Eurobasket 2017 SLOVENIA takes the gold

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

Markannen looks like a star in the making. Dirk like fallaways. Even did a nice step through two defenders on one of them for an easy layup. Bulls fans should be excited.

[madskillz8]

What a 4th quarter in Germany vs Israel game ! Both teams are not even candidates for quarter finals but the level of hustle and competition is great, that's why I love Eurobasket.

[Veyron]

I want to point out that this is NOT normal. Young players don't usually get the playing time, let alone the carte blanche to decide games at FIBA level. Doncic and Markkanen are a bit of an exception, not the rule.

Yeah, what Markkanen is doing is anything but normal. Dončić was great today too but Markkanen has done the exact same thing in all 3 games. His statistics are crazy but what's even crazier is how clutch he is. He asks for the ball at the end of the games, he hasn't missed a big FT and he forced two overtimes today. The only time he screwed up at the end was yesterday against Randolph.

20 year olds aren't supposed to be that consistent.

I have a feeling popularity of BB in Finland is on rise, last few years?

[janmagn]

I want to point out that this is NOT normal. Young players don't usually get the playing time, let alone the carte blanche to decide games at FIBA level. Doncic and Markkanen are a bit of an exception, not the rule.

Yeah, what Markkanen is doing is anything but normal. Dončić was great today too but Markkanen has done the exact same thing in all 3 games. His statistics are crazy but what's even crazier is how clutch he is. He asks for the ball at the end of the games, he hasn't missed a big FT and he forced two overtimes today. The only time he screwed up at the end was yesterday against Randolph.

20 year olds aren't supposed to be that consistent.

I have a feeling popularity of BB in Finland is on rise, last few years?

Very much. Five years ago, when I started following NBA nobody talked about basketball. Now it's a talking point like any other sport

Lähetetty minun LG-M250 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

[UcanUwill]

What a 4th quarter in Germany vs Israel game ! Both teams are not even candidates for quarter finals but the level of hustle and competition is great, that's why I love Eurobasket.

This loss can come back to haunt Germany. Could have been 3-0 before facing groups big guys Lithuania and Italy. Now with 2-1 record and most likely 2-3 finish, might not be enough. Ukraine and Israel needed these wins like air, props to them.

[Veyron]

Yeah, what Markkanen is doing is anything but normal. Dončić was great today too but Markkanen has done the exact same thing in all 3 games. His statistics are crazy but what's even crazier is how clutch he is. He asks for the ball at the end of the games, he hasn't missed a big FT and he forced two overtimes today. The only time he screwed up at the end was yesterday against Randolph.

20 year olds aren't supposed to be that consistent.

I have a feeling popularity of BB in Finland is on rise, last few years?

Very much. Five years ago, when I started following NBA nobody talked about basketball. Now it's a talking point like any other sport

Lähetetty minun LG-M250 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

Yea reflects on quality also, noticed quality improving rapidly . You could be good in some time.

[Mirotic12]

I've never seen a high level European national team collapse so quickly and become such complete trash so totally after the loss of its leader, as what has happened to Greece since Vassilis Spanoulis retired.

Last summer, and now this summer, without Spanoulis, Greece has been absolute hot trash. He was carrying that team for years.

[Wagonband]

I've never seen a high level European national team collapse so quickly and become such complete trash so totally after the loss if its leader, as what has happened to Greece since Vassilis Spanoulis retired.

Last summer, and now this summer, without Spanoulis, Greece has been absolute hot trash. He was carrying that team for years.

Yes i'm sure Spanoulis retiring is the reason they are bad, not the fact that Giannis isn't playing. Believe me you don't want a 36 old PG guarding Dragic

[Veyron]

I've never seen a high level European national team collapse so quickly and become such complete trash so totally after the loss if its leader, as what has happened to Greece since Vassilis Spanoulis retired.

Last summer, and now this summer, without Spanoulis, Greece has been absolute hot trash. He was carrying that team for years.

I heard they have deeper problems, in their Greece national federation. thing not going well, there are some conflicts.

If I heard wrong, some1 from Greece can say it.

[UcanUwill]

Greecce pieces just poorly fit. Calathes and Papanikolao both at perimeter at the same time, pretty brutal spacing. If they could trade Papanikolao for someone like Datome or Bertans, would look instanly better.

[Mirotic12]

I want to point out that this is NOT normal. Young players don't usually get the playing time, let alone the carte blanche to decide games at FIBA level. Doncic and Markkanen are a bit of an exception, not the rule.

Yeah, but this is the worst EuroBasket level in at least 30 years. Most of the teams in this tournament would get beat by a decent EuroCup team (level below EuroLeague).

Yes i'm sure Spanoulis retiring is the reason they are bad, not the fact that Giannis isn't playing. Believe me you don't want a 36 old PG guarding Dragic

Giannis played with Greece last summer at the World Olympics Qualification Tournament, and they were actually quite a bit worse last summer (with Giannis) than they are so far in this tournament (without Giannis).

Last summer they beat world beaters like Iran and Mexico (but played only half a good game against Mexico), and then got totally embrassed (with Giannis being the game's worst player) against Croatia.

It has nothing to do with Giannis. It's very clear Spanoulis carried that Greek team for years.

2015 Greece, with Spanoulis, went 7-1 (2nd best record in the tournament after France), and their only loss was by 2 points to Spain. That was with Spanoulis.

Last summer, with Giannis, this summer without Giannis - same result. They are awful.

So yeah, they went from 7-1 with just a 2 point loss to Spain with Spanoulis, to being straight out terrible, with or without Giannis. Like I said, I have not seen such a dramatic drop in a big European national team's quality like that just from losing one player ever.

[Nuntius]

I want to point out that this is NOT normal. Young players don't usually get the playing time, let alone the carte blanche to decide games at FIBA level. Doncic and Markkanen are a bit of an exception, not the rule.

Yeah, what Markkanen is doing is anything but normal. Dončić was great today too but Markkanen has done the exact same thing in all 3 games. His statistics are crazy but what's even crazier is how clutch he is. He asks for the ball at the end of the games, he hasn't missed a big FT and he forced two overtimes today. The only time he screwed up at the end was yesterday against Randolph.

20 year olds aren't supposed to be that consistent.

I have a feeling popularity of BB in Finland is on rise, last few years?

That's what I've heard, yeah.

[UcanUwill]

Spanoulis was nothing special in 2015. He and Bourousis were way better in 2013, but that team crashed and burned. So no, Spanoulis doesn't guarantee you success.

[Nuntius]

I've never seen a high level European national team collapse so quickly and become such complete trash so totally after the loss if its leader, as what has happened to Greece since Vassilis Spanoulis retired.

Last summer, and now this summer, without Spanoulis, Greece has been absolute hot trash. He was carrying that team for years.

I heard they have deeper problems, in their Greece national federation. thing not going well, there are some conflicts.

If I heard wrong, some1 from Greece can say it.

That would be correct. To put it simply, our basketball federation is absolutely horrible. They have to retire if we ever want basketball to be on the rise again.

[Mirotic12]

Spanoulis was nothing special in 2015. He and Bourousis were way better in 2013, but that team crashed and burned. So no, Spanoulis doesn't guarantee you success.

He obviously guaranteed the team winning 7 out of 8 games, instead of being really awful like the last 2 summers.

I heard they have deeper problems, in their Greece national federation. thing not going well, there are some conflicts.

If I heard wrong, some1 from Greece can say it.

The Greek federation forced Spanoulis out of the team, because it is run by one of the biggest icons of Panathinaikos history, and the owner of Panathinaikos wanted him out of the team.

They also forced Nikos Zisis out of the team, simply for being Spanoulis' best friend. They were forced retirements, as punishment over the Olympiacos - Panathinaikos rivalry.

So yeah, the Greek federation is horrible, considering it cares more about marketing for the club Panathinaikos than it cares about the actual national team. But the issue still is, the team suffered so much these last 2 summers (even with Giannis), because they forced out its two lead guards in Spanoulis and Zisis. The current team's guards are either role players (Mantzaris), just decent players and nothing else (Pappas / Sloukas), or complete jokes (Calathes).

Forcing out Zisis and Spanoulis for club affiliated politics was a disaster for the national team, and yeah, the federation did it on purpose.

[beans-boy]

I want to point out that this is NOT normal. Young players don't usually get the playing time, let alone the carte blanche to decide games at FIBA level. Doncic and Markkanen are a bit of an exception, not the rule.

Yeah, but this is the worst EuroBasket level in at least 30 years. Most of the teams in this tournament would get beat by a decent EuroCup team (level below EuroLeague).

Yes i'm sure Spanoulis retiring is the reason they are bad, not the fact that Giannis isn't playing. Believe me you don't want a 36 old PG guarding Dragic

Giannis played with Greece last summer at the World Olympics Qualification Tournament, and they were actually quite a bit worse last summer (with Giannis) than they are so far in this tournament (without Giannis).

Last summer they beat world beaters like Iran and Mexico (but played only half a good game against Mexico), and then got totally embrassed (with Giannis being the game's worst player) against Croatia.

It has nothing to do with Giannis. It's very clear Spanoulis carried that Greek team for years.

2015 Greece, with Spanoulis, went 7-1 (2nd best record in the tournament after France), and their only loss was by 2 points to Spain. That was with Spanoulis.

Last summer, with Giannis, this summer without Giannis - same result. They are awful.

So yeah, they went from 7-1 with just a 2 point loss to Spain with Spanoulis, to being straight out terrible, with or without Giannis. Like I said, I have not seen such a dramatic drop in a big European national team's quality like that just from losing one player ever.

Spanoulis is too unathletic to be a difference maker on the world stage. He barely got on the court for the rockets!!

[Mirotic12]

Spanoulis is too unathletic to be a difference maker on the world stage. He barely got on the court for the rockets!!

The EuroBasket isn't a "world stage". It's a European tournament. And the EuroBasket is worse than it's been in decades. It's clearly a much lower level than the EuroLeague is. Spanoulis plays in the EuroLeague, a clearly higher level than this EuroBasket. Most EuroBasket teams are full of guys not good enough to cut it in EuroLeague. EuroLeague also isn't a "world stage".

And neither is the NBA either for that matter, but you brought it up also, citing the Rockets. The NBA is a tournament between USA and Canada teams only, so definitely not a "world stage". I'm not sure what your point is.

"World stage" of senior basketball =

FIBA World Cup
Summer Olympics basketball

That's it. So EuroBasket and NBA don't even belong in the discussion of "world stage".

[Pukovnik]

Wow....Lauri Markanen....as the draft was nearing, I read a lot of whispers how he is slight frame, doesn't play defense, shoot on average....scouts who were thinking that should be fired. Guy is a almost exact replica of Kristaps Porzingis. He plays tough defense, his shooting touch is beautiful, he is so fast for his size, he is not afraid to take charge. Bulls really got a gem.

[UcanUwill]

Watch on YouTube

Messina just crapped on new FIBA qualifying system. Jasikevicius and Obradovic said the same thing.

[madskillz8]

The only full game of Finland that I watched is their first in which Markkanen had his worst game based on box-score. Even in that game he was really active on Finland's fast-paced and movable half court offense since he was always looking for correct plays rather than demanding the ball.
The biggest reason why he's not ranked as a top 10 draft pick was he's assumed to be mostly an excellent spot up shooter but nothing more. With national team, he' playing within a flowing offense and with better players, hence he shows offensive his game is more polished than most people actually thought including myself.

His first comparison should be Porzingis, given his size and range, before comparing him to Dirk.