By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Round 2 of the World Cup Qualifiers Europe began Thursday (13/9) with six games taking place over the continent.
Some national teams like Greece and Germany have all but mathematically advanced to the World Cup. Others (Czech Republic) got key wins to get one step closer to the competition. And a specific squad (Bulgaria) celebrated a near-historic victory over powerful France. You can check all the results and standings here.
Many players stood out in their teams’ wins and here are some of the top individual performances from Thursday’s games:
Sasu Salin (Finland)
Finland lacked the services of Lauri Markkanen but Salin delivered enough firepower to cover for the Chicago Bulls forward’s absence, and then some. Salin scored 27 points with excellent shooting (6/8 3-pointers) and finished with 30 PIR as Finland beat a Jusuf Nurkic-led Bosnia 85 – 81 and improved to 4-3 in Group K.
Tomas Satoransky (Czech Republic)
“Is there anything this man can’t do?” would probably be a solid headline for Satoransky’s work outing in the win of Czech Republic over Russia. Apart from being everywhere on the court with 16 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, Satoransky also drained the game-winning basket with just six seconds remaining on the clock. The result? 6-1 for the Czech team and the dream of the World Cup close to becoming quite real.
Dimitar Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
It was one of the biggest victories (74-68) for Bulgaria… ever, considering the fact that France features NBAers such an NBA veteran such as Nicolas Batum, a EuroLeague superstar in the face of Nando De Colo and other quality players like Vincent Poirier and Edwin Jackson. And Dimitrov was the Bulgarian team’s top player with an all-around contribution of 16 points, five rebounds and five assists.