Originally Posted by David Hein (FIBA) on Sept/1st/2006

Europe will once again be home to the world champions after Greece and Spain captured thrilling semi-final victories to set up the final of the FIBA World Championship.

Argentina forward Andres Nocioni had an open look but missed a jumper from the right corner with the clock winding down as Spain escapaed with a 75-74 victory over the 2004 Olympic champions.

The reigning European champions Greece meanwhile booked their spot in Sunday's final as they frustrated the United States with an efficient offense and crafty defense for a 101-95 win.

The former Yugoslavia captured each of the last two FIBA World Championship titles in 1998 and 2002.

Spain's victory came at a high price as Pau Gasol crashed hard in the closing minutes and had to be carried off the court after the game and wheel-chaired to the locker room with a right ankle injury. He was taken to local hospital afterwards for x-rays.

Gasol was a dominant force throughout against the 2002 finalists, collecting 19 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and three blocks.

"This is a very bitter victory considering Pau's injury," said Jose Manuel Calderon, who made just one of two free throws with 18.6 seconds remaining to give Argentina the chance to win.

"Of course we know what we have achieved today and hopefully tomorrow we will get good news regarding Pau's condition."

Argentina were up by as many as 11 points in the first half but saw Spain take a 40-38 lead at the break. Spain grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 65-56 on Gasol's dunk with 7:38 remaining.

But Pepe Sanchez answered with a three-pointer and Nocioni added a three-point play as the South Americans fought to within three points.

Spain pushed back ahead by six - 73-67 - before Sanchez hit another trey with 1:29 to play and the lead was back down to three.

Calderon split two free throws with 1:17 left and Ginobili's jumper closed the gap to 74-72. Ginobili then missed from the arc but Luis Scola was fouled as he grabbed the offensive rebound and tied the game with two free throws with 21.9 seconds left.

Argentina sent Calderon to the line with 18.6 seconds remaining and the playmaker split two again, giving Argentina the chance to win.

Ginobili knifed into the lane and passed out to Nocioni, who drew only iron with his long jumper. While the teams scrambled for the loose rebound, the clock expired and Spain were onto the final.

"They were a little bit smarter getting to the line more than us," said Ginobili, who led all scorers with 21 points but made just six of 21 shots from the field.

Spain made 25 of 33 free throws while Argentina hit 13 of 19 from the charity stripe.

"In a game where it is so hard to score, they went to the line 14 times more than us. And those are easy points. It was a close game. It was like flipping a coin. Anything can happen."

Nocinoni finished 15 points while Sanchez had 13.

Jorge Garbajosa came up big for Spain with 19 points and Sergio Rodriguez added 14. Juan Carlos Navarro and Calderon combined for just 11 points on two for 10 shooting from the field.

In the day's first game, Greece kept alive their dreams of capturing the FIBA World Championship gold medal with a 101-95 semi-final victory over the United States, ending the quest of the former world power.

Vasilis Spanoulis scored 22 points and Mihalis Kakiouzis made four free throws in the final 35 seconds as Greece fought back from a 12-point first-half deficit and proved too efficient for the Americans, making 63 percent of their shots from the field and 70 percent from the foul line.

Team USA, who like all four semi-finalists entered the final four with seven wins in seven games, shot 50 percent from the field but made just nine of 28 three-pointers while converting a mediocre 59 percent from the free throw line.

"I have to thank the players first because they did something incredible," said Greek coach Panagiotis Yannakis, whose team played tough defense but also dealt well with the tough U.S. pressure in committing just 12 turnovers.

"When one team spends a lot of energy on defense, it's difficult to have the same spirit on offense. I think we did a great job because we made the U.S. put more pressure on the ball and it allowed us to drive to the basket more easily."

Joe Johnson's three-pointer with 6:27 left in the second quarter gave the United States a 12-point lead - 33-21.

But the Greeks didn't lose control. Theodoros Papaloukas' driving layup finished a 9-0 run to close within 33-30.

Dwight Howard made one of a number of great plays in converting a three-point play before Dimitris Diamantidis answered with a three-pointer and Sofoklis Schortsanitis got deep enough for a dunk.

That was just the start of a dominating run by the Greek big man. He scored on the next three possessions and Theodoros Papaloukas hit a layup to push Greece ahead 43-38. The Europeans were ahead 45-41 at the break.

Yannakis' men continued to make the Americans work on defense with their crisp passing. Antonis Fotsis, Spanoulis, Diamantidis and Konstas Tsartsaris all hit three pointers and Dimos Dikoudis scored three straight baskets as Greece opened a 71-58 lead with 4:01 left in the third.

In total, Greece scored on their first 13 possessions of the second half.

The Greeks did well keeping the Americans at a distance, still leading by eight points on Schortsanitis' free throw with 3:48 remaining.

Kirk Hinrich's trey pulled Team USA to within five, but Spanoulis answered with a three-pointer of his own following an unsportsmanlike foul on Hinrich.

With 45 seconds left, Spanoulis split two foul shots and Hinrich knocked down another three-pointer, making it a 95-91 game with 36 seconds left.

Kakiouzis made two free throws with 35.6 seconds to play, and Fotsis added two more for a 99-93 lead before Kakiouzis put the game away with two foul shots with just 15.6 seconds remaining.

Carmelo Anthony led the Americans with 27 points while Dwyane Wade scored 19 points and LeBron James added 17.

Howard scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 13 minutes. He was also a major reason the Americans out-rebounded Greece 34-28, including 16 off the offensive glass.

Kakiouzis tallied 15 points for the Greeks while Schortsanitis had 14 points in 17 minutes.

Dimitris Diamantidis chipped in 12 points and five assists, and Theodoros Papaloukas proved the perfect mastermind to the Greek attack, dishing out a tournament-high 12 assists.

"Their offense beat our defense, and I take responsibility for that," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We win and lose together, but in a loss a coach needs to take more responsibility than anyone else."

By David Hein
FIBA