G League program to make Sotto, Green primed for NBA

Kai Sotto and Filipino-American Jalen Green are two of the new commits to the NBA G League select program.

Introduced as a new pathway toward the NBA in place of playing in a collegiate level, Sotto and Green will be placed under a development program that will cater to each of their own skills and weaknesses.

"There will be a high emphasis on skill development and training... really looking at transferrable skills," NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim explained to Philippine media via conference call on Thursday.

"Kai as an NBA player, what are the skills he needs to have. Really concentrating on that but at the same time, starting to understand the NBA game... [and] helping them grow and build their bodies in a smart way," he added.

Sotto and Green are set to be exposed to professional coaching that will be a big boost to their NBA dreams.

The two cagers, as well as the others selected for the program, will also be able to compare their skills to higher-level players like NBA G League, national team and NBA academy competitors.

The 7'2" Sotto is aiming to become the first full-blooded Filipino in the NBA while top prospect Green will work to keep his status as a five-star recruit.

Hall of Fame announcement could be a ray of light in a dark time for basketball

A UNIQUE Hall of Fame class will be announced Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) in a unique way.

Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett are all expected to be officially announced as part of the 2020 class of enshrinees by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which typically reveals its annual selections at college basketball's Final Four. This year, with sports shut down because of the global coronavirus pandemic, the announcement will be televised from ESPN's studios in Bristol, Connecticut with some elements of the show taped ahead of time.

Bryant, Duncan and Garnett, with a combined 11 championships and 48 All-Star seasons between them, are all first-time finalists and locks to be in this class. Only six players in NBA history have been selected to 15 or more All-Star Games — and Bryant, Duncan and Garnett are three of them.

"We all have criteria we look at in terms of the nominees: All-Star appearances, All-League, first team, second team, third team, the various awards, the championships," Hall of Fame Chairman Jerry Colangelo said. "There's a whole list of things we look at. And each year there's usually one person who stands out with an array of all those honors. But this time, with those three, the accumulative is unbelievable." The announcement could be a ray of light in a dark time for basketball. The NBA was already grieving the deaths earlier this year of Bryant, the longtime Los Angeles Lakers star who was killed with his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash, and Commissioner Emeritus David Stern. Then came the coronavirus, which shut down the league on March 11 and has stopped so much across the world since. College sports, including the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, were called off for the remainder of the academic year. Most states didn't get around to crowning high school state champions. The WNBA season will be delayed, and even games at the playground on weekends are no more because of the need for social distancing.

Saturday will, at least for a moment, bring something to celebrate.

"I think we're all looking forward to it," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

The other first-time finalist for Hall consideration is 10-time WNBA All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings. The other four finalists have all made it this far before, falling short of enshrinement previously: Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey, five-time Division II coach of the year and 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley University, two-time AP college coach of the year Eddie Sutton and Rudy Tomjanovich, who won two NBA titles as coach of the Houston Rockets.

All of them have Hall-worthy resumes. What remains to be seen is how many of the 24 voters who will decide the class — it takes 18 votes for a finalist to become a Hall of Famer — agree.

"To be included on such a list and be considered for the Basketball Hall of Fame is an incredible honor," Stevens said.

It's also expected that the Hall is going to pay tribute in some way to former FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann, a huge figure in the international sporting world who died of a heart attack in October 2018. The induction ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts is still set to take place on Aug. 29. If the pandemic forces that to be delayed, there is an alternate plan for a ceremony to happen in October.

Colangelo said the Hall is going to take measures to ensure that all enshrinees get their deserved moment, and that the news of the year so far — such as Bryant's passing and the virus pandemic — do not overshadow anyone's accomplishments.

"We are going to do this the right way and in a very sensitive way," Colangelo said. "We want everyone to get their due respect."

Canada shatter single-game record for three-pointers made

Kyle Wiltjer hit the most threes, making 7-of-9 from beyond the arc, while Cory Joseph and Phil Scrubb each nailed three triples. Kevin Pangos and Conor Morgan sank two three-pointers each, while Melvin Ejim, Kaza Kajami-Keane, Andrew Nembhard and Thomas Scrubb all notched the target from deep once. Canada were so efficient from long range, shooting at a 54.5% clip (24-of-44) for the game, that they had already made 19 triples - tying the previous mark - in just three quarters. The Canadians also hit a milestone in terms of playmaking as their 37 assists tied the World Cup all-time single-game record set by Serbia earlier in the tournament in their meeting with the Philippines.

Canada may be out of title contention at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, but setting a new standard for three-point shooting is a distinction Team Canada can certainly be proud of as they close their World Cup campaign.Canada sank 24 three-pointers in their convincing win over Jordan to shatter the FIBA Basketball World Cup single-game three-point shooting record, previously held by Team USA. The Americans had set the record for the highest number of threes made in a single game in the 1994 World Cup , hitting 19 shots from deep on two occasions - against Puerto Rico in a 134-83 win and once more against Russia in a 111-94 victory. That was also the year FIBA started tracking all statistical categories per game. In today's 126-71 win over Jordan, coach Nick Nurse's wards made a conscious effort to locate the shooters, and his snipers did not disappoint.

USA rise above Greece to book fourth win

Team USA would not be denied their fourth straight win at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 after beating Greece, 69-53, in a low-scoring Second Round encounter at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center. Greek superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo put up big numbers in this game, but it was the stifling defense of coach Gregg Popovich's squad that ultimately proved to be the difference. The Greeks were held to their lowest scoring output of the World Cup so far, and their prospects of advancing to the Quarter-Finals suffered because of it. Team USA had six players score 8 points or more, led by Kemba Walker's 15 points, while Antetokounmpo paced Hellas with a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double and Kostas Sloukas added 13 points.

 It was a tight game to start, with Team USA leading by just 2 points after the first 10 minutes, but the Americans outscored the Greeks 35-19 in the middle two periods to break the game open. Coach Thanasis Skourtopoulos's team would be able to trim the deficit to as low as 11 in the final quarter, but they were never able to mount a big enough run to seriously threaten the still unbeaten Americans. "It was a tough game. We congratulate the US team. They have too much intensity for 40 minutes. We tried to stop them with zone and matchup defense, but they are just too much. We missed a lot even with free-throws, too, so it's very difficult to beat a team like the US when we play like this." - Greece head coach Thanasis Skourtopoulos. "I think we tried to play our game, but we let them play their playing style. We let them have easy shots, and we lost offensive rebounds to them."

FIBA World Cup 2019:Spain and Serbia reach quarter-finals

Spain and Serbia booked their spots in the quarter-finals of the FIBA World Cup on Friday. Spain overcame Italy 67-60 and Serbia thrashed Puerto Rico 90-47 as they both guaranteed qualification from Group J. The two nations will battle it out for top spot when they meet in a mouth-watering clash in Wuhan on Sunday. Poland and Argentina also advanced with victories over Russia and Venezuela respectively. Hosts China scored a 77-73 win over South Korea in the classification round, while there were also triumphs for Nigeria, Iran and Tunisia. Spain were trailing 56-52 with four minutes to play against Italy, but Ricky Rubio helped lead a 10-0 run as Italy were put to the sword. The Phoenix Suns guard finished with 15 points, two assists and two steals, though he recorded seven turnovers – a joint-high for him in a World Cup game. Juancho Hernangomez had a game-high 16 points as Italy came up short and saw their hopes of reaching the last eight go up in smoke. Marc Gasol had just two points and four rebounds in his 27 minutes on the floor. A fourth win on the trot always looked likely for Serbia, who opened the scoring and never trailed against Puerto Rico. Five Serbia players reached double figures in points, while the towering Boban Marjanovic went seven-of-eight from the field for 16 points.

The European side out-rebounded their opponents 48-26 and used all 12 of their players in a routine victory. Nikola Jokic claimed a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Spain, ranked 2nd in the world behind world and Olympic champions the United States, was a different proposition for most of the 3rd quarter, but saw its initial decent advantage narrowed to just two points going into the 4th. The Italians, ranked 13th, were the underdogs but they refused to lie down and tied the game at 50-50 with a lay-up by Marco Belinelli of NBA team San Antonio Spurs. Italy streaked into a four-point lead with 4 minutes left, as the pressure cranked up another notch. But Spain and Ricky Rubio were not done, the Phoenix Suns guard getting the freedom of the court to edge ahead by two points once more. The 28-year-old was increasingly influential when he was needed most. He made two unerring free throws for a precious 60-56 lead, part of a game-winning 10-0 run for the Spaniards in the closing stages. Spain coach Scariolo pointedly refused to answer any questions about the match with Serbia. Jokic had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and made a sublime laser pass to cut open the Puerto Rico defense, as Serbia began the second-round group phase much as they finished the first. Sacramento Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica also impressed once more, drilling a leading 18 points. World and Olympic silver medalists Serbia has been in devastating form, comfortably winning all 4 matches in China and claiming the unofficial title of favorites from holders the United States. Denver Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic pulled the strings as formidable Serbia demolished Puerto Rico, 90-47, to likewise advance. Spain's low-scoring victory later in the day was enough to send the impressive Serbs through but the two countries will still play on Sunday in a mouthwatering match-up for supremacy of the group.

Emboldened Australia closes on another first at Fiba World Cup

Now the Boomers are eyeing another first, having never gone beyond the quarter-finals in 11 previous World Cup appearances. A historic win over the United States, then three victories in a row at the World Cup in China to top the “Group of Death” — Australian basketball is setting new landmarks for itself. “We speak about it a lot: in international basketball, you need the size, you need the beef, there’s big men playing this game,” said coach Andrej Lemanis after his team beat European heavyweights Lithuania 87-82 in a gritty encounter in Dongguan. Australia not only survived the “Group of Death” also including Canada and Senegal, but they also topped it. The hard-earned victory on Thursday — the game was tied with just under two minutes left — made it three wins in a row to start their World Cup, a first for the Boomers.

Putting the gloss on the evening, defeat for neighbors New Zealand against a Giannis Antetokounmpo-inspired Greece propelled Australia into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the best team in Oceania. They will be favorites to triumph over the Dominicans, who have the joint-shortest roster at the 32-team World Cup and were well-beaten 90-56 by France on Thursday. On Monday, with the quarter-finals in sight, Australia will face their toughest task yet in the form of France, who finished third at the 2014 World Cup. Next, San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills and the rest of the Boomers play surprise-package the Dominican Republic on Saturday in the second round. They are missing a couple of big players in Philadelphia 76er Jonah Bolden and his teammate Ben Simmons. But their roster still has a slew of NBA standouts and in the lead-up to the competition they ended the USA’s run of 78 consecutive wins in major competitions and exhibition games. But rather than being cowed by increasing expectations, the likes of Mills, the Utah Jazz’s Joe Ingles and seasoned veteran Andrew Bogut have flourished. The 98-94 victory in Melbourne was the Boomers’ first victory against the world and Olympic champions.