[lptitle title=”Start the countdown”]
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By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
What are the power rankings for the teams that are taking part in this year’s EuroBasket? Eurohoops.net presents all the teams, based on the goal they’ve set for the tournament, and evaluates them, based on their dynamics, talent, expectations and cohesion.
The evaluation has been made strictly with basketball criteria, based on the roster and the tradition that each team has, on the experience that the players of each roster have and their performance during the friendly games.
Certainly, their presentation does not reflect our predictions for the final rankings, since the formulation of the groups and the intersections in the next stages were not taken into account in the compilation of the list.
Now it’s the turn of the teams whose aim is to advance to the group of eight and secure a place in the Olympic qualifying tournament, namely the ones that will finish from third to seventh place (16-9).
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[lptitle title=”16. Russia“]
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Russia’s power is called into question for a second EuroBasket in a row. In Slovenia, the “bear” finished in the 21st place and in this tournament they will try to avoid a similar blunder. The post-Blatt era with Evgeniy Pashutin as the head coach and without a range of stars on the roster makes the task of a dynamic return almost impossible. Kirilenko retired and is now the president of the Russian Basketball Federation. Along with him, Timofey Mozgov, Sasha Kaun, Sergey Karasev and Alexey Shved, who are players that could lead the way, are also missing. Aside from them, though, Egor Vyaltsev, Anton Ponkrashov and Evgeny Voronov are out as well and, as a result, Russia looks decimated, with the only worthy potential leaders being Ponkrashov, Andrey Vorontsevich and Sergei Monya.
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