Portuguese LPB 2012-2013

[JRS Bonnet]

We had a «classical» game this weekend: Benfica hosted Ovarense and won by 9 points, both teams putting on a very decent show.

S.L. Benfica 91: João Gomes (23 pts, 9 reb).
A.D. Ovarense 80: José Barbosa (15 pts, 12 ast).

B.C. Barcelos 90: Nuno Oliveira (25 pts, 10 reb, 5 ast).
Sampaense Basket 83: Carlos Ferreirinho (26 pts, 7 reb, 2 blk).

Sport Algés e Dafundo 71: Rui Quintino (15 pts, 11 reb, 3 st).
Galitos F.C. 64: Chris Barnes (14 pts, 15 reb).

S.C. Lusitânia 71: Marcel Momplasir (14 pts, 13 reb, 3 blk).
Vitória de Guimarães 64: Ivan Almeida (25 pts, 15 reb).

Académica de Coimbra 70: Bruno Costa (12 pts, 6 reb).
Física de Torres Vedras 63: Miguel Barroca (20 pts, 4 st).

‒ Daniel Monteiro (PG, 1.82, 1982) is no longer on S.C. Lusitânia’s roster. Player and team reached an agreement to terminate Monteiro’s contract… Bad blood between the PG and Lusitânia’s head coach Nuno Barroso.
‒ The Serbian-Portuguese forward Stefan Djukic (2.01, 1989) was inked by Sampaense Basket. Djukic had a very good 2011-12 season playing for Ginásio Figueirense (12.4 pts, 8.2 reb).
‒ The Angolan-Portuguese guard Francisco Destino (1.90, 1989) left Académica de Coimbra and joined Olivais Coimbra (CNB1).


8 candidates for the «Most Improved Player» award:

Cristovão Cordeiro (F, 2.02, 1989, A.D. Ovarense): 11.3 pts, 3.5 reb [3.1 pts]
Arnette Halmann (F, 1.99, 1988, Académica de Coimbra): 15.3 pts, 12.5 reb [7.3 pts, 5.5 reb]
Eduardo Coelho (SG/SF, 1.91, 1989, B.C. Barcelos): 14.9 pts, 4.7 reb, 2.5 ast, 2.8 st [8.5 pts, 1.06 st]
Carlos Ferreirinho (SG/SF, 2.00, 1991, Sampaense Basket): 13.5 pts, 4.3 reb [4.5 pts, 1.0 reb with S.L. Benfica]
Jorge Freitas (PG, 1.80, 1988, C.A.B. Madeira): 9.3 pts, 1.44 st [3.5 pts, 1.5 st]
Pedro Pinto (PG, 1.88, 1988, Galitos F.C.): 14.6 pts, 2.8 ast [6.9 pts, 2.6 ast with F.C. Barreirense]
Diogo Correia (G, 1.82, 1990, Sport Algés e Dafundo): 8.0 pts, 1.2 st [4.3 pts with F.C. Porto]
André Bessa (PG, 1.79, 1989, Vitória de Guimarães): 9.6 pts, 4.2 ast, 2.1 st [8.6 pts, 1,9 ast]

[JRS Bonnet]

An eventful Saturday:
‒ Portuguese NT member Miguel Miranda registered a triple-double: 13 pts, 17 reb, 11 ast (plus 4 steals).
‒ Previously unbeaten S.L. Benfica suffered a double overtime loss at the hands of C.A.B. Madeira (84-93). Benfica shot 1/23 from behind the arch
‒ Galitos surprisingly beat Académica (70-76).

S.L. Benfica 84: Cláudio Fonseca (17 pts, 10 reb, 3 blk).
C.A.B. Madeira 93: Jorge Coelho (17 pts, 12 reb, 2 blk).

Académica de Coimbra 70: Mário Fernandes (16 pts, 4 ast).
Galitos F.C. 76: José Pedro Ferreira (14 pts, 11 reb).

B.C. Barcelos 87: Carlos Fechas (16 pts, 9 ast).
Vitória de Guimarães 90: Ivan Almeida (29 pts, 12 reb).

Sport Algés e Dafundo 69: Rui Quintino (21 pts, 9 reb).
A.D. Ovarense 70: Miguel Miranda (13 pts, 17 reb, 11 ast).

S.C. Lusitânia 67: Durrell Nevels (16 pts, 13 reb).
Física de Torres Vedras 54: Miguel Barroca (17 pts).

‒ Daniel Monteiro (PG, 1.82, 1982), after being waived by S.C. Lusitânia, didn’t waste any time and found a new home: he’ll back António Pires at Algés’ helm.

Three cheers for Miguel Miranda!
Miguel Miranda 1.jpg

[JRS Bonnet]

After beating Benfica last Saturday (double overtime), C.A.B. Madeira was still able to come up with a win at Algés on Sunday and has now a 9-2 record, good enough for second place.

Sport Algés e Dafundo 69: Rui Quintino (18 pts, 6 reb, 4 st).
C.A.B. Madeira 72: José Manuel Coego (15 pts, 9 reb, 2 blk).

[JRS Bonnet]

LPB games last weekend:

Vitória de Guimarães 87: Ivan Almeida (30 pts, 13 reb, 3 st, 3 blk).
Sampaense Basket 93: Steve Baker (28 pts, 10 reb, 4 st).

Física de Torres Vedras 69: Franklim Furtado (22 pts, 6 reb).
B.C. Barcelos 66: Marko Loncovic (20 pts, 12 reb).

Galitos F.C. 73: Pedro Pinto (30 pts, 5 ast).
S.C. Lusitânia 75: Marcel Momplasir (21 pts, 13 reb, 3 blk).

C.A.B. Madeira 90: José Costa (16 pts, 7 ast).
S.C. Lusitânia 64: Augusto Sobrinho (21 pts, 5 reb).

A.D. Ovarense 66: José Barbosa (11 pts, 8 ast, 3 st).
Académica de Coimbra 63: Mário Fernandes (14 pts, 8 reb, 9 ast).

[JRS Bonnet]

1. S.L. Benfica (10-1)
Ricky Franklin hasn´t been able to establish himself as the starting PG (injuries haven´t helped). Lace Dunn is no Ted Scott (now in Germany ‒ Frankfurt Skyliners). Good season by João Gomes (14.2 pts, 7.7 reb). It’s hard to tell that Heshimu Evans (9.9 pts, 5.4 reb) will turn 38 next May.

2. C.A.B. Madeira (10-2)
C.A.B. Madeira is the only team (besides Benfica) that has a decent frontcourt rotation. With José Manuel Coego (10.6 pts, 5.0 reb) at C and Jorge Coelho (14.4 pts, 5.0 reb) at the PF spot, they’re a force to be reckoned. «Über»-veterans José Costa (1973, 4.7 pts, 5.5 ast) and Shaw Jackson (1971, 9.8 pts, 1.75 st) can still play.

3. A.D. Ovarense (9-3)
I have nothing but admiration for this historical team that, facing budget restrictions, decided to give a chance to younger players. José Barbosa leads the league in assists (7.2) and is a candidate to lead the Portuguese NT next summer (against Holland and Estonia ‒ 2015 Eurobasket qualifiers). Due to Mário Gonçalves’ long absence, top prospect Emanuel Sá (3.1 pts, 3.3 reb) was forced to play out of position. No one questions his tenacity, but I would like to see him developing as a SF not has an undersized PF.

4. Académica de Coimbra (8-4)
Fernando Sousa’s injury seriously hurt Académica’s changes to reach the playoff semifinals. A brighter note: it didn’t take long for late addition Mário Fernandes (a PG that started the season with Jämtland Basket ‒ Sweden) to show why size doesn’t matter: 9.8 pts, 5.0 ast coming off the bench. If Arnette Hallman (15.5 pts, 12.5 reb) manages to find a jump-shoot to go with his tenacity and athleticism we’ll see him on a bigger stage in a near future. Hallman has a Portuguese passport ‒ he’s the son of another Arnette Hallman, a second-round draft pick in 1980 (# 46), who played for F.C. Porto in the late 80’s.

Mário Fernandes (Académica de Coimbra)
Mário Fernandes 2.jpg

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5. Vitória de Guimarães (6-6)
Ivan Almeida is scoring and rebounding in double figures (19.7 pts, 10.1 reb). I’m hoping he’ll be the key to Cape Verdean success at the 2013 Afrobasket (qualification to the 2014 World Championship?). After a solid start of the season, Guimarães is struggling a bit and was beaten by all the other top teams. Rotating only 7 players doesn’t help, especially when Paulo Cunha (11.0 pts, 9.6 reb) or Dain Swetalla (9.5 pts, 7.3 reb) are unavailable.

6. Sampaense Basket (6-7)
Sampaense’s big three: Al Rapier (19.3 pts, 8.0 reb), Steven Baker (15.9 pts, 4.9 reb) and Carlos Ferreirinho (12.6 pts, 4.1 reb). Late-addition Stefan Djukic (2 games: 5.0 pts, 3.5 reb) will help from the bench. Jorge Sing is the league’s second passer (6.5 ast) and Brandon Sebirumbi is an unpolished but rock-solid center (9.3 pts, 7.9 reb).

7. B.C. Barcelos (5-7)
It didn’t take long for Marko Loncovic to establish himself as a top LPB player: 19.9 pts, 9.1 reb and 2.42 steals for the latest product out of Montenegro's assembly-line. Breakout season for SF Eduardo Coelho (15.5 pts, 4.6 reb, 3.00 st), a candidate to play a part in next summer Eurobasket qualifiers, alongside his teammate Nuno Oliveira (16.3 pts, 6.2 reb).

8. S.C. Lusitânia (4-8)
Times are hard for the Azorean team. John Huggins (22.6 pts), brought in to compensate the loss of Daniel Monteiro, seems to be a SG in a PG’s body. Augusto Sobrinho is at the height of his game: 15.6 pts, 1.27 st. A personal favorite of mine: Marcel Momplasir ‒ always a defensive force (11.0 reb, 1.92 blk) ‒ is also averaging 14.9 pts per game.

B.C. Barcelos
BC Barcelos 2012-13.jpg

[JRS Bonnet]

S.L. Benfica defeated Académica de Coimbra (85-74) to claim the «Taça Hugo dos Santos» ‒ a mid-season trophy to which only the top 4 regular season teams have access.

MVP: João Gomes (25 pts, 7 reb)

For Benfica, Diogo Carreira scored 19 pts and Cláudio Fonseca 12 (with 3 blocks). After a long absence, Carlos Andrade finally returned to action.
Mário Fernandes was Académica´s best player (17 pts) and the inevitable Arnette Hallman their leading scorer (21 pts, 7 reb, but 5/18 from the field).

[JRS Bonnet]

9. Física de Torres Vedras (4-8)
Franklim Furtado (13.1 pts, 5.6 reb) is proving to be a good replacement for Ekjersey Viana. The frontcourt, however, is still wafer-thin: Edson Rosário (11.8 pts, 5.3 reb and 2.00 st) tries hard but he’s actually a SF. Miguel Barroca (13.2 pts) and Braima Freire (11.9 pts, 4.3 reb and 2.00 st) form an interesting backcourt.

10. Sport Algés e Dafundo (2-10)
Newcomer Jamarcus Holt (17.4 pts, 10.7 reb) provided Algés with the inside presence they desperately needed and, more importantly, allowed Rui Quintino (11.4 pts, 7.0 reb) to move to the SF spot. After a slow start, veteran SG João Manuel (10.8 pts) had a couple of good games (27 pts against Física). Diogo Ventura’s progression might be compromised by the arrival of another PG (Daniel Monteiro).

11. Galitos F.C. (2-10)
Chris Barnes (9.5 pts, 9.8 reb) isn’t half has intimidating as Perry Stevenson (3.33 blk). Due to the copious amount of PGs, Pedro Pinto (16.4 pts) is often moved to the SG spot. Galitos dreadfully needs a SF ‒ late-addiction Jeremy Bynum (13.5 pts, 4.0 reb) is actually a SG ‒ and a PF (and a mascot, a new arena and some cheerleadears…).

[JRS Bonnet]

Sport Algés e Dafundo 51: Diogo Ventura (14 pts).
S.L. Benfica 99: Elvis Évora (21 pts, 10 reb).

B.C. Barcelos 90: Marko Loncovic (27 pts, 15 reb).
Galitos F.C. 75: Pedro Pinto (25 pts, 3 st).

S.C. Lusitânia 45: Marcel Momplasir (8 pts, 13 reb, 2 blk).
A.D. Ovarense 55: Miguel Miranda (20 pts, 6 reb).

Académica de Coimbra 62: Arnette Hallman (17 pts, 10 reb, 4 st).
C.A.B. Madeira 60: Jaime Silva (16 pts).

Sampaense Basket 68: Jorge Sing (11 pts, 6 reb, 4 st).
Física de Torres Vedras 65: Ricardo Rodrigues (25 pts).

Vitória de Guimarães 77: Ivan Almeida (18 pts, 8 reb, 2 blk).
C.A.B. Madeira 78: Jaime Silva (29 pts, 9 three-pointers).

‒ The LPB is back and so is Frederick Gentry (Benfica). While waiting for a Portuguese passport, Gentry made his debut against Algés (9 pts, 3 reb in 14 minutes).
‒ Tim Toler (7.9 pts, 3.1 reb) left Académica de Coimbra.

Jaime Silva
Jaime Silva 2.jpg

[JRS Bonnet]

S.L. Benfica 93: Lace Dunn (17 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast).
Académica de Coimbra 79: Arnette Hallman (21 pts, 6 reb, 4 blk).

Física de Torres Vedras 68: Edson Rosário (21 pts, 3 st).
Vitória de Guimarães 75: José Silva (22 pts).

Galitos F.C. 73: Jeremy Bynum (31 pts, 4 ast, 2 blk).
Sampaense Basket 76: Steve Baker (21 pts, 6 reb).

‒ I didn’t see this coming: João Santos (F, 2.04, 1979), member of the Portuguese NT and, until last season, on F.C. Porto’s roster, has joined Física de Torres Vedras (4-10).

José Silva
José Silva 3.jpg

[JRS Bonnet]

Huge win for Sampaense this week, a well-coached team that probably guaranteed a playoff spot. Fernando Sousa (Académica de Coimbra) is back in action: almost 10 minutes against Algés.

Sampaense Basket 85: Steve Baker (27 pts, 12/16 FG).
A.D. Ovarense 80: Miguel Miranda (20 pts, 13 reb, 5 ast).

Académica de Coimbra 80: João Balseiro (23 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast).
Sport Algés e Dafundo 76: António Pires (10 pts, 10 ast).

S.C. Lusitânia 61: Marcel Momplasir (18 pts, 8 reb).
S.L. Benfica 70: Carlos Andrade (22 pts, 8 reb).

Vitória de Guimarães 87: Ivan Almeida (20 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast, 6 st).
Galitos F.C. 66: Chris Barnes (14 pts, 11 reb).

Steve Baker
Steve Baker 2.jpg

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While waiting for the LPB to return, here’re the historical statistical leaders (unofficial).

POINTS (min:1000)

1 Greg Stempin 1853
2 Sérgio Ramos 1664
3 Fernando Sousa 1478
4 John Waller 1461
5 Nuno Marçal 1241
6 João Santos 1203
7 Miguel Miranda 1166
8 Heshimu Evans 1111
9 João Balseiro 1110
10 Seth Doliboa 1110
11 Manuel Johnson 1075
12 José Costa 1071
13 Elvis Évora 1035
14 Nuno Cortez 1026
15 Carlos Andrade 1008


REBOUNDS (min: 500)

1 Greg Stempin 830
2 Elvis Évora 676
3 Manuel Johnson 636
4 Sérgio Ramos 618
5 Nuno Cortez 597
6 Miguel Miranda 575
7 Carlos Andrade 566
8 Julian Terrell 564
9 Kevin Martin 542
10 Christopher Lee 520
11 Fernando Sousa 516
12 Ben Reed 509
13 Heshimu Evans 506
14 Seth Doliboa 501


ASSISTS (min: 250)

1 Nuno Manarte 571
2 José Costa 464
3 Miguel Minhava 460
4 João Reveles 442
5 Mário Fernandes 400
6 Diogo Simões 392
7 Ben Reed 383
8 Jorge Sing 382
9 Miguel Miranda 341
10 Pedro Pinto 274
11 Carlos Andrade 267


STEALS (min: 150)

1 José Costa 197
2 Fernando Sousa 194
3 Jaime Silva 186
4 Diogo Simões 173
5 João Balseiro 168
6 Pedro Tavares 168
7 Carlos Andrade 160
8 Nuno Cortez 159
9 Miguel Miranda 153
10 Ben Reed 150


BLOCKS (min: 50)

1 Greg Stempin 103
2 Marcel Momplasir 99
3 Elvis Évora 89
4 Julian Terrell 75
5 Jorge Coelho 67
6 Kevin Martin 60
7 Seth Doliboa 58
8 Lance Soderberg 50

Notes:
‒ Data is from the seasons I (2008-09) to IV (2011-12) and includes playoff and regular season games.
‒ Bold denotes a player on a LPB roster this season.

[JRS Bonnet]

The 17th round of the LPB presented us with an historical game: Benfica beat Barcelos by 73 points. Huge win for Guimarães: they’ve beaten Ovarense on the road (77-84).

S.L. Benfica 125: Lace Dunn (33 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast, 4 st).
B.C. Barcelos 52: Marko Loncovic (28 pts, 9 reb).
Benfica’s boxscore was a poem. Lace Dunn had a 52 «Euroleague P.I.R.» (11/12 FG, 6/6 FT).

A.D. Ovarense 77: Fernando Neves (17 pts, 3 st).
Vitória de Guimarães 84: Paulo Cunha (19 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast).

Sampaense Basket 77: Jorge Sing (17 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast).
C.A.B. Madeira 103: Jason Smith (30 pts, 10 ast).

Sport Algés e Dafundo 73: Jamarcus Holt (23 pts, 15 reb, 4 st).
S.C. Lusitânia 77: Durrell Nevels (14 pts, 17 reb).

Galitos F.C. 61: Denis Neves (12 pts, 12 reb).
Física de Torres Vedras 68: Edson Rosário (21 pts, 15 reb).

‒ The Cape Verdean SF Joel Almeida (1.95, 1985), seen two seasons ago with Sampaense Basket (8.9 pts), was signed by Vitória de Guimarães.

[JRS Bonnet]

The regular season is coming to an end and there is still one playoff spot up for grabs. Lusitânia and Física de Torres Vedras, both with a 5-11 record, will battle for it.

(5-11) S.C. Lusitânia 61: Marcel Momplasir (10 pts, 13 reb).
(11-5) Académica de Coimbra 76: Mário Fernandes (23 pts, 11 ast).

(7-8) B.C. Barcelos 81: Nuno Oliveira (27 pts, 8 reb).
(2-14) Sport Algés e Dafundo 76: António Pires (14 pts, 9 ast, 5 reb).

(5-11) Física de Torres Vedras 64: Edson Rosário (12 pts, 10 reb).
(11-5) A.D. Ovarense 76: Sergi Coll (15 pts, 7 reb).

(8-8) Sampaense Basket 55: Al Rapier (12 pts).
(15-1) S.L. Benfica 88: Lace Dunn (25 pts, 6 reb, 10/12 FG).

Edson Rosário (12.8 pts, 5.9 reb, 1.94 st)
Edson Rosário 1.jpg

[JRS Bonnet]

Vitória de Guimarães is the new Portuguese Cup champion, having beaten S.L. Benfica 100-81 in the final. Five Guimarães’ players scored in double figures: José Silva (25), Paulo Cunha (20), Ivan Almeida (17), Dain Swetalla (17) and André Bessa (10). Ivan Almeida was named MVP: 17 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast and 5 st. João Gomes was Benfica’s best player: 21 pts. This is Guimarães’ second Cup title (2008, 2013).

Congratulations to Guimarães and Ivan Almeida
Ivan Almeida 5.jpg