Spurs’ Lorbek led Slovenia to a 7th place finish at EuroBasket

Lorbek and Slovenia finished 7th at the 2011 EuroBasket.

San Antonio Spurs affiliate Erazem Lorbek and the Slovenian national team maybe out of their bid in 2012 London Olympics, but that doesn’t mean they would conclude the  2011 EuroBasket with their heads bow down.

Playing against Serbia for the 7th and 8th spots in the tournament, the Slovenians made sure they’d finish with grace.

Slovenia started the game strong, leading 27-20 after the first quarter and held a 44-39 advantage over Serbia at the half.

In the third quarter, the Slovenians poured it on, outscoring Serbia 20-12 in the period to stretch their lead to 13 points going into the fourth quarter.

However, Serbia made a furious rally in the final period holding Slovenia to just eight points in the quarter while scoring 17 points on their own end, but it came up short as Slovenia held on for a 72-68 victory, and finished the EuroBasket at 7th place.

Houston Rockets’ Goran Dragic led Slovenia with 21 points, while Lorbek finished with eight points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal in 23 minutes of action.

Kosta Perovic had 13 points and five rebounds for Serbia in a losing effort.

Parker, France advances to EuroBasket semis; Lorbek and Slovenia falls to Lithuania

San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as France rallied to beat Greece 64-56 Thursday and set up a semifinal match against Russia at the 2011 EuroBasket Championship.

Tony Parker leads France into the EuroBasket semifinals.

France started the game slow, scoring just 14 points in the opening quarter and found themselves trailing Greece, 27-31 after the first half of play.

The slow pace and low scoring trend continued in the third quarter as the Greeks held on to a 43-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.

However, Parker scored four straight points to cap an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to give France a five-point lead and never looked back.

Ioannis Bourousis kept Greece in the game until Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers made two straight baskets with a block in between to give France a six-point lead with a little more than a minute to go.

Spain too much for Lorbek and Slovenia at EuroBasket quarterfinal match

With a seat to the 2011 EuroBasket semifinals on the line, San Antonio Spurs affiliate Erazem Lorbek and the Slovenian national team gave Pau Gasol and Spain all they can handle at least for one quarter.

Lorbeka and Slovenia will play Lithuania for a chance to place in the Top six at the 2011 EuroBasket.

Entering the game as the heavy underdogs, but playing with a nothing to lose attitude, Slovenia outscored the Spaniards in the opening period 23-16 and appeared to give the defending champions a run for their money.

However, Spain quickly responded in the second quarter, limiting Slovenia to only eight points in the period and held a 35-31 lead at halftime.

Spain took the lead for good when Felipe Reyes made it 30-28 on a three-point play with 1:36 left in the second quarter.

In the second half, Spain put the game away.

The Spaniards poured in 36 points in the third quarter alone while holding Slovenia to just 14 points to build a 71-45 lead heading into the final quarter.

Lorbek, Slovenia defeats Finland at EuroBasket; advances to quarterfinals

After losing their third straight game at the 2011 EuroBasket, San Antonio Spurs affiliate Erazem Lorbek and Slovenia are in the a must win situation against Finland to keep their Olympic hopes alive.

Spurs' Erazem Lorbek led Slovenia to a quarterfinal spot at the 2011 EuroBasket.

Both teams started out slow on offense, as the first quarter ended 14-12 in Slovenia’s favor.

During the second quarter, the Slovenian’s tried to pull away. They outscored Finland 28-16 in the period and built a 14-point lead, 42-28 heading into the second half.

However, Finland would not go away easily. They held Slovenia to just 12 third quarter points while scoring 20 points on their own to cut the deficit to just six-points entering the fourth quarter.

Lorbek, Slovenia suffered third straight loss at EuroBasket

After a promising start winning their first four games at the 2011 EuroBasket, San Antonio Spurs affiliate Erazem Lorbek and the Slovenian national team have dropped their third straight game in the tournament, losing a 68-59 decision against Macedonia.

Spurs' Erazem Lorbek and the Slovenian national squad are finding it hard to get back to the winning column.

The game was pretty close all throughout, but Macedonia always end up with the upper hand in each of the first three quarters that proved to be the difference.

Macedonia finished the first quarter with a 20-16 lead over Slovenia and worked hard to protect it.

The Macedonians won the second quarter, 19-15 to stretch their advantage to 39-31 at halftime.

In the third quarter, both teams struggled to score. However, Macedonia still managed to build on their lead, winning the period 15-11 and led 54-42, going into the final quarter.

Slovenia outscored Macedonia, 17-14 in the fourth quarter but it was enough to stage a serious comeback as Macedonia held on for the win.

Macedonia improved their record to 6-1 after seven games in the tournament while the Slovenians fell to 4-2.

Point guard Lester Mekkaleb led Macedonia with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Goran Dragic had a game-high 20 points for Slovenia.

Lorbek added four points, four rebounds and one assists in 24 minutes of action for the Slovenians.

Lorbek and Slovenia will return back to action against Finland on Monday at 15:30 (GMT +3) in Vilnius.

Spurs’ Lorbek, Slovenia falls to Greece at EuroBasket

After a close call against powerhouse Russia, San Antonio Spurs affiliate Erazem Lorbek needed a bounce back game against Greece.

Playing against Slovenia,  the Greeks started the game strong, leading 18-13 after the first quarter and extended their advantage to 37-25 at halftime.

However, the Slovenians had a big third quarter push, outscoring the Greeks 21-7 in the period to take a two-point lead, 46-44 entering the fourth quarter.

But Slovenia could not hold on to their momentum, as the Greeks turned on the pressure in the final period, scoring 25 points while holding Slovenia to just 14.

Greece handed Slovenia their second straight loss at the 2011 EuroBasket with a 69-60 decision.

Jaka Lakovic led Slovenia with 14 points, while Lorbek had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action.

Nikos Zisis had a game-high 19 points for Greece.

Lorbek and Slovenia will play against Macedonia on Saturday.

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.

Parker’s France, Lorbek’s Slovenia remained unbeaten at EuroBasket

San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker and the French national team needed a fourth quarter rally to beat a pesky Italian squad 91-84.

Tony Parker suffered a bruised thigh in France's win over Italy.

Italy led 23-20 after the opening period and held a 48-41 advantage over France at halftime.

Both teams scored just 19 points apiece in the third quarter and Italy had a 7-point lead going into the final quarter.

However, that is the time where Team France’s offense clicked.

The French national team outscored Italy 31-17 in the final quarter to stay undefeated at the EuroBasket.

Charlotte Bobcats’ Boris Diaw led Team France with 21 points, Portland Trail Blazers’ Nicolas Batum added 21 points and four steals, while Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah had 10 points and seven boards.

Lorbek, Slovenia notched third straight win at EuroBasket

Erazem Lorbek and the Slovenian national team may not be one of the favorites at the 2011 Eurobasket.

But after three games, the Slovenians are still undefeated after a come from behind 87-75 victory against the Georgian nationals.

Georgia started the game strong, and built a 10-point lead after one quarter 25-15.

However, Slovenia quickly returned the favor tying the ball game at 40 by halftime.

It was a closely contested match for three quarters, before Slovenia pulled away in the final period.

Leading 59-58 going into the final quarter, the Slovenians turned on their defense and relied on their outside shots to put away the game.

Lorbek happy with national team, led Slovenia in win over Ukraine at EuroBasket

Erazem Lorbek is an accomplished basketball player in his own right, he won the 2010 Euroleague crown with Barcelona and reached the 2004 and 2009 finals with Fortitudo Bologna and CSKA Moscow, respectively.

But apparently, Lorbek thinks he is just another role-player on the national squad.

When asked if he feels he is a key player for Slovenia in their hopes of reaching the 2012 Olympics, Lorbek responded:

“No, we have some guys who are more experienced than me. I just feel myself as a guy who is just happy to play for the national team.”

Lorbek is a reserved personality and known to sit and play the piano away from the court.

But the big man from Slovenia whose draft rights is owned by the San Antonio Spurs plays hard against his opponents on the court and knows how to play under pressure.