Official Eurobasket 2013 Thread

[CerambyX]

In the end Latvia finished with +34 against Ukraine. Rather unexpected actually - even for Latvian fans! I guess it had something to do with our coach Bagatskis being a coach in Ukrainian league, so he probably knew very well most of the Ukrainian players.
Very important win - now we have to win against Belgium and will have a good opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals. Nice!

[HB2]

Somewhat disappointing 4th Q by Latvians - lost their concentration on D and weren't able to score more points from 3 than Ukraine in total - 45:51

They won by 34... that's huge lol... relax

So Ukraine will have to either beat LTU or SRB to have a chance at the quarterfinals. Will be tough. Kind of blew their chance with this disaster today.

I was just poking fun, and you clearly don't get the +- thing - unless Belgium wins Latvia (or goes on a winning streak), Ukraine now needs to beat both Serbia and Lithuania to advance, i.e. as I said - it is Latvian spot to lose.

[AsijsLV]

Very good game by Latvians.Quarterfinal, we're coming!

[mixerball]

Alright thanks... didn't know that the +/- mattered for only the relevant countries, and not those in the group as a whole.

are you being sarcastic? if you are, you are failing

But if the head-to-head matchups were more important than the +/- then Bosnia would have taken 3rd over Lithuania as they beat them. But then there would be the complication of Latvia losing to Lithuania. So it must be ultimately the +/- between the remaining teams.

You probably misunderstood what I was asking. I wasn't sure if +/-, say for LTU, was calculated based on ever single game for Lithuania in Group B (Serbia, Latvia, Montenegro, Latvia & Bosnia), or was calculated just from the games against the advancing candidates (Serbia, Latvia & Bosnia).

teams that advance to the second part of group competition, only take points that were gained against advancing teams. the same with the +/- margin.

[aporel18]

Why do you doubt this? Ukraine has played really well so far and they matched France point to point until the last 5 minutes.

People have to stop underestimating some teams because they are not traditional powerhouses and overestimating some other teams because they are. Just look at what happened to Turkey and Russia.

Well said, Nuntius. By the way, Ukraine advances with one point, so they just need to beat Latvia to secure their spot, unless Belgium wins their 3 games. I have nothing but respect for the first European basketball champions (in 1935 beating Spain for the gold) and I also have a good friend who is Latvian, but I'd say it's Ukraine's spot to lose, and not the other way around.

It's a shame Greece advanced with no points, Thursday's game will be a dog fight. I'm looking forward to see Spanoulis against the Spanish guards and Bouroussis against Marc Gasol.

I said it is Latvia's spot to lose IF they win Ukraine

Ok, now it's their spot to lose. Great team and shooting performance by the Latvians, and Ukraine's play was uglier than Fratello's dye job.

Belgium deserves better luck, they did play well but Serbia was too much for them. Now waiting for France against Lithuania, two of the best teams on paper.

[Chocobanana]

ESPN3's audio has been messed up for a while now

[NamelessHero]

Actually, I remember a team doing something similar to this. They didn't score points in their own basket, of course, but I think that they tried their best to let their opponents tie them in order to get the differential in OT. Their opponents tried their best not to tie them

Actually, the rules changed a few years ago to prevent scoring in your own basket. I think you now get a technical foul.

even if it were allowed to score in your own basket the opponents could counter it by defending both of the baskets...

[JV4MVP]

Lithuania beat France by 14. Lackluster performance from France, doesn't look like they want to be in Slovenia.

Highlight of the game was Batum getting a technical for flopping. The NBA should implement that rule immediately.

At least this didn't happen:



[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/233252778439487488[/tweet]

[Laure]

Lithuania beat France by 14. Lackluster performance from France, doesn't look like they want to be in Slovenia.

Highlight of the game was Batum getting a technical for flopping. The NBA should implement that rule immediately.

That's mostly due to LTU's good defense. Sure, they didn't shoot the ball well, but LTU played a great game and wanted to win more. France was just rolling their eyes most of the time, not a good demeanor at all.

[JV4MVP]

Lithuania beat France by 14. Lackluster performance from France, doesn't look like they want to be in Slovenia.

Highlight of the game was Batum getting a technical for flopping. The NBA should implement that rule immediately.

That's mostly due to LTU's good defense. Sure, they didn't shoot the ball well, but LTU played a great game and wanted to win more. France was just rolling their eyes most of the time, not a good demeanor at all.

Yea that's def true. Have to give some credit to LTU. But France also didn't show much energy. Never played with a sense of urgency. Seems like Parker wasn't in the game for most of the 4th, and wasn't inserted when the team was within striking distance with several minutes to go.

Really surprising because of the importance of the +/- for this Group albeit Belgium and Ukraine look like they are in trouble. Still Serbia will be a tough game and who knows how they will performance against Latvia. If Latvia wins, they can be eliminated based on the +/-

[Ganji]

fun fact, did not know that Ukraine is being coached by Mike Fratello
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu8ycekmJB8[/youtube]

[Ganji]

Highlight of the game was Batum getting a technical for flopping. The NBA should implement that rule immediately.

or the dunk Ajinca almost made from free throw line....

[JV4MVP]

Highlight of the game was Batum getting a technical for flopping. The NBA should implement that rule immediately.

or the dunk Ajinca almost made from free throw line....

Yea, I don't think it was a travel either. His move against Lav was beastly too.

Btw, Mike Fratello has been with the Ukraine NT for several years now. I've heard him mention it several time on broadcasts. He's actually very knowledgeable about the European game. I believe when JV was drafted he was on the panel and made some nice comments

[MilesTeg]

France has better starters, but good Lithuanian players seem to always keep coming. And the French bench is no match for them.

The good news for France is that Ajinca is really playing great. He was better than Valanciunas for the most part. It's a shame he started too early in the NBA, it kinda ruined his career. Now that he's a more polished he could be a very solid NBA player.

[sisibilio]

France has better starters, but good Lithuanian players seem to always keep coming. And the French bench is no match for them.

The good news for France is that Ajinca is really playing great. He was better than Valanciunas for the most part. It's a shame he started too early in the NBA, it kinda ruined his career. Now that he's a more polished he could be a very solid NBA player.

Who knows, maybe he can have a second stint and flourish a la Ilyasova.

[Nuntius]

I doubt that Ukraine wins against Serbia or Lithuania, so as soon as Ukraine loses to Latvia it is Latvia's spot to lose, unless they lose to Belgium when it is down to point difference.

Why do you doubt this? Ukraine has played really well so far and they matched France point to point until the last 5 minutes.

People have to stop underestimating some teams because they are not traditional powerhouses and overestimating some other teams because they are. Just look at what happened to Turkey and Russia.

Well said, Nuntius. By the way, Ukraine advances with one point, so they just need to beat Latvia to secure their spot, unless Belgium wins their 3 games. I have nothing but respect for the first European basketball champions (in 1935 beating Spain for the gold) and I also have a good friend who is Latvian, but I'd say it's Ukraine's spot to lose, and not the other way around.

It's a shame Greece advanced with no points, Thursday's game will be a dog fight. I'm looking forward to see Spanoulis against the Spanish guards and Bouroussis against Marc Gasol.

I respect both Latvia and Ukraine a lot. Ukraine had a great tournament so far but they lost by 34 points today. That's a lot of ground to cover.

Still, group A it's a dogfight. We will see what happens. Belgium tried their best against Serbia today.

[Nuntius]

I doubt that Ukraine wins against Serbia or Lithuania, so as soon as Ukraine loses to Latvia it is Latvia's spot to lose, unless they lose to Belgium when it is down to point difference.

Why do you doubt this? Ukraine has played really well so far and they matched France point to point until the last 5 minutes.

People have to stop underestimating some teams because they are not traditional powerhouses and overestimating some other teams because they are. Just look at what happened to Turkey and Russia.

well, I don't know - we will have to wait and see the game Latvia vs Ukraine. If I wanted to play my Devil's advocate I could say that just going by the results:
- Yes, Ukraine was in game with France up until that last five minutes of the game?! Same France who lost to Germany, was 15 down to Belgium?! The worse version of France than nearly lost to the Latvian team 2 years ago, Latvian team that didn't have 2-3 better players that they have now (while still missing their 4 best players), and that was 2 years less experienced and the youngest team at the time?
- Going by these results it could be argued that none of the teams from France-Belgium-Ukraine would have made out of the group B.
- Latvia was in the game till the end with Lithuania (despite having their worst shooting game) and Serbia (despite the fact that Latvian leader barely could contain himself not to cuss out the refs on public tv).

But all I said was that it is not correct that Latvia needs to win all their games to get to the next stage - it might be enough to win just Ukraine.

P.S. I wouldn't be surprised if Ukraine beats Lithuania - they were lucky against Montenegro, Latvia had the worst shooting game against them, and they still were couple less offensive rebounds away from being eliminated by Bosnia.

I didn't disagree with the Latvia part of your post. As I said, I have a lot of respect for both teams. I'd be thrilled if both of them managed to advance in the top 8. Runs like that make European basketball a lot more interesting

[Nuntius]

Actually, I remember a team doing something similar to this. They didn't score points in their own basket, of course, but I think that they tried their best to let their opponents tie them in order to get the differential in OT. Their opponents tried their best not to tie them

Actually, the rules changed a few years ago to prevent scoring in your own basket. I think you now get a technical foul.

Yeah, that makes sense.

[JV4MVP]

Greece in trouble down by 6 in the 4th against Spain. If they lose this game then it will be tough to advance to the QT.

They would have to likely beat both Slovenia and Croatia, 1 win in the group probably wouldn't be enough albeit the +/- dynamics would be in play.

At the moment I think Greece and Finland will be out in Group F.

Edit: And Greece rallies back and is currently up by 2 with 4 minutes to go

[MilesTeg]

What a game! If you haven't had a chance you should watch it.

It's really hard to predict who will come out at which seed now. Mathematically, I think there's a chance Spain could be out even if they win all remaining games, which is crazy (I could be wrong though).