FIBA 3-on-3 @ Youth Olympic Games – Day Eight (Boys’ Semis)

SINGAPORE ( Youth Olympic Games) - Zdravo, kako si?

It’s hard to explain with words but what happened today in Singapore was just unbelievable as we had a sunny day packed with thrilling action on the court with some astonishing endings!

This game is from yesterday’s quarter-finals but it shows what we could expect from the Serbian team today.

Serbia – USA 34-29 after OT

Playing in front of cheering fans of the United States must have motivated the boys of Marko Simonovic, as they gave all the people in the attendance a game which they probably will never forget. The Serbs were the first to pull away when Sasa Avramovic connected on a three pointer with three minutes remaining in the first half to put Serbia up by four (8-4) against the U.S.

After a series of travelling violations and free-throws, the U.S. were trailing by as much as five points with less than a minute to play in the first part of the game. Brandan Kearney got things going by scoring on a drive to the hoop just to repeat the same move which even brought him an extra free-throw as he was fouled on that second play. So at halftime, it was all tied (15-15).

It was Marko Radonjic who netted in a three to put Serbia up again by four with three minutes remaining, but almost on the same play, Sterling Gibbs brought the U.S. back by scoring from the perimeter as well. Angelo Chol showed why he is so intimidating and blocked Stefan Popovski just to bring the States the lead with two made free-throws (20-21). Brandan Kearney chipped in another two on a jump-shot and Sterling Gibbs stayed perfect on the charity stripe but it was Marko Radonjic who drove to the paint to level the score (25-25) with ten seconds to play in the second half. Gibbs took the fast lane to the basket but missed so the game went to overtime.

Now it was all Serbia when Sasa Avramovic pulled the “and 1” to put the Europeans up by three. In the same play, Brandan Kearney fouled out of the game and Kyle Caudill could not stop Marko Radonjic who swiftly passed him to lay in another two (32-27) for the Serbs with a minute remaining on the clock. The Americans had hopes for a come-back when Gibbs clicked in a field-goal but after a foul on Sasa Avramovic with 51 seconds to go, it was all over for the highly favored team to win the title. Avramovic and his fellow teammates shared their joy directly on the court and celebrated like there is no tomorrow! Congrats to Srbija!

The complete box score can be found here.


Greece – Croatia 30-33 after 3 OT

What started as an airball-festival (I counted 11) stayed an airball-festival until the end. But it was probably the most entertaining game of all, as the game went to double over-time!

The Greek started well into the match to take over early with baskets by Tsiloulis and Tselentakis to lead by six (7-1) Buovac and Ramljak helped the Croats to close the gap to one point and after a couple of missed opportunities, the Hellenic pulled away shortly before the break (12-5).

Again, the duo of Ramljak and Buovac put up some nice baskets to stay in the game, even if Tsiloulis brought the Greek fans with another two points to their feet (19-11).

As always, R&B did it again for Hrvatska and the red-whites came within two points (19-17) with a minute to play in the second half. After a series of foul-shots, in which the Adriatic-coast country was almost, leveled the score, a speedy drive by Panagiotaras wowed the audience as it looked like the game was over (23-20).

Greek coach Limniatis yelled at his players to foul Martin Ramljak so he would have to shoot two from the line which could have sealed the deal but his players looked tired and Ramljak used the opportunity to score a three-pointer on the buzzer (23-23). We are going to overtime again!

The players slowed down even more due to the heat and the humidity and the results were a lot of committed fouls. Stipe Krstanovic fouled out eventually and left Croatia with the three players on the court.

After a back-and-forth on the charity stripe, Ramljak had the chance to be the hero in the dying seconds of the first overtime but missed the jumper.

Tsiloulis woke up from his lethargy to score through a tricky shot just to be countered by Buovac with a difficult one as well.

After a slew of missed shots, Ramljak shoots, misses, and rebounds to be fouled by the Greek and he sends the game with two made free-throws to the third overtime (30-30)!

The *scape youth center is up to its feet as the game is dramatic now.

But not for Martin Ramljak who desperately wants to go to the Olympic village as a hero. He gets his chance in the very beginning of the third overtime and knocks down the jump-shot beyond the arc to finish the game and the dreams of the blue-whites to play in the final tomorrow!

Croatia meets Serbia in the clash of two former Yugoslavian countries.

The complete box score can be found here


Places 5-8:

Lithuania – Spain 34-14
The Lithuanians played attractive basketball which earned them a lot of fan-support during the game. Spain looked tired and worn out while the Baltic presented some spectacular plays today to win and play tomorrow for the fifth place.

The complete box score can be found here.


Argentina – Israel 22-33
The Gauchos couldn’t match the athleticism of the quick and deadly Israelis. The head-faking and slashing South Americans were beaten by the by a team that relied heavily on the extra-pass to score easy baskets around the zone. Israel gets the chance to snatch the fifth place away from the bulky Lithuanians tomorrow.

The complete box score can be found here


My daily favorite is:
Let’s have a barbecue in the metro! Can someone provide me with gas to light up the grill? A cigarette would do it now as well…

Results of the consolidation games:
South Africa –India 11-27 (Paton 5 – Goswani 9)
Panama – Singapore 20-33 (Grenald 8 – Su 10)
New Zealand – Central African Republic 29-21 (Karena 10 – Londoumon 15)
Iran – Philippines 19-28 (Sedighi 10 – Parks 10)
Puerto Rico – Turkey 30-28 (Medina 13 – Geyik 10)
Egypt – U.S. Virgin Islands 28-26 (Ibrahim 10 – Martinez 9)