West Midlands Basketball League

RIO DE JANEIRO (Olympics) - While all eyes are fixed firmly on London, you can probably forgive those donning the gold and green of Brazil if they are tempted to glance a little further beyond this summer - four years beyond in fact.   For their status as hosts of the 2016 Olympic Games has already got an entire nation excited.   Meanwhile ...

MADRID (Liga Endesa) - It requires many sacrifices to pursue a dream. Just ask Jayson Tyson Granger, who decided to leave Uruguay as a 16-year-old to play for Estudiantes of Madrid, a club with a long, rich history in Spanish basketball. Now 22, Granger, a huge talent with a strong physique for a guard, is living his best moment in the Liga ...

TORONTO (Olympics) - This summer, Brazil will end a 16-year absence from the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament. As they return to the event for the first time since 1996, the Brazilians will be expected to field the best team possible. However, national icon Oscar Schmidt last week surprised many in saying he believed Leandro Barbosa and Nene - who ...

ATHENS (Euroleague/Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Kostas Sloukas made the step up to Greece's top team at the EuroBasket last summer in Lithuania, taking full advantage of Dimitris Diamantidis' international retirement and an injury that kept Vassilis Spanoulis out of the squad. With the expected return of Spanoulis, his Olympiacos teammate, the ...

MONTPELLIER (EuroLeague Women) - There won't be much any team can do to stop the United States women at the London Games if Seimone Augustus maintains her current form. The MVP of the WNBA Finals after leading the Minnesota Lynx to their first title last year, Augustus is now in Russia with Sparta&K Moscow Region and on Wednesday night, she was ...

SKOPJE (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Marjan Lazovski was on the F.Y.R. of Macedonia bench at the moment everything changed for his country last year, on September 14 in Kaunas, Lithuania. Vlado Ilievski, after a turnover by the Lithuanians , buried a long three-pointer to put the Macedonians into a 66-65 lead with 11 seconds remaining. Lithuania ...

TORONTO (Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Exactly a year ago today, Linas Kleiza suffered the most devastating blow of his career when he underwent knee surgery that forced him out of action for 11 months. It was all the more tragic as it came after Kleiza led Lithuania to an impressive bronze medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey and was ...

SAN ANTONIO (NBA/Olympics) - Argentina's Manu Ginobili has begun shooting with his left hand again. The San Antonio Spurs veteran broke the fifth metacarpal on his hand in a January 2 game at the Minnesota Timberwolves and had surgery three days later. "Nice to start using my lefty again," he said on his Facebook.com profile. "I missed ...

PORTLAND (NBA/Olympics) - Nicolas Batum is breathing a sigh of relief along with everyone in French basketball after being told he did not suffer a serious knee injury during Monday night's game at Utah. A magnetic imaging resolution (MRI) on the 23-year-old's left knee showed he only has a bone contusion. Batum is now listed as day-to-day, according to ...

BUENOS AIRES (Olympics) - Argentina coach Julio Lamas is extremely happy to be reunited with Sergio Hernandez again. Lamas was an assistant to Hernandez when he led the national side and now the latter has agreed to join the technical staff when the FIBA Americas Championship winners compete at the London Games. His return to the coaching brain trust ...

CARACAS (Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Puerto Rico basketball supremo Carlos Beltran fully expects all opponents to be formidable at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. In addition to the Puerto Ricans are the Dominican Republic, hosts Venezuela, Greece, Lithuania, FYR of Macedonia, Russia, Korea, Jordan, New Zealand, Nigeria and Angola. In ...

LAGOS (Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Nigeria's chances of making it to the 2012 Olympic Games are bigger than a lot of people think. At least that's according to national team coach Ayodele Bakare, whose optimism is based on the country's vast pool of experienced talent to draw from, and an improved Nigerian Basketball Federation ...

PORTLAND (NBA/Olympics) - France have a nervous wait until Nicolas Batum has his left knee examined by doctors in Portland after getting hurt in Monday's 93-89 defeat at Utah. The Trail Blazers shooting guard was dribbling down the right side of the lane to attempt a potential game-tying lay-up with 23 seconds to go when he stumbled and fell to the ...

MADRID (Olympics) - It’s not been an easy three and a half months for Dan Clark, the 23-year-old Great Britain forward who spent most of the first half of the Spanish Liga Endesa season on the Estudiantes bench. Pepu Hernandez has turned to Clark the past couple of games and the Brit has delivered solid performances. Against surprise package ...

EKATERINBURG (Olympics) - The United States women will be favored to win gold for the fifth consecutive time at the Olympics when they travel to Britain this summer. The squad is not short on star power, neither in terms of players or coaches. What the Americans will face the obstacle of limited preparation time, but this is nothing ...

CARACAS (Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - An important step on the road to this summer's London Games will be taken on Tuesday with the draw for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Caracas, Venezuela. Twelve teams will do battle in the Venezuelan capital from 2-8 July as they aim to book the three remaining places on offer for the ...

MADRID (2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup) - This is an Olympic year, and as always in late January, federations with national teams taking part in the Summer Games or with a chance to do so are in hyper-activity mode. Squads are being announced and friendly games being arranged. Training facilities are being booked along with flights and ...

BUENOS AIRES (Olympics) - The biggest news when it comes to squad announcements ahead of international tournaments is normally about the players, but Argentina have raised eyebrows for a different reason. Former national team boss Sergio Hernandez, the confederation has revealed, is to join the coaching staff of Julio Lamas at the London Games. Hernandez ...

KOSICE (EuroLeague Women/FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - There was a very important development for the Czech Republic women's national team on Wednesday night. The 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women MVP, Hana Horakova, played almost half the game for her new club Good Angels Kosice. A two-time Olympian, the 32-year-old was missed as the Czechs ...

MADRID (Euroleague) - There are plenty of adjectives one might use to describe Bo McCalebb, who time and time again proves for club and country that he's one of the best players in Europe. He's fast, relentless, fearless and downright inspirational. A naturalized member of the F.Y.R. of Macedonia national team, McCalebb made the EuroBasket 2011 ...