Minnesota Sports Forum

I didn't get a chance to watch Ricky or Gorgui today, but I did check the box scores.

It looks like Ricky was Ricky...everything really good except shooting and scoring against the Iran Ayatollahs. 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in only 19 minutes...terrific stats. But then, there is the other side of the story. He only scored 3 points on 1 for 4 shooting, and even worse, 1 for 6 from the line. I would feel a lot better if he could have at least one good shooting game in this tournament.

Gorgui is a little more difficult to analyze since he is the only NBA player on a terrible team. His stats were great...21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals and a block, and 9 for 12 from the line. But oddly, he had the worst +/- on Senegal with a minus 29. Hard to figure.

Anybody see either game and have some insights?

Wolves prospect Nemanja Bjelica had 7 pts (3/7 FG), 6 rebs, 2 ast, 2 TOs, a block & steal in 22 mins in Serbia's 85-64 WC win over Egypt

The Kiwis lost to Turkey blowing a 10 point lead with 5 minutes to do in the fourth. Our shooters had an off night.

US just bet Finland :thumb:

JJ Barea lead Puerto Rico with 24 points in their loss to Argentina.

Bar the scoring Rubio had a pretty good statline in Spain's win over Iran. 9 boards, 5 assists and 5 steals. 1 from 4 from the field and a terrible 1 from 6 from the line. Wouldn't read in to it too much. Paul Gasol had 33 points.

Dante Exum failed to score a point in 11 minutes for Australia.

Andre Blatche (somehow qualifying to play for the Philippines) had 28 / 12 in their loss to Croatia. He's still a FA and someone mentioned he was second on Flips available FA PF list. Maybe a sign and trade could land him in Minny.

Good to see war torn Ukraine post a win against the Domincan Republic

KiwiMatt wrote:The Kiwis lost to Turkey blowing a 10 point lead with 5 minutes to do in the fourth. Our shooters had an off night.

US just bet Finland :thumb:

JJ Barea lead Puerto Rico with 24 points in their loss to Argentina.

Bar the scoring Rubio had a pretty good statline in Spain's win over Iran. 9 boards, 5 assists and 5 steals. 1 from 4 from the field and a terrible 1 from 6 from the line. Wouldn't read in to it too much. Paul Gasol had 33 points.

Dante Exum failed to score a point in 11 minutes for Australia.

Andre Blatche (somehow qualifying to play for the Philippines) had 28 / 12 in their loss to Croatia. He's still a FA and someone mentioned he was second on Flips available FA PF list. Maybe a sign and trade could land him in Minny.

Good to see war torn Ukraine post a win against the Domincan Republic

Blatche is like half Filipino that's the connection. I didn't know that before this summer.

monsterpile wrote:

Blatche is like half Filipino that's the connection. I didn't know that before this summer.

Actually Blanche has zero Filipino blood. He was recruited and agreed to be naturalized as a Filipino citizen. He gets paid handsomely for his services and became a citizen of the Philippines as well, making it legally for him to do and own business and lands there. I think there is a rule in fibs that allows 1 naturalized player to play for a team. The Philippines has a different naturalized player representing them in other tournaments. Can only play one naturalized player per tournament.

worldK wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Blatche is like half Filipino that's the connection. I didn't know that before this summer.

Actually Blanche has zero Filipino blood. He was recruited and agreed to be naturalized as a Filipino citizen. He gets paid handsomely for his services and became a citizen of the Philippines as well, making it legally for him to do and own business and lands there. I think there is a rule in fibs that allows 1 naturalized player to play for a team. The Philippines has a different naturalized player representing them in other tournaments. Can only play one naturalized player per tournament.

I misread wikipedia. -hangs head in shame-

I have just traveled through Philippines over the last few weeks. They are basketball mad there. Was a welcome change from the football (soccer) mad countries I had traveled through prior.

Ricky's game today against Egypt was more of the same...again only 1 for 4 from the field, but another 7 assists and 5 rebounds in only 19 minutes. And he had six points total with 4-4 on free throws. Spain is winning big, so the optimist in me wants to say Ricky is doing what he needs to do for them to win...facilitating on offense, playing great defense and hitting the boards. But the pessimist in me worries about him going 1-4 from the field in both games. I guess we'll find out what he's really got as they start playing closer games.

It was nice to see Dieng lead Senegal past with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. Barea didn't pl...never mind...nobody cares!

longstrangetrip wrote:Ricky's game today against Egypt was more of the same...again only 1 for 4 from the field, but another 7 assists and 5 rebounds in only 19 minutes. And he had six points total with 4-4 on free throws. Spain is winning big, so the optimist in me wants to say Ricky is doing what he needs to do for them to win...facilitating on offense, playing great defense and hitting the boards. But the pessimist in me worries about him going 1-4 from the field in both games. I guess we'll find out what he's really got as they start playing closer games.

It was nice to see Dieng lead Senegal past with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. Barea didn't pl...never mind...nobody cares!

JJ played went 4-12 16 points doesn't look like he played too great overall. come on JJ there are small deals happening right now bump up that trade value!!!! lol #hobbitbballhope

Dieng is having a good tournament so far. After 2 games, he leads all players in rebounds and is tied for 7th in scoring. It's probably helpful for his development to be the focal point of his team, as it forces him to get a bunch of touches on offense. In addition, Senegal won their first wold cup game since 1998 today. He has a lot to do with it!

Ricky is Ricky. I watched most of the Spain game today and it's the same old story. He couldn't finish well around the hoop, but he did everything else well. Most importantly, he leads the tournament in cumulative +/-. Check this out, he is a +66 over the course of two games!

Here are his cumulative stats in two games:
Minutes - 38
Points - 9
Rebounds - 14
Assists - 12
Steals - 6
Blocks - 1
TOs - 3
+/- - +66

Again, he's dominant except for scoring.