There will be dancing in the streets of Belgrade, Rome, San Juan and Istanbul today following the decision by FIBA to finalize the list of entrants for the 2006 World Championships, to be contested in Japan late next summer.
FIBA's central board met this weekend in Rome and annouced the four wild-card selections to join the 20 other teams at the 2006 Worlds, which run from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3.
The fab four are Serbia and Montenegro (ranked No. 2 in the world behind the US), Olympic silver medalist Italy (ranked sixth), Turkey (18th), and Puerto Rico (11th).
FIBA's movers and shakers decided to go with three teams from the European zone but, in so doing, skipped Russia, ranked No. 7 in the world, and went with the Turks instead. In what may or may not be coincidence, the Turks will host the 2010 Worlds and, as such, will be automatic qualifiers. The Russians, who lost to eventual champion Greece in the quarterfinals of the European qualifier — Turkey didn't even get that far — will be the highest-ranked team not represented in Japan.
Only one country was added from the American zone, which means that Canada, ranked 12th in the world, will not field a team. The United States qualified by virtue of its fourth-place finish at last summer's zone qualifier.
ISLAND HOPPING: We couldn't mention Puerto Rico without referencing a couple of very familiar names from the island nation. Pistons guard Carlos Arroyo has agreed to play for Puerto Rico if the country gets one of the wild cards. He did not play this past summer in the zone qualifier because of the birth of his daughter, and Puerto Rico finished seventh.
The other name is the one and only Piculin himself, Jose Ortiz. It was announced last week that Ortiz, 42, has signed a two-year contract with Capitanes Arecibo in Puerto Rico. Last year, playing professionally in Puerto Rico, Ortiz averaged 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. His presence alone on the national team should merit Puerto Rico an invitation.
SHOUT OUT TO SHAMMOND: More intrigue from across the pond, this one with a local angle. It seems that the coach of FC Barcelona, Dusko Ivanovic, was more than a bit upset after his team lost, 82-70, to Llanera Menorca. Ivanovic, who has a reputation for being a bit of wing nut, lashed out at Shammond Williams, who called Boston home for a while. Williams picked up a technical and then, according to the game report, struck an opponent in the face near the end of the game.
"There are players who have shown me they don't have any character, and if that's the case, it's going to be hard for them to stay at the club," Ivanovic fumed. Well, a couple of days later, Williams redeemed himself with a 24-point performance in a 65-60 victory, and all was well again.
IT'S OVER BUT IT ISN'T SETTLED: Last week's victory over the Celtics was, amazingly, the Hawks' first game (in 10) against an Eastern Conference team. It also was the first for the reconfigured ownership group, which bought out Bostonian Steve Belkin this past summer after Belkin tried to stop the Joe Johnson sign-and-trade deal with the Suns. But while all parties did agree to the buyout, there still has been no cash to pass hands. That's because the commodities in the original deal (Hawks, Thrashers, Philips Arena) have to be appraised once again, and that is a lengthy process. And there can be more than one appraisal if the final figure is deemed excessive. Chances are Belkin will have to wait into 2006 before he sees any money.
BEST MAN FOUND BETTER DEAL: The Thanksgiving night game between the Pacers and Cavaliers featured the first meeting between Lithuanian buddies Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Sarunas Jasikevicius. The latter was best man at the former's recent wedding and thought long and hard about signing with the Cavs. But Jasikevicius eventually agreed to terms with the Pacers, who had shown previous interest in him.
Quipped Ilgauskas, "I knew I was getting desperate when I told him I was going to cut out his face in all of my wedding pictures." Jasikevicius said he agonized over the decision, conceding, "It's a decision where I'll have to wait and see if it was the best." The Celtics also expressed interest in Jasikevicius, but he wanted to play for a contender.
Tracy McGrady's bad back continues to be a problem for Houston. T-Mac missed six of the Rockets' first 12 games and, not surprisingly, Houston was 0-6 in those games (and 3-3 in the ones he did play). Can you say, "Mr. Indispensable"? Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy can, and no one appreciates more than he just how much McGrady means to the team. "There are a lot of guys who are special players in this league, but there aren't very many of those guys who can inspire and will their team to win," Van Gundy said. "And the only way you do that is to be a worker and be unselfish. Because no matter how great individually you are, if your teammates can't respect you and you don't have credibility with your teammates due to your work and unselfishness, you're not winning. I think he has come further in that area than even in his game. His credibility is very high with our team." But it helps if he plays.