Fast rewind: EuroBasket 2007, held in Spain was a wild tournament with exciting basketball, close games, crazy comebacks (most notable Greece completing a furious 14-1 to end the game against Slovenia in the quarterfinals) and a final that saw host Spain losing to a buzzer beater by a Pittsburgh native playing for Russia, J.R. Holden.
EuroBasket 2009 will take place in Poland in the next couple weeks and while there are some notable players missing the competition level will definitely be high with no clear favorites for the top 3 seeds and with 6 spots for the 2010 World Championships up for grabs.
Very few teams will appear at full strength laying the ground for potential upsets. Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman (Germany), J.R. Holden, Victor Khryapa and Eurobasket 2007 MVP Andrei Kirilenko (Russia), Jose Calderon (Spain), Dimitris Diamantidis and Theo Papaloukas (Greece), Beno Udrih, Rasho Nesterovic and Sasha Vujacic (Slovenia), Ramunas Siskauskas, Rimantas Kaukėnas and Šarūnas Jasikevičius (Lithuania), Igor Rakosevic, Darko Milicic (Serbia), Mehmet Okur (Turkey), Luol Deng (Great Britain) are all out of the tournament. Moreover Spain’s superstars Pau Gasol and Rudy Fernandez are plagued by minor injuries which might affect their performance and France’s Tony Parker will be playing although he suffered a sprained right ankle early in the summer.Who are the stars in Poland? The Gasol brothers, Ricky Rubio, Hedo Türkoğlu, Marcin Gortat, Andris Biedrins and Linas Kleiza among others; let’s break down the teams in groups.
THE CONTENDERS:
GREECE: They will be missing 4 starters (Papaloukas, Diamantidis, Papadopoulos and Tsartsaris) and they have a new head coach, experienced Lithuanian journeyman Jonas Kazlauskas who promised to play a more up-tempo style of basketball. Ex Rocket Vassilis Spanoulis is the leader of a team who added former Gator Nick Calathes and upcoming big Jazzman Kosta Koufos. They are deep and talented and can still play the pick n roll but they will be missing their 2 best defenders and that’s something that will probably come to haunt them.
LITHUANIA: A traditional superhouse but they will be missing the heart and soul of the team Šarūnas Jasikevičius (among others). Many expect Linas Kleiza to take over and lead this very talented but he will need lots of help. Again, Lithuania is missing experience and leadership but the team is consisted of a relatively young group eager for success and personal recognition. Watch out for young point guard Mantas Kalnietis who might be the best newcomer of the tournament.
SLOVENIA: Scoring PG Jaka Lakovic, former NBAer Boki Nachbar and post player Matjas Smodis will be leading an experienced group looking to make some noise. Slovenia has always competed at the highest level but personal feuds and constant turmoil in the locker room has kept them away from the top. This tournament will be another chance to prove people wrong but anything less than a medal will be considered a failure.
SPAIN: A tremendously deep team even without Jose Calderon and former captain Carlos Jimenez they are the clear cut favorite of the tournament. Injuries to Pau Gasol and Rudy Fernandez might slow them down but this is a thirsty team that could be competing in the NBA level. They destroyed opponents in exhibition games showing the world that they are on a mission.
THE PRETENDERS
BULGARIA: Let’s just say that Bulgaria is happy to have qualified in the tournament. There are zero expectations for this team as its best player Ibrahim Jaaber won't play at the EuroBasket because of his Muslim faith. Other than naturalized former NBAer (with Utah and Indiana) Andre Brown, the overall talent is below average and they will have to pull a miracle to get past the first round.
GREAT BRITAIN: This squad looked good on paper a couple months ago with talented NBAers Keleena Azubuike, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon; unfortunately none of them is playing, for different reasons, so all eyes will be on big man Pops Mensah-Bonsu.
ISRAEL: They have been consistent but only as mediocre team and they will be entering this year’s tournament with confidence and a group of proven European players, notably SG Yotam Halperim, and F Lior Eliyahu. King’s first round pick in this year’s NBA draft Omri Casspi decided to pull off the team and focus on making it to the NBA hurting Israel’s chances.
LATVIA: Led by Warriors big man Andris Biedrins they are poised to succeed after two straight EuroBaskets without a win and a similar disaster two years ago. Problem is they are relying too much on Biedrins and they are lacking the necessary perimeter shooting to complement the inside game.
THE UNDERDOGS:
CROATIA: They are lacking a flashy superstar but they are a solid, well coached group, relying on a consistent system. They are always trying to take advantage of match-ups with their opponents and they have a balanced group of players. Sharpshooter Marko Tomas is the late victim of an injury bug that seems to have hit this year’s EuroBasket so Bucks PG Roko-Leni Ukic will have to deliver big for them.
FRANCE: You really don’t know what to expect from a French team that had to work hard during the summer going through an additional qualifying round. It looks though that France is finally peaking at the right time and appears to be ready to take on the best in Europe. Tony Parker, Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum will provide an outstanding combination of speed, athleticism and quickness but defense has always been the black hole for team France.
RUSSIA: Yes they are the returning EuroBasket champions but key subtractions make them a whole new and young team that lost much firepower on both ends of the floor and their top 3 players (Kirilenko, J.R. Holden, Khryapa). Russia coach David Blatt promised his team will be competitive enough to defend its title but it’s hard to see that materialize on the court.
SERBIA: Serbia has been trying to reclaim its power as they traditionally produced great players (Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic). At the moment they are a very talented but young team as outside of Nenad Krstic, Popovic (26) and Kecman (33), every single player is under 24. Expect to see a preview of their future but it seems as they are not ready to compete at the highest level right now.
THE QUESTION MARKS:
F.Y.R.O.M. : A very interesting team that showed lots of promise during exhibition games they are led by veteran G Vrbica Stefanov who is ending his legendary career and a group of naturalized American players, former Tiger Darius Washington, former Wildcat Jeremiah Massey (who is enjoying a very successful career in Europe) and big man Mike Wilkinson. They are ready to perform on the big stage again and are considered a possible upset.
GERMANY: Team Germany has been very successful in the recent years due mainly to no other than NBA All Star Dirk Nowitzki. Even though without Dirk and Chris Kaman, expect a very competitive hard working young team which again will be led by successful veteran coach, Dirk Bauermann.
TURKEY: Team Turkey has been traditionally a good team but only on paper. Hedo Turkoglu, coming from a fantastic season with Orlando teams with former Buck Ersan Ilyasova, to form a dynamic duo at the forward positions but they will be missing the other NBAer, big man Mehmet Okur who apparently clashed with head coach Bogdan Tanjevic.
POLAND: They obviously have the home court advantage but they will be relying on 40 year old Polish legend Adam Wojcik and C Marcin Gortat, who is not Dwight Howard. They might be dangerous as they showed flashes during exhibition games and don’t forget that home teams have traditionally been very successful.
For complete coverage of the tourney, news, schedule and rosters visit the official website of 2009 EuroBasket: http://www.eurobasket2009.org
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