Ralph Klein, a legendary coach in the history of European Basketball, passed away last Thursday in Israel at the age of 77 and the sports world is still in mourning.

Klein left behind him a wife, three kids and five grandkids.

Dirk Nowitzki firmly believes the addition of American center Chris Kaman gives the German team the edge it needs to reach the Beijing Games.

Kaman, whose great grandparents were German, received his passport earlier this month but wasn't able to play in any of the country's warm-up games before their clashes with Cape Verde and New Zealand in Group B of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

While many others teams are already working hard on their summer duties, Italy is scheduled to meet in Bormio next Saturday, July 19th.

But there are many good reasons to believe that the big-thrill of the summer, the players strike vs. the eliegibility rules for the Italian leagues, is far from being solved. And the activity of the national team is targeted as the the best way of attract attention to the problem.

Germany's bid to reach the Beijing Games via the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament just got a lot stronger following the news that NBA center Chris Kaman can now play for the country.

The Los Angeles Clippers big man, who is coming off a campaign in which he averaged 15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks, received his German passport at the country's consulate in Los Angeles this week and should join the national team in the coming days to bolster a frontline that already includes one of the best players in the world in Dirk Nowitzki.

Theo Papaloukas is an Olympiacos player again.

The Greece international, one of his country's most famous basketball sons, has sealed a move back to his former club from CSKA Moscow to join the Reds' revolution under the Aggelopoulos brothers.

EuroLeague Women champions Spartak Moscow Region announced earlier this summer they had parted with the coach who led them to back-to-back titles, Natalia Hejkova, but have yet to reveal her replacement or anything else about their team.

On Monday, however, it was confirmed in France that FIBA Europe's 2007 Young Women's Player of the Year Sonja Petrovic had left Bourges to play for Spartak.

Anna Montañana loved her time in Salamanca with Perfumerias Avenida but on Friday admitted Ros Casares had made her an offer she couldn't refuse when explaining why she'd decided to return to the Spain giants for a second spell.

There is now a very good chance that the 27-year-old Montañana, who will play for the Spanish national team at the Beijing Olympics this summer, will be able to realise another dream by taking part in the EuroLeague Final Four next year.

Never had the words Belarus, Olympics and basketball been used in the same breath before this month.

Now, you're going to be hearing it a lot.

Spain didn't thrash the competition at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women, but they did enough to earn a second straight trip to the Olympics.

Coach Evaristo Perez, who made the bold decision to include a host of youngsters in this year's squad like Alba Torrens, Laura Nicholls, Tamara Abalde and Silvia Dominguez, went with the veterans when it counted and they rewarded him with an 82-68 quarter-final win over Cuba to clinch a place at the Beijing Games.