Venezuelan Bundesliga All-Star Game 2007-2008 (Photo: lpb.com.ve)
Venezuelan Bundesliga All-Star Game 2007-2008 (Photo: lpb.com.ve)
LPB Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
M. Fleming (Guai) 21.4 R. Nembhard (Gai) 19.7 Washington (Guai) 19.2 J. Vargas (Tro) 18.3 C. Krauser (Gig) 17.9
Rebounds Per Game
A. Sucre (Mar) 9.3 D. Freeman (Gat) 9.2 T. Aguilera (Tro) 8.1 M. Fleming (Guai) 8.0 T. Taylor (Gig) 7.3
Assists Per Game
C. Krauser (Gig) 6.1 R. Nembhard (Gai) 5.8 C. Cedeno (Guai) 5.6 M. Osimani (Tro) 5.6 E. Mijares (Gat) 4.7
Steals Per Game
J. Smith (Tach) 3.8 H. Salcedo (Gai) 3.6 E. Mijares (Gat) 3.5 C. Cedeno (Guai) 3.5 H. Guillent (Gua) 3.3
Blocks Per Game
M. Marriaga (Gai) 1.7 L. Bethelmi (Coc) 1.2 H. Bayona (Guai) 1.1 E. Brock (Gua) 1.0 M. Dumont (Pan) 0.8
2FGP
L. Wallace (Tro) 65.0% L. Bethelmi (Coc) 65.0% H. Salcedo (Gai) 63.0% T. Taylor (Gig) 62.0% J. Vargas (Tro) 62.0%
3FGP
J. Centeno (Coc) 47.0% L. Garcia (Coc) 47.0% L. Cappare (Tro) 46.0% M. Fleming (Guai) 43.0% L. Wallace (Tro) 43.0%
Free Throws
L. Wallace (Tro) 91.0% H. Paez (Coc) 88.0% V.D. Diaz (Coc) 85.0% J. Herrera (Coc) 84.0% M. Osimani (Tro) 83.0%
Venezuela All-stars
Everything is
ready for the 31st Venezuela's All-stars Basketball game.
The All-stars game will be held in the Bolivarian Dome of
Barquisimeto on May 18, 2008.
The head coach for the local stars is, Nelson 'Kako'
Solorzano (Gigantes de Guayana, 6 wins / 23 defeat),
and for the foreign stars, the head coach is the Argentinean
Guillermo Navarte (Trotamundos de Carabobo, 25 wins
and 5 defeat).
Player of the Yearr -
Chris Jeffries (199-F-80) of Gaiteros del Zulia Guard of the Year -
Ruben Nembhard (191-G-72) of Gaiteros de Zulia Forward of the Year -
Tang Hamilton (201-F-78) of Guaros de Lara Center of the Year -
Lee Benson (208-F/C-73) of Marinos de Anzoategui Newcomer of the Year -
Luis Bethelmi (200-C-86) of Cocodrilos de Caracas Most Improved Player of the Year -
Edgar Arteaga (198-F-76) of Gatos de Monagas Import Player of the Year -
Chris Jeffries of Gaiteros del Zulia Domestic Player of the Year -
Richard Lugo (209-C-73) of Trotamundos de Carabobo Defensive Player of the Year -
Edgar Moreno (191-G-81) of Cocodrilos de Caracas Coach of the Year -
Julio Toro of Guaiqueries de Margarita
LPB 2007 Finals - Game 7: Guaiqueries de Margarita, new champions of Venezuela
Guaiqueries de Margarita earned
their eighth national title, by
defeating Cocodrilos de Caracas
92-87 in Game 7 of Liga Profesional
de Baloncesto 2007's Finals, played
at Naciones Unidas Park of Caracas
and in which
Chris Jackson (208-C-81) scored
28 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to
get the Most Valuable Player of the
Finals award.
The title levels Guaiqueries with
Trotamundos de Carabobo as the
franchises with the most national
titles in pro basketball. The green
side won the first quarter 22-20,
and lost the second one 21-19, to
reach the first half with a tie of
41-41. However, they got back in
control in the third with a 24-17
run (65-58) and kept their domain
despites loosing the final 10
minutes by a tight 29-27.
Cocodrilos tried to react in the
final two minutes with a
three-pointer by
Henry Paez (184-G-70) and
another one courtesy of
Kevin Freeman (201-F-78) that
gave them a brief lead (82-81), but
another long distance shot netted by
dominican
Kelvin Pena (193-G-81) and two
free-throws scored by
Francisco Sanabria (190-G-77)
silenced the crowd. Then another
couple of free-throws by Jackson
ended things up.
"I thanks God, my wife, my daughter
and Guaiqueries for this. I did
everything I could to help this
team, but this award I owe it to my
teammates, who've always supported
me", said Jackson, visibly excited
after the match.
Kelvin Pena scored 19 points and
grabbed six rebounds and
Alex Quiroz (185-G-75), the only
player still standing from the
team's last title, back in 1997,
supported him with 14 points and
three assists. Meanwhile,
Rogers Washington (202-F-77)
scored 13 points and took eight
rebounds.
"Before I came to Venezuela, I had
the intuition that something good
was going to happen. This final
series has been one of the toughest
because I had ups and downs the
whole year. Sometimes is tough to
face bad moments, but its this kind
of moments that prepare you to taste
the sweetness of the victory. I'm
proud of my players, they were had
workers and for us it was very
positive that we were never
considered as a favorite team for
the championship", said head coach
Julio Toro , who also won the
title in 1997 and one another one
with Trotamundos de Carabobo back in
1994.
Last time Guaiqueries had won the
title was against Cocodrilos in
1997. For the loosing squad,
Kevin Freeman scored 20 points
and grabbed six rebounds,
Victor David Diaz (195-F-68)
added 19 points,
Luis Bethelmi (200-C-86)
followed them with 15 points and
Tim Jones (193-G/F-73) finished
up with 14 points.
"Though we didn't achieved our
objective, it was a great season for
us", said head coach
Nestor Salazar . "The group
always did things as they were asked
to. We should've had more patience
in the last quarter".
