Games 26 - 46

Game 46  Gold Medal   TUR v ITA

A packed arena, standing room only, filled with local school students. The noise was deafening, ear plugs / defenders were required. Could the Turks raise their game once again? Great pressure for both teams, plus a nervous start for all players. Italy went ahead with superior shooting, had the Turkish bubble burst? Italy deserved to be leading by 7 at the end of the first period. Turkey started the second period with a full court press and performed better by forcing outside shots that were not successful. 6 straight points without reply in the first 5 minutes. Turkey only tailed by 2 points at the close of the half. A coach technical foul enabled Italy to establish a 6-point lead after 4 minutes. This had increased to 10 by the period end. The Italians were in foul trouble after only 2 minutes, but still with an 8-point advantage. 10 points with 4 minutes remaining. 2 minutes to go and the crowd were quieter and some were starting to leave. By now both teams were in foul trouble.  The last minute and Italy still lead by 10. Turkey now resorted to fouling, the Italians remained cool under pressure, Turkey could not sink any 3 pointers. Good coaching by Italy who once again become European Champions. A disappointed Turkey achieve their best result ever.

Game 45                    BRONZE MEDAL  GBR  v POL

Last Thursday Poland and Great Britain played their first game against one another. It was GB who won with 35 points difference. Would Poland allow it again ?

Simon Munn and Piotr Luszynski opened the score for their reams. Jon Pollock and Simon Munn helped GB after 7 minutes on a 12 – 4 lead by a much better scoring percentage which Poland forgotten to do. In the last minutes of the first quarter Piotr Luszynski was able to minimise the damage to 2 points.

The second period GB planed to play a full court press on Piotr Luszynski by Jon Pollock. This didn’t work out and after 2:30 minutes Murry Treseder took a time out on a 18 -18 score. Even double pressing on Piotr Luszynski did not give the expected result and again Murry had to talk to his troupes on a score of 26 – 27 in the 6^th minutes. It was only thanks to the good scoring Jon Pollock that GB was able to rest with a 4 points lead.

After the break GB played in the same way. Full court press on Piotr. Slowly the press and the scoring of Jon Pollock start to work out. Poland refused to give up and each time Poland came back, even up to 1 point (50 – 49).

The last quarter and Poland scored after 2 minutes a 56 – 57 lead. Non of the teams were able to make a gap. Scoring from both sides, fair play from both sides, tough playing from both sides. On 3:30 minutes from the end GB finaly score a small gap of 7 points (68 – 61). Matteusz Filipski missed the next attack an Terry Bywater made a 9 point gap. This was too much for Poland and the game ended in earned victory for GB. In the last minutes Jon Pollock (34 points) had his moment of glory when he was substituted.

Before this championship Poland never finished higher then a 9^th place in a European Championship and now next year they go to Birmingham for their first participation on a World Championship.

Game 43                    7^th – 8^th ISR  v ESP

Spain who had found it difficult to win and Israel undefeated in the group stages, now playing for the minor places. What a tournament! A confident start and early lead for Spain 6-0. Israel soon found their rhythm to lead by 1 point at the end of the first period.  Another good start by the Spanish and Israel rally again. A fast and exciting match with the lead changing hands frequently. Spain ended the half strongly 35 – 31. Had Israel lost heart and confidence? No! With a much better start and Spain in foul trouble with 4 minutes remaining, Israel led by 1 point by the end of the period. The lead changed hands like a pendulum, both teams trading baskets. The crunch came when high scoring Israeli # 8 Meishar fouled out on 17 points with 4 minutes to go. Spain entered the last 2 minutes with a 6-point advantage. What did Israel have left? Nothing! Joy for the Spaniards, sadness for Israel. It was wonderful to see a large group of local school children cheering and supporting both countries equally. If only the adults could follow their example! High scorers for Israel # 11 Allon Doron 20 points and for Spain # 9 Alejos with 19 big points.

Game 42                    ISR   v  GER

This game was all about winning or losing. Every basketball game is about that but in this game losing had another dimension. Both teams knew that winning this game was the only way to keep their hopes for the World Championships  2010 in Birmingham alive. With Birmingham 2010 in their minds all players played with great intensity and was close until the dying seconds. In the second quarter Israel was up by 8 points but Germany fought back. At the end of the 3^rd quarter the score was tight 59 each. In the 4^th quarter the lead changed time and time again leaving Germany at the good end of the score when the last whistle blew. Tomorrow in the game for the 5^th and 6^th place they will have a chance to qualify for Birmingham

Game 41                    SF 3                  GBR   vs   TUR

Again a game in a full house with many VIP in the stands. The scoring on both baskets went up equally. For Turkey it was Ozgur Gurbulak who took 24 points for his account on a 85 % field goal shot !! For GB Jon Pollock was top scorer in the first half with only 14 point. It is thanks to the more different shooters that GB lead with 2 points. In the 3rd period on a score of 48 – 45 in the 5^th minute the GB team forgot to score for 5 minutes. This gave Turkey the opportunity to take over the game. Only in  the last seconds of the 3^rd period GB scored. But then Turkey was already leading by 8 point. In the last period Turkey was able to keep in control of their nerves and thanks to the 6^th player, the crowd, and the 40 points of Ozgur Gurbulak they manage to win this exciting game.