# European Championship 2003 thread



## Matiz

Here are first round results and top10 in scoring, rebounding and assists.

Group A
France: Bosnia 98:76
Foirest 19, Sonko 18, Moiso 15; Mrsic 27, Mujezinovic 11
Slovenia: Italy 77:67
Nachbar 21, Gorenc & Lakovic 14;Basile 16, Radulovic & Chiacig 10

Group B
Germany: Israel 86:80
Nowitzki & Okulaja 17; Tapiro 21
Lithuania: Latvia 92: 91 (OT)
Macijauskas 22, Jasikevicius 20;Stelmahers 22, Kambala 20

Group C
Russia: Serbia 95:80
Kirilenko 29, Karrassev 16; Drobnjak18
Spain: Sweden 99:52
Gasol 25, Grimau 18; Larsson 15

Group D
Turkey: Ukraine 77:69
Okur 19, Turkcan17, Drozdov 13
Greece: Croatia 77:76
Hatzivretas14, Rentzias & Fotsis 12, Prkacin 18, Giricek 15 (5/15 shooting)

Scoring top10
1. A. Kirilenko -Russia 29.00 
2. D. Mrsic -Bosnia 27.00 
3. P. Gasol -Spain 25.00 
4. R. Stelmahers -Latvia 22.00 
4. A. Macijauskas -Lithuania 22.00 
6. M. Tapiro -Israel 21.00 
6. A. Bagatskis -Latvia 21.00 
6. K. Kambala -Latvia 21.00 
6. B. Nachbar -Slovenia 21.00 
10.S. Jasikevicius -Lithuania 20.00 

Rebound top10:
1. A. Okulaja -Germany 10.00 
1. F. Reyes -Spain 10.00 
1. A. Kirilenko -Russia 10.00 
4. P. Gasol -Spain 9.00 
5. I. Tsakalidis -Greece 8.00 
5. G. Galanda -Italy 8.00 
5. O. Nnamaka -Sweden 8.00 
5. H. Türkoglu -Turkey 8.00 
5. M. Türkcan -Turkey 8.00 
5. P. Drobnjak -Serbia 8.00 

Assists top10:
1. S. Jasikevicius -Lithuania 8.00 
2. L. Foirest -France 5.00 
2. T. Parker -France 5.00 
2. C. Marco -Spain 5.00 
2. E. Arslan -Turkey 5.00 
2. M. Jaric -Serbia 5.00 
7. M. Sonko -France 4.00 
7. M. Demirel -Germany 4.00 
7. M. Okur -Turkey 4.00 
7. R. Stelmahers -Latvia 4.00 

I personaly am surprised about Latvia, which last EC eliminated us, but loosing with Lithuania after OT and for one point only shows last years 9th place wasn't just a coincidence...
I must admit I underesstimated Russia.


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## Mister

I was really surprised about your slovenian NT, with so many good players missing you defeated italy by 10 points, I doubt slovenia can win the titel but the olympic qualification seems possible.

I saw only the germany - israel match, very ugly!:sour: 

The german team had 20 turnovers, one of the sluppiest performences I have ever seen of my national team, the good thing is the team can only play better in the next games.


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## Matiz

Spain is really dominating- Spain: Russia 89:77
Same here- France: Italy 85:52
... and we struggled to defeat Bosnia 72:61... I hope France will show some mercy tommorow!!!


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## Chef

Gasol scored 31 points in the first half (in 16 minutes of play) with 12/14 FG and 7/8 FT. He finished the game with 35 points (he scored only 4 points in the second half). Spain won the game easily, 3 minutes before the end of the match we were winning by 24 but the impressive pressure of Russia and some mistakes of the spanish players lowered the diference to 12


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## Crazy Fan From Idaho

I am really enjoying following the Eurochampionship Games and am learning a lot about the NTs. 

Please help me out by answering a few questions:

1. I am having trouble accessing the home site for the games:

http://www.eurobasket2003.com

Yesterday I was able to follow the Lith-Latv game on their live stats, but today I am getting "Bad Gateway" Error Message. I can't seem to get on the site at all.  Is anyone else having trouble getting on? Is there any other site that carries live stats for these games.....in English? 

2. I was noticing the whipping that Spain gave to Sweden yesterday. I know Spain is a very strong team, but is Sweden THAT bad??????

3. This is the Preliminary Round, right? How many wins in this round qualifies them for the next round? Is it two wins?

Thanks, you guys, for helping me out on this. As an American gal just learning about Euro ball, I always have a ton of questions!!!!


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>Crazy Fan From Idaho</b>!
> I am really enjoying following the Eurochampionship Games and am learning a lot about the NTs.
> 
> Please help me out by answering a few questions:
> 
> 1. I am having trouble accessing the home site for the games:
> 
> http://www.eurobasket2003.com
> 
> Yesterday I was able to follow the Lith-Latv game on their live stats, but today I am getting "Bad Gateway" Error Message. I can't seem to get on the site at all.  Is anyone else having trouble getting on? Is there any other site that carries live stats for these games.....in English?
> 
> 2. I was noticing the whipping that Spain gave to Sweden yesterday. I know Spain is a very strong team, but is Sweden THAT bad??????
> 
> 3. This is the Preliminary Round, right? How many wins in this round qualifies them for the next round? Is it two wins?
> 
> Thanks, you guys, for helping me out on this. As an American gal just learning about Euro ball, I always have a ton of questions!!!!


1. I am having difficulties with www.eurobasket2003.com also. Server got down. You can check boxscores at www.fiba.com but they don't do live coverage. I hope they will fix it until tomorrow big game between Lithuania and Germany.

2. Combination of both. Spain NT is looking awesome so far and crushed Russians today (Gasol with amazing 35 points in 28 minutes on 14-18 shooting) 89-77 (the score was 82-60 with couple of minutes left). Also, Swedes are qualified only as hosts and they are really bad.

3. 4 group with 4 teams in each. group winner goes straight to quarter finals. 2nd place teams face 3rd place teams from other groups in elimination round. winners of these matches face group winners in quarterfinals. 4th place teams go home. 
Lithuania and germany both have two wins a piece and a team which wins tomorrow goes straight to quarterfinals. 2nd place team plays either italy or bosnia (they will decide that between them tomorrow) in elimination round.
Got more questions? Get 'em here! :yes:


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## Chef

> Originally posted by <b>Crazy Fan From Idaho</b>!
> I am really enjoying following the Eurochampionship Games and am learning a lot about the NTs.
> 
> Please help me out by answering a few questions:
> 
> 1. I am having trouble accessing the home site for the games:
> 
> http://www.eurobasket2003.com
> 
> Yesterday I was able to follow the Lith-Latv game on their live stats, but today I am getting "Bad Gateway" Error Message. I can't seem to get on the site at all.  Is anyone else having trouble getting on?
> 
> 2. I was noticing the whipping that Spain gave to Sweden yesterday. I know Spain is a very strong team, but is Sweden THAT bad??????
> 
> 3. This is the Preliminary Round, right? How many wins in this round qualifies them for the next round? Is it two wins?
> 
> Thanks, you guys, for helping me out on this. As an American gal just learning about Euro ball, I always have a ton of questions!!!!


1. www.eurobasket2003.com is not working  

2. Sweden is quite bad, but Spanish defence made them worse. Today for example, Sweden is losing only by 4 points against Serbia

3. Its the preliminary round. The best team of each groups qualifies for the cuarter finals. For the other 4 spots in the cuarter finals, each team that has finished second in his group will play with a team thas has finished third in another group. The teams that win that match access the cuarter finals


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## Crazy Fan From Idaho

Thanks so much, brazys!! (And thank you to Chef, also! I didn't see your note until after mine got posted.)

I'm glad to know it's not just my computer that is the reason I can't get on that site. Hopefully, they'll get their site up soon!!!

On the FIBA site user survey about who will win the Eurochampionship, why don't they list Lithuania as one of the choices???? I hate voting for "Other". For all they know, I could be voting for Sweden!!!!! :no:


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## italianBBlover

"Too ugly to be true" 

That the italians are thinking after France-Italy ... what a disaster  :dead: :no:

I'm simply without words : that's not Italy with only 6/29 from 3 and a poor defense !

I hope that tomorrow the real Italy will bring out the balls and play how we can.


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>Crazy Fan From Idaho</b>!
> On the FIBA site user survey about who will win the Eurochampionship, why don't they list Lithuania as one of the choices???? I hate voting for "Other". For all they know, I could be voting for Sweden!!!!! :no:


When there's so much bad things going on in the world, like hunger, poverty, Birma and Limp Bizkit, you worry about some internet survey They are only for entertainment purposes only (and also it makes your page refresh and reload some new banners for your customer unconsiousness).
P.S. one headline from our media describes the best what lithuanians had last nite with latvians: "there's only one step from heart attack to orgasm" And one more detail about how much we care about this competition; our national tv shows FIVE games per day prime time. Imagine if NBC would do that!

P.S. Greece are playing Turkey right now... Intense one as expected. GRE 41-37 TUR currently.


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## Crazy Fan From Idaho

*Another question already......*

I saw this on the recap for the Spain-Russia game:



> Russia put on a full court press at the end of the game despite the big deficit at that point. This was in an attempt to shave points of the final margin. *The point difference can become important if Spain, Russia and Serbia & Montenegro all finish with the same amount of points. *


Can someone explain this, please? 

Hope I am not asking too many dumb questions.


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>italianBBlover</b>!
> "Too ugly to be true"
> 
> That the italians are thinking after France-Italy ... what a disaster  :dead: :no:
> 
> I'm simply without words : that's not Italy with only 6/29 from 3 and a poor defense !
> 
> I hope that tomorrow the real Italy will bring out the balls and play how we can.


About that 6/29... Our players also complaining about hard rims in Swedish hockey arenas. Maybe it just doesn't suit teams who use long range strategy. Anyway, losing THAT much to france is not a good thing.:no: 
Also, if Italy takes tomorrow Bosnia game (and they MUST), they are facing Germany or us in next round. Not a good perspective at all. 1999 champions are in big trouble. Sorry to say that.


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## Crazy Fan From Idaho

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 
> 
> When there's so much bad things going on in the world, like hunger, poverty, Birma and Limp Bizkit, you worry about some internet survey They are only for entertainment purposes only (and also it makes your page refresh and reload some new banners for your customer unconsiousness).
> P.S. one headline from our media describes the best what lithuanians had last nite with latvians: "there's only one step from heart attack to orgasm" And one more detail about how much we care about this competition; our national tv shows FIVE games per day prime time. Imagine if NBC would do that!
> 
> P.S. Greece are playing Turkey right now... Intense one as expected. GRE 41-37 TUR currently.


 

Well....Lith media certainly is lot more....umm...(How do I say this delicately?).....errrr......_graphic_ than the American media! 

Please, you are speaking to a mixed audience here!!!!   

And......you mean to tell me there is more to life than basketball??????? I can't believe a Lith is saying that!!!! :grinning: 

Okay, point well-taken. I will just stuff the ballot box with Other, Other, Other, Other, Other and let them think I am from Sweden.


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## brazys

*Re: Another question already......*



> Originally posted by <b>Crazy Fan From Idaho</b>!
> I saw this on the recap for the Spain-Russia game:
> 
> 
> 
> Can someone explain this, please?
> 
> Hope I am not asking too many dumb questions.


If serbians wins today against swedes and against spain tomorrow and russians win against swedes tomorrow then group table would look like this:

? spain 2-1
? serbia 2-1
? russia 2-1
4 sweden 0-3

How 1rst place winner would be defined in this case? Results between three teams would be counted. In this way provisional table would look like this:
spain 1-1
russia 1-1
serbia 1-1

in this case point difference in between matches is taken into account. russians defeated serbians by 15 points and lost to spain by 12. they have +3 balance.
if spain loses to serbia by , say, 5 points:
spain have a balance +12-5=+7
serbia have a balance -15+5=-10

In this case spain takes first place, russians second and serbians third.
For other possible scenarios do some math.

But in general serbians have to defeat spanyards by 19 points to win the group. Spain must win the serbians game or lose no more then by 8 points to win the group. Russians must take care of swedes and see how spain vs serbia evolves tomorrow.

P.S. serbians are cruising again and only leading sweden by 4 points in 3rd quarter!


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## Crazy Fan From Idaho

*That makes sense.....*

Brazys, 

Thanks for the explanation of the tie-breakers.


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>Crazy Fan From Idaho</b>!
> 
> And......you mean to tell me there is more to life than basketball??????? I can't believe a Lith is saying that!!!! :grinning:
> 
> Okay, point well-taken. I will just stuff the ballot box with Other, Other, Other, Other, Other and let them think I am from Sweden.


During time-out of Turkey vs Greece game I casually tuned in MTV and caught new completely talentless Limp Bizkit song, so I wanted to use "hunger, poverty and Limp Bizkit" line somewhere...

And FIBA site staff aren't the only one not counting Lithuanians as favourites. Bookies have us as 5-6th best candidates to win it all. But we will see about that one. :devil:

Oh and BTW, www.krepsinis.net does basic online gamecast. The score plus comments in lithuanian. damn, they MUST fix official site...


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## SEOK

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best thing? Vasilis Skountis (Alpha Sport) who closed the game after the last rebound of Diamantidis *SINGING* "la-la-la, na teliosoume". 








? 
This is crap...


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>SEOK</b>!
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> The best thing? Vasilis Skountis (Alpha Sport) who closed the game after the last rebound of Diamantidis *SINGING* "la-la-la, na teliosoume".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ?
> This is crap...


Hedo showed some major ball hogging in deciding minutes of the game. Took some ridicioulous shots and missed. Greek fans should thank him for that.


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## Chef

Spain should take care of Serbia&Montenegro easily:

Spain won against Sweden by 47, Serbia only by 10: 37 point diference

Spain won against Russia by 12, Russia won against Serbia by 15: 27 point diference

I don't care if they are the last world champs, anything that isn't a win for Spain will be a dissapointment for me


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## Gousgounis

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 
> 
> Hedo showed some major ball hogging in deciding minutes of the game. Took some ridicioulous shots and missed. Greek fans should thank him for that.


Is this a joke???????We should thank Hedo for winning the game...You should change you hobbies if you think that is the reason why we won....This was a FAIR and CLEAN victory for the Greek team (unlike yesterday)...Nice try...


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>Gousgounis</b>!
> 
> 
> Is this a joke???????We should thank Hedo for winning the game...You should change you hobbies if you think that is the reason why we won....This was a FAIR and CLEAN victory for the Greek team (unlike yesterday)...Nice try...


yes this is a joke. sorry for misunderstanding. it really was clean and well deserved victory. Your defense in final minutes just choked Turkey and shot selection in final minutes was stellar. Greeks are on a mission. 
Fan support was also awesome! You are taking over tough group and i want only to congratulate you with that.
I only wanted to say that Hedo's missed fade away jumper from the right side and that three pointer ball which slipped out of bounds killed Turkey's chances to win the game. Didn't it?
Hedo's shooting stats: 1-8 fg 5-7 ft in 32 minutes. Unlike other celebrated NBA players like Pau Gasol (35pts yesterday), Dirk Nowitzki(32pts), Andrei Kirilenko (26pts), Memo Okur (23pts on 11-14 shooting) or Gordon Giricek (21pts on 8-11 shooting), Hedo doesn't look good as advertised. He gained some muscle in NBA but it seems it wasn't good for him game.


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## qwertyu

Crazy fan from Idaho:

Sweden is quite bad. They probably wouldn’t even be in the games if they weren’t the hosts.
The teams that are first in their groups make it to the quarterfinals. The teams that are second play against the 3rd team of their neighboring group (for example the second team of the first group plays against the third team of the second group) and the winners qualify for the quarterfinals.

A1 (first team in the first group), B1 (first team in the second group), C1 and D1 qualify for the quarterfinals.

1. A2-B3
2. A3-B2
3. C2-D3
4. C3-D2

5. A1 then plays against the winner of game 3
6. B1- against the winner of game 4
7. C1 against the winner of game 1
8. And D1 against the winner of game 2.

The winners of game 5 and game 8 play in one of the semifinals and the winners of 6 and 7 play in the other one.



Anyway why everytime we win a game someone comes here and says Giricek or Turkoglu won the game for us? Hello? Have you people ever heard of good defense, of teams that have good depth and don’t rely on just one star?

Anyway Hellas is the first country to qualify for the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals we are going to play against one of these 4 teams (Lithuania, Germany, Italy and Bosnia). Lithuania and Germany will play tonight the winner goes to the quarterfinals and the loser plays against the winner of Italy-Bosnia. The winner of that game will play against us. So we are probably going to play against either Lithuania or Germany.

In the first group France and Slovenia play tonight for the 1st spot in the group. Italy and Bosnia will fight for third place. 

The same situation in the second group. Germany and Lithuania want to be first and Israel and Latvia will try to get the third place.

The third group is more complicated. Spain has an advantage, but if they lose to Serbia today by 10 points or more they won’t be first.
The spanish coach might be hitting his head on the wall tonight for playing the second team in the last minutes against Russia.

In the fourth group Greece has already qualified for the quarterfinals. Croatia and Turkey will play for the second spot today


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## Gousgounis

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 
> 
> yes this is a joke. sorry for misunderstanding. it really was clean and well deserved victory. Your defense in final minutes just choked Turkey and shot selection in final minutes was stellar. Greeks are on a mission.
> Fan support was also awesome! You are taking over tough group and i want only to congratulate you with that.
> I only wanted to say that Hedo's missed fade away jumper from the right side and that three pointer ball which slipped out of bounds killed Turkey's chances to win the game. Didn't it?
> Hedo's shooting stats: 1-8 fg 5-7 ft in 32 minutes. Unlike other celebrated NBA players like Pau Gasol (35pts yesterday), Dirk Nowitzki(32pts), Andrei Kirilenko (26pts), Memo Okur (23pts on 11-14 shooting) or Gordon Giricek (21pts on 8-11 shooting), Hedo doesn't look good as advertised. He gained some muscle in NBA but it seems it wasn't good for him game.


Well...It's not our problem if Tukoglou is mediocre......besides if he
didn't shoot who was supposed to shoot????It's not like Turkey has a lot of players that can win a game....


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## Matiz

> And one more detail about how much we care about this competition; our national tv shows FIVE games per day prime time. Imagine if NBC would do that!


:upset: Hey!!! I'll immigrate to Lithuania.


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## Genjuro

Well, Spain played a very good game against the Russians. Good % in shooting and a great defense (very good work of Garbajosa on Kirilenko) was enough to drive the Russians crazy. They didn't play like a team, they took bad decissions, they were lost in the game.

One of the main problems for Russia is that they lack inside game. Soloviev (5 fouls in 6 minutes) and Likholitov (5 fouls in 18 minutes) are their only weapons in the paint. So the Russians played small ball for almost half of the game, and Gasol killed them.

Anyway, Gasol was really inspired, hitting all kind of shots, including a lot of mid-range ones. Navarro had also a good day and the point guards (one of the main Spanish headaches) played quite well. And everyone worked hard on defense.

Theorically, Spain should win today against Serbia. Let's see what happens.


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## brazys

*My power rankings after two days:*

1. Spain
2. France
3. Greece
4. Germany
5. Lithuania
6. Russia
7. Serbia
8. Turkey
9. Croatia
10. Slovenia
11. Latvia
12. Italy
13. Bosnia
14. Israel
15. Ukraine
16. Sweden

Let's see how day three will change that...


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## Matiz

Foirest really hates us! he scored 8 points in last 3 minutes...
like in Idontknowhowmany games before against our clubs and NT. 
Slovenia:France 82:88
We led for almost whole game, and in the end Parker took things in his hands and then both teams had 3point shooting contests where French dominated because Tusek had this strange idea of shooting (or better missing) 3 crucial throws. 
Moiso was a dissapointment to me, Brezec gave him a lesson and we just couldn't stop Parker and Tariq- our pg's spend only 4 fouls on Parker!!??!!- stupid thing to me... Pietrus was invincible until he started to act smartass. (now I really dislike him)
I liked the game - it was atractive with some nice dunks...

Another things are the refs- Parker made a very nice looking face after he suppose to commit foul, same with Gorenc! Refs are just not in same level as players... 

Our players showed nice game, but French were just better- congratulations to both...


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## conkeso

Gotta love Jugo-style, if you can't win punch'em! :upset:


Serbia 67 - Spain 75 (Coming back from a 10 point deficit)


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## Matiz

> Gotta love Jugo-style, if you can't win punch'em!


 I've heard Gurovic had a spitting contest!?
:laugh:


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## Red_Bandit

it was 23-14 in the first, and then spain outscored serbia in each of the last 3 quarters.

Jaric fouled Gasol at the end of the 4th, the ref didnt see it, so jaric fouled him again. Gasol and Garbajosa then got in Jaric's face. Jaric pushed Garbajosa and then Garbajosa tried to punch Jaric, Drobnjak stopped Garbajosa's punch from connecting. Gurovic and Koturovic came off the serbian bench to break up the fight because it was by Spains bench and they all got up. Gurovic, Koturovic and Jaric got thrown out along with Reyes, Garbajosa, Reyes and Grimau.


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## Genjuro

Another solid game by the Spanish team against Serbia, with a good defense and an inspired offense.

It 's really difficult to stop Spain. Gasol is such a threat that the perimeter guys find open shots on a regular basis. The shots are going in and besides, there is also Navarro, who can save any situation one on one and who is playing inspired. That's very important. When Navarro is inspired, everything is much more easy for Spain.

Serbia played poorly. They just play perimeter ball, and it is hard to get good results only with perimeter ball. Someone like Tomasevic, for example, would have worked wonders for them. Today, Jaric was the best player for them.

In the quarterfinals, Spain will face Slovenia, Israel or Latvia. Anything different from a victory would be a huge disappointment and a big big failure. Right now we should consider this team the main candidate to win it all. Just the lack of history and memories from past disappointments worry me. But if there is a team capable of change the history, this is a Spain lead by Gasol and Navarro, players who have won everything on junior level and aren't afraid of challenges.


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## Chef

Some serbian players do not have any class (see Gurovic and Drobnjak, and Jaric at some point)


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## italianBBlover

Finally ! today we saw another Italy, the true Italy with great Heart, good defense and good numbers ( 11/23 from 3 for example)

80-72 VS Bosnia and tomorrow there is Dirk&C 

Go Italy Go


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## Genjuro

> Originally posted by <b>italianBBlover</b>!
> Finally ! today we saw another Italy, the true Italy with great Heart, good defense and good numbers ( 11/23 from 3 for example)
> 
> 80-72 VS Bosnia and tomorrow there is Dirk&C
> 
> Go Italy Go


An eight margin victory over Bosnia doesn't sound too exciting to me. Do you think this team has serious chances of sneaking into de quarterfinals?


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## italianBBlover

> Originally posted by <b>Genjuro</b>!
> 
> An eight margin victory over Bosnia doesn't sound too exciting to me. Do you think this team has serious chances of sneaking into de quarterfinals?


Well, Bosnia had a good amount of "lucky" triples ... 

Don't watch only the numbers: the today's Italy was another thing respect to the game VS Slovenia and France.
Much more intensity, much better percentages, and great heart.

Gretz


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## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>Chef</b>!
> Some serbian players do not have any class (see Gurovic and Drobnjak, and Jaric at some point)


why what did they do?

by the way I agree with you, Spain can win the championship. Gasol could be possibly be the best player in Europe right now (even better than Dirk).


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## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>Genjuro</b>!
> 
> An eight margin victory over Bosnia doesn't sound too exciting to me. Do you think this team has serious chances of sneaking into de quarterfinals?


Don't be fooled by the result, I think Italy's chances of winning Germany are bigger than we think. 
Anyway we (Greece) will be waiting for the winner so hopefully the weakest team will win


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## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> 
> 
> why what did they do?


I just read the other messages so you don't have to answer


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## Hrvoje

Croatia lost todays game against Turkey, again in the last seconds, however I prefer Russia over S&M on any day. Genjuro, can you give us a few tips how to stop Kirilenko and friends?


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## Chef

> Originally posted by <b>Hrvoje</b>!
> Croatia lost todays game against Turkey, again in the last seconds, however I prefer Russia over S&M on any day. Genjuro, can you give us a few tips how to stop Kirilenko and friends?


If you want to win Russia you will need some tall SF to stop Kirilenko, Monia and Khryapa (difficult task). Once you do that (or at least partially) and considering Croatia has a very good outside game (Giricek, Popovic, Planinic), if those players hit their shots I think you could win. Also beware of Likholitov a very good young center (use Bagaric to stop him if he is a good defender) and their 2 PGs (Karassev, excellent shooter and Samoilenko, very fast)


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## brazys

*Playoffs system:*

Quarterfinals:

chain A: France plays Russia or Croatia (Russia and Croatia play elimination game)
chain B: Lithuania plays Turkey or Serbia.
chain C: Spain plays Slovenia or Israel.
chain D: Greece plays Germany or Italy.

Semifinals:

winner of chain A vs winner of chain B
winner of chain C vs winner of chain D.

Here's my wild shot at the bracket:

chain A: France defeats Russia
chain B: Lithuania defeats Serbia
chain C: Spain defeats Slovenia
chain D: Greece defeats Germany

semifinals: 
Lithuania defeats France
Spain defeats Greece

final:

Spain defeats Lithuania.:sigh:  

Please don't take it seriously - my opinion will definitely change tomorrow after elimination games. Important fact is 2nd place teams will "host" elimination games. That means elimination games will be held in those arenas, where 2nd place teams played their group matches. 3rd teams will have to travel AND adjust to new arena (space, hard or soft rims and so on). Israel will have to travel more than 500km to Luleo to play Slovenia. That's a factor which works in favour of 2nd place teams.


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## Genjuro

> Originally posted by <b>Hrvoje</b>!
> Croatia lost todays game against Turkey, again in the last seconds, however I prefer Russia over S&M on any day. Genjuro, can you give us a few tips how to stop Kirilenko and friends?


You just need a good hard defense. The Russian team lose control very fast when things get difficult and ugly, and they start playing individual ball. Besides, it is important to keep control over Kirilenko and stop his penetrations to the basket.

Anyway, good luck!


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## Matiz

> Israel will have to travel more than 500km to Luleo to play Slovenia


That's just fine with me!


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## Zelena Hracka

I’m pessimistic about the Greek team. If they play like that against Germany they most certainly lose again from Nowitzki and Co. I take for granted that Germany will win the _”Italyan”_. Sorry ItalianBBlover. 

Russia should -not so easily though- win over the Croats who are very good at giving games away.

SCG-Turkey? I saw the game they played a few days before the beginning of the Eurobasket on Serbian TV. The turks even though they deserved to win, they quite stupidly received 2 TFs in the closing seconds and lost a prestigious win in Belgrade. The thing I enjoyed the most though, was that the Serbian commentator kept referring to the turk player with number 6 as Mirsad…Jehovic. 

Slovenia-Israel. No comments.


----------



## Crazy Fan From Idaho

Lithuania won Group B so I think the schedule says they are off until Wednesday. The time off will feel good to them, I'm sure, but will that much time off be good or bad????

Some teams benefit from time off and some teams are like racehorses that need to keep racing to compete well---the "rest or rust" syndrome. A lot has to do with how old the players are and how much experience they have. Younger, less-experienced teams often need to keep running. Older, more-experienced teams need the rest. Most teams are a combination of younger and older players.

Which group winners do you think will do well with the rest and which do you think would do better if they were playing on Monday or Tuesday?


----------



## ira

> Originally posted by <b>Zelena Hracka</b>!
> I’m pessimistic about the Greek team. If they play like that against Germany they most certainly lose again from Nowitzki and Co. I take for granted that Germany will win the _”Italyan”_. Sorry ItalianBBlover.


i`d very much like italy to win but i too think that it`s not very possible!

germany will be a tough team to win (BTW and the winner will face most probably spain) 

but i think we can win ! 

i agree with the opinion that greece isn`t as good as expected 
especialy in offense is (seems) very unorganised 
but showed that they can turn a game ....in all 3 three games greece was behind in the greater part of the game but managed to win. this is a great advantage for any team (but eventually greece has to get more serious and concentrate better during a game)


----------



## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>Crazy Fan From Idaho</b>!
> Lithuania won Group B so I think the schedule says they are off until Wednesday. The time off will feel good to them, I'm sure, but will that much time off be good or bad????
> 
> Some teams benefit from time off and some teams are like racehorses that need to keep racing to compete well---the "rest or rust" syndrome. A lot has to do with how old the players are and how much experience they have. Younger, less-experienced teams often need to keep running. Older, more-experienced teams need the rest. Most teams are a combination of younger and older players.
> 
> Which group winners do you think will do well with the rest and which do you think would do better if they were playing on Monday or Tuesday?


That's just two days off, so it won't be a deciding factor. Most important thing is our archirivals Serbs are coming at us steaming. Our success mostly depends on psychological state of our players, because we depend a lot on shooters and quick passing decisions in offense. First match against Latvia was a complete "a-dear-in-the-headlights" start, but after destroying Israel and Germans with a style I am not so afraid of quarterfinal. Serbs? Turks? Get them here!
Playing on Monday will probably benefit Germans to recover, but Greeks are not perfect oponent with their dirty hard-nosed style of play.
Serbs energy was already there in match against Spain, so they are looking to improve their defense and teamwork against Turkey. That will benefit them, if they prevail 
That leads us to most important thing about elimination games - you can loose them. Like we did two years ago. Lithuania after not-so-good performance took 2nd place in group and were facing Latvia in elimination game. We were talking about benefits of such a game ("maybe those treys will start to fall in..."), but we got beat by 76-94. End of story.


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## MasterOfPuppets

> Originally posted by <b>Zelena Hracka</b>!
> I take for granted that Germany will win the _”Italyan”_.


I don't think so. Germany plays very bad so far. This is the worst big tournament for the german national team since 2000. They all wait for Nowitzki to be the big savior and give him no relief. Except for Ademola Okulaja and maybe Patrick Femerling no one is really fighting. The backcourt doesn't even exist in my opinion, Demirel looks confused if he is under pressure, but unlike last year there is no help from Misan Nikagbadse because he comes off an injury. Garris is a player that just has one spectacular scene in a game and then disappears, Pesic and Lüdtke haven't shown anything too so far. 
Germany can be lucky that they just lost one game so far.


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## gvergoulas

I hope Germany beats Italy so that Greece gets a chance to straighten out some scores with Dirk n' Co. I'm sure they would like to avenge that loss from the last Euro. There is no way Dirk should beat us on his own again!
Anyone know if Jake will be ok to play


----------



## parso

I think that we (Turkey) are going to take out Serbia and end their missery.... They have to stop Okur inside and thats a tough thing to do these days. Ender Arslan is emerging as one of the better young PG's... he is too quick for Jaric but is Jaric too strong for him? If Turkoglu shows up and plays some D on Stojakovic as well as contributes on some level on offense this game is up for grabs for us... Anyway may the better team win


----------



## Matiz

I should study- but I'm just too lazy so everything else is on my mind - that's why...
Stats leaders from the first round:
Points per game:
1. P. Gasol -Spain 26.67 
2. A. Kirilenko -Russia 25.67 
3. D. Nowitzki -Germany 22.67 
4. P. Stojakovic -Serbia 21.67 
5. M. Okur -Turkey 18.33 
6. I. Kutluay -Turkey 17.67 
7. D. Mrsic -Bosnia 17.33 
8. R. Stelmahers -Latvia 17.00 
9. J. Navarro -Spain 16.67 
10.G. Giricek -Croatia 16.00 

Rebounds per game:
1. M. Türkcan -Turkey 10.00 
2. P. Drobnjak -Serbia 9.00 
3. N. Prkácin -Croatia 8.67 
4. A. Okulaja -Germany 7.67 
5. F. Jönzén -Sweden 7.33 
5. A. Kirilenko -Russia 7.33 
5. J. Hukic -Bosnia 7.33 
8. G. Galanda -Italy 7.00 
8. P. Gasol -Spain 7.00 
8. O. Nnamaka -Sweden 7.00 

Assists per game:
1. S. Jasikevicius -Lithuania 7.33 
2. T. Parker -France 4.33 
2. P. Burke -Sweden 4.33 
2. M. Jaric -Serbia 4.33 
2. D. Mulaomerovic -Croatia 4.33 
6. M. Demirel -Germany 3.33 
6. C. Marco -Spain 3.33 
6. R. Stelmahers -Latvia 3.33 
6. B. Gorenc -Slovenia 3.33 
10. L. Foirest -France 3


----------



## Matiz

scored allowed
1. Lithuania 93.00 74.66 (7.)
2. France 90.33 70.00 (2.)
3. Russia 88.00 80.00 (10.)
4. Spain 87.67 65.33(1.)
5. Latvia 84.00 92.33 (16.)
6. Germany 83.67 86.67 (13.)
7. Croatia 80.33 74.33 (6.)
8. Israel 78.00 85.00 (13.)
9. Slovenia 77.33 72.33 (4.)
10. Greece 77.00 73.00 (5.)
11. Serbia 75.00 79.33 (9.)
12. Turkey 74.00 72.00(3.)
13. Ukraine 71.00 83.00 (11.)
14. Bosnia 70.00 83.67 (12.)
15. Italy 66.33 78.00 (8.)
16. Sweden 63.67 89.67 (15.)


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## qwertyu

yes Ioannidis said that Tsakalidis woke up after the game with Turkey and his pillow was full of blood. He has a problem with his stomach but hopefully he will be ok in 3 days.

I think the game whether we face Germany or Italy will be very much like the games we have played so far. 

As for the other games, I think Slovenia has a major advantage over Israel. They beat them easily in Athens at the Acropolis tournament and Israel will be tired because they had to travel a long distance for the game. 
Spain is the favorite whether they face Slovenia or Israel but you never know what can happen. It will definitely be a big surprise if Spain is out of the semifinals.

Both Germany and Italy do not appear to be in the best shape possible so anything is possible but Germany is the favorite because of Dirk's talent.
Against Greece both teams will face problems and I hope Greece wins. We have to play at our full potential from now on if we want to go any further.

Russia and Croatia are a difficult match for each team. I think Russia is the favorite, I think they are a better team but Croatia is a good team too and since the Russian players are very young (Kirilenko, Likholitov, Khriapa and Monia) if the Croatian guards conrol the tempo of the game and take a lead from the beginning it might be difficult for Russia to recover.
The winner will face France who has shown remarkable maturity for a team that is so young. 

I can't imagine S&M losing another game. In every tournament they usually start like this but then they wake up and start to win all their games. The loss of Bodiroga has made them very weak but I still can't believe they're finished yet. Turkey has a team of shooters and if you play good defense on them like we did you can stop their stars like Turkoglu and Okur.
Whoever wins will face Lithuania. It will be a very interesting game. 
Has anyone else noticed that the 2 finalists of the last Eurobasket (Serbia and Turkey) will have to play against each other to get to the quarterfinals?


----------



## italianBBlover

Yessssssssssssssssssss

Italy-Germany 86-84 


Ciao ciao Dirk  :grinning: 

And now Greece :rocket:


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## italianBBlover

from Eurobasket2003.com

*Germany 84 Italy 86 *

"Alitalia" flies on to it's next destination, the quarter final against Greece in Stockholm. For "Lufthansa" it is only a matter of flying home to Germany. With a good team moral, fighting spirit and some hot shots, Italy turned things around after having been left behind at halftime. During the last two quarters Italy ruled the floor, while the Germans stood by and watched.


----------



## Chef

Quarter finals

Greece vs Italy

Spain vs Israel

France vs Russia

Lithuania vs Serbia&Montenegro


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## gvergoulas

All the quarter finals look close except for Spain v Israel. I'm 99% sure that Spain will win this game...they have been awsome thoughout the championship and Gasol has proved unstopable so far. So Spain will definitly play in the Semis.


----------



## MasterOfPuppets

> Originally posted by <b>italianBBlover</b>!
> During the last two quarters Italy ruled the floor, while the Germans stood by and watched.


Like all games from Germany before the elimination match. The german national team always played good during the first quater and thought it would be enough. They never really arrived in Sweden.


----------



## Genjuro

Some thoughts about the EC:

All right, I was wrong. Germany could not even make the quarterfinals. I think it is really disappointing. I haven't seen the games. Could have been Nowitzki the key?. Was he in good shape?.

How many more times will you still believe that a collection of good players with no team attitude or good defense effort, like Croatia, Slovenia or Turkey, has any possibility to win anything?

I was also wrong with Italy. They seem to be doing better than I expected. I shouldn't have underestimated a team so experienced and that use to play so hard as the Italian one. They may lack talent, but I'm sure they have the attitude.

I expect Spain, Greece, France and Serbia to make the semifinals.


----------



## MasterOfPuppets

> Originally posted by <b>Genjuro</b>!
> Germany could not even make the quarterfinals. I think it is really disappointing. I haven't seen the games. Could have been Nowitzki the key?. Was he in good shape?.


Nowitzki was alright. But he was left alone by almost every other german player. Okulaja did a good job, but he had a minor injury before the tournament too. Demirel ha just one great half against Italy. He had a flu during last weekend too. Somehow it's a shame that those three players who came off injuries or were ill during the tournament were the only three player on the german national team that really showed up to play. The rest was embarrassing.



> I expect Spain, Greece, France and Serbia to make the semifinals.


Serbia will have a hard game against Lithuania. They are a very deep team and Serbia didn't look that good to me up to now.

France versus Russia is also hard to predict. Kirilenko can win this game all by himself I think.


----------



## Genjuro

> Originally posted by <b>MasterOfPuppets</b>!
> 
> Serbia will have a hard game against Lithuania. They are a very deep team and Serbia didn't look that good to me up to now.


Sure. This game is the hardest to predict, but I feel the Serbians will win. Right now the Lithuanians are better, but I'm counting on the psychological factor. Anyway, it's hard to bet.




> Originally posted by <b>MasterOfPuppets</b>!
> 
> France versus Russia is also hard to predict. Kirilenko can win this game all by himself I think.


Here I see the outcome more easily. I haven't seen France playing, but I'm sure they have a very good defense, and players capable of holding Kirilenko, just as Garbajosa did in the game against Spain. For example, Florent Pietrus. But again, anything could happen.


----------



## starvydas

> Originally posted by <b>Genjuro</b>!
> 
> Here I see the outcome more easily. I haven't seen France playing, but I'm sure they have a very good defense, and players capable of holding Kirilenko, just as Garbajosa did in the game against Spain. For example, Florent Pietrus. But again, anything could happen.


Frankly, the way Andrei Kirilenko is playing I don't see anyone on the French team being able to stop him. He should get between 25 and 30 points. That's fine though, as long as the French can prevent other Russians from shining. 
Parker needs to control Karassev, and I am a bit worried about that because he could not contain Mrsic and Lakovic, who like Karassev are good long distance shooters for point guards. Also, Russian big men have been a surprise for me in this tournament. Soloviev is a good rebounder and a great hustler so he could hurt France on the boards. Fedor Likholitov has also been surprisingly good on offense for Russia, so France needs to keep him out of the game.
Overall, I think France should win but it won't be easy, especially if they are off to a slow start and everyone on the team feels he needs to be the savior.


----------



## Genjuro

> Originally posted by <b>starvydas</b>!
> 
> Frankly, the way Andrei Kirilenko is playing I don't see anyone on the French team being able to stop him. He should get between 25 and 30 points. That's fine though, as long as the French can prevent other Russians from shining.
> Parker needs to control Karassev, and I am a bit worried about that because he could not contain Mrsic and Lakovic, who like Karassev are good long distance shooters for point guards. Also, Russian big men have been a surprise for me in this tournament. Soloviev is a good rebounder and a great hustler so he could hurt France on the boards. Fedor Likholitov has also been surprisingly good on offense for Russia, so France needs to keep him out of the game.
> Overall, I think France should win but it won't be easy, especially if they are off to a slow start and everyone on the team feels he needs to be the savior.


Soloviev is an incredible foul prone. So if you play smart with your big men, you will only face Likholitov, who is very good, but not enough to control the paint all along the game. How are the French big men playing? Are they producing from the post?

By the way, I didn't mean stop Kirilenko. In fact, he scored 26 against Spain. The objective is to make things difficult for him, to avoid easy baskets, to make him work and fail as many times as possible.


----------



## starvydas

> Originally posted by <b>Genjuro</b>!
> 
> Soloviev is an incredible foul prone. So if you play smart with your big men, you will only face Likholitov, who is very good, but not enough to control the paint all along the game. How are the French big men playing? Are they producing from the post?


So far, I think the French big guys have done a good job overall but they are really inconsistent. Jerome Moiso played very well against Bosnia. If it was not for him, France would have trailed by 10 at halftime. In the other two games he was less productive, especially against Slovenia, where he struggled against Primoz Brezec (1/6 shooting). I would say that Moiso is not very comfortable with physical big men, because you can get him out of the game by going in his face. Russian big men sure are physical so that's where my worries come from. Other than that, Florent Pietrus is a good defender and rebounder but he's a bit naive in the sense that he wants to make the big block or the big dunk, instead of the more conventional play that would be more efective. And he's not a post threat on offense. Cyril Julian is a warrior and will give everything he has on defense and on the boards but he's also limited on offense (less than Pietrus, but still limited). The French coach has also used Boris Diaw as a power forward but only for short spurts. 
All in all I would say that Moiso is the key. If you feed him consistently (that is Parker's job) and if you can keep him in the game mentally, he will get 15 points 10 rebounds and 3 blocks against anybody. But that's two big ifs. Rarely have I seen someone as talented and athletic but also as fragile mentally.



> By the way, I didn't mean stop Kirilenko. In fact, he scored 26 against Spain. The objective is to make things difficult for him, to avoid easy baskets, to make him work and fail as many times as possible.


100% agreed. It would be desillusional to think one can stop Kirilenko from having a big game when he has the ball in his hands 90% of the time on offense. The thing that scares me is that he shot 17 free throws in the elimination game to Croatia so he can really draw fouls. Could be a problem for the French, as they are a young team that is more likely to commit silly fouls (cough***Pietrus***cough)


----------



## safari

2 mins left to play in France-Russia, France up by 11.
Great game from Moiso, Diaw and Foirest, Parker has a nice game even if he turns the ball over too much.
Kirilenko is quiet alone ( Only Karassev plays well ), and has been defended nicely by Pietrus and Diaw.
Waiting for the end of the game


----------



## Crazy Fan From Idaho

Lithuania 98 - Serbia/Montenegro 82

Lietuva JEGA!!!


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## Chef

Lithuania vs Serbia&Montenegro:

98-82

Great win for Lietuva!!!


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>Crazy Fan From Idaho</b>!
> Lithuania 98 - Serbia/Montenegro 82
> 
> Lietuva JEGA!!!


CONGRATS CFFI!!!!!! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!

:banana::gbanana::rbanana: 

P.S. Larry Bird watched the game. I hope NOW he knows Jasikevicius (21pt and 11 european assists) is way way way better than his Tinsley or Siskauskas (27pts) would be nice replacement for Reggie.


----------



## Crazy Fan From Idaho

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 
> 
> CONGRATS CFFI!!!!!! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!
> 
> :banana::gbanana::rbanana:


Brazys, I should be the one congratulating you! 

You are the true Lith, I am only one in my heart.  

Lietuva JEGA!!!!!


----------



## qwertyu

I didn’t see the whole game but Lithuania was very impressive. I wonder if anyone can stop them.


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> I didn’t see the whole game but Lithuania was very impressive. I wonder if anyone can stop them.


I think Spain vs Lithuania would be interesting final game without clear outcome.

P.S. All greek fans can expect deepest support from Lithuanian fans in Stockholm, because Greece victory over Italy would mean we automatically qualify for Olympics (with France and 99% Spain).
GO HELLAS! :yes:


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## MasterOfPuppets

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> I didn’t see the whole game but Lithuania was very impressive. I wonder if anyone can stop them.


It will be hard to stop Lithuania. They remind me of Argentina in last years World Cup. A deep team with many scoring options. It's hard for any defense to focus on a special player. Anybody can be the go-to-guy, especially because almost everyone of that team is a good three-point-shooter.


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## starvydas

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 
> GO HELLAS! :yes:


I'll second that. 

And congrats to Lithuania, I unfortunately could not watch the game but it looks as if Jasikevicius, Siskauskas and Macijauskas were shooting the lights out against Serbia and Montenegro. After what you guys did to Germany and Nowitzki, and now against Serbia and Montenegro, I wouldn't be surprised if you go all the way.

Just a quick recap on France-Russia (76-69)

Jerome Moiso and Boris Diaw saved the day for France yesterday. Moiso got in the game quickly, as he was fed the ball in the post, where he could take good shots and impose himself physically against Russia's Savrasenko. He was an absolute force in the paint, ending with 11 rebounds and officially 2 blocks (I counted at least 5, I wonder how they are taken into account by FIBA officials ???). He also scored 12 points, all in the first half, with a combination of nice hooks and jumpshots. I'm really glad for him, he's such an adorable guy. As for Boris Diaw, he replaced Tariq Abdul Wahad who was out with a shoulder injury. After averaging 0.7 point per game in the first three games, he exploded for 14 points, including two SICK dunks on Andrei Kirilenko, and as always defended very well and got his teammates involved.
Tony Parker was France's leading scorer with 18 points but played very badly in my opinion. He committed far too many turnovers, choked at the free throw line when points were needed (1/4 free throws in the final minute) and completely panicked when the Russians were trying a final comeback in the last two minutes. The score went from 70-55 with three minutes to play to 70-64 with 1:30 remaining because Tony was unable to cope with Russia's pressure. Hopefully he will have learnt from that. Other good players for France were Moustapha Sonko and Florent Pietrus.

As far as Russia is concerned, Kirilenko played well but not great. French players managed to make him work for his points (22 points total but only 7/17 shooting and 6/10 free throws), although he was excellent on defense (5 steals), especially in the second half. It's the young generation that carried Russia back in the game as, along with Kirilenko, Sergei Monia and Victor Khriapa had very good games too. Monia used his physical advantage over the French shooting guards that defended on him to post them up and score on nice turnarounds. Khriapa showed he had some range and clutchness on his game (he scored two big baskets to keep Russia alive in the fourth quarter) and worked hard on the boards (8 rebounds total including 3 offensive ones). Vassilli Karassev played well in the first half but looked tired running after Parker in the second.

Now the French will meet Lithuania in the semis. Although I'm French, I absolutely love Lithuanian basketball and honestly I don't know which team I will root for. When they last met at the Strasbourg tournament, Lithuania won 110-100 in overtime. Hopefully the coming game will be as entertaining


----------



## ltsook

France and Lithuania sure are fun to watch!

If Greece and Spain proceed today we got the best final four we had in a long time.

Sarunas Jasikevicious should be playing in the NBA cause he is a lot better than most of the point guards that play there.

Go Greece!


----------



## SEOK

Congratulations to the "superstars" like Hatzivrettas, Papanikolaou, Rentzias, Fotsis and Ledkov. Alvertis disappeared. 

Only two players saved themselves: Sigalas and Ntikoudis. 
For the others there are some free jobs in factory. That is their place.


----------



## italianBBlover

ITALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


----------



## italianBBlover

E caro Seok .... SUKA SUKA SUKA


----------



## italianBBlover

Before the next one (Spain) :grinning:  :angel:


----------



## JGKoblenz

It looks like Italia won...


----------



## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>SEOK</b>!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Congratulations to the "superstars" like Hatzivrettas, Papanikolaou, Rentzias, Fotsis and Ledkov. Alvertis disappeared.
> 
> Only two players saved themselves: Sigalas and Ntikoudis.
> For the others there are some free jobs in factory. That is their place.


man what a sad day. I was almost sure we were going to lose. The team had too much pressure from the greek media. Everyone said the game with Italy was an easy one - how stupid does that sound now.
As you said only Dikoudis and Sigalas saved themselves but the truth is that the players were forcing the ball in the paint too much. They passed the ball to Tsakalidis and he was 5 metres away fromthe basket.. What was he supposed to do when he doesn't have any moves in the post. Only Dikoudis could score inside and the perimeter scorers didn't help him too much. Alvertis had a very night both offensively and defensively and almost cost us the game with Hatzivretas. And what was Papanikolaou thinking? 
The referees made many mistakes, especially against us when Sigalas passed the ball to Fotsis and an italian interfered they gave the ball to Italy which was a very crucial moment of the game.

Anyway I'm very disappointed right now. Sometimes I wish our team was like Lithuania whose players can shoot from anywhere. 
We played good defense, with every player going for the block everytime the italians were shooting but the team was very nervous.

The italians who were supposed to have more pressure played more relaxed and they played a smart game and won. I won't be surprised if they win Spain too.


----------



## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>JGKoblenz</b>!
> It looks like Italia won...


and what are you laughing at?


----------



## parso

I wouldn't mess with a moderator...bad things can happen


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## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>parso</b>!
> I wouldn't mess with a moderator...bad things can happen


The worst thing that canhappen to me is to be banned.
And if he bans me because I asked himwhy he was laughing I would leave anyway, because I don't like message boards where the moderator thinks he owns the place.
So nothing bad can really happen to me. Thank god there are other places to discuss about basketball on the internet.


----------



## Gousgounis

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> 
> 
> man what a sad day. I was almost sure we were going to lose. The team had too much pressure from the greek media. Everyone said the game with Italy was an easy one - how stupid does that sound now.
> As you said only Dikoudis and Sigalas saved themselves but the truth is that the players were forcing the ball in the paint too much. They passed the ball to Tsakalidis and he was 5 metres away fromthe basket.. What was he supposed to do when he doesn't have any moves in the post. Only Dikoudis could score inside and the perimeter scorers didn't help him too much. Alvertis had a very night both offensively and defensively and almost cost us the game with Hatzivretas. And what was Papanikolaou thinking?
> The referees made many mistakes, especially against us when Sigalas passed the ball to Fotsis and an italian interfered they gave the ball to Italy which was a very crucial moment of the game.
> 
> Anyway I'm very disappointed right now. Sometimes I wish our team was like Lithuania whose players can shoot from anywhere.
> We played good defense, with every player going for the block everytime the italians were shooting but the team was very nervous.
> 
> The italians who were supposed to have more pressure played more relaxed and they played a smart game and won. I won't be surprised if they win Spain too.




Of course we were forcing the ball to the paint to much....Our PG can't score....From our SG only Sigalas scored (since Hatzivrettas is mentally a midget) and as far as our SF's Papanikolaou and Alvertis are crap...So it was quite logical that we were forcing the ball to the paint...I have said it before and I am saying once again some players have to go NOW.....Don't expect a succes at the Olympics with the current team....A lot of changes have to be made and some players have to go NOW (HAtzivrettas,Rentzias,Alvertis, Papanikolaou)..We didn't learn from the mistakes in the previous tournaments....I hope we will now.....Also Ioannidis is also to blame....Fotsis was on fire in the beggining but yet he took him out and had him on the bench for 25 min...A decent coach NEVER takes out a player that is on fire.....Why didn't Kakiouzis play at all???He is much better than Papanikolaou and Alvertis.....I hope he will learn from the mistakes that he did (I doubt that though he is to stubborn)
Diamantopoulos might not be playing D...he might have a bad attitude but given 25-30 min a game he will offer 20+ ppg something our NT needs badly.......Give him a chance to show that he can do that...


Anyway this is the team we need to send to the Athens Olympics
(since our current team have failed 4 times in a row now It's getting obvious that CHANGES have to be made NOW)

C Tsakalidis, Papadopoulos (you will see the real Pap this season just wait and see)
PF Dikoudis, Sofo, Tsartsaris
SF Fotsis, Kakiouzis
SG Diamantopoulos,Sigalas
PG Spanoulis (Big Heart and Very Strong Mentally), Diamantidis, Paploukas


----------



## Gousgounis

> Originally posted by <b>parso</b>!
> I wouldn't mess with a moderator...bad things can happen


There are other bball forums as well..


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## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>Gousgounis</b>!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Of course we were forcing the ball to the paint to much....Our PG can't score....From our SG only Sigalas scored (since Hatzivrettas is mentally a midget) and as far as our SF's Papanikolaou and Alvertis are crap...So it was quite logical that we were forcing the ball to the paint...I have said it before and I am saying once again some players have to go NOW.....Don't expect a succes at the Olympics with the current team....A lot of changes have to be made and some players have to go NOW (HAtzivrettas,Rentzias,Alvertis, Papanikolaou)..We didn't learn from the mistakes in the previous tournaments....I hope we will now.....Also Ioannidis is also to blame....Fotsis was on fire in the beggining but yet he took him out and had him on the bench for 25 min...A decent coach NEVER takes out a player that is on fire.....Why didn't Kakiouzis play at all???He is much better than Papanikolaou and Alvertis.....I hope he will learn from the mistakes that he did (I doubt that though he is to stubborn)
> 
> Anyway this is the team we need to send to the Athens Olympics
> (since our current team have failed 4 times in a row now It's getting obvious that CHANGES have to be made NOW)
> 
> C Tsakalidis, Papadopoulos (you will see the real Pap this season just wait and see)
> PF Dikoudis, Sofo, Tsartsaris
> SF Fotsis, Kakiouzis
> SG Diamantopoulos,Sigalas
> PG Spanoulis (Big Heart and Very Strong Mentally), Diamantidis, Paploukas


Spanoulis unfortunately has an injury. I'm afraid Ioannidis won't make any changes. I agree Kakiouzis should get more minutes. And I think Liadelis, Pelekanos and Glynaidakis deserve a chance to be on the team. If Pelekanos was on the team we would have someone to drive to the basket. 
You're right, our PGs can't shoot. We are probably the only team in the world whose PGs can't shoot.. How pathetic can that be.

Tsakalidis played a good game and the team plays much better team defense when he's on the court but there's no need to pass him the ball everytime. He doesn't really have any post moves. And I don't know if you were watching the game on greek tv but that Hatzivlakas guy annoyed me once again. He kept saying that the greek team is so much better than Italy (what a fool) and that Tsakalidis is the best C in Europe. 
I like Tsakalidis and I think he has a lot of potential, but Okur ran circles around him when we played against Turkey. 
I've met that guy Hatzigeorgiou and he's even more annoying in person. He thinks he's cool because he has long hair but he doesn't know what he talks about.


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## Gousgounis

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> 
> 
> Spanoulis unfortunately has an injury. I'm afraid Ioannidis won't make any changes. I agree Kakiouzis should get more minutes. And I think Liadelis, Pelekanos and Glynaidakis deserve a chance to be on the team. If Pelekanos was on the team we would have someone to drive to the basket.
> You're right, our PGs can't shoot. We are probably the only team in the world whose PGs can't shoot.. How pathetic can that be.
> 
> Tsakalidis played a good game and the team plays much better team defense when he's on the court but there's no need to pass him the ball everytime. He doesn't really have any post moves. And I don't know if you were watching the game on greek tv but that Hatzivlakas guy annoyed me once again. He kept saying that the greek team is so much better than Italy (what a fool) and that Tsakalidis is the best C in Europe.
> I like Tsakalidis and I think he has a lot of potential, but Okur ran circles around him when we played against Turkey.
> I've met that guy Hatzigeorgiou and he's even more annoying in person. He thinks he's cool because he has long hair but he doesn't know what he talks about.


Yeah I saw the game on Greek TV..I was at a Greek Club....Everybody were pissed off like crazy (I still am)..
lol.....Hatzivlakas is a dickhead...I can't believe how he could say that Rentzias is the best European player after Nowitzki.I saw him in Boras but I avoided greeting and talking to him since judging from his comments in TV he seems to be a dickhead.....And I don't like that kind of people...If Ioannidis won't make any changes our team will keep on failing.....Anyway I will right some more opinions tommorrow (I am too pissed off and tired right now)....


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## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>Gousgounis</b>!
> 
> 
> Yeah I saw the game on Greek TV..I was at a Greek Club....Everybody were pissed off like crazy (I still am)..
> lol.....Hatzivlakas is a dickhead...I can't believe how he could say that Rentzias is the best European player after Nowitzki.I saw him in Boras but I avoided greeting and talking to him since judging from his comments in TV he seems to be a dickhead.....And I don't like that kind of people...If Ioannidis won't make any changes our team will keep on failing.....Anyway I will right some more opinions tommorrow (I am too pissed off and tired right now)....


lol well he didn't say that Rentzias is the best european player after Nowitzki. He said (if I remember correctly) that he's the best shooter at his position in Europe along with Nowitzki (which isn't true either).
Anyway I hope we don't lose to Israel today because that will be a total disaster. But knowing our team they will either lose or win by 40 points.


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## Gousgounis

Yeah we will probably loose against Israel........


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> Anyway I'm very disappointed right now. Sometimes I wish our team was like Lithuania whose players can shoot from anywhere.
> We played good defense, with every player going for the block everytime the italians were shooting but the team was very nervous.
> The italians who were supposed to have more pressure played more relaxed and they played a smart game and won. I won't be surprised if they win Spain too.


Yep, watching this game and rooting for Greece was a painful experience indeed. So many bricks, missed layups, three pointers and free throws from both sides. Greek coaches must think hard about speeding up game a bit, players should spend more time practicing shooting and slashing. They are are good athletes and defenders already. And make Fotsis their go-to guy. You can't win games these days by slowing down tempo and holding oponents to under 70. You have to score 71 yourself.
Spain cruised yesterday in their win over Israel and it seems they either undervalued Israel team or they are getting tired. In any case, Italy have a chance. They also have to create "stop-Gasol" plan, which is a tough task to do. Their physical condition after three elimination games in a row (Bosnia, Germany and Greece) is also one to watch.


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## ltsook

Ioannidis basketball is officially dead

Tsakalidis is the same talentless bulk that left Greece

Hadjivrettas is not the scorer he showed he would become

Our peripheral defense is a myth

Rest in Peace Ioannidis Basketball


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## SEOK

..


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## Chef

> Originally posted by <b>italianBBlover</b>!
> Before the next one (Spain) :grinning:  :angel:


 

We want REVENGE.

Care about stopping Gasol  

It's not going to be an easy match because of the Italian defence and their winning mentality, but Spain is better, and unless we completely struggle (a huge struggle) or Italian outside players hit their treys lights out, we should win


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## Matiz

> Yeah we will probably loose against Israel........


From some unknown reason- that even doesn't sounds funny to me!


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## qwertyu

Brazys you cant imagine how painful it is to root for that team every year. The funny thing is that they play very differently at the friendlies. Our PGs actually RUN (I know it sounds unbelievable but it happens), but when the official games start, they play this really slow basketball where everyone is trying to pass the ball to the team’s big men and no one can shoot. I don’t know maybe the team puts too much effort on defense and they’re too tired when they play offense. Or maybe they won’t run because they’re afraid they will make a mistake and the coach will take them out of the game.
I think all the greek basketball fans will die of a heart-attack one day :laugh:
Fotsis could become the team’s leader one day, but I don’t know, he’s too shy to take responsibilities. Maybe if some of the older players leave the team he will feel more comfortable.

Anyway I’m looking forwards to tomorrow’s semifinals because I’m really curious to see which team will be left out of the Olympics.


SEOK who was that Soragna guy anyway? I’ve never heard of him before lol
You’re right about Kalaitzis and Kommatos. He didn’t even give Kommatos a chance and he had such a good season this year. Kalaitzis is a player I always liked but he’s like the 4th PG for Panathinaikos.
The team could use an automatic shooter like Hatzis but Alvertis was supposed to be that player and he didn’t fare very well. Ioannidis should let the players shoot more. They all just seem to think about it twice before they shoot and that’s why they miss their shots.

Chef you are clearly the favorites against Italy, but if you play the way you played against Israel you will probably lose. 

And Matiz, it wasn’t supposed to be funny you know hehe


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## Chef

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> 
> 
> Chef you are clearly the favorites against Italy, but if you play the way you played against Israel you will probably lose.


Why? Cannot we play badly and still win ? Against Israel Spain didn't play well, our defense sucked, but still they only managed to score 64

If Italy can only score 61 against a good defending team like Greece (3rd in points allowed, Spain is first), Italy is the NT that should be worried, not Spain


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> I think all the greek basketball fans will die of a heart-attack one day :laugh:


Greek fans look like the best fans in tournament (on TV at least). Next year 10000+ army of supporters in Athens will be a major boost for Greece. 1987


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## italianBBlover

> Originally posted by <b>Chef</b>!
> Italy is the NT that should be worried, not Spain


Are you so sure ? :grinning: 

I think that now Spain isn't very quiet too ...


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## italianBBlover

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> SEOK who was that Soragna guy anyway? I’ve never heard of him before lol


Matteo Soragna (G-F) plays with Biella.

He's not a superstar, but when the team need some triples ... 

Here his numers in the 2002-2003 season

In 28.0 minutes per game: *8.5* points with *50.0%* from 2, *33.6%* from 3 , *87.5* from the charity line, *2* rebounds , *2.4* assists.

Gretz


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## qwertyu

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 
> 
> Greek fans look like the best fans in tournament (on TV at least). Next year 10000+ army of supporters in Athens will be a major boost for Greece. 1987


yeah greek fans are very passionate about basketball. But Lithuania has great fans too. I saw the stadium was full of Lithuanians when you played against Serbia.
Losing to Italy was a big disappointment for the fgreek fans that were at the game in Sweden.


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## gvergoulas

I have to agree with some guys (i.e. gousgounis) that some players for the national team have to go...but only 1 year before the Olympics it might be difficult. If Ioanidis stays then he definitly will not change his team, but if a new coach comes then may be we can get different players and a new style/ mentality of playing (ie actually trying to outscore oponents rather than just d-fence)...

Pavlidis, Diamandopoulos, Pelekanos, Dikoudis, Fotsis and Sofoklis(in a few years time when he matures)...even Tapoutos (he has been playing much better for AEK during friendlies) could help.

As far a Euros are concerned, I think that France will win becasue it has player than can drive, dunk and run....something Europeans can't do very well generally speaking.


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## Marco Mitis

> Originally posted by <b>Chef</b>!
> 
> Italy is the NT that should be worried, not Spain


Italy wasn't supposed to go anywere in this tournament. It's an underdog team made by underdog players. There are so many teams out there with so much more talent and depth.
Slovenija is so much better. Serbia is better. Germany is better. Greece is better, anyway. And it is clear that Spain is a better team than Italy. Italy's measure of talent is the -33 vs. France.
But, cruel as it should be, one game is one game, die or live, and other than talent there are other factors as desire, will, mentality, humilty, quality that Italy have shown to have. If these guys will be able to play over their effective capabilities could be a close game, if they will loose up a bit Spain will win easily. Anyway kudos to the guys, they have already done more than anyone, me first, was expecting from them.


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## Red_Bandit

What would have happened if Serbia and Greece finished 1st and 2nd in this years tournament?? since both are already qualified for the Olympics, who would have got the remaining spots?


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## Chef

> Originally posted by <b>Red_Bandit</b>!
> What would have happened if Serbia and Greece finished 1st and 2nd in this years tournament?? since both are already qualified for the Olympics, who would have got the remaining spots?


3rd, 4th and 5th


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## JGKoblenz

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> 
> 
> and what are you laughing at?


I was messing with italianBBlover reaction. And I answered your PM too.


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## Genjuro

> Originally posted by <b>qwertyu</b>!
> Chef you are clearly the favorites against Italy, but if you play the way you played against Israel you will probably lose.


I'm not so sure. Spain didn't play that bad against Israel. It was a tough and ugly game, like every game we play against them. It was their only chance. In an open and offensive game they wouldn't had have any chance. Spain suffered, but less than I expected.

Gasol feels really unconfortable with those closed zone defenses. He can't maneuver as he would like. He plays too static in those situations, so he is double and triple teamed very fast, and he even has some problems to pass the ball.

But the rest of the team managed to get the job done and score while Gasol was struggling (except Carles Marco, who suffered a lot trying to defend Tapiro), and very important, not abusing from treys.

In fact, in the beggining of the third quarter it was obvious that Gasol was out of the game, so Garbajosa entered the game instead him. The couple Garbajosa and Reyes did a great job, as always in the defensive end, but also against the zone, cutting, finishing with fast moves, passing, creating game.

The game was being played at a slow pace, but Spain was playing well. Too bad that Navarro tried to change the rhythm. He failed (it's hardly impossible to make a fastbreak against Israel). That fact kept Israel in the game.

But not being able to stop our constant (although not huge) offensive production, Israel shrank due to the fouls and, I suppose, the effort. So Gasol confortably scored 14 points in the final quarter to safe the victory.

The most important thing to me: Spain had all the game under control and played quite concentrated. That's the key against Italy, not to lose concentration, regardless who hard the game gets.

About who should be afraid and who don't, Italy has nothing to lose. They have achieved way more than expected, so they shouldn't be afraid of anything. On the other hand, the expectations in Spain were real high before the tournament started, and now are even higher. A loss against Italy would be a huge disappointment. Not to mention that it would risk the Olympic spot. And not qualiffying for the Olympics would be a huge failure for this team. Definitly, Spain has more reasons to be afraid than Italy.


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## Matiz

I haven't watched all NT's but imo Italy plays TEAM basketball, something I was missing watching France, Slovenia, Spain, Russia, Croatia, Germany... and as you guys already said they have nothing to loose. Spain is definitely a favorite, but imo key factor will be "bad or good" moment for both teams.


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## conkeso

Spain 81 - Italy 79

Great match, Bulleri and Navarro what a duel  

Go Spain!!


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## italianBBlover

Pity  :dead: :no: 

Well, in any case many compliments to Spain and that "monster" of Navarro


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## josegr

A game as hard as expected. I had the intuition that Italy could be the best team stopping Gasol, and they've done a great work with him. But when Navarro in on the floor anything could happens. Maybe he miss 4-5 consecutive shots (1st half) or maybe he wins the game. 
2 NT playing like really TEAMS. Italy has combined outside (Bulleri-Galanda-Basile) and inside (Chiacig-Marconato) while in Spain has been decissive the work of players like Felipe Reyes, Jimenez, and even sometimes the PG's.


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## Genjuro

Great game. I really liked it. It was very intense, with great hard defenses (and no dirty plays) and offenses good enough to overcome those defenses and get to the 80 points level.

Italy know their stuff. They play hard on defense and smart on ofense, and they play as a team. Bulleri is the catalyst of their game and today was inspired (Marco's poor defense was a help). Their big men get the job done both in the offensive end and in the defensive end. They not just stopped Gasol, but made good baskets on him.

But as I asked for, Spain kept concentrated all along the game. For a moment I though they could collapse, but they never give up nor try to win the game individually. Jiménez, Garbajosa and Reyes did a great work. They can play as hard and be as effective as the Italian players.

In the final minutes, the talent won. Navarro was amazing. He is the real winner player of this team. He showed it two years ago against Israel and Russia getting winning (or almost winning) baskets, and today he has showed it again. Tomorrow he will have again an excellent opportunity to add another great performance. He loves the finals. In Barcelona he plays under the shadow of Bodiroga and Jasikevicius (two other incredible clutch players), but in the national team we can see the real Navarro.

Congrats to the Italians for such a great European Championship. Taking in account what I've seen today, they deserve it. Good luck for tomorrow against France.


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## Chef

Wow, this game looked like a real final.

I must congratulate the Italian team, they do know how to win a game. Incredible defense and pressure by them (Spain did not defend that good). If they get some more talent, it's going to be a very very hard NT to beat.

I thought Bulleri was basically a great shooter (being a Benneton Treviso player that is a must ) but he is very fast, and he has the style of a NBA PG. 

As for Spain, Navarro was clutch and demostrated he is nearly unstoppable. Jimenez, Reyes, Garbajosa and Calderon helped a lot, and Gasol was dissapeared (thanks to the Italian defence). Marco nearly cost us the game :upset: 

Congrats Italy :grinning: (I think they are going to beat France)

Be ready Lietuva!!!


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>Chef</b>!
> Be ready Lietuva!!!


Bring it on, Espana! 

I must admit I was rooting for Italy to prevail, because obviously they looked like less dangerous oponent. But hey, this will make a better final. NBA TV is broadcasting the tournament, so European basketball is having a chance to show the world all it's beauty and prestige.
After todays game I have more respect for France players - they are not only athletic nba prospects with "upside". Sure, they mised all their clutch shots yesterday, but France guards slashed through our defense like a butter, forwards did double-blocks on our layups and faught well for rebounds. They also showed the heart of a winner and sense of pride, because our TV announcer told that "I could't watch France players going out of arena because they looked like if someone died". Big up for France players. I hope they will win ticket to Athens, because this team has a great future and unlike Italy is a team with at least a shot at holding it's own against USA.
Lithuania and Spain split two friendlies in Spain before the tournament, so both teams have a chance. We must find some schemes against Gasol (Donnie Nelson is our assistant coach, so it will help; we did a pretty good job on Nowitzki), Spain must regain that defensive intensity, showed in group games and in the end of Italy match. Maybe Israel and Italy weren't that kind of defend-or-die oponents, but anyway if Spain will show any laziness on D, they will be punished.
Sarunas Jasikevicius said he was "very tired physically" after today's game (14points 10 rebounds and 7 assists) and his main task is "to gain complete physical condition" before final. It's good they are wary of this - it's really been a long week-and-a-weekend.
And finally, as tournament is going to an end, here's my shot at eurobasket 2003 MVP and first team:

MVP - Pau Gasol hands down. 23.8ppg on 65% shooting with 6.6rb and 2.0blocks.

First team:
G Sarunas Jasikevicius 14.8ppg 3.6rb 8.0ast
G Tony Parker 16.8 ppg 3.6ast
F Andrei Kirilenko 25.6ppg 7.2rb 3.2st 2.4blo
F Peja Stojakovic 18.8ppg
C Pau Gasol 23.8ppg 6.6rb 2.0bl

i am not sure about Peja here, but it doesn't matter much.
LIETUVA!


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## Amareca

In my opinion Sarunas Jasikevicius is the MVP of this tournament.
Especially if they win the final.


C-Mehmet Okur
F-Pau Gasol
F-Dirk Nowitzki
G-Andrei Kirilenko
G-Sarunas Jasikevicius



1.Lithuania
2.Spain
3.Italy
4.France

Germany, France, Turkey,Russia not going to the Olympics :upset: but Puerto Rice does! And probably Australia and New Zealand or teams like that.


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## brazys

> Originally posted by <b>BigAmare</b>!
> In my opinion Sarunas Jasikevicius is the MVP of this tournament.
> Especially if they win the final.
> 
> 
> C-Mehmet Okur
> F-Pau Gasol
> F-Dirk Nowitzki
> G-Andrei Kirilenko
> G-Sarunas Jasikevicius
> 
> 
> 
> 1.Lithuania
> 2.Spain
> 3.Italy
> 4.France
> 
> Germany, France, Turkey,Russia not going to the Olympics :upset: but Puerto Rice does! And probably Australia and New Zealand or teams like that.


1. Okur is for real. He looked awesome in tournament. Detroit got themselves a gem.
2. European number of teams in Olympics is outrageous. Three plus World Champion Serbia and host Greece is unacceptable. Here's an idea of how to compromise interests of European, Asian, African and Australian regions. Asian and Australian region champions should play elimination series against 4th, 5th or whatever European teams. Simple as that.


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## Crazy Fan From Idaho

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 
> 
> Bring it on, Espana!


I second that!!

Congratulations to the LNT and to all Lithuanians world-wide!!!!

LIETUVA JEGA!!!!!!!


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## s a b a s 11

> Originally posted by <b>brazys</b>!
> 1. Okur is for real. He looked awesome in tournament. Detroit got themselves a gem.


So true... its funny how everyone talks up Turkoglu as the real star of Turkey (well, at least it seems that way) whereas Okur has been the one to really play well for his hometeam.

How do those in Turkey view the two? Is there contentious debates about whom is better, or is Hedo the undisputed champion of Turkey no matter how well Mehmet does?

If Darko turns out to be half the player he is supposed to be, he, Okur, and Tayshaun Prince will be a offensive juggernaut. Not to mention Okur's and Darko's affinity to banging below the boards.

Should be fun to watch them this year...

Stuart


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## Bloodless

SIANDIEN LIETUVA LAIMES - MUSU VELIAVA PLAZDES !!!!!!!!


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## Amareca

Ok first prediction true.

Italy beats France.


What a nightmare tournament for Germany. First of all in one group with the possible gold medal winner and then qualifying round against the future bronze medal winner.


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## italianBBlover

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS 



 :laugh: :grinning: :yes:


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## qwertyu

wow Italy won? I didn't watch the game because I wasn't home and I'm really surprised.


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## conkeso

Congrats Lietuva you deserved the championship :yes:

didnt Gasol score like 18 or 20 points in the last quarter?


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## theBirdman

CONGRATULATIONS LIETUVA!

You showed the best basketball by far! I really enjoyed watching Lietuva play. Deservedly the winning team! :worship:


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## Matiz

Team basketball won. Spain simply didn't have enough scoring options!


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## Crazy Fan From Idaho

Congratulations to Lithuania!!!!

Also, congratulations to Espana!!!!

Both teams played hard. 

LIETUVA JEGA FOREVER!!!!!!!


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## MasterOfPuppets

Congratulations to Lithuania. They really deserved the title after they beat much teams that were considered to be the favorites two weeks ago.


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## brazys

*THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!*

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The city won't sleep tonite!!!!!!!! 

LIETUVA!!!!!!!!! 

:djparty:

:basket::rock:


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## Just dunk it

Congratulations to Lituania, Spain didn't play offense nor defense. What a game...


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## Genjuro

What an awful game by Spain. Their defense wasn't good enough to stop the Lithuanians. With simple screens and they famous shooting touch they killed the Spanish defense, and an attemp of defensive zone got an horrendous result. And now I wonder, was the Spanish defense against Israel and Italy really good or was just a wrong impression because of their offensive limitations?

On the offensive end it was even worse. No ball movement, no cuts, no screens, no nothing. An incredible jam. Lithunia stopped really well Gasol and then there was a collapse.

Our lack of a true directing point guard was specially painful playing against Jasikevicius. I think it's meaningful that three of the top-4 teams featured a great PG: Jasikevicius, Bulleri and Parker.

In the end, I'm happy with the Lithuanian victory. They play a great basketball, and before everything, I'm a basketball fan. Congratulations!!


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## qwertyu

yeah Lithuania played by far the best basketball. 
Will Ilgauskas ever try to go to the NBA?


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## Ingrida

*Will Ilgauskas ever try to go to the NBA?*

I think you mixed something. Ilgauskas is already playing in Cleveland Cavaliers. Maybe you Eurelijus Zukauskas have in mind? Then, answer is no. He was drafted in the second circle, but never tried to go to the NBA, as far as i remember.


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## Just dunk it

> Originally posted by <b>Genjuro</b>!Our lack of a true directing point guard was specially painful playing against Jasikevicius. I think it's meaningful that three of the top-4 teams featured a great PG: Jasikevicius, Bulleri and Parker.


I totally agree. I cannot understand why Calderon stayed so much time on court if he cannot make the team play and his 3 point shot is let's say not very good.
Despite the fact that our point guards where the worse of the Spanish team I think Marco deserved more time on court, not only this game, in the entire Champ.

Greets.


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## qwertyu

*Re: Will Ilgauskas ever try to go to the NBA?*



> Originally posted by <b>Ingrida</b>!
> I think you mixed something. Ilgauskas is already playing in Cleveland Cavaliers. Maybe you Eurelijus Zukauskas have in mind? Then, answer is no. He was drafted in the second circle, but never tried to go to the NBA, as far as i remember.


oops, did I say Ilgauskas? Anyway yes I meant Zukauskas.


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## J-Will2

> Originally posted by <b>Just dunk it</b>!
> Spanish team I think Marco deserved more time on court, not only this game, in the entire Champ.
> Greets.


Marco made a whole lot of mistakes; not to mention his terrible shooting... Well, the fact is- Lithuania had a complete team, great players on all positions. Spain had NO pg. Gasol couldn't get the right balls under the rim, he scored a lot of points in the last quarter just because they stopped guarding him. And another thing- Spain played with three players- Gasol, Navarro and Garbajosa. It's good that they got as far as they did, because they didn't play as well as they can the last three games.


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