Basketball Capsules: Americans vs. American for a spot in worlds semis

ISTANBUL (AP) — David Blatt was a teenager in Massachusetts in 1972, and remembers crying after the Soviet Union's controversial victory over the United States for the Olympic gold medal.

Blatt now thinks the Americans were wrong, that they weren't cheated.

That's not all that's changed for Blatt when it comes to basketball and his homeland.

The Kentucky native now coaches Russia, which will meet the U.S. on Thursday for a spot in the semifinals of the world championship.

"It's kind of mind boggling for me," Blatt said. "I hope my guys are less confused and they'll get out there and play. I just don't want to mess it up too bad."

Russia advanced to the quarterfinals with a superb defensive performance in a 78-56 victory over New Zealand on Monday. Hours earlier at the Sinan Erdem Dome, the Americans crushed Angola 121-66 in their best effort of the tournament.

The U.S. made 18 3-pointers and had 30 assists against just five turnovers.

"If we play like that, I don't think really anybody could beat us," guard Eric Gordon said.

Blatt played at Princeton, and its offensive principles show in Russia's deliberate pace. But Blatt doesn't sound convinced that anything can be done to slow the U.S. speedsters.

"We obviously lack certain things that they're going to attack and they're going to try to take advantage of, and all things considered I'd rather be in Philadelphia right now," Blatt said. "I really don't want to play them, but we're going to, and for my guys it's a great, fun thing, and I know my guys will compete. I just don't know that we have enough to play against that group."

The game comes 38 years to the day after the Soviet Union's 51-50 victory in the gold-medal game in Munich. The Americans took a one-point lead on Doug Collins' free throws with 3 seconds left, and seemed to have won when the Soviets inbounded and didn't score.

But the Soviets claimed they'd called timeout, and an official had whistled for play to stop when he saw a disturbance near the scorer's table. Time was put back on the clock, and again the Americans celebrated as the Soviets failed to score after inbounding.

More confusion followed because the clock was still being reset when the ball was put in play. Given a third chance when FIBA's secretary general ordered the final 3 seconds replayed, the Soviets won when Aleksander Belov caught a long pass over two U.S. players and scored.

Their 63-game Olympic winning streak snapped when basketball's governing body denied their protest, the Americans voted unanimously to refuse their silver medals, which remain locked away.

"There's a wonderful film about that, and I hate to say it as an American, but it looks like the Russians were right. The American team was not cheated," Blatt said. "Funny things happened, but in reality it was fair."

Blatt had already become a successful coach throughout Europe when the Russian Basketball Federation hired him in 2006, the first foreigner to coach the national team. Blatt led the Russians to the 2007 European championship in Madrid, where they upset reigning world champion Spain in the final.

With Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, Russia's top player, and other veterans no longer playing, the Russians are a young team that relies on defense. They improved to 5-1 with the victory over New Zealand, with Timofey Mozgov, a center who recently signed with the New York Knicks, scoring 16 points.

Blatt is unsure if he will return as Russia's coach, but said he hasn't thought about what an upset of the Americans could do for his career.

"My mind tends to wander to things that are somewhat realistic. I don't know how realistic that is," he said.

"I would like to see us come play well, though. I don't want to see us come out and just give in to that onslaught that they're going to prepare for us, and it's not going to be easy. We've just got to do a whole lot of things special to stay in the game. Give me a couple of days and I'll see if I can figure that out, but I ain't a magician."

Though Blatt makes the U.S. sound invincible, the other American coach in the game believes otherwise.

"We are beatable, not unbeatable," Mike Krzyzewski said. "I've been fortunate to be the coach for the last five years and there is no one in our country who has a greater feeling in our country for the international game than me."

Krzyzewski points to all the good teams and exceptional players.

"It's an honor for us to be in these competitions," he said. "But we also know that we're beatable."

Argentina beats Brazil 93-89 at worlds

ISTANBUL (AP) — Luis Scola scored 37 points, carrying Argentina to a thrilling 93-89 victory over Brazil on Tuesday and into the quarterfinals of the world championship.

The second-year Dream star set a new league playoff scoring record and helped Atlanta make the WNBA finals for the first time.

McCoughtry had 42 points to win a high-scoring duel with Cappie Pondexter as the Dream beat the New York Liberty 105-93 on Tuesday night to complete their unlikely march to the league finals.

Perhaps overwhelmed by it all, McCoughtry at first claimed the Eastern Conference finals clincher "was just another game."

Just another game? McCoughtry couldn't leave that as her signoff on the biggest night of her two-year professional career.

"I take it back," McCoughtry said when asked again. "This was different."

McCoughtry, the 2009 WNBA rookie of the year, has scored more than 20 points in Atlanta's four straight playoff wins.

"Angel McCoughtry just really showed how good she is going to be and what a bright star she is already," said New York coach Anne Donovan.

Atlanta, a third-year expansion franchise which set a league record with 30 losses only two years ago, will face the Western Conference champion Seattle Storm in the WNBA finals. The best-of-five series begins Sunday in Seattle.

The Dream, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, swept Washington in the first round before also winning two straight over the Liberty in the conference finals.

Atlanta players jumped on the scorer's table and streamers fell from the Philips Arena rook after the final buzzer.

"I really enjoyed it," McCoughtry said. "The atmosphere has been great. This is what you play for."

McCoughtry surpassed the 41 points that Tamika Whitmore scored against Detroit while she played for Indiana in 2006.

Pondexter led New York with 36 points, her postseason high mark and the third-highest ever in a playoff game. She had nine assists.

"We're both leaders on our teams," Pondexter said of her scoring showdown with McCoughtry. "We expect it. She was in a great rhythm. She got to the foul line a lot. She did a great job in attacking our defense. She was aggressive from the beginning."

The Dream led by 14 late in the first half before New York rallied to pull even at 73-73 entering the fourth quarter.

Atlanta's Coco Miller, who had 19 points, opened the final period with a 3-pointer. New York took its last lead at 77-76 on a basket by Taj McWilliams-Franklin. McCoughtry answered with two free throws, and the Dream extended the lead in the final 8 minutes.

McCoughtry's previous career high was 34 points.

Erika DeSouza had 15 points and Iziane Castro Marques had 11 for Atlanta.

Essence Carson had 20 points and Plenette Pierson added 13 before fouling out for New York.

Atlanta was second in the league with its regular-season average of 85.4 points per game. The Dream picked up the scoring pace by scoring 98 points per game in the first-round series against Washington.

Dream coach Marynell Meadors tweaked her lineup against Washington. A smaller look only added to Atlanta's fast-break potential, and the Dream kept up the up-tempo pace against New York.

With McCoughtry leading the way, the Dream had 25 fast-break points.

Atlanta led 55-44 at the break. The Liberty opened the second half with a 14-4 run to cut Atlanta's lead to 59-58.

McCoughtry responded with back-to-back baskets for Atlanta.

Tempers flared and players had to be separated with 5:53 remaining in the third period following McWilliams-Franklin's foul on DeSouza, who had an animated reaction and was called for a technical foul. Meadors and the Dream argued the call.

There was another delay later in the period due to a clock malfunction.

New York continued its comeback, finally pulling even for the first time at 70-all on a three-point play by Carson. A 3-pointer by Pondexter gave New York the lead, before the period ended with the second tie of the game, at 73-all.

New York's Janel McCarville missed her third straight game with a sprained ankle. McCarville was with the team but was not in uniform.

-- Charles Odum

WNBA's Liberty to play 3 seasons in New Jersey

College Men

New Jersey Nets waive forward Sean May

Tuesday was the deadline for the Huskies to respond to the eight infractions cited by the NCAA in May.

UConn spokesman Kyle Muncy said the response fills up several three-ring binders. He said some information given to the NCAA must be redacted before the report is made public in order to comply with state and federal privacy laws.

He would not say if the school had self-imposed sanctions or plans to fight any of the NCAA findings.

The Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information request Tuesday seeking the summary pages of the report. Under state law, the school has 10 days to respond.

"There will not be a piecemeal release of this report," Muncy said.

He said the university plans to post the response on its website once it has been vetted by school compliance officials, and then hold an availability to discuss the details.

The school's compliance office had not yet received a copy of the report Tuesday afternoon. Because of the size of the report and the observance of this week's Jewish holidays, that job is not expected to be completed until next week at the earliest, officials said.

The NCAA conducted a 15-month investigation of the basketball program after a report by Yahoo! Sports in March 2009 that former team manager Josh Nochimson helped guide player Nate Miles to Connecticut, giving him lodging, transportation, meals and representation.

Miles enrolled at UConn, but never played. He was expelled in October 2008.

The investigation found eight major recruiting violations, including hundreds of impermissible telephone calls and text messages between recruits and coaches. Beau Archibald, who was the head of basketball operations at the school, and assistance coach Patrick Sellers resigned just before the report became public.

Besides the calls and texts, the accusations include giving recruits improper benefits and wrongly distributing free tickets to high school coaches and others. Head coach Jim Calhoun was cited for failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance.

Calhoun, Archibald and Sellers were expected to submit their own responses.

UConn as an institution was cited for not adequately monitoring "the conduct and administration of the men's basketball staff in the areas of: telephone records, representatives of the institution's athletics interests; and, complimentary admissions or discretionary tickets."

A hearing before the NCAA infractions committee is scheduled for Oct. 15.

-- Pat Eaton-Robb

Okla. judge refuses to extend protective order

Payne Count Special Judge Phillip Corley dismissed the case but scolded Pilgrim and the woman, a student at OSU, after hearing testimony that indicated she sent Pilgrim a text message inviting him to her apartment for sex and that he fondled and exposed his genitalia to her and a female friend.

"None of that's appropriate," Corley said. "You both should be ashamed for your behavior. The parties are here today because of the actions of both individuals."

Pilgrim, 23, smiled and bowed his head when the judge announced his ruling. Asked by a reporter as he left the courtroom how he felt, Pilgrim said: "Great."

In a later posting on his Twitter account, Pilgrim said: "Feel like a weight has been lifted off me....God is good...Who would have thought I'd be caught in this life lesson."

The woman's attorney, Park Medearis of Tahlequah, called Corley's ruling "unbelievable." The attorney said testimony indicated the woman told Pilgrim "no" before he engaged her in sexual intercourse and that she sustained injuries that a medical expert said were not consistent with consensual sex.

"I don't know how we could have more clearly proved it," Medearis said. The woman declined comment after the ruling.

Pilgrim has been neither arrested nor charged with a crime. He invoked his 5th Amendment right against self incrimination and declined to testify in the case.

Medearis played an audio recording of Pilgrim's statement to OSU police after the woman filed a complaint following the April 12 incident in which he acknowledged three times that she said she did not want to engage in sexual intercourse.

"The fact that my client said no has not been controverted," Medearis told Corley. "No means no."

But Pilgrim's attorney, Deborah Vincent, said there was no evidence that Pilgrim used force or violence during his encounter with the woman.

The woman testified in July that Pilgrim exposed himself during the first of two visits to her residence that evening. She said he eventually left but returned after the two exchanged Facebook messages and that she performed a sex act on him in hopes that he would leave. Instead of leaving, he assaulted her, the woman said.

The woman said she saw her doctor the next day and was sent to a Stillwater hospital, where she spoke to police. She acknowledged she had signed a document then saying she did not want to proceed with the case, but said she later asked that it be reopened.

She testified that during an encounter with Pilgrim in early May, he shouted that she was going to "mess up" his senior year of basketball. On Tuesday she testified she is still afraid of Pilgrim.

Another of Pilgrim's attorneys, Willie Baker, said Pilgrim remains on the OSU basketball team. OSU spokesman Gary Shutt declined comment.

Pilgrim, of Cincinnati, averaged 8.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last year in his first season with the Cowboys. Pilgrim transferred to OSU from Kentucky.

-- Tim Talley

ISTANBUL (AP) — Kentucky recruit Enes Kanter received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits while he played for a professional team in Turkey, the club's general manager told The New York Times.

Nedim Karakas, the GM for Fenerbahce Ulker, said the team has handed over banking and housing records to the NCAA, which is reviewing Kanter's amateur status.

"The NCAA asked officially what we paid," he told the newspaper. "We took from the bank what we paid. Normally, we send all the documents that we have. They asked for more things. They asked for the rent, what we paid."

The 6-foot-11, 272-pound Kanter is one of the top prospects in Kentucky's highly rated recruiting class.

"The University of Kentucky is working diligently with the NCAA on this matter and we fully support Enes Kanter and his family through this ongoing NCAA review," school spokesman DeWayne Peevy said in an e-mailed statement. "We will have no further comment."

Karakas said the Turkish team provided housing for Kanter and his family for more than three years. It also gave him food and pocket money, and paid Kanter more than $6,500 a month in salary during his final season.

If the 18-year-old Kanter is declared ineligible and decides to play in Europe next season, Fenerbahce Ulker would be owed a transfer fee. Both Karakas and club executive Aydin Ors also told the Times they were unhappy with the way Kanter left the team because of their investment in the prospect.

But Karakas said the club's interaction with the NCAA is about telling the truth.

"This is real, and the NCAA's main goal is to protect the amateur side of sports," Karakas said.

Max Ergul, who has advised Kanter, said the center's time with Fenerbahce was similar to a player who went to prep school in the U.S.

"They paid the necessary expenses, like any other kid who goes to prep school and gets the $30- or $40,000 scholarship," Ergul told the Times. "I think that's the truth."

Kanter, who did not sign a contract with the Turkish club, was held out during Kentucky's preseason trip to Canada last month, since the NCAA is examining his eligibility.