TURKEY BOUND – Croatia’s Barac raises eyebrows in Vitoria

VITORIA (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Stanko Barac didn't represent Croatia at the EuroBasket in Poland but don't write off the 23-year-old center's chances of making it to the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey if he builds on his dominating display on Sunday night for Caja Laboral.

In a hard Spanish ACB game against upset-minded Gran Canaria 2014, the 2.17m Barac took over at the start of the fourth quarter and helped fire his side to an 86-79 triumph.

With his team trailing 61-59, Barac poured in Caja Laboral's first seven points of the final frame and put them in front for good at 66-65.

He ended up pouring in 11 of his 20 points in the quarter.

That scoring haul equaled a season high for Barac, and he also pulled down eight rebounds.

Here are some notable performances from players over the weekend who may be headed to Turkey with their national teams for the FIBA World Championship.

Turkey

• Ender Arslan - The Turkey point guard scored 17 points to lead Efes Pilsen past rivals Fenerbahce Ulker, 80-67.

France

• Tony Parker - The San Antonio Spurs point guard sprained his left ankle in Friday's defeat to Portland and is expected to be out of action for a week.
• Florent Pietrus - The Valencia Basket Club forward had 11 rebounds and two steals to go with his eight points in Valencia's impressive 82-67 road win at Fuenlabrada.
• Joakim Noah - The Chicago Bulls center scored 21 points and corralled 16 rebounds to lead Chicago past Charlotte, 93-90, on Saturday.

Greece

• Kostas Vasileiadis: The former Greece national team youth player could merit consideration for the 2010 FIBA World Championship squad if his statistics are anything to go by. Vasileiadis, who scored 18 points in his team's victory at Manresa on Sunday, is averaging 15.7 points and shooting 49% (18 of 37) from long range in six games for Xacobeo Blu:sens in the ACB.

Slovenia

• Uros Slokar - The Slovenia center scored 20 points in Union Olimpija's 79-67 triumph at FMP in the Adriatic League.
• Bostjan Nachbar – The small forward buried three of five shots from long range and finished with 15 points for Efes Pilsen in their victory over Fenerbahce Ulker.

Croatia

• Marko Tomas - The Croatia sharpshooter had 20 points for Cibona in their 68-65 Adriatic League victory over Zadar.

Brazil

• Joao Paulo Batista - The Le Mans center scored 20 points and corralled nine rebounds in a 75-61 French league victory at Paris-Levallois.

Lithuania

• Robertas Javtokas - The Lithuania captain had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Khimki Moscow Region in an 83-71 victory at Dynamo Moscow.
• Javtokas will be hoping that his country receives a wild card to play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

United States

• Kevin Durant - Team USA hopeful Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 28 points to lead Oklahoma City to a 102-74 triumph over visiting Orlando in the NBA.

Puerto Rico

• JJ Barea - The Dallas Mavericks point guard came off the bench and had a game-high 12 assists to go with his four points in the Mavs' 129-101 NBA victory over Toronto.

Serbia

• Luka Bogdanovic - The DKV Joventut man who missed the EuroBasket because of injury scored 18 points in DKV Joventut's 83-78 victory at CB Granada.
• Novica Velickovic - The former Partizan Belgrade ace impressed yet again for Real Madrid with 15 points and six rebounds in their triumph over Alicante. The 23-year-old forward is averaging 11.8 points per game in the ACB.
• Milos Teodosic - The point guard poured in 20 points for Olympiacos in their 96-60 victory at Kavala.

Spain

• Victor Claver - The Valencia captain poured in 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds against Fuenlabrada but turned the ball over seven times.
• Juan Carlos Navarro - The Spain captain returned from a mild ankle sprain and made all three of his shots from long range and scored 13 points as Regal Barcelona defeated visiting Cajasol Sevilla 76-67.
• Jorge Garbajosa - The Real Madrid forward scored 13 points, pulled down nine rebounds and handed our four assists in a 78-68 victory over Alicante.

FIBA