JBL standouts J.R. Sakuragi and Kosuke Takeuchi scored 19 and 15 points, respectively, in a 90-78 victory over Taiwan on Saturday in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo.Japan improved to 2-0 in the tournament, which began on Friday.Guard Takatoshi Furukawa added 16 points and guard Kosuke Kanamaru had a 10-point outing.Tien Lei paced Taiwan with 19 points, ex-Osaka Evessa center Tseng Wen-ting had 15 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals and Lee Hsueh-lin scored 10 points in the team's first game of the continental competition.Taiwan shot 14-for-25 at the free-throw line, while Japan was 12-for-14.Sakuragi and Hinori Watanabe each had five assists for coach Kimikazu Suzuki's team.Also Saturday, Qatar defeated India 84-63, the Philippines topped Lebanon 78-68 and Uzbekistan routed Macau 81-61.
Showing posts with label cruises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cruises. Show all posts
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Top-ranked Azarenka cruises into showdown against No. 2 Sharapova
Reach for it: Maria Sharapova attempts to play a shot against Petra Kvitova on Saturday in Stuttgart, Germany. Sharpova won 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). APSTUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka was set to face No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix on Sunday.Azarenka cruised past Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3 in the first semifinal Saturday, and Sharapova outlasted No. 3 Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).Azarenka is seeking a tour-high fifth tournament title of the year.She dominated the match against the fourth-ranked Radwanska, whose four losses of the year have come against Azarenka.On match point, Azarenka fired a forehand winner to advance to the final. She is 29-1 for the year.Sharapova is off to a promising start to her clay-court season. The Russian broke serve in the fifth game and did not face a break point of her own in the first set.That changed in the second.Kvitova held 11 break points in the set, but the Czech could not convert any.She did convert her 12th — after saving a match point — to even the score at 6-6 and sent the second set into the tiebreaker. Sharapova made fewer mistakes and now seeks her first title of the year.Azarenka leads Sharapova 5-3 in career meetings.BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal crushed Fernando Verdasco for the 13th time in his career on Saturday to set up a fourth Barcelona Open final with longtime rival David Ferrer.The Sunday showdown will be a repeat of the 2008, 2009 and 2011 finals which were all won by Nadal.French Open champion Nadal, fresh off winning an unprecedented eighth straight title at Monte Carlo last weekend, overwhelmed Verdasco 6-0, 6-4 in just 85 minutes with four breaks of serve.Third seed Ferrer had a tougher afternoon, requiring just over two hours in defeating huge-serving Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5)."I played a great first set, and stayed focused for the entire match even if the second set was a lot more difficult," said Nadal."It wasn't that easy at all, Fernando is a tough player who has won the title here. This was a very satisfying win for me, I'm glad to be in another final and have the chance to win another time at this great event."David and I have always had tough matches and I'm expecting another one on Sunday."Nadal has dominated the Barcelona event, winning six titles in seven previous appearances. On the one occasion he didn't play — he missed 2010 with knee problems — Verdasco took the honors.Nadal's victory was his 38th victorious semifinal in a row on clay, with his last loss coming against Carlos Moya in August of 2003.Raonic had turned in a breakthrough week on the clay of the Real Club de Tenis, winning all of his matches in straight sets.He defeated Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and upset second-seeded, world No. 4 Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.The 21-year-old, ranked 25th, threatened early in the opening set against Ferrer but could not convert on four break chances.Raonic saved six set points before Ferrer finally clinched it in the tiebreaker from the Canadian's netted forehand.In the second set, the pair stayed level-pegging, with Raonic saving the lone break points of the set in the 11th game.Thursday, January 5, 2012
Levanga cruises past Jets
After all, it represented the first Japan Basketball Association-sanctioned game between a bj-league club (the expansion Jets) and the old-guard, established JBL (Levanga). That it took place during the All-Japan National Championship, aka the 87th Emperor's Cup, at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 gave it the spotlight it deserved.
No problem: Levanga guard Haruhito Shishito drives against the Jets defense during their Emperor's Cup game on Wednesday. Levanga routed the Jets 97-59. KYODOThe final score — Hokkaido 97, Chiba 59 — was no surprise. The fans, though, were the clear winner, getting to see this mix of old school and the upstart bj-league, now in its seventh season with 19 teams and an 2011 NBA Draft pick collecting a paycheck from the Golden State Warriors this season (Jeremy Tyler, formerly of the defunct Tokyo Apache)."Truly, this was good for Japanese basketball, and for Japanese basketball fans, this was good to see," said Levanga guard Takehiko Orimo. "It's good for the sport."Chiba guard Takaki Ishida called the game a "good challenge" for his club even if it turned into a one-sided loss. He also admitted it was nice to compete against Hokkaido foward Ryota Sakurai, his former Toyota Motors Alvark teammate, who had nine rebounds and five assists in 24 gritty minutes.The Levanga turned the game into a rout in the third quarter, taking a 64-34 lead on Masanobu Ito's layup with a little over a minute left in the period. After Jets forward Reina Itakura made a baseline jumper, Ito flushed a 3-pointer seconds later to give his club a 67-36 advantage entering the fourth quarter. The Jets trailed by 40 points in the closing minutes before Hiroki Sato drained a 3-pointer to account for the game's final points.Chiba coach Eric Gardow said, "We stopped scoring the basketball early in the second and we cut it to seven (26-19) and midway through. We were in the bonus with 5 minutes to play but we just stopped scoring.". . . We couldn't get to the free-throw line from there and when we were getting to the free-throw line we missed."Forward Jamel Staten's layup pulled the Jets within 24-19 early in the second stanza. But Hokkaido closed out the half with a 15-4 run, getting good looks in transition and taking advantage of its superior size to score inside and execute its half-court offense.The Jets faced a 39-23 deficit entering the second half. Before they stepped onto the court for the third quarter, Gardow told his players to "keep fighting, keep working hard. Remember you're here to represent the Chiba Jets and the bj-league."Gardow said his team was happy to participate in the All-Japan National Championship. In the future, he said, "it does make sense" to have both leagues stage interleague competitions, as well as having all bj-league teams compete in the Emperor's Cup.Fast forward to the fourth quarter. Orimo, the longtime Japan national team sharpshooter and fan favorite, canned a rainbow 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 78-44 near the 6-minute mark. He finished with eight points and plenty of applause from spectators.Orimo's longevity — he'll turn 42 in May — also provides an inspiration for Japanese players in both leagues."He's a legend. He's an icon. . . . So they want to raise their game to his level," said Hokkaido veteran forward Mamadou Diouf, who hails from Senegal. "So I'm glad Japan has a player like him."Diouf said Orimo's feats over the years can help "raise Japanese basketball to a higher level."Jai Lewis and Ito each scored 13 points and three teammates had 10 points apiece. Hokkaido shot 40-for-79 from the field and registered 25 assists, including Lewis' team-best six, while seven Levanga players had two or more assists. Chiba managed a meager seven assists.Another key statistic: Ten Levanga players made more than 50 percent of their 2-point shots.The rout, one could argue, gave Hokkaido a "statement win," but the team quickly turned its attention to the next round of the Emperor's Cup on Friday.Nevertheless, now that the Jets-Levanga contest was held between the rival leagues, the JBA can't pretend that doing so again would be "too difficult," a phrase that's been uttered by top officials within the Japanese basketball community. Yet the question that now remains is this: How would JBL teams fare against bj-league competition using bj-league rules?Call it progress, if you will, though the format gave Hokkaido, one of eight JBL teams, a huge advantage.The one-on-court import rule employed by the JBL put Hokkaido in the driver's seat from the get-go, and it picked up steam as the game carried on. (Naturalized Japanese citizens don't count against the JBL's one-import rule.) While in the bj-league, three foreigners are permitted on the court at all times except the second quarter (when it's two).Hokkaido won the battle on the boards (66-36 edge in rebounds). Chiba struggled to get into an offensive rhythm, often looking like a rushed baker pulling cakes out of an oven to meet the demands of customers in a long line."Size was an issue today," Gardow admitted.He added: "Guys were in positions today they hadn't played all year."This, of course, described the team's patchwork lineup.The Jets were 19-for-70 from the field, including 5-for-23 from 3-point range. Itakura led Chiba with 16 points. He was 8-for-12 at the free-throw line, and like his teammates had a tough time making shots (4-for-15 from the field). Staten added 10 points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field (he was also 6-for-14 at the line on a day Gardow called his worst shooting game of the season), Ishida had eight and Kensuke Tanaka, the bj-league's Most Improved Player last season, has seven. Chiba was 16-for-30 at the line.Four former bj-league forwards Jo Kurino (Tokyo Apache, Oita HeatDevils), Diouf (Sendai 89ers, Saitama Broncos) and Kenji Hilke (Tokyo) and guard Haruhito Shishito (Osaka Evessa, Toyama Grouses, Saitama) now suit up for Hokkaido. It gave the club a bit of a familiarity edge from a player's perspective.Chiba advanced to Wednesday's game with a 99-68 win over Yamaguchi Prefecture-based club team Two Three on Monday.Naturally, for the ultra-competitive Gardow, Wednesday's lopsided loss was a big disappointment."We're playing with a new team," was the way he described the experience. "This is not the Chiba Jets. I didn't play three or four of my players because of the way this (tournament) is set up. It's a little unfair from that standpoint. I would like to play with my full team. But that's the way it is with respect to the rules."Staten said the one-import-on-court rule and a first-time foe for him and his teammates made the game "feel like an exhibition game. "It was entirely different for us," he added, noting also that Chiba's Japanese players "put a little nervous pressure on themselves.""We had the odds stacked against us," Staten said.The Jets now shift their focus to rest and recuperation, as the roster has been hampered by injuries and sickness, according to Gardow, who'll be the Eastern Conference's assistant coach in the 2011-12 All-Star Game, the bj-league's sixth annual midseason showcase, on Jan. 15 at Saitama Super Arena. Saitama Broncos bench boss Natalie Nakase will be the East's head coach.The Emperor's Cup concludes on Monday.
No problem: Levanga guard Haruhito Shishito drives against the Jets defense during their Emperor's Cup game on Wednesday. Levanga routed the Jets 97-59. KYODOThe final score — Hokkaido 97, Chiba 59 — was no surprise. The fans, though, were the clear winner, getting to see this mix of old school and the upstart bj-league, now in its seventh season with 19 teams and an 2011 NBA Draft pick collecting a paycheck from the Golden State Warriors this season (Jeremy Tyler, formerly of the defunct Tokyo Apache)."Truly, this was good for Japanese basketball, and for Japanese basketball fans, this was good to see," said Levanga guard Takehiko Orimo. "It's good for the sport."Chiba guard Takaki Ishida called the game a "good challenge" for his club even if it turned into a one-sided loss. He also admitted it was nice to compete against Hokkaido foward Ryota Sakurai, his former Toyota Motors Alvark teammate, who had nine rebounds and five assists in 24 gritty minutes.The Levanga turned the game into a rout in the third quarter, taking a 64-34 lead on Masanobu Ito's layup with a little over a minute left in the period. After Jets forward Reina Itakura made a baseline jumper, Ito flushed a 3-pointer seconds later to give his club a 67-36 advantage entering the fourth quarter. The Jets trailed by 40 points in the closing minutes before Hiroki Sato drained a 3-pointer to account for the game's final points.Chiba coach Eric Gardow said, "We stopped scoring the basketball early in the second and we cut it to seven (26-19) and midway through. We were in the bonus with 5 minutes to play but we just stopped scoring.". . . We couldn't get to the free-throw line from there and when we were getting to the free-throw line we missed."Forward Jamel Staten's layup pulled the Jets within 24-19 early in the second stanza. But Hokkaido closed out the half with a 15-4 run, getting good looks in transition and taking advantage of its superior size to score inside and execute its half-court offense.The Jets faced a 39-23 deficit entering the second half. Before they stepped onto the court for the third quarter, Gardow told his players to "keep fighting, keep working hard. Remember you're here to represent the Chiba Jets and the bj-league."Gardow said his team was happy to participate in the All-Japan National Championship. In the future, he said, "it does make sense" to have both leagues stage interleague competitions, as well as having all bj-league teams compete in the Emperor's Cup.Fast forward to the fourth quarter. Orimo, the longtime Japan national team sharpshooter and fan favorite, canned a rainbow 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 78-44 near the 6-minute mark. He finished with eight points and plenty of applause from spectators.Orimo's longevity — he'll turn 42 in May — also provides an inspiration for Japanese players in both leagues."He's a legend. He's an icon. . . . So they want to raise their game to his level," said Hokkaido veteran forward Mamadou Diouf, who hails from Senegal. "So I'm glad Japan has a player like him."Diouf said Orimo's feats over the years can help "raise Japanese basketball to a higher level."Jai Lewis and Ito each scored 13 points and three teammates had 10 points apiece. Hokkaido shot 40-for-79 from the field and registered 25 assists, including Lewis' team-best six, while seven Levanga players had two or more assists. Chiba managed a meager seven assists.Another key statistic: Ten Levanga players made more than 50 percent of their 2-point shots.The rout, one could argue, gave Hokkaido a "statement win," but the team quickly turned its attention to the next round of the Emperor's Cup on Friday.Nevertheless, now that the Jets-Levanga contest was held between the rival leagues, the JBA can't pretend that doing so again would be "too difficult," a phrase that's been uttered by top officials within the Japanese basketball community. Yet the question that now remains is this: How would JBL teams fare against bj-league competition using bj-league rules?Call it progress, if you will, though the format gave Hokkaido, one of eight JBL teams, a huge advantage.The one-on-court import rule employed by the JBL put Hokkaido in the driver's seat from the get-go, and it picked up steam as the game carried on. (Naturalized Japanese citizens don't count against the JBL's one-import rule.) While in the bj-league, three foreigners are permitted on the court at all times except the second quarter (when it's two).Hokkaido won the battle on the boards (66-36 edge in rebounds). Chiba struggled to get into an offensive rhythm, often looking like a rushed baker pulling cakes out of an oven to meet the demands of customers in a long line."Size was an issue today," Gardow admitted.He added: "Guys were in positions today they hadn't played all year."This, of course, described the team's patchwork lineup.The Jets were 19-for-70 from the field, including 5-for-23 from 3-point range. Itakura led Chiba with 16 points. He was 8-for-12 at the free-throw line, and like his teammates had a tough time making shots (4-for-15 from the field). Staten added 10 points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field (he was also 6-for-14 at the line on a day Gardow called his worst shooting game of the season), Ishida had eight and Kensuke Tanaka, the bj-league's Most Improved Player last season, has seven. Chiba was 16-for-30 at the line.Four former bj-league forwards Jo Kurino (Tokyo Apache, Oita HeatDevils), Diouf (Sendai 89ers, Saitama Broncos) and Kenji Hilke (Tokyo) and guard Haruhito Shishito (Osaka Evessa, Toyama Grouses, Saitama) now suit up for Hokkaido. It gave the club a bit of a familiarity edge from a player's perspective.Chiba advanced to Wednesday's game with a 99-68 win over Yamaguchi Prefecture-based club team Two Three on Monday.Naturally, for the ultra-competitive Gardow, Wednesday's lopsided loss was a big disappointment."We're playing with a new team," was the way he described the experience. "This is not the Chiba Jets. I didn't play three or four of my players because of the way this (tournament) is set up. It's a little unfair from that standpoint. I would like to play with my full team. But that's the way it is with respect to the rules."Staten said the one-import-on-court rule and a first-time foe for him and his teammates made the game "feel like an exhibition game. "It was entirely different for us," he added, noting also that Chiba's Japanese players "put a little nervous pressure on themselves.""We had the odds stacked against us," Staten said.The Jets now shift their focus to rest and recuperation, as the roster has been hampered by injuries and sickness, according to Gardow, who'll be the Eastern Conference's assistant coach in the 2011-12 All-Star Game, the bj-league's sixth annual midseason showcase, on Jan. 15 at Saitama Super Arena. Saitama Broncos bench boss Natalie Nakase will be the East's head coach.The Emperor's Cup concludes on Monday.Saturday, December 24, 2011
Eighth-ranked Boise St. cruises past Arizona St.
LAS VEGAS — Doug Martin rushed for 151 yards and returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, giving No. 8 Boise State a lead 14 seconds into the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas on the way to a 56-24 win Thursday night.
Grand finale: K ellen M oore celebrates after leading Boise State to a 56-24 win in the MAACO Bowl L as Vegas on Thursday. APArizona State (6-7) never seriously threatened the Broncos (12-1), even though Boise State had three turnovers and allowed a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Sun Devils to start the second half."It spread the word about Boise State," quarterback Kellen Moore said. "We took advantage of opportunities to elevate this program."Boise State finished seventh in the BCS standings, but wasn't invited to one of its big-money bowl games. The Mountain West and Pac 12 conferences each received $1.1 million for the MAACO Bowl.Arizona State missed on several opportunities to make the game closer, wasting a bowl-record 241-yard receiving effort by Gerell Robinson, who caught a touchdown in the fourth quarter after the Broncos had already scored 49 points.Moore — the NCAA's winningest player at the position — played well enough in his last college game to keep his team scoring, despite some missteps. He finished with 266 yards and two touchdowns, plus two interceptions and a fumble in a game that capped his college career with 50 total wins."When you're at a good place with good people, good things happen," Moore said.Boise State coach Chris Petersen said it was important to put a stamp on the careers of Moore and his fellow seniors."These guys took it up a notch or two," Petersen said. "It was extremely important to the coaching staff and this team."Martin finished with 301 all-purpose yards, breaking a bowl record set in 1997 by Air Force's Pat Johnson. His touchdown return also set a record for the longest kickoff return in MAACO Bowl history. It was the first time the opening kickoff had been returned for a score in any bowl game since Ted Ginn Jr. did it in the 2007 BCS title game.Boise State finished with a bowl record in points scored by a single team, and the teams combined for the highest scoring game in the bowl's 20-year history.LOS ANGELES — Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley believed he was prepared to play in the NFL, and so did many draft prognosticators.He had skillfully guided the program through two years of NCAA sanctions, put up big numbers to add his name to the list of great Trojans quarterbacks.Barkley just wasn't ready to leave. He has some unfinished business to take care of at USC.Setting off a round of cheers at USC's Heritage Hall, Barkley announced Thursday that he's returning for his senior season, putting off the NFL for a chance to lead the Trojans from under the cloud of NCAA sanctions to a BCS bowl."I am staying so I can finish what I started," Barkley said.Barkley was projected as a high first-round pick in the NFL draft, an enticement that had lured his predecessor, Mark Sanchez, after his junior season.Instead of following Sanchez's footsteps, Barkley took the route of former USC quarterback Matt Leinart and Stanford's Andrew Luck.Leinart returned to USC after winning the Heisman Trophy and a national championship, and led the Trojans to the 2005 BCS title game.Luck came back this season after being the Heisman runnerup last year and took the Cardinal to the Fiesta Bowl while finishing second to Baylor's Robert Griffin III in this year's Heisman voting.
Grand finale: K ellen M oore celebrates after leading Boise State to a 56-24 win in the MAACO Bowl L as Vegas on Thursday. APArizona State (6-7) never seriously threatened the Broncos (12-1), even though Boise State had three turnovers and allowed a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Sun Devils to start the second half."It spread the word about Boise State," quarterback Kellen Moore said. "We took advantage of opportunities to elevate this program."Boise State finished seventh in the BCS standings, but wasn't invited to one of its big-money bowl games. The Mountain West and Pac 12 conferences each received $1.1 million for the MAACO Bowl.Arizona State missed on several opportunities to make the game closer, wasting a bowl-record 241-yard receiving effort by Gerell Robinson, who caught a touchdown in the fourth quarter after the Broncos had already scored 49 points.Moore — the NCAA's winningest player at the position — played well enough in his last college game to keep his team scoring, despite some missteps. He finished with 266 yards and two touchdowns, plus two interceptions and a fumble in a game that capped his college career with 50 total wins."When you're at a good place with good people, good things happen," Moore said.Boise State coach Chris Petersen said it was important to put a stamp on the careers of Moore and his fellow seniors."These guys took it up a notch or two," Petersen said. "It was extremely important to the coaching staff and this team."Martin finished with 301 all-purpose yards, breaking a bowl record set in 1997 by Air Force's Pat Johnson. His touchdown return also set a record for the longest kickoff return in MAACO Bowl history. It was the first time the opening kickoff had been returned for a score in any bowl game since Ted Ginn Jr. did it in the 2007 BCS title game.Boise State finished with a bowl record in points scored by a single team, and the teams combined for the highest scoring game in the bowl's 20-year history.LOS ANGELES — Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley believed he was prepared to play in the NFL, and so did many draft prognosticators.He had skillfully guided the program through two years of NCAA sanctions, put up big numbers to add his name to the list of great Trojans quarterbacks.Barkley just wasn't ready to leave. He has some unfinished business to take care of at USC.Setting off a round of cheers at USC's Heritage Hall, Barkley announced Thursday that he's returning for his senior season, putting off the NFL for a chance to lead the Trojans from under the cloud of NCAA sanctions to a BCS bowl."I am staying so I can finish what I started," Barkley said.Barkley was projected as a high first-round pick in the NFL draft, an enticement that had lured his predecessor, Mark Sanchez, after his junior season.Instead of following Sanchez's footsteps, Barkley took the route of former USC quarterback Matt Leinart and Stanford's Andrew Luck.Leinart returned to USC after winning the Heisman Trophy and a national championship, and led the Trojans to the 2005 BCS title game.Luck came back this season after being the Heisman runnerup last year and took the Cardinal to the Fiesta Bowl while finishing second to Baylor's Robert Griffin III in this year's Heisman voting.
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