By Panos Katsiroumpas/ info@eurohoops.net
The lights are out and the doors have closed at the amazing Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille and the feast of the EuroBasket is now in the past and a very beautiful memory for all of us who love this sport. The Spaniards conquered the European throne for the 3rd time in the last 4 tournaments and are deservedly considered the European basketball empire of our era. This EuroBasket will linger on in our memories for various and important reasons. We will try to fit most of those in this evaluation piece.
Gasol’s EuroBasket!
The great Catalan was the absolute star of this tournament, and the main reason the Spaniards returned to the throne. Pau put up some incredible numbers and was the Iberians’ tower of strength. The Spanish star played some amazing games, totally dominating his opponents. But this part has another side to it. Gasol helped his team incredibly but at the same time the team helped him as well.
The way this year’s Spanish team was built was ideal for the Bulls star to unfold the entire assortment of virtues on the court. The team was structured in such a way so as to spread out its offense throughout the entire surface of the court, especially across the width. This time there was no Marc and Ibaka on the roster and as a result spaces opened up, the paint was decongested and the presence of Mirotic at the ‘4’ position did not allow lighthearted sags and double teaming on Gasol. Gasol had a lot of room to move in in 1v1 plays but also in 2v2 pick and roll situations. Sags were tough since the shooters in the corners and along the wings were punishing. Pau had a legendary tournament and the whole team structure of the Spanish team is responsible for that as well.
Lithuania = Basketball Tradition
The Lithuanians reached the final after a fascinating tournament, with a roster that was seriously lacking in facilitators but also in talent. Despite this, Lietuva presented themselves as the team that played above expectations in this tournament. They will be present for the 7th consecutive time in the Olympic Games and this alone is a unique accomplishment.
The pinnacle of their appearances was clearly the big semifinal against Serbia. With some amazing defense and some reading of their opponents that borders on the mythical, they tied a much more talented team up in knots. They completely restricted Teodosic’s pick and rolls, with great back up from the wingers (Jankunas – Kuzminskas), they had some excellent rotations and in offense they pounced on Raduljica with the pick and roll and the Serbian defense that proved to be without any depth, as they did Teodosic’s slow feet. They definitely deserve a lot of credit.
Satoransky – Vesely!
They were the absolute twosome. A duo that masterfully showed everyone around the world what beautiful collaborative efforts can come out of the ‘1’ and ‘5’ in modern basketball. Unbelievable collaborations, amazing timing and great spectacle from two players that – in their positions – are among the top 3 in Europe. These two guys were a feast for the eyes, they destroyed every defensive plan that was devised against them and masterfully led the Czech Republic to 7th place and next year’s pre-Olympic tournament.
The Berlin group
The group stages in these competitions are usually where the big teams put the finishing touches in order to be ready for the final phase. This didn’t happen in the Berlin group as the draw formed a mini final phase. Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Germany, played finals every day, with unbelievable intensity and suspense. This 2nd group was the one that attracted all the attention in the tournament and provided some of the most beautiful games.
The night the Italians scored 100 against the Spaniards!
During the tournament we had some amazing individual performances, such as Gasol’s, Maciulis’s, Vesely’s and many others. But among all these, a team effort will stay etched in our memory, and that is none other than the night the Italians scored over 100 points and the Spanish basket seemed as big as a barrel to them, scoring 63 points in the second half. The protagonists of this unbelievable performance were mostly Gallinari and Belinelli who together had 56 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists, pushing the Spaniards to the brink that night. Truly an unbelievable performance.
Cedi, Giannis and Dennis
In a tournament in which we didn’t see many new faces making their appearance, three young guys showed up for the 1st time in a EuroBasket and demonstrated that they are capable of great things in the future. With the amazing Dennis Schroder the best of the three, the Germans fought until the last shot to get the qualification for the knockout phase. The youngster was amazing at reading the game, even in situations of total transition, while he created rifts in every way in 5v5 plays as well. Managing to be the best player of the team, especially when Dirk Nowitzki is a player of that team, is a big deal.
Antetokounmpo and Osman might not have had Schroder’s numbers, but they both had a great tournament and showed their credentials with respect to the bright future they are going to have with their teams but also in international competitions. We are certainly fortunate that we get to enjoy all three of them for at least another decade.
The Croatian disappointment…
Once again there were dithyrambs about their roster, the new talents on display and the huge potential that they had, looking to earn a spot on the podium. Undefeated in the preparation friendlies, the Croatians disappointed the world of basketball once again and presented a team that was completely soft, with no direction in offense and without the ability to read the game. Lacking good facilitators, the rest of the guard-forwards (Bogdanovic, Hezonja, Saric) went wild, literally doing whatever they wanted on both ends of the court without really offering anything to their team. For yet another big competition, Tomic was below expectations and Simon and Ukic rather ingloriously tried to clear up the mess. The Croatians defeated only FYROM easily, they struggled against the Netherlands and Slovenia, while they lost to Greece, Georgia and – in an embarrassing manner in the knockout stage – to the Czech Republic. Once more, well below expectations.
The record!
Tony Parker might have had the worst EuroBasket he has participated in but he still managed to become the top scorer of all time in the history of the tournament, surpassing the unsurpassable Nikos Galis after 22 years. This feat and the bronze medal are the consolation from a tournament that didn’t go as planned.