Australia’s long time serving centre Chris Anstey and premier swingman Sam MacKinnon have both announced their retirement from basketball.

(Discuss their retirements, Aussie Basketball in our forum)

The two good friends play for the Melbournce Tigers and were very emotional at the press conference.

Chris Anstey will finish the last two games of the season, while “Slammin’ Sam” is already sidelined due to an injury.

Anstey and MacKinnon were key members of the Australian National Team (aka The Boomers) since the mid 90s and were the two key players in Australia’s Gold Medal performace in the 1997 Under 23 FIBA World Championships.

Sam MacKinnon was the starting small forward of the team in the 1996 Atlanta Games, 1998 FIBA World Championship, 2000 Sydney Olympics but was injured in the 2004 Athens Games.

He played a spectacular role as a 6′5″ power forward during the 2006 FIBA World Championships in place for Matty Nielsen who was unavailable due to insurance policy reasons and clashes between Basketball Australia and his Lithuanian club.

“Slammin’ Sam” as he was known to many Australian fans due to his in game dunks was the first NBL player to ever capture Defensive Player of the Year, Regular Season MVP, Finals MVP and a Championship all in one season (2007) with the Brisbane Bullets.

Unlike Chris Anstey, McKinnon was only able to show his abilities in the NBL and on national team duty. McKinnon was never able to crack into the NBA (though in 2007 he had some workouts with some NBA teams over the summer in attempt to enter the league through the veterans entry and training camps) and unlike many present Australian basketball players he did not have a European passport thus, hampering his chances of playing in Europe as a local rather than as an import.

Chris Anstey on the other hand was able to play briefly in the NBA. He was drafted 18th overall by the Portland Trailblazers but was immediately traded to Dallas Mavericks for another big man. Though regulated to the bench for most of his time there, he did record a 24 points game against the Boston Celtics. He would be eventually traded to the Chicago Bulls but after one season there he was dropped from the team after deciding to play in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with the national team instead of staying in Chicago to do further workouts with the Bulls.

Anstey would then head across the Atlantic Ocean to the cold lands of Russia, firstly in Perm where he played as an import and then with UNICS Kazan. He had solid seasons in the Russian League and other European basketball competitions, winning the Russian Championships, EuroChallenge Championship, EuroLeague All Star selection (twice) and a ULEB Cup MVP.

Upon his return in 2006 to Australian shores after many seasons overseas in the US and Europe he dominated the local scene like never before. He was the second player to win Defensive Player of the Year, Regular Season MVP and Finals MVP in one season (2008).

Anstey was the first real centre in the NBA to shoot the three as consistently as any NBL three point shooter and dominated the paint leading the league in blocks from 2006-2009 (4 seasons in a row) and rebounding in 2008 and 2009. He led Melbourne to 2 Championships and team were regualar title contenders.

Many would say that Chris Anstey would be in the top 3 centres of All Time in Australian Basketball History after Andrew Bogut and Luc Longley due to his dominance of the NBL, success in Europe (Russian Championship, ULEB Cup MVP, EuroChallenge Championship and EuroLeague All Star) and his brief stint in the NBA.

Sam MacKinnon would be regarded as one of the most versatile players in the NBL’s history. He was the NBL’s answer to Scottie Pippen. During his incredible 2007 season with the Brisbane Bullets he was in the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks while also being relied upon to be the team’s defensive stopper.

French guard Nando de Colo was named player of the week in Spain’s ACB after a breakout performance on Saturday.

(Discuss Spanish Basketball, Nando de Colo and the ACB in our forum)

The 22-year-old playmaker scored 29 points in 29 minutes of play to lead Power Electronics Valencia to an 87-67 win over CB Granada.

With the win, Neven Spahija’s side improve to 14-7 to lie in fourth place behind Regal F.C Barcelona, Caja Laboral and Real Madrid.

De Colo made eight of 10 field goal attempts from two-point range, buried three of four tries from three-point territory and sank all four of his free-throws and displayed the full extent of his versatility by adding five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

The 6ft-5in guard, a key player off France’s bench at last year’s EuroBasket tournament in Poland, is averaging 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 19 games so far this season. He was drafted with the 53rd pick by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Read the original article in our forum.

Game four of the playoff semi-finals of PBA’s Philippine Cup (actually a championship with just Filipino players, part of a two-competition league) played yesterday lasted only less than a period.

(Discuss Talk N’ Text’s Playoff Walkout)

The reason was simple: one of the teams, Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, abandoned the game.

Everything started with a flagrant foul called on forward Ranidel de Ocampo, to which another followed after a collision with Barangay Ginebra Kings’ Ronald Tubid. According to the rules of the PBA, the player must be ejected and so it happened. But he did not leave the court alone, as unhappy with the decision, “the last straw” in the world of coach Chot Reyes, Talk ‘N Text followed Ocampo out of the stadium in protest.

Ginebra Kings was awarded the win and now the series is tied to two with the deciding game to be played today, although it’s still not known if Talk ‘N Text will show up.

This was the third time in the history of the league that a team left a court without finishing a game. PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios already made known Talk ‘N Text will be severely sanctioned for the act, the minimum fine being 500 thousand pesos (approximately 8000 euros).

See the original article at Basket-Spot.

The World Championship this year in Turkey will be the last international tournament for Argentinian Leo Gutiérrez.

(Talk Leo Gutiérrez and Argentina Basketball in our forum)

Despite being overshadowed by his bigger name teammates Manu Ginobili, Andes Nocioni, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino, the 31-year-old forward has been an important member for Team Argentina over the last decade.

Gutiérrez feels he can no longer recover properly from long domestic seasons and international games. Gutiérrez prefers to retire at the top of his basketball capacities, rather than “being replaced by a younger player or retiring because of personal reasons”.

A player of Peñarol, to which he transferred from Atenas, Gutiérrez is known for his outside shots and has been a regular member of the national team since 2002, when he was a runner-up at the World Championships. He was also part of the gold and bronze medalists at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

His most recent appearence with the Argentina jersey was at the Americas Championship last year, where he averaged 8.6 points and two rebounds per game.

An already known top candidate for the post, Ainars Bagatskis was confirmed yesterday as the new Latvia national team coach.

(Discuss Latvia Basketball in our forum)

The successor of Kęstutis Kemzūra (now at the helm of Lithuania) will guide the team in the next two years and the immediate goal is the qualification for Eurobasket next year. The 42-year-old will have Roberts Štelmahers (currently coaching Perlas) as an assistant coach and will remain in charge of Russian side Enisey Krasnoyarsk.

Bagatskis is a widely known former Latvia player, having played four Eurobasket tournaments, the last of which was in 2003 in Sweden, where he averaged 14.3 points a game.

Israel, Finland, Italy and Montenegro are in Latvia’s way to reach Eurobasket 2011.

Go to Basket-Spot for the original article.

Portland’s Nicolas Batum is looking better than ever following his return to action from shoulder surgery.

(Discuss Nicholas Batum and French Basketball in our forum)

The France international came up off the bench and played 25 minutes on Monday night in the Blazers’ 98-79 win over an in-form Charlotte Bobcats team.

Batum scored 15 points, corralled nine rebounds and blocked a shot.

“I surprise myself sometimes because I just try to be aggressive on defense,” Batum admitted. “I’m surprised by my offensive game.”

The 21-year-old followed up his rookie campaign in the NBA with a solid performance for France last summer, helping them reach the EuroBasket in Poland via the Additional Qualifying Round.

He then provided a spark as France clinched a fifth-place finish and earned a trip to the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey where Les Bleus will take on Spain, New Zealand, Lebanon, Lithuania and Canada in the Preliminary Round.

Fans and the media in Portland have been so impressed by Batum that they are wondering if coach Nate McMillan may insert him into the starting line-up again.

“He’s doing okay right there,” McMillan said. “He’s doing a nice job. “

“I don’t care about starting or coming off the bench,” Batum said. “I prefer to finish the game than to start the game right now.”

Read the original article at FIBA.com.

(FIBA) – Joe Ingles put an exclamation point on his impressive debut season so far in Spain’s ACB at CB Granada by earning Player of the Week honors in the league.

(Talk Joe Ingles in our Australian Basketball Forum)

Ingles was back to his normal spot at small forward after having to fill in at the power forward position in recent games, Ingles had 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists as Granada beat Xacobeo Blu: Sens 97-88 on Sunday.

“When (Coach) Trifon sat down in the last quarter,” the 22-year-old said, “Alberto, our delegate, told me that at the time I was the most valuable player of the weekend.

“And when I returned to the court a few minutes later, I was even happier because I knew that on top of it, we would win and that was the most important thing.”

Ingles, who plays in Granada as a European since he possesses a British passport, is averaging 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

After going undrafted in the NBA draft last summer, Ingles isn’t looking back. He’ll be at the FIBA World Championship representing Australia will compete in Group A against Argentina, Serbia, Germany, Jordan and Angola.

Read the original article at FIBA.com.