OT : Eurobasket 2025

[MMyhre]

Wagner playing very smart basketball, just using his size and speed to get easy buckets all day, not forcing stuff. If he makes the tough shots/3 ball consistently he will be one hell of a player.

[schnakenpopanz]

Sengün below Markannen is an insult. I hope Alperen motivates that he is still underrated.

[UcanUwill]

Sengün below Markannen is an insult. I hope Alperen motivates that he is still underrated.

I maybe agree since list obviously made from overall basketball perspective and nba fame, not FIBA, cause in that case Markannen could be higher than even Giannis.

That said, if is not an insult, people underrate Lauri biv time.

[CharityStripe34]

Greece just won full squad Italy without Giannis, Sloukas (our best PG), and Mitoglou (our best PF other than Giannis), both of them will starting. I wasn't very high on this team but after today I got my spirit up. Given the absence of Papagiannis it looks like one of Samodurov ( 6'11 stretch PF, 20 yo playing for Panathinaikos) and Zougris (6'8 250+ 20 yo small ball C who will play next season for louisville) will make the final cut. Thanassis is looking healthy again and athletic as ever.

Other than Serbia and maybe Germany i think we
can make some noise, and Giannis gets what is missing from his resume a success to an international competition.

Even with several players missing, Greece still has the clearly best coach in the tournament, Giannis, Sloukas (even though he's massively overrated, he's still a good EuroLeague player), and 9 experienced EuroLeague champion caliber role players.

That is more than enough to potentially make good results at any FIBA tournament. That's as much or more than 90% of the teams in the world have to work with, as long as the players do what the coach says.

As far as Giannis' resume, I don't think a single EuroBasket bronze will do much for it. Especially since Greece has one of the upper level rosters at the tournament. So it wouldn't be like Dirk getting a bronze with a mid-level roster.

He'd probably at least need to get to a final, or actually win it, if they somehow got lucky and avoided Serbia in a final. Otherwise, it's not doing much of anything at all for his legacy. The only team in the tournament that on paper shouldn't be beatable by Greece is Serbia. So just getting a bronze at this tournament wouldn't actually be all that impressive.

Dude, we have a good roster with some better fitting players around Giannis but to act like Germany or France don't have a more complete roster is a bit much. I like Spanoulis too, he's a great young coach, but it sounds like you're setting up the narrative to blame Giannis if Greece doesn't make the Final. There's a reason why Greece isn't considered one of the top 3-4 teams to medal and more of a dark horse. Even with the better fits around Giannis like Sloukas, Dorsey, Samodurov and Mitoglu (for their shooting/spacing) in comparison to the 2022 or 2024 squads, you still have the element of another team getting hot and winning in a single elimination game (i.e. Serbia's loss to Italy in the last tournament).

That said, I do think we have a chance to medal or make the Final if things break right and the team can hit timely threes, as well as play good team defense. We shall see. We'll possibly have to get over the Germany hurdle 2022 and 2024.

[Mirotic12]

Really? Says who? Yourself?
I wouldn't choose Spanoulis at this point.
In a few years, maybe. Now, he hasn't accomplished anything.

Pesic and Scariolo in particular are levels above him.

I get the fandom(I'm crazy about Jasikevicius for example) but at some point we have to make sense on the things we're posting.

Soanoulis isn't better than Laso, Ataman, Bartzokas, Sferopoulos, Trinchierri etc etc
I'm not going to even mention Obradovic.
All these guys are proven for years.
Soanoulis is just getting started. Don't create laughter for him with posts like that.
Let's be serious.

Very clearly sounds exactly like Panathinaikos fan fiction talking points 101.

Sfairopoulos?

Trinchieri? That's basically the EuroLeague equivalent of saying that Doc Rivers is a better coach than Erik Spoelstra.

That viewpoint would be considered absolutely outright ludicrous in a European (non Panathinaikos fan) basketball site.

[Mirotic12]

Dude, we have a good roster with some better fitting players around Giannis but to act like Germany or France don't have a more complete roster is a bit much. I like Spanoulis too, he's a great young coach, but it sounds like you're setting up the narrative to blame Giannis if Greece doesn't make the Final. There's a reason why Greece isn't considered one of the top 3-4 teams to medal and more of a dark horse. Even with the better fits around Giannis like Sloukas, Dorsey, Samodurov and Mitoglu (for their shooting/spacing) in comparison to the 2022 or 2024 squads, you still have the element of another team getting hot and winning in a single elimination game (i.e. Serbia's loss to Italy in the last tournament).

That said, I do think we have a chance to medal or make the Final if things break right and the team can hit timely threes, as well as play good team defense. We shall see. We'll possibly have to get over the Germany hurdle 2022 and 2024.

Greece's roster is very clearly a top 4 roster in the tournament on paper, and other than Serbia, no other team should be in any way at all considered as likely unbeatable by Greece.

France and Germany have very nice rosters, but in no way at all are they in a higher tier level than Greece's roster.

Anywhere from 2nd to 4th place would simply be a normal and average result for Greece at the tournament, barring injuries.

A finish of 1st would be exceeding it, but who knows, maybe they get lucky and someone upsets Serbia, and they avoid them. Like how incredibly lucky Spain got in 2006, when they avoided a USA team that they couldn't beat for years and years.

Or maybe Greece gets lucky and Serbia has some major injuries. Outside of finishing 1st due to luck though, it would be exceeding their level to actually beat a full Serbia in a gold medal game for example.

But a 2nd to 4th place finish is just performing to the roster's level. While being eliminated at the quarterfinals or earlier would be underperforming based on the team's roster. Of course, injuries and/or a bad unlucky draw against a team that is a bad match up can always lead to going out earlier than a team should in these single elimination formats.

[yannisk]

Greece has stopped producing good basketball players, apart from Giannis the only players that had some quality (and not nba quality) are Sloukas and Papanikolaou. Both are 35 years old and fading. Some of the players are in the roster for Olympiakos and Panathinaikos just because there is a requirement to have some local players.

[knicksfan974]

France with a strong showing in Athens vs. Greece. Should be a hard team to beat for any team in the tournament.

[TonySnellJr]

Even with several players missing, Greece still has the clearly best coach in the tournament, Giannis, Sloukas (even though he's massively overrated, he's still a good EuroLeague player), and 9 experienced EuroLeague champion caliber role players.

That is more than enough to potentially make good results at any FIBA tournament. That's as much or more than 90% of the teams in the world have to work with, as long as the players do what the coach says.

As far as Giannis' resume, I don't think a single EuroBasket bronze will do much for it. Especially since Greece has one of the upper level rosters at the tournament. So it wouldn't be like Dirk getting a bronze with a mid-level roster.

He'd probably at least need to get to a final, or actually win it, if they somehow got lucky and avoided Serbia in a final. Otherwise, it's not doing much of anything at all for his legacy. The only team in the tournament that on paper shouldn't be beatable by Greece is Serbia. So just getting a bronze at this tournament wouldn't actually be all that impressive.

Dude, we have a good roster with some better fitting players around Giannis but to act like Germany or France don't have a more complete roster is a bit much. I like Spanoulis too, he's a great young coach, but it sounds like you're setting up the narrative to blame Giannis if Greece doesn't make the Final. There's a reason why Greece isn't considered one of the top 3-4 teams to medal and more of a dark horse. Even with the better fits around Giannis like Sloukas, Dorsey, Samodurov and Mitoglu (for their shooting/spacing) in comparison to the 2022 or 2024 squads, you still have the element of another team getting hot and winning in a single elimination game (i.e. Serbia's loss to Italy in the last tournament).

That said, I do think we have a chance to medal or make the Final if things break right and the team can hit timely threes, as well as play good team defense. We shall see. We'll possibly have to get over the Germany hurdle 2022 and 2024.

I stated a simple fact. Greece's roster us very clearly a top roster in the tournament on paper, and other than Serbia, no other team should be in any way at all considered as likely unbeatable by Greece.

France and Germany have very nice rosters, but in now way at all are they in a higher tier Leven than Greece's roster.

Anywhere from 2nd to 4th place would simply be a normal and average result for Greece at the tournament, barring injuries.

A finish of first would be exceeding it, but who knows, maybe they get lucky and someone upsets Serbia and they avoid them. Like how incredibly lucky Spain got in 2006, when they avoided a USA team they couldn't beat for years and years.

Or maybe Greece gets lucky and Serbia has some major injuries. Outside if finishing first due to luck though, it would be exceeding their level to actually beat a full Serbia in a gold medal game for example.

But a 2nd to 4th place finish is just performing to the roster's level. While being eliminated at the quarterfinals or earlier would be underperformed based on the team's roster. Of course, injuries and/or a bad unlucky draw against a team that is a bad match up can always lead to going out earlier than a team should in these single elimination formats.

This defies reality. Greece not only lacks depth, they lack playable players against elite compeition. "9 experienced championship caliber role players" is just insane when most of the roster can barely even get minutes in Euroleague; the ones who were legit players are well past their prime (Sloukas, Papanikolaou). I think they definetely have a chance to medal but when Greece, who's 2nd best player is probably Dinos Mitoglou (?), go up against teams like Serbia/France/Germany, who have high level talent up and down their rosters, it's not even close.

Watching their friendly against France today the thing that stood out the most was the disparity between the average French and Greek player. The 5th best Greek player might be Toliopoulous who is a 6' SG who has never played actual minutes in Euroleague. The 5th best French player could be Sarr/Risacher/Coulibaly who were all high draft picks in the NBA.

[Mirotic12]

Greece has stopped producing good basketball players, apart from Giannis the only players that had some quality (and not nba quality) are Sloukas and Papanikolaou. Both are 35 years old and fading. Some of the players are in the roster for Olympiakos and Panathinaikos just because there is a requirement to have some local players.

Incorrect. Avdalas, Zougris, and Samodurov are all very talented young players that Greece has right now.

Very few national team programs have three young players with that much potential.

[Mirotic12]

Dude, we have a good roster with some better fitting players around Giannis but to act like Germany or France don't have a more complete roster is a bit much. I like Spanoulis too, he's a great young coach, but it sounds like you're setting up the narrative to blame Giannis if Greece doesn't make the Final. There's a reason why Greece isn't considered one of the top 3-4 teams to medal and more of a dark horse. Even with the better fits around Giannis like Sloukas, Dorsey, Samodurov and Mitoglu (for their shooting/spacing) in comparison to the 2022 or 2024 squads, you still have the element of another team getting hot and winning in a single elimination game (i.e. Serbia's loss to Italy in the last tournament).

That said, I do think we have a chance to medal or make the Final if things break right and the team can hit timely threes, as well as play good team defense. We shall see. We'll possibly have to get over the Germany hurdle 2022 and 2024.

I stated a simple fact. Greece's roster us very clearly a top roster in the tournament on paper, and other than Serbia, no other team should be in any way at all considered as likely unbeatable by Greece.

France and Germany have very nice rosters, but in now way at all are they in a higher tier Leven than Greece's roster.

Anywhere from 2nd to 4th place would simply be a normal and average result for Greece at the tournament, barring injuries.

A finish of first would be exceeding it, but who knows, maybe they get lucky and someone upsets Serbia and they avoid them. Like how incredibly lucky Spain got in 2006, when they avoided a USA team they couldn't beat for years and years.

Or maybe Greece gets lucky and Serbia has some major injuries. Outside if finishing first due to luck though, it would be exceeding their level to actually beat a full Serbia in a gold medal game for example.

But a 2nd to 4th place finish is just performing to the roster's level. While being eliminated at the quarterfinals or earlier would be underperformed based on the team's roster. Of course, injuries and/or a bad unlucky draw against a team that is a bad match up can always lead to going out earlier than a team should in these single elimination formats.

This defies reality. Greece not only lacks depth, they lack playable players against elite compeition. "9 experienced championship caliber role players" is just insane when most of the roster can barely even get minutes in Euroleague; the ones who were legit players are well past their prime (Sloukas, Papanikolaou). I think they definetely have a chance to medal but when Greece, who's 2nd best player is probably Dinos Mitoglou (?), go up against teams like Serbia/France/Germany, who have high level talent up and down their rosters, it's not even close.

Watching their friendly against France today the thing that stood out the most was the disparity between the average French and Greek player. The 5th best Greek player might be Toliopoulous who is a 6' SG who has never played actual minutes in Euroleague. The 5th best French player could be Sarr/Risacher/Coulibaly who were all high draft picks in the NBA.

Guys like Toliopoulos, Mitoglou, Larentzakis, etc., would be the best player on many European national teams.

The Greek roster is in the same tier as the French and German ones.

[Jamaaliver]

#TheFrenchRevolution

Read on Twitter

[CharityStripe34]

Greece needed a slice of humble pie. That was a brutal 3rd quarter.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using RealGM mobile app

[TheNG]

Sengün below Markannen is an insult. I hope Alperen motivates that he is still underrated.

I maybe agree since list obviously made from overall basketball perspective and nba fame, not FIBA, cause in that case Markannen could be higher than even Giannis.

That said, if is not an insult, people underrate Lauri biv time.

You know, if we just have a look at previous 2022 EuroBasket stats, and i.e. sort by "efficiency", we can see, between these three players, the same order as they listed. Giannis higher than both, Sengun the lowest between the three.

[KGtabake]

Really? Says who? Yourself?
I wouldn't choose Spanoulis at this point.
In a few years, maybe. Now, he hasn't accomplished anything.

Pesic and Scariolo in particular are levels above him.

I get the fandom(I'm crazy about Jasikevicius for example) but at some point we have to make sense on the things we're posting.

Soanoulis isn't better than Laso, Ataman, Bartzokas, Sferopoulos, Trinchierri etc etc
I'm not going to even mention Obradovic.
All these guys are proven for years.
Soanoulis is just getting started. Don't create laughter for him with posts like that.
Let's be serious.

Very clearly sounds exactly like Panathinaikos fan fiction talking points 101.

Sfairopoulos?

Trinchieri? That's basically the EuroLeague equivalent of saying that Doc Rivers is a better coach than Erik Spoelstra.

That viewpoint would be considered absolutely outright ludicrous in a European (non Panathinaikos fan) basketball site.

Everybody here are laughing with your post.
And they are not Panathinaikos fans.....

[UcanUwill]

Greece needed a slice of humble pie. That was a brutal 3rd quarter.

I never look at friendly results to fully project tournament, some questions get answered, but it is not a real thing. As Lithuanian fan, I remember we having terribly friendlies, but dominant tournament, 2007 comes to mind, we sucked in most friendles than Eurobasket started and we blew most teams out. Or in contrary, I remember during Butautas era, we just killed Super Spanish team right before tournament, everyone got their hopes up and then we lost to Poland and didn't even make out of the group stage, that coach Butautas era were a dark times for us.

One time friendlies didn't lie was for team USA in 2004. They sucked in these friendlies, I remember optimists tried to make out as, its fine its fine, it is jsut friendlies. But then Olympics started and the barely made out of the group, granted they won bronze at the end, so not terrible, but it was still very disappointing team USA.

[BadaBoom]

France announced final 12. Funny thing, was it last week they cut Hornets center Debate, but days later Poirier got injured and he wont be able to play, so France called Diabate again, but he said - no, I am good...

France roster

C: Alexandre Sarr, Mouhammadou Jaiteh
PF: Guerschon Yabusele, Jaylen Hoard
SF: Zaccharie Risacher, Bilal Coulibaly, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
SG: Elie Okobo, Isaia Cordinier
PG: Theo Maledon, Sylvain Francisco, Matthew Strazel

Man, France centers : Victor, Rudy, Lessort, Poirier, Fall.but Mouhammadou Jaiteh is going to Eurobasket.

Strazel is out, replaced by Hifi.
The front court defense is going to suck big big time...

[UcanUwill]

France announced final 12. Funny thing, was it last week they cut Hornets center Debate, but days later Poirier got injured and he wont be able to play, so France called Diabate again, but he said - no, I am good...

France roster

C: Alexandre Sarr, Mouhammadou Jaiteh
PF: Guerschon Yabusele, Jaylen Hoard
SF: Zaccharie Risacher, Bilal Coulibaly, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
SG: Elie Okobo, Isaia Cordinier
PG: Theo Maledon, Sylvain Francisco, Matthew Strazel

Man, France centers : Victor, Rudy, Lessort, Poirier, Fall.but Mouhammadou Jaiteh is going to Eurobasket.

Strazel is out, replaced by Hifi.
The front court defense is going to suck big big time...

Hifi is probably better fit in my opinion, I saw Strazel as third string PG over there, and he is super short, so I wasn't sure how important he must be. I don't know, maybe you guys think Strazel was better than Francisco, me, a Lithuanian guy, I probably overvalue Francisco cause he was so good this past season over here, in LKL finals he was incredible.

[UcanUwill]

To shift a bit from Eurobasket, what has been happening in other FIBA tournaments?

Angola became African champions. They used to absolutely dominate Africa, but this is their first gold since 2013, prior 2 Afrobaskets were won by Tunisia. Surprisingly, Mali had no chance against Angola in a final, Angolians won it 70-43, just dominating defense.
Alpha Diallo lead tournament in points 23.8
Eddy Tavares lead it in rebounds, 10.4

Australia as expected became Asia cup Champions. Final was very close tho, just one point win over China, 90-89. I honestly do not know a single player from Chinese team, for Australia, this was B or even C squad as expected, but Xavier Cooks played, also NBA prospect Dash Daniels was on a team, tho his role was minimal.

AmeriCup is happening right now. Teams played 2 games. Most interesting thing so far is probably the fact USA just last to Uruguay and complicated their chances of getting out of their group, they still have game to play vs Brazil, whom look tough.
Some of the most famous players in Americup are :
Isaiah Mobley, Yago Santos, Bruno Caboclo, Mfiondu Kabengele, Leonard Miller, Kyle WIltjer, Javonte Smart, Langston Galloway, Jerian Grant.

European world cup pre qualifiers are finished now I believe. teams that made to qualifying round are : Ukraine, Switzerland, Romania, Hungary, Netherlands, Austria, Croatia, Denmark. Teams that did not make it at the end : Norway, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Slovakia.

[BadaBoom]

France announced final 12. Funny thing, was it last week they cut Hornets center Debate, but days later Poirier got injured and he wont be able to play, so France called Diabate again, but he said - no, I am good...

France roster

C: Alexandre Sarr, Mouhammadou Jaiteh
PF: Guerschon Yabusele, Jaylen Hoard
SF: Zaccharie Risacher, Bilal Coulibaly, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
SG: Elie Okobo, Isaia Cordinier
PG: Theo Maledon, Sylvain Francisco, Matthew Strazel

Man, France centers : Victor, Rudy, Lessort, Poirier, Fall.but Mouhammadou Jaiteh is going to Eurobasket.

Strazel is out, replaced by Hifi.
The front court defense is going to suck big big time...

Hifi is probably better fit in my opinion, I saw Strazel as third string PG over there, and he is super short, so I wasn't sure how important he must be. I don't know, maybe you guys think Strazel was better than Francisco, me, a Lithuanian guy, I probably overvalue Francisco cause he was so good this past season over here, in LKL finals he was incredible.

Hifi is 3 centimeters taller than Strazel with trex arms so it's not really a change on this side and he really struggles defensively on NT level.
Francisco and Okobo are already point oriented profiles (Okobo more iso and Francisco more a slasher) with a mediocre/lazy defense for Okobo. Strazel was bringing another profile, more poised/team oriented and a real upgrade on the defensive side vs Hifi.

I guess the coach will go with Maledon as the starter, having Francisco as a backup and Hifi as an offensive joker when nothing works for the two other guys and the team badly needs to score.

I did not see EL games with Francisco this year, how was he in defense with Zalgiris? Can he put pressure on the ball?