GRE - Turkey Bound - Diamantidis has big night for Panathinaikos

ATHENS (Euroleague/NBA/Liga Sudamericana) – One of the marquee names at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Greece will be Dimitris Diamantidis, the long-armed Greece national team guard who is widely regarded as the best defensive player in Europe.

Diamantidis wasn’t able to play for the Greeks at EuroBasket 2009 after being forced to undergo laparoscopic surgery, but he’s fully fit now and is once again helping make Panathinaikos the team to beat in both the Euroleague and on the domestic front.

On Thursday night, Diamantidis had 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals as Panathinaikos annihilated BC Khimki, 101-66.

Here are some of the notable performances on Thursday night by players who will be in Turkey with their national teams next year.

Greece
- Vassilis Spanoulis – The explosive Greece guard had 12 points, six assists and a steal for Panathinaikos in their 101-66 mauling of BC Khimki in Athens.

- Nick Calathes – The rookie, who made his national team debut for Greece this summer at the EuroBasket in Poland, failed to score but had six assists in Panathinaikos’ triumph over Khimki.

Serbia
- Milenko Tepic – Playing in his first year at Panathinaikos, Serbia’s EuroBasket silver-medal winner had eight points in 17 minutes off the bench in the win over Khimki.

- Bojan Popovic – The Lietuvos Rytas point guard had 11 points and nine assists in their 69-62 Euroleague victory at Entente Orleanaise.

France
- Joakim Noah – The missing ingredient for France this summer at the EuroBasket had 10 points and 10 rebounds and also swatted two shots in Chicago’s season-opening 92-85 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

- Tony Parker – One night after taking a nasty fall against New Orleans, Parker looked as if he still had the wind knocked out of him against the Bulls. He finished with eight points and only three assists, while turning the ball over three times.

Argentina
- Manu Ginobili – Ginobili was just three of 11 from the floor and finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for San Antonio. More important for Ginobili, however, is that he played 26 minutes and showed no signs of the injury problems that dogged him last season.

- Roman Gonzalez – Argentina’s back-up center had 10 points and eight rebounds to help Quimsa thrash Flamengo 98-63 to win Group C in the Liga Sudamericana.

Canada
- Matt Bonner – The United States-born big man who is likely to play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship as a naturalized Canadian started for San Antonio in their defeat to Chicago and had seven points and five rebounds.

Team USA
- Carmelo Anthony – The Denver Nuggets talisman had 41 points in a 97-94 triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers.

- Derrick Rose – The Chicago point guard, a possible addition to the American team, had 13 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in the win over the Spurs.

Brazil
- Tiago Splitter – The Brazil national team center had 26 points and seven rebounds for Caja Laboral in an 86-81 home victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

- Marcelo Huertas – The Brazil playmaker scored 16 points for Caja Laboral in the win over Maccabi.

- Nene – The Denver Nuggets center had 11 rebounds to go with his seven points in Thursday’s 97-94 triumph over Portland.

Spain
- Rudy Fernandez – In 23 minutes off the bench for Portland in their defeat to Denver, Rudy made all eight of his free-throws and scored 22 points.

- Juan Carlos Navarro – La Bomba made four three-pointers and scored 20 points as Regal Barcelona beat Cibona, 81-59, in the Euroleague.

- Ricky Rubio – The 19-year-old had five assists to go with his two points for Barca in their win over Cibona.

Turkey
- Kerem Tunceri – The national team star set the tone on defense for Efes Pilsen with three steals in their 77-67 Euroleague victory over Partizan Belgrade.

- Endar Arslan – The playmaker had five assists to go with his two points for Efes Pilsen in their triumph over Partizan.

Puerto Rico
- Daniel Santiago – The Puerto Rico center failed to score in more than 10 minutes for Efes Pilsen in their victory over Partizan.

Croatia
- Marko Tomas – Prevented from playing at the EuroBasket in Poland due to injuries, Tomas is back in good health. He had 16 points for Cibona in their 81-59 defeat at Regal Barcelona.

- Mario Kasun – the Efes Pilsen center had nine points and seven rebounds in their Euroleague victory over Partizan Belgrade.

Great Britain
- Luol Deng – if the Brits receive a wild card to play in Turkey, they’ll be hoping to benefit from the presence of Deng who was kept out of the EuroBasket this year because of injury. Deng looked fully fit against the Spurs, making eight of his 13 shots from the field and scoring 17 points in 36 minutes. Deng also grabbed nine rebounds.

Israel
- Lior Eliyahu – If Israel receive a wild card, Lior Eliyahu will be central to their plans. He scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Caja Laboral in Thursday’s victory over his former club, Maccabi Tel Aviv.

FIBA