Parker, France nipped Serbia in OT; Germany edge Latvia; Russia sneak past Slovenia at EuroBasket

After suffering a bruised thigh in France’s victory over Italy, San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker bounced back with a big game against Serbia as the French national team advanced into the second round with a 5-0 record.

Tony Parker helped France to stay perfect at the 2011 EuroBasket.

France beat Serbia 97-96 in overtime in the final match in Group B.

Parker made two free throws with 19 seconds remaining in overtime and with one second left, Dusko Savanovic missed an open jumper inside the paint that would have given Serbia the victory.

Parker led France with 24 points, two assists, two rebounds and six steals in 39 minutes of action. He also went a perfect 12-of-12 from the foul line.

Marko Keselj made 7-of-9 three-pointers to finish with 25 points for Serbia.

Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki and Germany edged Spurs’ draftee Davis Bertans and Latvia 81-80, which suffered their fifth loss in as many games at EuroBasket tournament.

Bertans, Latvia fell short against Israel; Great Britain earned first win at EuroBasket

After playing three games at the 2011 EuroBasket, Spurs’ Davis Bertans and Latvia are looking to get their first win.

Davis Bertans and Latvia are winless after four games at the 2011 EuroBasket.

Against Israel, the Latvians gave it their all but fell short 91-88 in the end suffering their fourth straight loss.

The game was close all throughout, Israel led 23-22 after the first quarter and were up by just two points at halftime, 47-45.

In the third quarter, Latvia were able to take the lead, outscoring Israel, 22-19 and held a 67-66 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Both teams were determined to get the win, as the players hit big shots after big shots.

The Latvians were trailing 79-75 with 4:20 remaining when Davis Bertans made back-to back baskets to pull his team within 81-79.

Parker’s 32 powers France over Germany; Bertans, Latvia drops third straight at Eurobasket

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker scored 32 points, leading France past Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki and Germany at the EuroBasket 2011.

Tony Parker and Team France remains unbeaten after three games at the 2011 EuroBasket.

Germany led 16-12 after the first quarter, but France battled back taking the second quarter 17-12 and held a 29-28 lead at the half.

Parker asserted himself in the third quarter outscoring the entire German squad 13-12.

France took the decisive third quarter 29-12 to put the game away and went into the final quarter with a 58-40 advantage.

Germany won the fourth quarter 25-18 but it wasn’t enough.

The French national team is undefeated after three games with a 76-65 decision over Germany.

Parker led France with a game-high 32 points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals and had only one turnover in 33 minutes of play.

Nicolas Batum added 14 points while Spurs draftee Nando De Colo had two points, two rebounds and one steal as Parker’s backup.

Bertans, Latvia mauled by Serbia at EuroBasket

After an impressive showing against France, San Antonio Spurs draftee Davis Bertans and the Latvian national team looked like a different squad against Serbia.

Latvia started the game flat, and found themselves trailing 7-23 after the opening period. However, the Latvians came back roaring in the second quarter outscoring the Serbians 26-15 to cut the deficit to five 33-38 at the half.

Behind a strong inside game by Nenad Krstic, Serbia scored 32 points in the third quarter to stretch their lead 70-58 heading into the fourth and final quarter.

The lead proved too much for the Latvians as they dropped their second straight game 92-77 at hands of Serbia in the 2011 EuroBasket.

Parker’s 31 points powers France to victory over Bertans, Latvia

The French national team led by San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker entered the game on Wednesday at the 2011 EuroBasket opener against Latvia as the heavy favorites for a reason, they are loaded with NBA-talent.

France needed 31 points from Tony Parker to put away Davis Bertans and Latvia.

However, Spurs 2011 draftee Davis Bertans and the Latvian national team did not go down without a fight. Latvia surprised Team France during the opening period, that ended up 25-18 in Latvia’s favor.

France quickly tried to return the favor winning the second quarter 22-16 to cut Latvia’s lead 41-40 at the half.

It was a close game for the most part, Latvia shot 47.8 percent from behind the arc compared to just 31.6 from France that kept the Latvian’s in the game.

In the third period, France relied on top players to take the quarter 23-18 and held a 63-59 margin heading into the final period.

In the final quarter, France just proved too much for Latvia to handle, as Team France claimed the 89-78 victory.

Spurs well represented at Olympic qualifiers

As the 2011 EuroBasket and FIBA Americas Championship kicks off, no NBA team will be well represented more than the San Antonio Spurs.

Among the notable Spurs players that will represent their home countries at the Olympic qualifiers are Manu Ginobili of Argentina, Tony Parker of France and Tiago Splitter of Brazil.

Parker, France routed Belgium as team prepare for EuroBasket

In another warm-up game before the 2011 EuroBasket, the French national team played against Belgium in Lievin.

Team France opened the game with 28-6 run and never looked back.

Belgium however played better in the second quarter, outscoring France 13-7 to cut the deficit 35-19 at the halftime.

In the third period, France took control of the game, the Frenchmen produced a 26-12 advantage in the quarter and entered the final period with a 30 point lead 61-31.

Bertans, Latvia defeats Richards, Team GB in final warm-up game

In their final warm-up game before the 2011 EuroBasket kicks off next week, San Antonio Spurs’ draftees Ryan Richards and Davis Bertans went head to head on Saturday in Jelgava.

Latvia's Davis Bertans

Both teams started out slow, with Latvia taking a 15-13 lead after the first quarter.

The Latvian’s never let up in the second quarter outscoring Team GB 23-13 to take a 38-26 lead at halftime.

During the second half, there were no serious comeback attempts from Great Britain as Latvia won the third quarter 18-15 and the final canto 18-10, on their way to an easy 74-51 victory.

Rolands Freimanis paced Latvia with 14 points, Andrejs Selakovs had 11, and Janis Blums and Martins Meiers added 10 points apiece.

Great Britain cut roster to 13, Spurs’ Ryan Richards still standing

Laurence Ekperigin and Matthew Bryan-Amaning have both been released from the Great Britain national team (via hoopsfix.com) as they prepare to face the Latvian national team on Saturday.

Neither cut comes as a major surprise after both played sparingly during the London International Basketball Invitational last week.

The three young players who led the GB U20s in a 13th place finish at the European Under-20 Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Andrew Lawrence, Devon Van Oostrum and San Antonio Spurs draftee Ryan Richards, have all held onto their spots.

While Lawrence and Van Oostrum have made their presence felt at the recently concluded tournament, it would be interesting to see if Richards would make the final cut, as he also got little playing time at the London Invitationals.

The roster now stands at 13, with the final cut expected to be made after the game against another Spurs draftee Davis Bertans and Latvia.

Team GB team take on Latvia tomorrow in Jelgava at 15.00 BST, their last warm-up game before their Eurobasket campaign begins against Lithuania, Turkey, Spain, Portugal and Poland.

Spurs’ Davis Bertans named to Latvian national team 12-man roster

Davis Bertans will join the Latvian national team when the team plays at the 2011 EuroBasket.

Spurs Davis Bertans was named to Latvia's final roster.

Bertans, whose draft rights were acquired by the San Antonio Spurs in the draft day trade for George Hill, has made significant progress over the summer.

He played well for the Latvian U-19 squad, and despite not seeing much playing time in the last couple of friendly games against Georgia, he is now included in Latvia’s senior men’s national team.

Latvia head coach Ainars Bagatskis has trimmed his squad to the required 12 players for the EuroBasket.

Bagatskis, whose team will take on Italy, Serbia, France, Germany and Israel in Group B, praised all those who had been involved in the workouts but nevertheless had to release two men fighting for spots.