Read More: fiba americas championship 2011, fiba, Marcus Vinicius (F – MEM), Manu Ginobili (G – SAN), Luis Scola (F – HOU), Tiago Splitter (F – SAN)

Luis Scola scored a tournament-high 32 points when it counted most, as the Houston Rockets forward led Argentina to a home victory in the title game of the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship on Sunday, as the Argentines knocked off Brazil 80-75. 

Brazil had a good effort from their own frontcourt, as Marcus Vinicius (a former New Orleans Hornet) scored 17 points and San Antonio Spurs big man Tiago Splitter added 12. But Scola and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Carlos Delfino (16 points, nine rebounds) were too much.

Scola was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Manu Ginobili, the Dominican Republic’s Al Horford, Puerto Rico’s Carlos Arroyo and Brazil’s Marcelo Huertas.

The win is Argentina’s second FIBA Americas championship. The last came a decade ago, and represents the start of the nation’s incredible run of success. Argentina won gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze in the 2008 games in Beijing, and is now No. 3 in the world behind just the United States and Spain. Next summer’s Olympics in London could represent the end of the road for this patch of Argentine players, as the core of the team is getting up there in age.

Bosh said Saturday that he expects the Miami Heat to reconvene sometime soon, even though the NBA lockout has entered its third month with no apparent ending in sight. This would ordinarily be the time of year where most players start ramping up workouts anyway, and Bosh said he will be ready whether training camps begin on time or not.

“We’re going to make some plans. We’re going to plan to do something,” Bosh said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. “I think just getting around each other, I think it’s important as far as team-building is concerned and just getting something going. We’re pretty much still in the process of doing that.”

Bosh was making an appearance Saturday with fans to help promote the video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.” Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics were among the group of other NBA players involved with the event.

Bosh said he used to play “a lot of video games” when he was younger, and said he still dabbles when his schedule allows.

“It’s cool to do cool things,” Bosh said.

But for now, he’s thinking more and more about the upcoming Heat season — and not back at what went wrong when Miami lost in six games to Dallas in last season’s NBA finals.

Bosh was emotionally crushed in the moments after Dallas won the title, though said Saturday said he’s gotten past most of the disappointment that came when seeing the championship slip away.

“There’s no reason to hold on to it,” Bosh said. “The only reason I hold on to it is when I need motivation. But other than that, it happened and there’s really no emotional attachment for me. I let all that out within 24 hours after I was done. It’s nothing I hang on. I talked about everything. I talked about it until I was blue in the face. And then once you do that, you just realize you have to move forward.”

His summer schedule made the task of moving past the finals somewhat easier.

Bosh’s wedding to the former Adrienne Williams was in July, and the pair have done so much traveling since that the All-Star has grown fond of saying they’ve been “M-I-A from MIA” in recent months. He is scheduled to appear on an episode of “Law and Order” later this month, and in the coming days he’ll be in New York for some Fashion Week events, U.S. Open tennis and possibly the Dallas Cowboys’ season-opener on Sept. 11 against the Jets.

Much like teammate LeBron James, Bosh — a Dallas native — is a huge Cowboys fan.

“I’m sure he’ll be there, too,” Bosh said.

Bosh has been working when he can at the University of Miami, as have players from a number of different franchises in recent weeks. Bosh said his training will intensify, as usual, now that summer is winding down.

And although he’s like everyone else in having no idea when the lockout will end, Bosh remains hopeful that a deal can be struck before too long.

“I’m an optimistic person anyway,” Bosh said. “The NBA is as good as it’s ever been right now and I think there’s no reason to miss out on it. So I think everybody will come to a conclusion. When you’re dealing with business, emotions and feelings get involved and that’s natural. You’re going to have arguments. But I think as long as everybody knows that and as long as we keep moving forward to a deal, then that’s progress.”

– Tim Reynolds

Ronzone out as asst GM with Timberwolves

Less than two years later, Ronzone has left his position as assistant general manager. Timberwolves spokesman Mike Cristaldi said Friday that Ronzone and the team “mutually agreed” to part ways just 16 months after he was hired away from the Detroit Pistons.

Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn was not available for comment. The Associated Press left a phone message for Ronzone.

Ronzone helped Kahn in two drafts, but his biggest contribution to the team likely was helping to convince Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio to join the Timberwolves next season. Ronzone was essential to the delicate process, and his relationship with the Rubio family was a big part of finally luring Minnesota’s 2009 first-round draft pick to the NBA.

Ronzone was hired shortly after assistant GM Fred Hoiberg left the team to coach Iowa State, and was charged with not only improving the team’s international scouting resume, but also working closely on the NBA personnel side.

He helped work out a trade with the New York Knicks to bring Anthony Randolph to Minnesota and worked tirelessly with Kahn to reshape the Timberwolves into a younger, more athletic group.

Highly respected as an international scout, Ronzone worked with scout Pete Philo to help upgrade a department that previously was a weakness in Minnesota. In two drafts with Ronzone in the room, the Timberwolves selected Serbian forward Nemanja Bjelica and Brazilian big man Paulao Prestes in the second round in 2010.

The Wolves also had a blunder in June when they selected Congo forward Tanguy Ngombo in the second round, only to find out later that he was too old to be eligible for the draft. The Wolves eventually were allowed to retain the rights to the 26-year-old, but his status as a promising prospect is greatly diminished.

The Ngombo selection likely had little to do with the decision to part ways. Philosophical differences between Kahn and Ronzone on the direction of the franchise started to surface around draft time in June and may have contributed to the split.

It remains unclear what the Timberwolves will do, if anything, to replace Ronzone going forward.

Ronzone has been a big part of USA basketball for years, with his deep international roots a big part of the advance scouting that needs to be done for teams competing in the Olympics and world championships. He has served as director of international personnel, work that will continue heading into the London Games in 2012.

– Jon Krawczynski

WNBA

Bird, Cash lead Storm past Silver Stars, 70-60

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — With the playoffs set to begin in less than two weeks, the Seattle Storm look ready to defend their championship.

Sue Bird scored 15 points, Swin Cash had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and the Storm beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 70-60 on Saturday night. Lauren Jackson added 13 points as Seattle (19-13) won for the sixth time in seven games and took four of five in the season series against San Antonio.

The Storm lead Phoenix by one game for second place in the Western Conference, and home-court advantage in the firsst round.

“We’re in a situation where there are a couple of games left, we’re trying to get second place and we can really control our own destiny by getting wins,” Bird said. “So we just wanted to do whatever we had to do to get a win, and everybody did that tonight. It felt really, really good.”

Sophia Young scored 22 points and Becky Hammon had 14 for the Silver Stars (15-16), who lead Los Angeles by two games for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West. San Antonio also fell three games behind Phoenix, which beat the Sparks later Saturday.

“I thought (Sue) Bird and (Lauren) Jackson were Bird and Jackson,” Silver Stars coach Hughes said. “They have a very formidable team. They’re back in a rhythm that reminded me of what I saw of them last year.”

After the Silver Stars cut a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to seven, Cash banked in a 3-pointer and Seattle never looked back.

Cash topped 4,000 career points, reaching the mark when Bird found her for a layup with 8:23 left in the third quarter.

The Storm outrebounded San Antonio 40-21 and shot 14 for 26 in the second half.

“The last game we played them, they beat us on the boards,” Cash said, “so we really wanted to make sure we got to the glass defensively and give them only one shot — and offensively to give ourselves second chances.”

Seattle has beaten San Antonio 10 of the last 11 times the teams have met. Jackson didn’t play the lone time the Silver Stars won.

Storm coach Brian Agler had considered holding out Jackson, who missed time earlier this season after having hip surgery, but the coach deferred to the three-time MVP.

“She wanted to play,” Agler. “She knows her body better than anybody. We didn’t play her big minutes or long stretches, but she wanted to play and be a part of it, so we let her do that.”

San Antonio’s standout rookies Danielle Robinson and Danielle Adams both struggled. Robinson was 1 for 10 and Adams 0 of 7.

The Storm committed eight turnovers in the third quarter but hit 7 of 12 shots from the field and outrebounded the Silver Stars 11-3. Seattle took its biggest lead, 47-40, on Katie Smith’s layup with two minutes left. Smith stole the ball, passed it to Tanisha Wright, who found Smith downcourt for the score.

Leading 47-44 after three quarters, Seattle went on a 15-4 run to start the fourth quarter, with Bird leading the way with seven points and an assist during the spurt.

Seattle, up 30-29 at halftime, used an 11-2 second-quarter run to turn a seven-point deficit into a two-point lead. Le’coe Willingham began the run with a jumper and Cash later capped it with five straight points after having gone scoreless up to that point. Cash had seven first-half rebounds, as Seattle held a 21-14 rebounding advantage at halftime.

The Silver Stars led Seattle 16-13 after the first quarter, holding Seattle to 6-of-18 shooting. San Antonio took its biggest lead at 16-11 on Young’s free throw.

Cash missed all five of her shots in the quarter. Bird led all scorers with seven points, hitting 3 of 4 shots. Her only miss came when she forced up a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock.

Dupree helps Mercury clinch playoff spot

PHOENIX (AP) — Candice Dupree had 22 points and a franchise-record 19 rebounds to help the Phoenix Mercury clinch a playoff spot with a 93-77 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday night.

Uruguay into next round after 79-66 Paraguay win