New Coach, Higher Hopes for Team USA

Basketball is an American game and thus Team USA feels they rightfully own prestige in this sport, which is now played by almost every nation. Unfortunately, the team has been beaten several times in the past. In the 2002 FIBA World Championships held in Indianapolis, Team USA ranked sixth while in the 2004 Athens Olympics, the team landed on the third place. Of course, they expected to bag the gold medal.

Kobe Bryant Takes Time-Out This Summer

Due to his arthroscopic knee surgery last Saturday, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant who scored 35.4 points per game in the previous season of the NBA will not be able to play basketball in the world championship games that will run from August 19 till September 3. His surgery was just a minor one, which entailed removal of scar tissue from his right knee, but he needs 8-12 weeks to fully recover.

Shaquille O'Neal Could Miss 6 to 14 Games

Heat center Shaquille O'Neal is expected to miss between two to four weeks because of his sprained right ankle, which means he could miss anywhere from six to 14 games.
Shaquille O'Neal was injured during the Heat's contest against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. With 6:35 remaining in the game, O'Neal landed awkwardly while going for a rebound. He fell to the floor and remained down for a few minutes.

2005 FIBA U19 World Championship in Tunisia

The 2005 FIBA U19 World Championship will be held in Hammamet and Tunis, Tunisia from the 15th till the 24th of July 2005. Formerly known as the FIBA Women's Junior World Championship, the 2005 FIBA U19 World Championship features 12 teams.

The USA has been placed in preliminary group A and its first round opponents will be Russia on July 15, then the USA will face Congo, Serbia & Montenegro, Puerto Rico and will close preliminary round action on July 20 against South Korea. Group B consists of Australia, Canada, China, Hungary, Spain and Tunisia.

FIBA Africa U18 Championships for Women in Tunisia

Tunisia will host the FIBA Africa U18 Championships for Women from December 17 to 26. The event will see Angola, Nigeria, Mali, South Africa, Mozambique and Tunisia fight for a place in next year's FIBA U19 World Championships.

Tunisia coach Faycel Hammali said: "This competition will give us an idea on what the World Championships will be like. Our team will be able to challenge other African sides and will validate the work we've already achieved. My girls will have to be strong defensively and impose their style up front."

Tunisia team:

Meriem Ouertani
Hajer Hafsi
Sameh Grioui
Manel Soudani

Four NBA Players Suspended After Brawl

Four NBA players are suspended indefinitely following their participation in a bizarre brawl that saw some of them fighting in the stands with fans.

The suspended players are Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers and Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons.

"Shocking, repulsive and inexcusable" were the three words NBA Commissioner David Stern used on Saturday to describe the Friday night incident, which occurred at Joe Louis Arena in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

However, Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors said it's one thing to boo players and another thing to throw stuff at them...

Los Angeles Lakers First Win this Season

The Los Angeles Lakers had their first win this season as they defeated the winless Hawks 106-90 Sunday night that lost their three games by a total of 67 points.