Hawks FIBA Watch

[lethalweapon3]

Dennis Schröder understandably has his own thread already, but a few others on the Atlanta Hawks roster will be balling in FIBA qualifying tourneys, beginning tonight:

 

* Nicolas Brussino and AmeriCup host Argentina (FIBA World Rank #6) begins round-robin play in Group B tonight, in Bahia Blanca, against Venezuela.

Argentina schedule

(Group B - Bahia Bianca, Argentina)

8/27 vs. Venezuela

8/28 vs. Canada (Andrew Nicholson)

8/29 vs. US Virgin Islands 

Semifinals - 9/2 (Cordoba, Argentina)

 

* Joining Dennis in Group B of Eurobasket play is Marco Belinelli and Italy (FIBA World Rank #35). They'll be without Danilo Gallinari because of his foolishness, making Belinelli the only current NBA talent competing on the roster (discounting forward Gigi Datome).

Italy schedule

(Group B - Tel Aviv, Israel)

8/31 vs. Israel (Omri Casspi)

9/2 vs. Ukraine

9/3 vs. Lithuania (Jonas Valanciunas, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Donatas Motiejunas)

9/5 vs. Germany (Dennis Schröder, Daniel Theis, Isaiah Hartenstein)

9/6 vs. Georgia (Zaza Pachulia)

Round of 16  (Istanbul, Turkey) - 9/9 - 9/10

 

* Greece (FIBA World Rank #13) is without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyler Dorsey due to (alleged) injuries. But they will go into Eurobasket Group A play with Hawks stashee Dimitrios Agravanis (left).

Greece schedule

(Group A - Helsinki, Finland)

8/31 vs. Iceland

9/2 vs. France (Evan Fournier, Kevin Seraphin, Joffrey Lauvergne, Boris Diaw, Kevin Seraphin)

9/3 vs. Slovenia (Goran Dragic, Anthony Randolph)

9/5 vs. Finland (Lauri Markkanen)

9/6 vs. Poland

 

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Good things come in twos for Nicolas Brussino: 2 points (1-for-4 FGs), 2 boards, and 2 steals, as Argentina heads 2 victory over Venezuela in their AmeriCup opener.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Not much help last night from Nicky Buckets! While Brussino goose egged (0-for-4 FGs, 5 rebounds, 1 steal) from the field, Argentina turned to its star guard to fend off Canada in overtime, Campazzo leaving the Canadians to ask: "What the Facundo?"

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Maybe a couple extra touches will be bouncing Brussino's way, now that Argentina is officially down by one ex-NBA player.

Quote

(Sportando) Argentina great Luis Scola has been lost for the remainder of the FIBA AmeriCup after suffering a minor calf injury in his team's 92-86 victory over Canada.

Scola, who skipped the team's opening game Venezuela on Sunday as a precautionary measure following his recovery from a left calf problem, injured the other calf during Monday's 92-86 win over the Canadians. He played less than two minutes before leaving the court.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Ah, there you are, Nicky Buckets!

Brussino (15 points, 4-for-10 3FGs, 6 rebounds, 3 steals in 24 minutes) and Lucio Redivo (19 points, 5-for-10 3FGs) lit the lamp from downtown routinely in Argentina's semifinal-clinching 104-58 win over former Gator Walter Hodge and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Despite the blowout loss, the heady USVI team that upset Canada, and nearly beat Venezuela, will get one of the 4 semifinal spots as well. They'll face the winner of AmeriCup Group C, which could be coach Jeff Van Gundy's Team USA, while Brussino and Argentina prepare to face Mexico on Saturday. No Gustavo Ayon with this Mexican outfit, but they won't go a day without former Charlotte Hornet Jorge Gutierrez.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Eurobasket is already underway this morning in the group stages.

The first two Hawks-centric contests are Germany (Dennis) against Ukraine at 8:45 AM Eastern in Group B, and Greece (Dimitrios) versus Iceland at 9:30 AM Eastern in Group A. Later today, Italy (Marco) and Israel will face each other in Group B action, with tip-off scheduled for 2:30 PM Eastern.

~lw3

[StephenHawking]

It's halftime between Germany and Ukraine. Schröder leading the pack with 18pts 4Ast 3Rebs on 7/13fg shooting 

[StephenHawking]

Schröder ended the game with 32pts  (11/20fg) 7ast and 5reb.

What stood out was that Schröder is very confident in his 3pt stroke and he's hitting it at a high clip since the playoffs. 5/9 today.

[lethalweapon3]

Just a couple brief trips off the pine for Dimitrios as Greece made swift work out of Iceland with a 90-61 opening win. In two stints totaling a team-low 3 minutes, he missed one shot and was credited with a bad-pass turnover in the second quarter. He was subbed-out at turns in favor of ex-Hawks stashee Georgios Printezis and Georgios Papagiannis.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

A couple ex-Hawks notes. Zaza Pachulia had 10 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals, plus his 8 points were just enough to help (Republic of) Georgia squeak past Lithuania, 79-77. After getting fouled on a three-point attempt, Lithuanian Knick Minduagas Kuzminskas missed some crucial free throws near the end that could have forced OT.

The espresso machine was working overtime, as Boris Diaw was tossing his body all over the court. His 9 points and 9 rebounds were not enough, though, for a France team that looks like they really miss Tony Parker. Les Bleus fell in OT to host Finland, 86-84.

As for the latter-day Hawks, more after the Italy-Israel game on Marco Belinelli, who was pretty spicy (5-for-7 3FGs, 2 steals) in the first half.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

"Il Forno" (18 points, 6-for-8 3FGs, 4 steals) had his dial turned down in the second half, but Italy found little resistance from Israel (just 16 second-half points for the whole team) along the way to a 69-48 blowout win.

Hawks went 3-for-3 in the win column today! Not too shabby!

~lw3

[hazer]

Belli off the bench is gonna shine like 3zus should've been coming off the bench all along. Sniper.

[lethalweapon3]

Despite just 1 assist and 9 TOs, Dennis' 23 points (2-for-3 FGs) carried the day offensively. In the final quarter, the Germans turned up the defensive dial behind Daniel Theis to shut down Zaza Pachulia's Georgia (5 4th-quarter points for the whole team) in the 67-57 win.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Still among the youngest players on the Greece squad, Dimitrios only logged 43 seconds of action. After falling behind by 19 at the half, the Grecian formula could not quite be found against France, who prevailed 95-87.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Opponents still have no answer for Marco Belinelli, who went insane on the Ukraine (6-for-12 3FGs) for 26 points to spur Italy to a 78-66 win. Did somebody say Spur?

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

In Cordoba, Nicky Brussels and host Argentina will face Mexico in the AmeriCup semifinals tonight (9 PM Eastern), shortly after the conclusion of USA-Virgin Islands. The winners will face each other tomorrow night at the same scheduled time for the championship.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Hopefully, Mexico's defenders didn't get the time zone mixed-up like I did.

Brussino (3-for-7 3FGs) had a team-high 8 rebounds to go with his 17 points and 5 assists, as the host Argentinians piled on the points against Mexico, 84-67.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

The Lithuanians figured it out! They chased Marco Belinelli (14 points, 1-for-3 3FGs, 4 assists) off the 3-point line. Despite Luigi Datome (24 points, 4-for-8 3FGs) picking up the slack, Lithuania stifled Italy's offense just enough to hang on for the 78-73 win.

Dimitrios Agravanis is probably just glad he didn't have to buy a ticket. He was gifted just under seven minutes of playing time today (0-for-1 2FG, 2 rebounds) as Greece fell to a Slovenian team that feasted from the free throw line (16 extra attempts, led by Goran Dragic's 6-for-9 FTs and Luka Doncic's 5-for-6).

Also, a correction about today's AmeriCup final between Team USA (featuring Larry Drew II) and Nicolas Brussino's tourney host Argentina. This competition used to be a qualifier for the FIBA World Cup, but instead the top-seven finishers simply qualify for the 2019 Pan Am Games. So tonight's game is merely a feel-good opportunity for Brussino and Argentina to win something against a watered-down USA squad.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Argentina is derived from a Latin phrase for silver... so, how fitting!

Nicolas Brussino (26 points, 4-for-7 3FGs, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) carried the day for Argentina, especially early, but the Americans stormed ahead in the second half and hung on late to claim the 81-76 victory and the AmeriCup title!

U-S-A! U-S-A!

~lw3

[KB21]

I'm thinking the Hawks may have uncovered a gem in Nicholas Brussino.