Nigeria Junior Team to Tour USA

8/30/02- Coach Davis is continuing his international search for young great proven players. 6'11 Jr Johan Petro, France, will be another player he will see while in Europe.

Johan is known as the next great rising French bigman. He is a shot blocker. He runs the floor like a guard. He has great agility.

8/29/02- Coach Davis, Nike Team Georgia Elite, is making a trip to Greece, to bring Sofocles "Baby Shaq" Schortsianitis to the USA. Sofocles is built like a man at 6'9, 260 pounds. He is a dunking machine. He is also a great rebounder. He is on the NBA scouts radar screen. "We will only take three blue chip foreign players." said coach Davis. "Sofocles is certainly on the list."

8/28/02- The Premier Basketball League in Nigeria has produced some exciting prospects that led the Nigerian National Team to the African Championship over Angola.
Sola Alayande, Nuru Adepoju, Solomon Tatt, Ejike Alonna, and Tony Ahmedu are all elite players on the Nigerian National Team and are prospects to be placed in high schools in the USA.

8/27/02 Ousmane Cisse, who played for the Alabama Challenge AAU Club, Montgomery, AL, has signed with Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody, in Russia. The 22 year-old, Cisse is a native of Bamako, Mali. He was drafted #47 by the Denver Nuggets in 2001.

8/26/02 6'9 PF Diego Bresso, Argentina, wants to join Nike Georgia Elite. "We are working on it." says Linzy Davis, who coaches the USA Elite National Team, and has contacts all over the globe. "Mohamed, Diego, and Sani, will be the best front line in the world this summer. We have a lot to do to bring it all together.

8/25/02 7-0 C Youssouf Traore, Burkina Faso ( West Africa ) , is a young sophomore coming to join Nike Georgia Elite. "It helps to be multi-lingual, and a world traveler. It helps me relate well with the kids." says Linzy Davis, who coaches the USA Elite National Team...

The following teams below have qualified for the World Championships which will be held next year in Malaysia, July 2003.

The following teams will come to the Douai World Junior Championship, Douai, France, June 7-9, 2003, to prepare for the World Championships in July 2003 in Malaysia. The field of teams and talent are the best ever to compete in the World Championships.

The following teams are: -CROATIA ( European Champion. already committed) -SLOVENIA ( 2nd of the Euro Juniors already committed) -LITHUANIA ( winner of 2002 Edition and 4th of the Euro Juniors. already committed) - AUSTRALIA ( ASIA champion. already committed) - PORTO RICO ( 2nd of the Panamerican games) - VENEZUELA ( Winner of the Panamerican games) - NIGERIA ( African Champion) - USA ( Championship in 2001, Runner-up 2002. USA Elite National Team - The top players in the USA selected by GeorgiaEliteMagazine.com).

Having qualified to represent Africa at the next edition of the World Basketball Championship slated for Malaysia in July 2003, the national junior basketball team, Junior Tigers are to embark on training tour of United State of America later in the year.

This according to Dr. Adamu Ahmed, chairman technical committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) would help prepare g lads for challenges of the world junior basketball fiesta.
"The Egypt victory signaled the return of Nigeria back to Africa basketball at the youth level. And with what we saw of the players, there is still need to expose them which is why we have decided to take them to US for a training tour," Dr. Adamu stated.
He noted that one of the team's coach crew Masai Dugari who is based in US has already began negotiation with colleges and teams that the Tigers could play during the tour.
Dr. Adamu also added that the trip would also afford the coaches to scout for other Nigerian players in the colleges that could fit into the team.
Though, the technical committee are yet to submit programs for the World Championship but said a lots of other events would still be incorporated to help boost the morale of the players before the Malaysia game.
He however said the last leg of Junior Tigers build up to the World Championship would be the NIKE World Basketball Championship in France which comes up few months to the championship.
"We are not leaving anything for granted for the World Championship which was why we have decided to keep the boys busy all through the period before the game," He added.
Nigeria bagged the ticket to represent Africa having defeated Angola in the final of the AJUBA last weekend in Egypt.
Nigeria alongside Senegal last represented Africa at the last World Junior in Portugal in 1999, but Nigeria will be joined next year Angola.
Meanwhile, Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp dunked off on Monday at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.
Over 500 children from age of 7-16 are taking part in the one week camping.
"The camping is not only to training the kids how to play the game, but will also evolve career talk where they would be counsel on how best to combine education with sport," the sponsor Olumide Oyedeji stated.

Bola Popson

Nigeria and Angola will represent Africa at the World Junior Basketball Championship in Malaysia next year.
The two teams qualified for the tourney having emerged winners and runners up of the competition which was held in Cairo, Egypt.
Nigeria kept a clean record having won all her matches from preliminaries to the finals. Nigeria had earlier played in the same group with Angola before meeting at the finals.
Nigeria alongside Senegal represented Africa in the last edition of the World Junior Champioship hosted by Portugal in 1999.

Bola Popson

"The Stars of Tomorrow" was the by-line promised by the local organisers of the European Championship for Junior Men held over the last week in Stuttgart, Germany, and the 12 participating nations did not disappoint. There was an abundance of individual talent on display throughout the 9-day tournament as well as some very well drilled, deep and formidable teams.
The competition format was two groups of six and after the preliminary round of play Slovenia and Croatia emerged as group winners, followed by Greece and Lithuania in second place. A further four teams (Turkey, Latvia, Israel and France) also progressed to the quarter final round, and Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Lithuania all won their respective games to qualify for the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals
Greece and Slovenia were first up in what proved to be an intriguing match-up. Greece had already proved its title credentials by winning the prestigious Albert Schweitzer tournament in March this year, but Slovenia was the only undefeated team in the competition and touted by scouts and journalists as the deepest roster of all the participants. A further mouth-watering subtext was the match-up at center between Erazem Lorbek of Slovenia and Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Greece. Both players had dominated under the basket throughout the tournament and supporters expected sparks to fly when the two finally met. In the end it was indeed these two players who would decide the outcome of the match.
Greece came out of the blocks early behind shooting guards Efstratios Perperoglou and Constantinos Vassiliadis and built up a 27-21 lead by the end of the first quarter, but a slow and steady comeback from Slovenia saw the score tied at 62 by the end of the fourth quarter. The stage was set for a dramatic finish and with just 5 seconds left on the game-clock Schortsanitis was fouled and sent to the free-throw line, with his team down by one point, 73-74. There was a huge amount of pressure on the 17 year old center, but he hit both freebies to give his team a one point lead, 75-74. The options for Slovenia were limited, go for the win and the glory or go home as a defeated semi-finalist. The Slovenians of course went for the win and got the ball straight to their leader Erazem Lorbek on the block, and the big guy delivered. Despite the attention of three defenders he made his move and flipped the ball off the backboard and in just before the buzzer sounded. It was a cruel end for an excellent Greek team and its supporters (around 800 of whom came to Böblingen to cheer their country on) but nobody could say that Slovenia did not deserve to be in the final.
As soon as the heart rates had returned to normal and the Slovenian team had stopped celebrating, it was time for the process to start all over again and the next semi-final, Croatia v. Lithuania. Croatia was buoyed by its own contingent of some 800 boisterous spectators in the arena, but it didn't seem to help and the Croats trailed the Lithuanians for almost the entire game. Croatia's top scorer and leader was point guard Roko Ukic, but against Lithuania he could simply not get going, finishing the game with just 9 points on 2/15 shooting. Lithuania flaunted a balanced attack led by center Daruis Silinskis (12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks) and forward Valdas Dabkus (16 points and 6 rebounds). As a result Lithuania controlled the game comfortably from the front and entered the court at the start of the fourth quarter with a 60-53 lead.
For the Lithuanians, the last quarter was a nightmare that they will want to put behind them as soon as possible. A 14-0 run by Croatia was enough to confirm that the game was by far from over and as soon as the crowd got behind the Croatian team, it did not look like losing. The Lithuanians, on the other hand, seemed intimidated by the Croatian comeback and could only manage 6 points in the quarter and a 6-point loss, 69-75.
Final
Slovenia and Croatia entered the court on 21st July to find a capacity crowd in Böblingen cheering both teams. Once again the Croats had the psychological advantage as over 1,000 of their fans were present, but Slovenia also had a section of the audience cheering them on. For Croatia, this was the 5th final in a row in this age category, although the last victory was in 1996. Slovenia's best ever finish had been 7th place in 1998, but as the only undefeated team in the tournament, held a slight advantage in the final game.
As in the two semi-finals, the teams treated the fans to a close and exciting game that went right down to the wire. Once again Croatia faced a fourth quarter deficit, and once again the team showed huge heart in mounting a spectacular comeback. The stars on the court were undoubtedly Erazem Lorbek of Slovenia (32 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) and Roko Ukic (25 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) and both players produced sublime performances under intense pressure.
The fourth quarter of the game was all Slovenia, which had an 8-point lead (69-61) with two minutes on the clock. This time the Croatians timed their comeback a little bit later than against Lithuania and with 33 seconds to go, the gap had been reduced to just two points, 72-70. Slovenia had possession of the ball but a turnover led to a fast break and Ukic was fouled. He hit two clutch free throws to tie the game (72-72) and leave Slovenia in a very similar position as the day before. Once again Slovenia went for a game winner, but full court pressure from Croatia led to a turnover and guard Hrvoje Gasparac emerged with the ball. He was fouled just as the buzzer sounded and would go to the line with the chance to win the game. The Croatian team was already celebrating but the atmosphere among the fans was extremely tense as victory was far from assured. Fortunately for the team's supporters Gasparac showed no nerves whatsoever in hitting both free-throws, winning the tournament for Croatia and putting a final touch to a truly great basketball tournament.
All-Tournament Team
The following players were voted to the All-Tournament team by media members present in Stuttgart:
Point guard: Roko Ukic (Croatia) - Ukic showed his pedigree in Stuttgart not only as a great player, but also as a leader. At 1.90m the point guard may be slight in stature, but he displayed great skill and heart and of course, a championship medal. He finished the tournament with averages of 17.2 ppg, 6.25 rpg and 4 apg.
Shooting guard: Engin Ätsur (Turkey) - The 1.94m shooting guard displayed a great scoring touch throughout the tournament and averaged 22.3 ppg. More importantly, he led his team to 5th position in the final standings and qualification to the World Championship for Junior Men 2003 in Malaysia.
Small forward: Valdus Dabkas (Lithuania) - Dabkas was perhaps a surprise selection to the all-tournament team. He was a key member of a very balanced Lithuanian team that finished fourth in the tournament and he averaged 12.5 ppg in 8 games.
Power forward: Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Greece) - Schortsanitis was undoubtedly a fan favorite in Stuttgart who anointed him with the nickname "Baby Shaq". Despite standing a good few centimeters smaller than his L.A. Laker counterpart (at 2.06m), there are certainly similarities in the way they play the game. Schortsanitis' inside power was simply too much for his opponents at this level and many a hapless defender was dunked on during the course of the event, to the delight of the fans.
Center: Erazem Lorbek (Slovenia) - Lorbek not only picked up All-Tournament honors but was also selected as the overall MVP. Perhaps the most impressive facet of the game displayed by this 2.10 center was his touch around the basket and he shot an unbelievable 76% from the floor. Although most of his work was carried out under the basket, he was more than comfortable shooting the three pointer and he hit 6/13 (46%) in his 8 games. He finished the tournament with averages of 23.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.5 spg and 1.5 bpg.

Honorable Mention
Yotam Halperin (Israel) - this 1.94m shooting guard confirmed his pedigree as one of the top prospects in Europe in his age group. Unfortunately for him and his team he injured his ankle in preliminary round action and never fully recovered. He sat out the final group game in order to rest for the quarter-final in which Israel met Lithuania. It was clear from the first play of the game that Halperin was not 100% and although he managed to score 18 points in 26 minutes the team his team was defeated. Fans and players alike have talked of Halperin's similarity to Oded Kattash and there is certainly more than a grain of truth in this. The Maccaabi Tel Aviv player is a silky smooth scorer who seems to put his points on the board almost effortlessly. Despite only playing in 5 games Halperin finished the tournament with averages of 23.4 ppg, 3.2 apg and 2.6 spg.
Johan Petro (France) - a quick glance at the stats and Johan Petro's performance during this competition will not jump out at you (he averaged 8.8 ppg, 6 rpg and 1.5 bpg). However, if you saw him play you would realize that he is a major European basketball prospect who, at just 16 years of age, will be eligible to play in the 2004 European Championship for Junior Men. Although he is just 16, Petro already stands 2.12m and has the athleticism and raw talent to make a huge impact among his peers.
Constantinos Vassiliadis (Greece) - Greece had an extremely strong backcourt in Vassiliadis and Perperoglou and in the big games it was Vassiliadis who really led the team. The 1.99m guard had 32 points in the quarter-final against Poland and 22 in the semi-final against Slovenia. Throughout the competition he proved to be almost unstoppable going to the basket where he showed a superb touch in finishing in traffic. He finished the tournament as the top scorer on the Greek team at 20.9 ppg whilst also adding 6.5 rpg, 3 apg, and 1.6 spg.