Belarus basketball.

[Levenspiel]

Artsiom Parakhouski is playing for Olin Edirne at TBL this year... He was the starter for the first game of the season and helped his team win with 9 pts 3 rebs.

This is a small team from a small city in European part of Turkey, and the atmosphere in the arena is usually very warm... Seibutis, Samardziski and Deliboa was playing here 2 years ago.

[sagenas]

V.Liutych: I do not know why, I can’t adapt very well into the new team

Vitali Liutych is one of the best players of his generation in Europe and the best in Belorussia. Before this season 197cm height player made long-term contract with Šiauliai and right now he says that he wants to become stronger and play better.


This season young guy who plays in SG-SF positions experienced what is like to play in Lithuania, in NKL. And this year he is doing quite well but not as good as he wants to. 11,6 points (2P – 53,6%, 3P – 16,3%, FT – 64,6), 4,6 rebounds, 1 steal per game, 7,3 efficiency – that‘s what Vitali shows this season. 18 years old player this season is struggling playing beyond the arc and doesn‘t feel very good because of many changes that happened this autumn. „GreenHoops.zxq.net“ asked a few questions about Belorussian NT, life in Lithuanian and himself.


Hi, Vitali. Tell our readers something about yourself – Your first steps in basketball, daily life in Šiauliai and things like that.

Hello, I was born and began playing basketball in the small town of Birch, it’s not far from Brest. I started playing football, tennis but then our coach at the school decided to create a sports class on basketball and my parents let me to play it. After eighth grade, I was noticed and invited to study at Minsk, the Republican College of Olympic Reserve in the Department of basketball. There I trained with older guys than me. After that, I was invited to play for U-16 and twice for the U-18 teams. At the European championships I was able to show good statistics and then I started to receive a various options for continuing basketball career. As you already know I picked the club in Lithuania – Šiauliai. There are all conditions for training and skill growth as well as and living conditions.

Full interview here.

[rikhardur]

Grodno-93 signed forward Vyacheslav Bogdanov and guards Valery Gandlin and Dzmitry Paliashchuk.

[Simonas123]

Guys what do you think about Vitali Liutych coming to Lithuania. Good move by the club? Could you tell me something more about him?

[kukulas]

I dont think he is NBA material but he can make a career in Europe. Im just surprised he didnt get better numbers in his NT games. Wish I could see why..

[Levenspiel]

Radford center Artsiom Parakhouski has one goal: to become the first Belarusian to play in the NBA.

He was with the Celtics in the summer league. But from what I've read he couldn't impress them much. Maybe back to Europe?

[kukulas]

Has anyone seen Parakhouski in his recent National Team games against Albania and Sweden?

His numbers were quite low.. really strange. I though he would be able to play better against opponents like that.

If anyone has any info I'd appreciate it.

http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.playerID_51984.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2011.roundID_7525.teamID_2186.html

[dimon]

Parakhouski Repeats as Player of the Year

http://www.radfordathletics.com/news/2010/3/1/MBB_0301101339.aspx

[dimon]

Liutych, the most productive of Belarus
Vitali Liutych ('92) is ranked in the top-20 of prospects borned in 1992 at EH. The guard from Belarus and his teammates of Vitalyur finished the regular season of the Premier League, and now they started the second round. Liutych is growing: he has averaged 16.2 points and 5.3 rebounds, becoming the most productive player of the competition.
In the two first games of second round (both against BNTU) Vitalyur lost the first (61-67) and won the second (70-59). In the losing effort the prospect nailed 15 points and pulled down 8 rebounds, while in the victory he scored 16, grabbing 5 boards.

http://www.eurohopes.com/news/667/liutych-the-most-productive-of-belarus/

[dimon]

Radford center Artsiom Parakhouski has one goal: to become the first Belarusian to play in the NBA.

It's a lofty goal, no doubt. But when one reviews the road Parakhouski has traveled so far, there is little reason to believe he can't make it. You may not have heard of him yet, but the NBA sure has.

The Toronto Raptors had a scout at Radford's practice on Monday, in fact, as the 6-foot-11, 260-pound senior continues to play his way onto the radar of a draft lacking center prospects. Parakhouski leads the nation in rebounding at 12.9 per game, is second in field goal percentage at 63.2 percent and third in scoring with 24.1 points per game. He had double-doubles at Duke (23 points, 14 rebounds) and Kansas (21, 13) and has scored in double-figures in every game. NBADraft.net projects the senior to go early in the second round, while DraftExpress.com has Parakhouski as the last pick of the first round -- a spot that would make history in his home country.

"That is my goal," Parakhouski said of the NBA (heavily emphasizing the "N" in his Russian accent). "I'm trying to prove that people in my country can be in the NBA if they want to be."

Wanting to reach the NBA and actually having the talent to do so are two different things, of course. His parents were national-level athletes and coach Belarusian national teams (mother Tatsyana is a swim coach and father Nyckolay track and field) and his sister, Yana, is hoping to swim in the 2012 Olympics. Big Art, as he's known at Radford, played soccer until he was 16, but he literally outgrew the game.

Basketball was the next logical step for a thick, 6-8 high schooler, but Parakhouski had never played the game.

"I was terrible," Parakhouski said. "I couldn't dribble. I couldn't shoot. I couldn't do anything with basketball at that moment."

But he developed some skills, and was spotted at the under-20 European Junior Championships in 2005 by Ali Ton, then an assistant at Binghamton. Ton suggested Parakhouski enroll at the College of Southern Idaho, where he could learn both English and basketball. So the Belarusian bid his family farewell and moved to the U.S. without being able to speak any English.

"The first six months were difficult mentally," Parakhouski said. "Culture was different, people was different, education was different. But I'm not a quitter. I told myself I'm going to the United States and I'm not going home no matter what. I faced my struggles and was not going to let the struggles hold me back."

Ton was hired by Brad Greenberg at Radford when it was time for Parakhouski to choose his next stop, so Parakhouski signed early with the school. Greenberg says if Parakhouski had waited until the end of his second season at Southern Idaho, he would have had some high major offers, but Parakhouski has benefited from being a big fish in the Big South.

"He's been able to be a featured guy for us since Day 1," Greenberg said. "He's getting tremendous experience. If he went somewhere else, he may not have been the No. 1 option on offense or played as many minutes."

Parakhouski led Radford to the NCAA tournament last season and faced Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina in the first round. The Tar Heels won easily and Parakhouski was held to 10 points on 3 of 15 shooting. He is hoping to get another crack on the big stage, one he admittedly had never heard of until two years ago. After facing a grueling nonconference schedule that included Duke, Kansas, Louisville and a tough William & Mary team, Radford is 8-6. But the Highlanders are 4-1 in conference play with a huge Big South game at Coastal Carolina (16-2, 6-0) on Thursday.

Parakhouski says his parents are following his career as best they can and he sends tapes of Radford's games back home. Parakhouski hasn't been back to Belarus in more than two years, but it is a sacrifice he knows he has to make.

"He understands he's not a finished player," said Greenberg, who has spent several years in different capacities in the NBA, including general manager of the 76ers. "He wants to play in the NBA. He realizes it doesn't happen overnight. He's just scratching the surface of what he can become. He wants to get better and better."

[dimon]

Hoyas junior Mescheriakov to transfer
WASHINGTON -- Georgetown junior Nikita Mescheriakov is transferring to another school at the end of the semester.

Coach John Thompson III said Tuesday that Mescheriakov wants to move to a team that would give him more playing time.

The native of Belarus started nine games last season, but he has appeared in only seven games this season for a combined 44 minutes for the Hoyas (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP).

At least five Hoyas players have transferred to other schools in the last three years.

Marc Egerson left for Delaware, Jeremiah Rivers went to Indiana, Vernon Macklin departed for Florida, and Omar Wattad is at Chattanooga.

[re5pectas]

Nice thread! Keep on! and welcome to IBN!

[dimon]

Nice thread, keep the news coming dimon!

OK. I will try to add news about Belarus basketball.

[rikhardur]

Nice thread, keep the news coming dimon!

[dimon]

Georgetown Men's Basketball
Nikita Mescheriakov
Personal: Born on June 16, 1988 in Minsk, Belarus ... The son of Valera and Lorisa Mescheriakov ... Has an older brother, Egor, who played basketball at George Washington ... Name is spelled on his jersey as "Mescheriakou," which is the Bela-Russian form; Mescheriakov is the Russian form.
High School: An honorable mention All-Met selection as a senior in 2006-07 ... Averaged 14.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 blocks per game for the Vikings, while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 78 percent from the free throw line ... Named Most Valuable Player at the Skippy Thompson Tournament, averaging 17 points, five rebounds and three assists per game ... Came to the United States from his native Belarus prior to the 2006-07 academic year.
The sophomore from Belarus was relegated to the bench for eight of this season's first 16 games. He didn't play more than 15 minutes in a single outing until Jan. 28.

But since being elevated to the starting lineup on Feb. 14, Mescheriakov has carved out a distinct niche: committing more fouls per minute played than any Hoya.

And Coach John Thompson III couldn't be more grateful.

"He plays extremely hard, and when you play hard, aggressive defense, you pick up fouls," Thompson said. "I wish a few more people got into foul trouble more often, to tell you the truth. That's not a negative."

For Thompson and the Hoyas, it has been a season of maddening inconsistency, in which a young squad has flailed about in search of an offensive identity, a defensive presence and a lineup capable of delivering both.

In Thompson's quest for a solution, no move was more shocking than his decision to replace the team's only senior in the starting lineup, Jessie Sapp, with Mescheriakov.

A long-limbed 6 feet 8, Mescheriakov may not grow any taller. But at 214 pounds, he has plenty of opportunity to bulk up his frame, which is hardly imposing in the brawny Big East. Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair, the leading candidate for the league's player of the year honors, is one inch shorter but 51 pounds heavier.

Nonetheless, Mescheriakov has earned his starting spot on grit -- diving for loose balls during practice and games, flinging himself into scrums over rebounds and contesting bigger opponents' shots. He's also a dangerous three-point shooter, although his range and accuracy haven't yet translated from practice to games.

Thompson seems willing to wait, confident that the effort Mescheriakov exerts will pay off on both ends of the court.

"That will come with his comfort level," Thompson said. "But he sees the open man. And he can make passes, too."

Meantime, Sapp has proven more effective in relief.
"Nikita brings us a lot of energy," noted sophomore guard Chris Wright. "He's very aggressive on both ends of the floor. He uses up the majority of his fouls every game. And Sapp coming off the bench has been great for us. He scores and does a lot of the intangibles that we need him to do. He doesn't have to worry about anything. He just goes out there and plays, and the game comes to him. When he plays off his instinct, that's when he's at his best."
This Story
When Foul Trouble Isn't a Problem
Georgetown at St. John's

Thompson plans to stick with Mescheriakov in the starting lineup for tonight's game against St. John's at Madison Square Garden and presumably until season's end.

With just two regular season games remaining, Georgetown (15-12, 6-10) is desperately trying to make its case for an NCAA tournament bid.

After a 10-1 start, it's stunning that the season has come to this.

"Dire" is how Jerry Palm, publisher of CollegeRPI.com, characterized it.

According to Palm's math, Georgetown must beat St. John's (14-15, 5-11) and DePaul (8-21, 0-16) and enter the Big East tournament with a 17-12 record to warrant consideration, and then win a few rounds to clinch it.

Sapp is prepared to make the Hoyas' case now.

"We've proven we can play with the best teams in the country," said Sapp, pointing to victories over Connecticut, Memphis and Villanova. "If that's what the NCAA people are looking for, I think we're one of those teams. We ran into a situation where we were trying to figure things out in the middle of the season, and it was tough. Everybody's excuse is, 'We're young! We're young!' But I think we've grown up."

Last weekend's upset of Villanova was a step in that progression.

While Georgetown's offense sputtered in stretches (including the final six minutes, in which the Hoyas made only one field goal), the defense kept Villanova's league-best offense in check throughout.

"We were playing good team basketball, staying together, staying focused until the end of the game," said Mescheriakov, who scored a career-high 11 points.

Tonight brings a new challenge for the 20-year-old Mescheriakov: playing his first game in Madison Square Garden, a building he has heard about since his basketball-obsessed childhood in Minsk, Belarus, long before he ever heard of Georgetown.

"Time goes by, and you're [now] playing in this building where all these famous people have played," Mescheriakov said. "It kind of pumps me up. But I'll try not to think about it. I'll try to focus on the game."