TURKEY BOUND – Big, bad Bogut and Bucks beat Nuggets

MILWAUKEE (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Australia center Andrew Bogut had  his finest game of the young NBA season with 23 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday evening to help fire the Milwaukee Bucks past the Denver Nuggets.
 
The 24-year-old Bogut also dominated on defense, swatting four shots.
 
He is averaging 15.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per contest.
 
Ersan Ilyasova, the Turkey international in the Bucks squad, came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points, corral eight rebounds and block two shots.
 
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of FIBA World Championship wild-card hopefuls Cameroon contributed 10 points, nine boards, two steals and a block for Milwaukee.
 
Here are other notable performances from players that could be headed to the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
 
Turkey

• Hedo Turkoglu – The Turkey national team captain had 11 points, eight boards, four assists and two steals for Toronto in their 99-89 home triumph over Chicago.

Team USA

• Carmelo Anthony – The Denver Nuggets ace poured in 32 points, hauled in 10 rebounds, blocked a couple of shots and came up with a steal in his side’s loss at Milwaukee.
• LeBron James – The USA forward scored 36 points and grabbed eight boards in Cleveland’s 102-93 victory at Orlando.

Argentina

• Luis Scola – The Argentina power forward scored 22 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in Houston’s 104-79 win over Memphis.

Spain

• Rudy Fernandez – The Spain guard scored 15 points and had five rebounds, four assists and three steals in Portland’s 107-84 win over Minnesota.
• Jose Calderon – The Toronto Raptors point guard made eight of 10 shots from the floor on his way to 18 points and handed out six assists with no turnovers in the Canadian team’s win over Chicago.
• Sergio Llull – The national team reserve had 14 points and three steals for Real Madrid in their 104-61 victory at Ewe Baskets Oldenburg in the Euroleague.

Greece

• Dimitris Diamantidis – The defensive wizard had three steals to go with his eight points, five rebounds and four assists in Panathinaikos’ 75-65 Euroleague triumph at Asseco Prokom.

Croatia

• Marko Tomas – The Cibona sniper poured in 14 points in a 64-52 Euroleague win over Zalgiris Kaunas.
• Stanko Barac – The Caja Laboral center came off the bench and contributed eight points, four rebounds and four assists in his team’s 103-86 Euroleague victory at Maroussi Athens.

Canada

• Carl English – The Canada shooting guard scored 17 points off the bench in Caja Laboral’s win at Maroussi.
• Matt Bonner – The San Antonio Spurs power forward/center came off the bench and contributed 11 points and nine rebounds in his team’s 92-83 triumph over Dallas. Bonner, an American who once played for Toronto and owns a home in the city while also being married to a Canadian, is expected to play for Canada next year in Turkey.

France

• Ali Traore – The French center scored 20 points and grabbed eight boards for Asvel Basket in their 76-62 defeat at Regal Barcelona in the Euroleague.

Serbia

• Novica Velickovic – The Real Madrid forward scored 13 points and handed out six assists in their victory at Oldenburg.

Russia

• Viktor Khyrapa – The Russia power forward scored 10 points, grabbed eight boards, dished out eight assists and came up with two steals in CSKA Moscow’s 79-69 win over Union Olimpija in the Euroleague. Khryapa, who also had a game-high six turnovers, will play at the FIBA World Championship if Russia receive a wild card.

Dominican Republic

• Al Horford – The Atlanta Hawks big man scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Haws’ 114-101 victory over the New York Knicks. Horford will play at the FIBA World Championship if the Dominicans receive a wild card.

Germany

• Jan Jagla – The big man scored 17 points and had seven rebounds in Prokom’s defeat to Panathinaikos. Jagla will play at the FIBA World Championship if Germany receive a wild card.

 
FIBA