By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The 42nd EuroBasket starts today in Riga, Latvia, Tampere, Finland, Limassol, Cyprus; and Katowice, Poland.
And while the tournament is spread across four countries, the final destination remains the same for the 24 participating teams: The Latvian capital and the knockout games from the round of 16 onwards.
- GROUP A (Riga): Portugal, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Serbia, Czech Republic
- GROUP B (Tampere): Germany, Finland, Great Britain, Lithuania, Sweden, Montenegro
- GROUP C (Limassol): Cyprus, Italy, Georgia, Spain, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina
- GROUP D (Katowice): Iceland, France, Slovenia, Poland, Belgium, Israel
Which team will lift the prestigious trophy on the evening of September 14, which two will accompany it to the podium at the Xiaomi Arena, and who will be crowned MVP?
Nineteen Eurohoops journalists are giving their predictions (should have been more, but some of them apparently didn’t get the memo, or skipped the email).
Gold Medal
With 78.9% (15/19), Serbia is the overwhelming favorite also for Eurohoops. That leaves the remaining 21.1% (4/19) for the gold medal to Germany.
Silver Medal
Germany is generally considered Serbia’s strongest rival for the Eurohoops journalists. In addition to the votes for the gold medal, it also received 57.9% (11/19) for the silver medal. France (21.1% with 4/19) received one more vote than Serbia (15.8% with 3/19), if the latter reaches the final, but does not win the tournament. Greece (5.3%) completed the preferences for the silver medal with one vote. And no, it didn’t come from a Greek, but from a Spaniard.
Bronze Medal
France was voted by 9/19 (47.4%) of the editors for the third step of the podium, where five (26.3%) – OK, all Greeks now – predict Greece to return for the first time since the 2009 EuroBasket and the then bronze medal. Serbia, Spain, Lithuania, Italy, and Germany shared the remaining percentage with 5.3% each.
MVP
Based on gold medal predictions, Serbia’s Nikola Jokic dominated the voting with 13/19 and 68.4%, with captain Bogdan Bogdanovic following (10.5% with 2/19). Dennis Schröder, and Franz Wagner “split” the German votes and received 10.5% each (2/19).
| NAME | GOLD | SILVER | BRONE | MVP |
| Aris Barkas | Serbia | Germany | Greece | Nikola Jokic |
| Lefteris Moutis | Germany | France | Serbia | Franz Wagner |
| Stavros Barbaroussis | Serbia | Germany | France | Nikola Jokic |
| Mihalis Stefanou | Serbia | Germany | France | Nikola Jokic |
| Dimitris Minaretzis | Serbia | Germany | Greece | Nikola Jokic |
| Giannis Rammas | Germany | Serbia | France | Dennis Schroder |
| Vangelis Papadimitriou | Germany | Serbia | Greece | Dennis Schroder |
| Michalis Gkioulenoglou | Germany | Serbia | France | Franz Wagner |
| Nikos Mastrogiannopoulos | Serbia | Germany | France | Nikola Jokic |
| Kostas Paraskevopoulos | Serbia | Germany | France | Nikola Jokic |
| Antonis Stroggylakis | Serbia | Germany | Greece | Nikola Jokic |
| Giannis Askounis | Serbia | France | Greece | Nikola Jokic |
| Antigoni Zachari | Serbia | Germany | France | Nikola Jokic |
| Haris Hamakiotis | Serbia | Germany | France | Nikola Jokic |
| Cesare Milanti | Serbia | Germany | Italy | Bogdan Bogdanovic |
| Semih Tuna | Serbia | Germany | France | Nikola Jokic |
| Berkay Terzi | Serbia | France | Lithuania | Nikola Jokic |
| Javier Morelo | Serbia | Greece | Spain | Nikola Jokic |
| Kostas Ioakimidis | Serbia | France | Germany | Bogdan Bogdanovic |