the great youth Brasil left off this roster (Lima, Fab Melo, Rafa Freire).
And your English was great man. A lot better than I would’ve done in Spanish. Thanks for the comment brother.
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Today, during a press conference a journalist ask coach Sergio Hernández about advantages and disadvantages of a team averagin more than 30 years. He said: “I didn´t even realized that was our average. I don´t mind, I see them in practice every day and everybody is at their top. We have some young players training with us and sometimes they could not keep the pace with the “veterans”. In this kind of tournaments I prefer this type of players, because they know how to face different circumstances during the competition. Besides, there are not young players with the talent to fight these guys for a spot in the roster”
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Guillherme? Machado, Vinicius and Garcia will all get minutes ahead of Guillermhe.
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Good stuff. Enjoyed your breakdown of the players. And haven’t I seen that t-shirt somewhere before…
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Serbia’s Killer: Milos Teodosic, he handled late game shots in Eurobasket last year. Velikovic play will be integral, but I got Milos as my the guy most dangerous with the ball.
If Marcelo Huertas works his magic for Brazil like he did with Caja Laboral, then Brazil is my Bronze medalist. Huertas and Splitter already have that great chemistry from their ACB Championship run.
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I’m thinking Garcia as more of a replacement for Barbosa, and Guillherme looked pretty solid in the Super Four. 13 against Venezuela. Also, he has a nice little advantage having played all those seasons in Italy and understanding the Euro game.
But hey, if it’s Machado, Vinicius, or even Garcia…even better. I’m really pulling for these guys and they’ll need SOMEBODY to step up.
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A few things:
- Mumbru and Garbajosa have actually played well for Spain. Mumbru was the best player in the recent game against Slovenia and isn’t afraid to go one on one against anyone. He knows the system and has great chemistry with his Spanish NT teammates. San Emeterio may be one of the top small forward’s in Europe, but for the NT Mumbru is a great fit.
- Garbajosa may even start in front of Reyes, that’s how well he’s playing. He’s hitting his 3s, posting well, and has been solid on D. He had a few nice games in the ACB playoffs last year as well.
-Turkey’s guard play is too suspect for me to rank them ahead of Greece. Turkey doesn’t have a single guard as good as Nick Calathes, let alone Diamantidis, Spanoulis, Vasiliadis or Zisis. Ilyasova and Hedo are better than the 3s and 4s Greece has but Bourousis, Sofo, and Tsartsaris can do everything Asik, Erden, and Savas can do and do it better.
- I don’t think Mirza Begic is playing for Slovenia…the bigs will be Brezec, Slokar, Vidmar, Rizvic, and Zupan. Becirovic got injured a few days ago. Nachbar and Lakovic will be important.
- Lebanon is probably better than China and is coming off a great run at the Stankovic Cup. They’ve got 3 legitimate threats in Jackson Vroman, Fadi El-Khatib, and Matt Freije as well as a solid point guard that can shoot in Rony Fahed. They could give some good teams tough games.
Check out my power rankings:
http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1045821
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ESPN picked their top 4. It was:
1. Greece
2. Spain
3. USA
4. Argentina
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come on Freaknick,you know that Greeks love people with great sense of humor like you.
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Greece just beat Canada by 74 points by a score of 123-49. Bourousis did not even play in the game and Spanoulis barely even tried. This team is ranked 6th? USA might lose by 20 to this Greek team.
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@Xristos: I’m fine with one of the two being on the team (Mumbru or Garbajosa), but leaving Suarez off was still a mistake in my mind. Garbajosa just doesn’t bring nearly the activity that he used to.
@Eric: I heard Fran Fraschilla pick Greece to win it on ESPN and I nearly threw my fork at the screen. I think Greece is great but there comes a time where you need to be loyal to your country. The media in the USA, Spain, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, Serbia and even Turkey should all think of themselves as favorites.
@Perseus: Thanks brother. And we Americans love fans as passionate as the Greeks.
@Yao: Congrats on the W. Again, though, I don’t put so much stock into warm-up games. It’s like using pre-game shooting drills to predict field goal percentage. Completely different context.
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Warm-up games? You obviously did not see Greece-Canada. Even though Bourousis will not play, IF Greece chooses to beat the US on 8-25 they will. EASILY. The question is whether they will pull the game or not for tactical reasons, which European teams commonly do. Greece will crush that US team if they play like today.
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@Eric: Perfect. So now even if USA wins it will be because Greece let them, right? Quite the competitors.
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Lithuania in 12th place? Just as high as it managed to reach in Euro 2009.
You’ve got to be kidding. Lets be honest, you should have ranked it much lower as it’s obvious they will have to cope without a help from some of their big names this time. 
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If you are a USA fan you better hope Greece does not choose to play 100% in that upcoming friendly for tactical reasons, as European teams are known to do. Because the way Greece is playign right now, if they go 100% in that game the US is going to suffer its worst defeat in history and they are going to get embarrassed on ESPN.
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I’m Greek and you sound dumb saying that. There’s no way the US gets blown out. By anyone.
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The US team will get blown out this summer by someone.
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If you didn’t know, Ayuso and Dalmau have left the Puerto Rico national team while Brazil got trashed by Spain as they have to deal without their injured stars. In short, if I were you, I wouldn’t trust the outside-of-Europe national teams (with an exception of two, namely USA and Argentina).
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@Olia: I saw that Dalmau/Ayuso decided FIBA wasn’t for them. Very stupid move if it turns out the only real reasons are playing time issues. I’d put them right up there with Beno Udrih on my list of selfish assholes this summer.
But Guillermo Diaz and David Huertas (the replacements) are studs. Obviously not the experience of the other two, but they’re both scorers, though Diaz is about as streaky as they come. The real issue will be perimeter defense for these guys and I’m not sure they can handle the pick and roll without Balkman in there. A lot of extra pressure has now fallen on my boy A.D. Vassallo.
@Eric: With all due respect, I’ve got to side w/@Xristos on the whole “U.S. getting blown out” thing. If we’re defining a blowout by 20+, absolutely not. 15+…still no. 10+? It’s conceivable, but I think it could be to Brazil in pool play.
Thanks for everyone’s comments.
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Canada 62 - Serbia 58
Greece 96 - Slovenia 72
So how many does Greece have to beat the USA by to move up to #5 here? 20 or 30?
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@Eric: From what you’ve said, it sounds like anything other than a 50-point deficit would be unacceptable.
Unless you know, they’re “not trying.” But like I said man, I’ll trust my instincts over the pre-tournament results for now. I won’t commit to anything for the warm-up game between USA-Greece, but if we meet in the real thing we should arrange a bet. Like maybe I’ll paint my face blue and white or streak through the streets of Istanbul. Second thought, maybe we should stick with the paint. This might be a dumb question: are you Greek? I’ve enjoyed the back-and-forth brother. Keep it up through the tournament.
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@Eric: From what you’ve said, it sounds like anything other than a 50-point deficit would be unacceptable.
Unless you know, they’re “not trying.” But like I said man, I’ll trust my instincts over the pre-tournament results for now. I won’t commit to anything for the warm-up game between USA-Greece, but if we meet in the real thing we should arrange a bet. Like maybe I’ll paint my face blue and white or streak through the streets of Istanbul. Second thought, maybe we should stick with the paint. This might be a dumb question: are you Greek? I’ve enjoyed your comments brother. Keep it up through the tournament.
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Yes, I am Greek, but I live now in USA. I know where you get this idea that Greece is so low. You believe they will lose in the game agianst Turkey because of the refs, the crowd, and the motiviation of the Turkish players. You then believe that Greece will get the USA in the quarterfinals and lose there.
I assume you get 6-7 place, instead of 5, by thinking that after such an unlucky darw (certainly the unluckiest imaginable in the tournament if that happened) and the huge disapointement of not winning a medal, that you think Greece will fold up the tent psychologically after this and thus lose the placement games as well. Similar to what happened to Turkey last year.
Well, there are some real holes in this logic IMO. First, Greece is definitely a better team than Turkey is, and if Turkey continues to allow Hedo to play however he wants to, they can’t beat a team the level of Greece, even playing at home.
And even assuming Turkey gets their act together and plays more discipled (as they can) and does beat Greece……..so what? First US might not go undefeated in group stage. And even if they do it does not matter.
Greece can beat Brazil, Slovenia, Croatia no problem. And yes, they can definitely beat USA also. You have it all backwards. If Greece loses to Turkey then it is the nightmare scenario for USA and not Greece. Because then USA has to play Greece at the quarterfinals and all I can say is remember Yugoslavia - USA quarterfinals in 2002?
USA wants absolutely no part of Greece at the quarterfinals. I assure you of that. And the truth is that the easiest time to beat a team like USA is at the quarterfinals. That’s the easiest time to do it. USA, and not Greece could very well end up being the 5 placed team.
But this only assumes that Greece loses to Turkey. And what you need to remember is the long tradition in the rivalries. Greece has never forgotten the EuroBasket where Turkey refused to play the Greek national anthem before the game. Ever since then Greece has pretty much owned them, and that includes wins on their home soil.
The Greek players will be just as motivated as the Turks will and also will want to shut the crowd up. I admit though that having the game in Ankara was brilliant by FIBA because it makes it where few Greeks will be there. If it was in Istanbul or Izmir there would be a lot of Greeks. In Ankara it will be a big side of Turks.
And another thing to consider, Greece knows if they beat Turkey and go 5-0 in the group stage that they can avoid USA and Spain. It means possibly Serbia or Argentina at semifinals and possibly Spain-USA winner at the finals. And of course the better schedule. Greece already experienced the bad schedule in 2006 of having to play games exhausted with no rest, while Spain had the easy schedule. So I assure you that Greece will want to go 5-0.
Finally, Greece’s coach is a tactician. Giannakis also did that (he called off the game at the 15 minute mark between US and Greece in 2008), but not as much. He sometimes let ego get in the way (choosing to play Argentina in 2008 for revenge of 2004). Kazlauaskas will approach it tactically without letting ego get in the way. You can bet on that because he already learned his lesson when Lithuania beat US in the group stage in 2004 and then lost to them in the bronze medal game.
You could see that obviously in how Greece tanked their games in the group stage last year at the EuroBasket against Russia and France, in order to avoid Spain. I understand your logic and how you think Greece is going to falter, but I do not think you have analyzed it, nor thought it through one bit.
Greece was 5th in the world in 2004. They had a 15 point lead on the US and blew it in the fourth quarter. They had a 15 point lead in the quarters against champs Argentina and also blew it in the fourth quarter. Greece was first in Europe 2005 (won Spain during the summer), second in the world 2006 without Bourousis and Zisis (beat US), fourth in Europe 2007 (without Fotsis) and only lost because playing against Spain on their home court the refs gave the game to Spain……..
was 5th in the world in 2008, losing to Argentina when the refs purposely did not call a blatant foul on Argentina at the end of the game, actually throwing a Greek player to the floor with force. Otherwise it would have been overtime…….
All of this was done with a BAD COACH. Almost every loss was because of bad coaching, except the 2007 EuroBasket semifinals with Spain, where the refs decided it. The game against Argentina in 2008 was one of the worst coached games you could imagine for Greece.
Now they have a GOOD coach. Last summer they were just experimenting basically. This summer they are actually implementing his offense. I don’t think you understand the level of the Greek players. They have always been the best in Europe for the last 5-6 years and the A1 has been the highest league. The problem has always been the coaching.
Not anymore. Now people will see that. Teams like Spain will no longer be playign against a team with an amateur coach. You will see just how good the Greek players are now.
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This video is better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwsIp_yCrnc
It shows it actually started when Milos punched Fotsis in the stomach.
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Hahahaha I can’t stop laughing very interesting description
I just think you’ve missed to mention Bjelica falling down as a diversion to attract big men Sofo so rising (Novica) and NBA (Krstic) star could talk about how fat Sofo is, in his back 
It’s a shame it ended like this, a very friendly game between orthodox brothers, indeed.
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Pardon me for my absence, I was taking my entomologist’s sabbatical.
The insect is known as Ksrticus Runningawayfromitallius, a cunning pest, possesing the rare ability of magically disappearing right after its victim turns around to face its backstabing attacks. Commonly referred to as “the lionharted moth”, Ksrticus, by means of using what’s left of its chitinous exoskeleton hair as antennas, can identify the exact moment its target has had enough already of its futile attempts to become annoying, by which time it literally vanishes into thin air.
Thus, sightings of the beast are rare, and therefore, on behalf of the Hellenic Entomologists Union, I would like to thank you Freaknick for this rare footage.
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great!
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@BrutalDlx: Any time I can be of assistance to the vaunted Hellenic Entomologists Union, I jump at the chance. Thank you for your time, which I understand to be as sparse as the footage I have provided.
@Condor/Krle: Yawl are the shit.
@Eric: A “punch”? Maybe a Buddah belly rub. Then again, I’ve always thought of Milos as a pansy on defense. It’s why I campaigned for more Pat Beverley minutes all season long. Nobody ever agreed though. Maybe now? Probably not…
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Thanks for writing regarding this. There is the size associated with important tech information on the internet. A person have lots that info here on your web. I’m amazed - I try to maintain the few blogs reasonably live, however it’s challenging sometimes. You’ve done a solid work together with this one. How do a person this?
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Meh, the really bad 3rd quarter just ruined LTU against ESP. Despite that, the rest was a decent play, better than I expected (not that I wasn’t hoping for, though), in fact. Obviously, it was like a completely different team than the one two weeks ago. It’s enough for me to make me think that the article’s words might have some weight in them, but we’ll see. All in good time.
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After the USA game I really want to see Eitutavičius and Lukauskis cut. Loved how Seibutis played, Pocius was good when he wasn’t over-heating from time-to-time… These two would be the best option.
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…and Kleiza should learn to bite his tongue, for goodness’ sake!
It hurts the team too often.
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