OT : Eurobasket 2025

[RookieStar]

Just curious about this Spain A and Spain B? During the Eurobasket-proper, are they gonna voltron and have 1 team or what?

[Swuul]

Where is the schedule for these friendlies? I wanna see Finland. Is Lauri playing?

Schedule for friendlies (preparation matches for Eurobasket 2025):
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-eurobasket-2025/news/tracker-preparation-games-for-fiba-eurobasket-2025

Roster tracker (the poster boys are Nikola, Luka and Lauri):
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-eurobasket-2025/news/roster-tracker-who-is-playing-at-fiba-eurobasket-2025

Power-rankings (power-rankings are just the ramblings of the FIBA press-team, but they have been surprisingly accurate for the past tournaments):
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-eurobasket-2025/news/fiba-eurobasket-2025-smart-power-rankings-volume-2


To answer your question, Team Finland plays today vs Belgium, in Lauri's hometown Jyväskylä, at 18:30 local time (that would be 11:30 AM in Chicago, which I believe to be your time-zone). Tickets have been sold with the slogan "Lauri returns home", so I think it is a safe bet we will see Lauri playing. The match will be shown on the Finnish TV-4 ("Nelonen"), and they usually are reasonably fast to get up highlights of the matches.

[Bob8]

Slovenia vs. Germany tomorrow. I read that it's not sure if Luka plays. I hope he does.

Luka will play, but probably limited minutes.

[UcanUwill]

Just curious about this Spain A and Spain B? During the Eurobasket-proper, are they gonna voltron and have 1 team or what?

I think that is the idea. Well, idea is Team A is the team, but I am pretty sure they wont write out possibility of taking someone from team B if they really impress. Federations do this sometimes, have A camp and B camp, Lithuania did this few years back, having B camp at first, and then inviting best players from camp B to camp A, but what is unprecedented for this Spain situation that both camps still exist parallel to each other and actually play games against other nations. I do not know who is on camp B, but I imagine main idea behind this to have B team filled with more of the younger players to get them NT level experience, but I could be wrong.

Anyhow, yesterdays results. Both Spain win, Spain B beats Portugal by one point 64-63. Spain proper beat Czechia 87-73. And Lithuania beat Turkey 91-70.

For Lithuania, Margiris Normantas and Rokas Jokubaitis lead the team with 15 and 13 points. For spain, Josep Puerto hit 5 threes and got 15 points, Saoransky did not play for Czechs, their only NBA player Vit Krejci is failing to impress so far.

I personally use Flashscore app to see the game scores. Someone recommended this to me here a year back, it is insane app, it is Brittish I believe so it is Soccer focusesd, but it has many other sports, and the database is insane, I can just open todays window and I see all the leagues that play Basketball today, from FIBA friendlies, to WNBA, to Mexico, to Phillipines league, everything, it is insane.

[sisibilio]

There are reports the spanish federation actually tried to add Baba Miller to travel with the A team just in case Eli Ndiaye finally isn't available due to some nagging injury but his college didn't allow It
The final list of 12 guys has to be provided a few days before the start of the tournament.

[LuDux1]

And Lithuania beat Turkey 91-70.

For Lithuania, Margiris Normantas and Rokas Jokubaitis lead the team with 15 and 13 points.

Watch on YouTube

[jezzerinho]

Schroeder, Theis and Lo are out for Germany tonight vs Slovenia. Dennis for personal reasons, other 2 still in rehab from injuries.

[UcanUwill]

And Lithuania beat Turkey 91-70.

For Lithuania, Margiris Normantas and Rokas Jokubaitis lead the team with 15 and 13 points.

Watch on YouTube

I was upset that some players were not invited and that camp has very few players in general, but I am starting to see Kurtinaitis vision, he wanted fast twitch face up capable players, no room for guys like Ulanovas on this team. Of course it just been two games, and Turkey is good, but not a top tier opponent without Larkin in a lineup.

I just still sad Lekavičius was not invited, or is he hurt? Trinchieri didn't like him at all, but that does not mean he forgot how to play basketball, is he really worse than Žemaitis and Velička, I do not get why he is not here. They invited Giedraitis, who was Trinchieris pet, but that guy was just not very good.

[UcanUwill]

Its too late this year, but next year I want to create FIBA juniiors summer thread, were would we post about FIBA youth tournaments, would anyone be interested?

I followed most tournaments this summer, both men and women, some interesting ones. Arguably the most interesting started today, U16 Eurobasket. It is most interesting because this is first time we usually see these players and also, this age group is prone to have some guys who are so better than anyone else its hilarious. Thinking of Musa, Saric, Rubio etc.
So far only few games have been played, Lithuania beat Estonia and France tashed Switzerland by 65 points. I will post if something interesting happens. Womens u20 also still happening, semi finals today.

[sisibilio]

Open It in the draft board, at least i'll be posting.

[CharityStripe34]

Tomorrow Greece is playing Serbia in Cyprus for a tune up. Should be entertaining.

Their WC qualifier that went to OT in Belgrade in 2022 was one of the all-time classic games

[Mirotic12]

On the issue of the A and B national teams:

Whatever roster plays at the FIBA World Cup or the FIBA Summer Olympics is Team USA's A Team. All of the fans and sports media that call certain rosters, or the World Cup teams, the "B" team or the "C" team, or whatever other letter, are trolling.

The actual B team is the Select Team. They just don't want to call the select team the B team, because then US sports media and fans couldn't claim the only reason the A team lost a game or tournament, was because it was the "B" team or "C" team.

While the actual B team is the select team and the actual C team would be what they use at regional tournaments like the AmeriCup, and the actual D team is what they use at the qualification games.

But it would kill their biggest trolling talking point, if they actually correctly clarified that the A team lost a game or a tournament.

But in reality, the USA Select Team is in fact the USA B National Team. The US rosters used in qualifying games are in fact the USA C National Team.

So Spain's B Team is just Spain's version of the USA Select Team. Most nations have national B teams, and most of them just call them the B team.

USA gets creative in choosing to call it the Select Team, for marketing reasons.

So, if Spain called their B team the Spanish Select Team, then it wouldn't sound bad if the Select team beat Czech Republic and Spain "B" lost to Portugal.

It would also sound better if Spain "B" or Spain "C", which would be the actual Spanish A team, only failed to medal at the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympics (they did fail to medal at both), because they only lost due to that being their "B" team or even "C" team.

That's the BS marketing gimmick that Team USA does. Honestly, all the other federations to start doing it also.

That way, every time USA wins a game or tournament, the international media can just say that they only beat the "B" or "C" teams and that it doesn't even really matter or count. That's the same nonsense US sports media always claims.

Spain could gave just said that the A team that lost to Portugal was in fact the "B" or "C" team, and that's the only reason they lost. While the Select team won a game.

That way, it actually is presented as being positive and good, and look, we are so good that are "B" or even "C" team barely loses, and our young futures team wins.

Instead of the reality of it looking bad for the A team.

USA sports media would spin it as, look how amazing our "C" team is. Our "C" team finished 7th at the World Cup, or our "C" team finished 4th at the World Cup.

Taking it even one step further with the trolling, by making it the C team, not the B team, even though it's really actually the A team.

Every other national federation should do the same. If they did, then USA didn't beat Serbia and France at the 2024 Olympics. They beat their "C" teams. Because under the criteria the US uses, if one of the country's 12 best players is missing, it's the "B" team. If two of the country's 12 best players are missing, it's the "C" team.

They then take the trolling to the final extreme of, those games and tournaments don't actually really matter, don't actually really mean anything, don't actually really even count, and no one cares about it, watches the games, or even knows about it.

So, if other countries would use the same marketing gimmicks and propaganda talking points, then USA didn't actually win the gold at the 2024 Olympics. It didn't actually count or matter, because they only beat Serbia C and France C.

That's how it would be, if France and Serbia simply used the same exact talking points and propaganda criteria that USA uses.

[PaKii94]

Where is the schedule for these friendlies? I wanna see Finland. Is Lauri playing?

Schedule for friendlies (preparation matches for Eurobasket 2025):
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-eurobasket-2025/news/tracker-preparation-games-for-fiba-eurobasket-2025

Roster tracker (the poster boys are Nikola, Luka and Lauri):
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-eurobasket-2025/news/roster-tracker-who-is-playing-at-fiba-eurobasket-2025

Power-rankings (power-rankings are just the ramblings of the FIBA press-team, but they have been surprisingly accurate for the past tournaments):
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-eurobasket-2025/news/fiba-eurobasket-2025-smart-power-rankings-volume-2


To answer your question, Team Finland plays today vs Belgium, in Lauri's hometown Jyväskylä, at 18:30 local time (that would be 11:30 AM in Chicago, which I believe to be your time-zone). Tickets have been sold with the slogan "Lauri returns home", so I think it is a safe bet we will see Lauri playing. The match will be shown on the Finnish TV-4 ("Nelonen"), and they usually are reasonably fast to get up highlights of the matches.

Thank you for this I knew it was somewhere but I couldn't find it. Also thank you for the time it doesn't say the time. Hopefully my TV connections can stream the game

[Mirotic12]

I was upset that some players were not invited and that camp has very few players in general, but I am starting to see Kurtinaitis vision, he wanted fast twitch face up capable players, no room for guys like Ulanovas on this team. Of course it just been two games, and Turkey is good, but not a top tier opponent without Larkin in a lineup.

I just still sad Lekavičius was not invited, or is he hurt? Trinchieri didn't like him at all, but that does not mean he forgot how to play basketball, is he really worse than Žemaitis and Velička, I do not get why he is not here. They invited Giedraitis, who was Trinchieris pet, but that guy was just not very good.

Lekavicius is one of the most underrated EuroLeague players ever. He's never gotten proper credit. Even with Lithuania's national team, he doesn’t get proper credit. They always valued a guy like Mantas Kalnietis over him.

As far as Turkey being without Larkin, it sounds like a big loss for them on paper, but he's never been good for them at a tournament. He's only been good on one team in his whole career, Efes. He's never done much of anything on other teams, whether it be the NBA, Baskonia, or Turkish NT.

[UcanUwill]

I was upset that some players were not invited and that camp has very few players in general, but I am starting to see Kurtinaitis vision, he wanted fast twitch face up capable players, no room for guys like Ulanovas on this team. Of course it just been two games, and Turkey is good, but not a top tier opponent without Larkin in a lineup.

I just still sad Lekavičius was not invited, or is he hurt? Trinchieri didn't like him at all, but that does not mean he forgot how to play basketball, is he really worse than Žemaitis and Velička, I do not get why he is not here. They invited Giedraitis, who was Trinchieris pet, but that guy was just not very good.

Lekavicius is one of the most underrated EuroLeague players ever. He's never gotten proper credit. Even with Lithuania's national team, he doesn’t get proper credit. They always valued a guy like Mantas Kalnietis over him.

As far as Turkey being without Larkin, it sounds like a big loss for them on paper, but he's never been good for them at a tournament. He's only been good on one team in his whole career, Efes. He's never done much of anything on other teams, whether it be the NBA, Baskonia, or Turkish NT.

Kalnietis and Lekavičius weren't exactly in the same timeline. Larkin has done plenty, he had MVP level seasons with Efes and seeing Turkish perimeter lineup the other day, he will massively improve that team, they didn't have much of anybody at perimeter creation.

[Mirotic12]

Kalnietis and Lekavičius weren't exactly in the same timeline. Larkin has done plenty, he had MVP level seasons with Efes and seeing Turkish perimeter lineup the other day, he will massively improve that team, they didn't have much of anybody at perimeter creation.

Larkin has never been good with the Turkish NT. For whatever reason.

[UcanUwill]

Kalnietis and Lekavičius weren't exactly in the same timeline. Larkin has done plenty, he had MVP level seasons with Efes and seeing Turkish perimeter lineup the other day, he will massively improve that team, they didn't have much of anybody at perimeter creation.

Larkin has never been good with the Turkish NT. For whatever reason.

Well, the sample size is small, hes been very good in the Euroleague, which as you many times said, is better than Majority of FIBA teams anyway (not top ones with NBA players, but those are on a rarer side). Last Eurobasket was won by Lorenzo Brown lead team, and IMO, Larkin is better.

[Mirotic12]

Well, the sample size is small, hes been very good in the Euroleague, which as you many times said, is better than Majority of FIBA teams anyway (not top ones with NBA players, but those are on a rarer side). Last Eurobasket was won by Lorenzo Brown lead team, and IMO, Larkin is better.

The top level EuroLeague teams are.

[Sunlight]

Markkanen 48pts against Belgia. Strong candidate for tournament MVP.

[Swuul]

Hopefully my TV connections can stream the game

Highlights of the match (not sure if the video is country locked)
https://www.ruutu.fi/video/4760357

If the above video is country locked (and you don't have VPN at use), the highlights should appear in Twitter too soon.
https://x.com/RuutuUrheilu

EDIT:
Box score
https://hosted.dcd.shared.geniussports.com/FBAA/en/competition/42028/match/2695294/summary