HoopsHype.com Rumors

Serge Ibaka: i cant believe i will play the eurobasket final on my birthday. its a dream come true #destiny #thankGOD Twitter

Oklahoma City Thunder, FIBA, Spain, Serge Ibaka, Eurobasket 

David Blatt on Kirilenko: “Have you ever been a horse trainer? Andrei is like a beautiful, wild horse. He’s best when he’s roaming around and running free. We ask him to play within the system, but honestly his best moments are when he’s doing what his heart and his instincts are telling him to do. Most of his great plays, they come not from the structure, but from the mind and the beautiful kind of talent he has. The lucky thing is that’s he’s not a selfish man, he is not a greedy player, he plays for the team.” SheridanHoops

Utah Jazz, FIBA, Andrei Kirilenko, Russia, David Blatt, Eurobasket 

Mark Woods: Jose Calderon passed fit for Spain's semi v Macedonia Twitter

Toronto Raptors, Jose Manuel Calderon, FIBA, Injuries, Spain, Eurobasket 

Mark Woods: Spain confirm Jose Calderon suffered an injury to left ankle v Slovenia. Will get treatment and physio before assessment ahead of semi Twitter @markbritball

Toronto Raptors, Jose Manuel Calderon, FIBA, Injuries, Eurobasket 

Mark Woods: A lot of NBA players at EuroBasket saying they've not been kept up to speed by NBPA in labour talks. Following them via media like rest. Twitter

CBA, Lockout, Eurobasket 

Writing about Spanish players however has proved frustratingly difficult for the attending international media. Requests for interviews have been mostly ignored, post-game press conferences are yet to include Spain’s biggest star Pau Gasol, while mixed zone reaction has been almost entirely in Spanish, reserved for the team’s own national media, and limited to two players. HeinNews.com

FIBA, Spain, Eurobasket 

He could, of course, secure that historical mark if he opts to return for another tour of duty in next summer's qualifiers for EuroBasket 2013. The assumption, as he enters the veteran stage of his career, has always been that it was Olympics or bust. Maybe not. "My gut feeling is that he'll come back," Bauermann said. "I don't think he's done. I think he'll play for Germany again. Not next year, not the year after. But I don't think he's done. "That's his decision but that's my gut feeling." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, FIBA, Germany, Eurobasket 

Nowitzki, as proud a German as he is a Maverick, will listen to his gut but also to his body. This summer has underlined his physical limits. He will rest up now to prepare for the NBA season, when it comes. The defense of the title will take top priority. There is no urgent rush to confirm or reject Bauermann's prediction. Germany, already grateful, will give him all the time he needs to decide on whether this really was the end of the road. "I don't know," Nowitzki admitted after the game. "I'll just have to wait and see what the future brings. The fans have been great. I've met so many great people over the years. The journalists have been great to me. "Basketball's given me a lot of great memories." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, FIBA, Germany, Eurobasket 

In front of 11,000 screaming, partisan supporters, a Lithuania loss would have brought devastation for an entire nation. For Nowitzki, the end of his hopes of playing in another Olympic Games, this time in London, was no less painful. He had 16 points and 11 rebounds but could not provide the kind of heroics that helped carry the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA title three months ago. By the end, quite simply, he had nothing left to give. "Overall, I don't feel I was in the kind of shape I needed to be in here," he acknowledged. "I don't feel I really played a good tournament for us. I missed a lot of shots. Even today, in the fourth quarter, it was a tight game and I had two or three looks that I have got to make." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, FIBA, Germany, Eurobasket 

Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman had a game-high 25 points but only five of Germany's players scored in the game. Lithuania, ultimately, was just too good and its youthful energy was just too much for a 33-year-old -- playing his 102nd competitive game inside the past 12 months -- to resist. "I give him so much credit for having played here," said Germany head coach Dirk Bauermann, whose own tenure in the job has come to its end. "He had a super short break after winning the NBA championship. Obviously, he wasn't rested and a lot of NBA players wouldn't have played under these circumstances. He dragged himself out here and he gave us everything he had." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, FIBA, Germany, Eurobasket 

Said Dirk: “It was 13 great years. It was a great time with big success, which I will always look back on with mixed emotions.” (And yes, he was using the past tense: “Es waren 13 tolle Jahre. Es war eine Riesenzeit mit großen Erfolgen, auf die ich immer mit einem lachenden Auge zurückschauen werde,” runs the original.) Ball In Europe

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, FIBA, Germany, Eurobasket 

Mark Woods: Joakim Noah showed me his leg bruising this morning. Pretty bad but will be OK for France's QF with Greece. Gelabale expects to sit out. Twitter

Chicago Bulls, FIBA, Joakim Noah, France, Eurobasket 

Without Tony Parker and Joakim Noah, France was no match for Pau Gasol's Spain at the European basketball championship. Spain broke open the game with a 27-4 run in the third quarter and won 96-69 Sunday to claim first place in their second-round group. Guard Juan Carlos Navarro hit all four of his 3-point attempts and finished with 16 points, while Rudy Fernandez had 15 for Spain. ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Rudy Fernandez, FIBA, Spain, France, Eurobasket 

Turkey lost a heartstopping game to Serbia at the Eurobasket tournament on Sunday, falling, 68-67, when Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer. The loss ended Turkey's hopes of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics and avenged Serbia's semifinal loss to Turkey in the World Championship last summer. Turkey trailed by 14 points before making a frantic comeback in the game played in Lithuania. Ilyasova finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. The Olympic news was better for Bucks forward Carlos D Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Milwaukee Bucks, FIBA, Turkey, Ersan Ilyasova, Eurobasket 

Mark Woods: FFB confirm no injury to Parker or Noah. They just fancied a rest. Twitter

Tony Parker, Joakim Noah, France, Eurobasket 

Thomas Van Den Spiegel: Turkey out of #eurobasket2011 . No surprise as I think they never lived up to expectations this year. Enough talent but poor level of play. Twitter

FIBA, Turkey, Eurobasket 

Andrea Centenari: Sabonis said at a spanish tv that his favourite for this #Eurobasket is Spain and Valanciunas represents the future of lithuanian baskeball Twitter

Toronto Raptors, FIBA, Spain, Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania, Jonas Valanciunas, Eurobasket 

Mark Woods: Dirk Nowitzki just told me in post-game TV interview of delight that his Olympic dream is still alive. Twitter

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, FIBA, Germany, Eurobasket 

Sean Deveney: Raps coach Casey says he's heading to EuroBasket. Can't say who he wants to see but I'm guessing it starts with V and ends with Alanciunas. Twitter

Toronto Raptors, Coaching, Dwane Casey, FIBA, Lithuania, Jonas Valanciunas, Eurobasket 

Wearing black tags on their uniforms, Russia beat Finland 79-60 on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the European basketball championship. It was an emotional victory, coming a day after 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team died when their private plane went down in western Russia. “We dedicate the victory to the victims of the plane crash,” Russia power forward Semen Antonov said. “Yesterday we were crying with the whole world. Rest in peace.” Toronto Star

FIBA, Russia, Eurobasket