By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
At a Eurobasket which was also a celebration of him, with his national team jersey being retired, Dirk Nowitzki gave his prediction for the final, picking France to beat Spain.
“It’s been a tournament of upsets, of big stars losing early, and two great teams are still standing”, Nowitzki said to FIBA.
“Two teams that really don’t have a superstar, they are great teams, they have deep benches, so it could go either way honestly as this whole tournament did”, he elaborated before making his choice.
The European GOAT expects things to be decided on details: “If I had to pick a team, I guess it would be France, but like I said both teams are really close together, well-coached. I think both teams have a good guard, they have shooters, they have big men who can dominate, but if you forced my hand, I guess I would say France”.
Still, it’s not going to be easy: “France will have to play as they did in the semifinal, be good on defense, have Rudy (Gobert) be a factor, get all the rebounds. I think Gobert is fantastic defensively because he is so long and so active. And in offense, I think they have a lot of options: Heurtel is playing well off the bench, Yabusele has been playing really well, shooting the ball. They have some guys who can make some plays on the perimeter. Fournier is obviously a big-time shot-maker and playmaker off the dribble”.
On the other hand, Nowitzki also sees what makes Spain dangerous: “They have a very good guard in Lorenzo (Brown). He is super smart and never gets up too sped-up, never gets rattled, puts everybody in their positions, and makes the big shots, so he really surprised me in this tournament. He took over the game against Lithuania in the Round of 16. So it’s going to be a great final”.