OT : Eurobasket 2025 semifinals | Türkiye vs Greece | & | Finland vs Germany |

[KGtabake]

Which starting 5 lol, two guys who are not even regular starters for their euroleague teams or another one that gets 16 minutes per game. Maybe the guard of Bahcesehir tickles your fancy lol.

They all looked best they've looked in years playing with Sengun, it's not a coincidence.

Dorsey ain't a starter on his team either.
Mitoglou is not a regular starter on his team.
Neither Papanikolaou.
Sloukas comes off the bench.
If you exclude Giannis, everyone else are not stars on their teams.

It doesn't matter. What does matter is the fit.
The trio of Larkin/Cedi/Sengun is amazing.

Tolipoulos was the best player on EuroCup team Aris, if you want to count that as his team.

This EuroBasket will reward the best fit.
Serbia is the best team in Europe when healthy.
France with a full squad close to it.
Germany probably completes the top3.
But we're on the knockouts now. Everything can happen.
Toliopoulos had to make a good game.
Greeks know him but he's not known outside of Greece.

[Mirotic12]

This EuroBasket will reward the best fit.
Serbia is the best team in Europe when healthy.
France with a full squad close to it.
Germany probably completes the top3.
But we're on the knockouts now. Everything can happen.
Toliopoulos had to make a good game.
Greeks know him but he's not known outside of Greece.

Toliopoulos was pretty much the best guard in the EuroCup for the last two years. So, he's absolutely certainly known outside of Greece.

[CharityStripe34]

He has played well in the minutes hes been given. Wish he would've nailed a couple of those open corner threes late in the fourth, but im nitpicking. Shout out to Kostas though who had an excellent game off the bench. He did a great job fronting JV and making things harder for him with his length. I wonder if Spanoulis will use him more against Sengun.

Heck of a battle from JV and the Lithuanians. Yes, Giannis had another very good game but they made him work. The Lithuanian fans made the atmosphere amazing.

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[HardenGoat]

Sengun. This guy is the real deal. Iam picking Turkey to win it all

[lambchop]

This EuroBasket will reward the best fit.
Serbia is the best team in Europe when healthy.
France with a full squad close to it.
Germany probably completes the top3.
But we're on the knockouts now. Everything can happen.
Toliopoulos had to make a good game.
Greeks know him but he's not known outside of Greece.

Toliopoulos was pretty much the best guard in the EuroCup for the last two years. So, he's absolutely certainly known outside of Greece.

He was one of the top guards, but not pretty much the best. TJ Shorts was still in the Eurocup 2 seasons ago. Blakeney was a major player for Hapoel this season etc.

But, yea, we'll see how he does with Pana. The eye test says he's ready to contribute.

[Mirotic12]

He was one of the top guards, but not pretty much the best. TJ Shorts was still in the Eurocup 2 seasons ago. Blakeney was a major player for Hapoel this season etc.

But, yea, we'll see how he does with Pana. The eye test says he's ready to contribute.

I forgot about Shorts. So yeah, Toliopoulos was the second best guard in EuroCup 2 seasons ago, and the best last season. However, if I remember right, both seasons ended early for him, because of injuries. So that's never a good sign.

Looking at PAO's roster, I would guess he is Sloukas' replacement. So assuming this is Sloukas' last year, since it will be his age 36 season, and he's a free agent, that means Toliopoulos would probably take his role in the 26-27 season.

But maybe it happens at some point next season, if Sloukas gets injured, or if he declines enough with age, that he's not good enough to stay in the rotation anymore.

[LuDux1]

Valanciunas looks like he's about to have a cardiac event

He is obviously in the worst shape of his career...
Too much weight...

As a Panathinaikos fan maybe it was good for us that we couldn't get him after all

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Don't worry, Panathinaikos were planning to play him 3-5 minutes anyway

[peZt]

Wasnt able to watch the Turkey match yesterday. Only able to watch the highlights now. Jesus, Sengün really played with the polish guys.

[BruttoNostra]

Jonas was a monster yesterday, despite physically looking like a pre-retirement 38yo Sabonis (the father) out there. I can only hope for Denver fans it's just minor injury/conditioning issue and nothing else. I mean, he and Jokic should lose like a combined point guard in terms of the weight:)

I always had and will have a warm place in my heart for Lithuania. I don't really follow their NT beyond the major tournaments, but man, the talent level of that roster is like Estonia (no offense, your country is awesome as well, it's just you're not a BBall powerhouse) putting on LT jerseys. I know their PG got injured and some key guys didn't come in the first place, but still, I expected more fight and more skills - the fight wasn't there for all but the last couple of minutes and skills-wise the drop after Jonas was huuuuge, especially with the big guys.

[kaansunman]

That means Slovenia will win it all.

I dont think Turkey has much of a chance against Greece, they are comfortably behind in quality of role players. Ataman is a much better coach but that only counts for so much.

Luka isn't the best player.
And Turkey has the best starting 5 in the tournament and the best coach. We'll see.
It's open for anyone.
Finland would be a great winner for my taste though.

Which starting 5 lol, two guys who are not even regular starters for their euroleague teams or another one that gets 16 minutes per game. Maybe the guard of Bahcesehir tickles your fancy lol.

They all looked best they've looked in years playing with Sengun, it's not a coincidence.

Sengun-Cedi-Larkin are elite players and they are playing on that level since the beginning of the tournament. Rest, you need role players who doesn't need the ball in their hands and do the dirty work. Şehmuz/Kenan and Ercan are exactly that. The starting five is "clicking" on the court and of course the biggest reason is Alperen.

Our main rotation is down to 8 guys at the moment but we still have solid players for frontcourt to throw against Giannis in case of foul troubles. It will be critical to how we build a Giannis wall. We need to protect Alperen from foul trouble and shouldn't give up the emtpy three pointers from players like Papanikolau.

We have the trauma against Greece for sure, I do not remember a single win against them in a major tournament. I believe in Coach Ataman to fix that before the game .

[BruttoNostra]

I wonder if it's like a new reality for LT basketball (focusing more on foreign players in their league, like with Zalgiris), or it's just a one-time flop, and with more players committing/better coach they can easily return to being favorites in every major tournament?

[UcanUwill]

I wonder if it's like a new reality for LT basketball (focusing more on foreign players in their league, like with Zalgiris), or it's just a one-time flop, and with more players committing/better coach they can easily return to being favorites in every major tournament?

Our guard situation looked far more grim just few years ago. Marčiulionis probably would have been our second point guard if he was available, maybe Jakučionis is good (but he could also be not good at all, we will see), fact Rokas got hurt, no Marčiulionis, no Jakučionis, no Brazdeikis or Grigonis on a team, guys who at least can dribble, our guard play didn't really look THAT bad. It was bad, but I mean Velička looked great in a prior game.

Our club league is getting better, now teams like Neptūnas and Lietkabelis can sustain a National team level player or two, and situation is getting better. several years ago, around top 10 assist leaders in our league were all foreigners, we just couldn't develop any guard talent at all. Bigs will always appear in Lithuania, but problem with guards was huge, but it is getting better with Rokas developed and Jakučionis and Marčiulionis coming along, hopefully both of them will be good.

Anyhow, we missed a lot of Team A talent this tournament, if we fielded team that didn't play, that team is arguably stronger than what we had here, we could field starting five of Sabonis/Buzelis/Brazdeikis/Grigonis/Jakučionis, and have Marčiulionis/ Butkevičius/ Ulanovas on the bench, so considering these players were all missing, it didn't look all that bad at least in my opinion.

But the sad truth that most of our most promising players, were all developed in foreign land. The last good guys Lithuania really developed were Rokas and Jonas, most other guys who became good, signed with foreign programs when they were still kids.

[Mavrelous]

Yeah, Turkey has a good supporting cast, but it's nothing special, Sengun is the team, he's putting himself on the map...
Sengun Vs Giannis is going to be epic.

[Mone 24]

Luka isn't the best player.
And Turkey has the best starting 5 in the tournament and the best coach. We'll see.
It's open for anyone.
Finland would be a great winner for my taste though.

Which starting 5 lol, two guys who are not even regular starters for their euroleague teams or another one that gets 16 minutes per game. Maybe the guard of Bahcesehir tickles your fancy lol.

They all looked best they've looked in years playing with Sengun, it's not a coincidence.

Dorsey ain't a starter on his team either.
Mitoglou is not a regular starter on his team.
Neither Papanikolaou.
Sloukas comes off the bench.
If you exclude Giannis, everyone else are not stars on their teams.

It doesn't matter. What does matter is the fit.
The trio of Larkin/Cedi/Sengun is amazing.

Sloukas is one of the most important player of the Euroleague history.
And he has been crucial for the last Pana's successes.

Honestly, speaking about him being a starter or not is disrespectful.

[BruttoNostra]

I wonder if it's like a new reality for LT basketball (focusing more on foreign players in their league, like with Zalgiris), or it's just a one-time flop, and with more players committing/better coach they can easily return to being favorites in every major tournament?

Our guard situation looked far more grim just few years ago. Marčiulionis probably would have been our second point guard if he was available, maybe Jakučionis is good (but he could also be not good at all, we will see), fact Rokas got hurt, no Marčiulionis, no Jakučionis, no Brazdeikis or Grigonis on a team, guys who at least can dribble, our guard play didn't really look THAT bad. It was bad, but I mean Velička looked great in a prior game.

Our club league is getting better, now teams like Neptūnas and Lietkabelis can sustain a National team level player or two, and situation is getting better. several years ago, around top 10 assist leaders in our league were all foreigners, we just couldn't develop any guard talented at all. Bigs will always appear in Lithuania, but problem with guards was huge, but it is getting better with Rokas developed and Jakučionis and Marčiulionis coming along, hopefully both of them will be good.

Anyhow, we missed a lot of Team A talent this tournament, if we fielded team that didn't play, that team is arguably stronger than what we had here, we could field starting five of Sabonis/Buzelis/Brazdeikis/Grigonis/Jakučionis, and have Marčiulionis/ Butkevičius/ Ulanovas on the bench, so considering these players were all missing, it didn't look all that bad at least in my opinion.

But the sad truth that most of our most promising players, were all developed in foreign land. The last good guys Lithuania really developed were Rokas and Jonas, most other guys who became good, signed with foreign programs when they were still kids.

Thanks, sounds promising.
And about the last part - I think it's just a reality of being a global village, and talents all over the place being recognized earlier these days.
I mean, with all the NIL money nowadays, plenty of young euros are leaving to the US at the age of 18/19 - instead of climbing the ladder in the Adriatic League or something. Some leave even earlier, getting to the top high school programs, thinking it will help them to receive more attention from NCAA. I mean, not everyone is Doncic, so some 16/17/18 yo might prefer that to end of the bench role in Europe, and I can't say they are all wrong.

[UcanUwill]

I wonder if it's like a new reality for LT basketball (focusing more on foreign players in their league, like with Zalgiris), or it's just a one-time flop, and with more players committing/better coach they can easily return to being favorites in every major tournament?

Our guard situation looked far more grim just few years ago. Marčiulionis probably would have been our second point guard if he was available, maybe Jakučionis is good (but he could also be not good at all, we will see), fact Rokas got hurt, no Marčiulionis, no Jakučionis, no Brazdeikis or Grigonis on a team, guys who at least can dribble, our guard play didn't really look THAT bad. It was bad, but I mean Velička looked great in a prior game.

Our club league is getting better, now teams like Neptūnas and Lietkabelis can sustain a National team level player or two, and situation is getting better. several years ago, around top 10 assist leaders in our league were all foreigners, we just couldn't develop any guard talented at all. Bigs will always appear in Lithuania, but problem with guards was huge, but it is getting better with Rokas developed and Jakučionis and Marčiulionis coming along, hopefully both of them will be good.

Anyhow, we missed a lot of Team A talent this tournament, if we fielded team that didn't play, that team is arguably stronger than what we had here, we could field starting five of Sabonis/Buzelis/Brazdeikis/Grigonis/Jakučionis, and have Marčiulionis/ Butkevičius/ Ulanovas on the bench, so considering these players were all missing, it didn't look all that bad at least in my opinion.

But the sad truth that most of our most promising players, were all developed in foreign land. The last good guys Lithuania really developed were Rokas and Jonas, most other guys who became good, signed with foreign programs when they were still kids.

Thanks, sounds promising.
And about the last part - I think it's just a reality of being a global village, and talents all over the place being recognized earlier these days.
I mean, with all the NIL money nowadays, plenty of young euros are leaving to the US at the age of 18/19 - instead of climbing the ladder in the Adriatic League or something. Some leave even earlier, getting to the top high school programs, thinking it will help them to receive more attention from NCAA. I mean, not everyone is Doncic, so some 16/17/18 yo might prefer that to end of the bench role in Europe, and I can't say they are all wrong.

Nowadays, most top Euros will go to college, the issue with us, if thats the issue, that kids leave for Spain or something earlier than that. And I mean I do not care where kid plays, but the bad part is that when you look at the results, most kids who leave Lithuania, end up being way better. Maybe you could say these foreign programs scoop most talented kids, but I do not really think that is the case, it is the talent development issue, Recently, relatively relevant LKL team Lietkabelis, seemed like the only team that really trusted young players and let them develop, or rather it was Serbian coach Canak I believe his name, who is one of the best coach in Lithuanian league. That team developed Rubstavicius, who signed with Žalgiris this summer, they gave a lot of minutes to Murauskas, who is one of our most promising forwards, currently in NCAA, and they developed few other guys who were scooped by Rytas and Žalgiris later on.

Rytas and Žalgiris used to develop talents up their butt 25 years ago, Macijauskas, Šiškauskas, guys like that came from Rytas program, now nothing like that comes up it seems. Žalgiris always among favorites in these Euroleague youth tournaments, but who was the last Euro star Žalgiris developed really, I can not think of one, Jokubaitis is the closest one. Even Hartenstein they didn't really develop, they had him for a year, and more so tanked his draft value we could argue.

[El Turco]

Luka isn't the best player.
And Turkey has the best starting 5 in the tournament and the best coach. We'll see.
It's open for anyone.
Finland would be a great winner for my taste though.

Which starting 5 lol, two guys who are not even regular starters for their euroleague teams or another one that gets 16 minutes per game. Maybe the guard of Bahcesehir tickles your fancy lol.

They all looked best they've looked in years playing with Sengun, it's not a coincidence.

Sengun-Cedi-Larkin are elite players and they are playing on that level since the beginning of the tournament. Rest, you need role players who doesn't need the ball in their hands and do the dirty work. Şehmuz/Kenan and Ercan are exactly that. The starting five is "clicking" on the court and of course the biggest reason is Alperen.

Our main rotation is down to 8 guys at the moment but we still have solid players for frontcourt to throw against Giannis in case of foul troubles. It will be critical to how we build a Giannis wall. We need to protect Alperen from foul trouble and shouldn't give up the emtpy three pointers from players like Papanikolau.

We have the trauma against Greece for sure, I do not remember a single win against them in a major tournament. I believe in Coach Ataman to fix that before the game .

Cedi isnt even an elite player in his own team at Panathinaikos, let alone european basketball. He wouldnt be one of the three most important players in Pana, probably not even one of the top 5. Larkin could get hot at times but obviously in downside of his career.

It's been a while since Cedi and Larkin was considered elite, very few people would have called them that before the tournament. Lot of players would look ''elite'' playing alongside Sengun and on Ataman's team. Credit to Ataman for maximizing roster's skillset but in most cases talent eventually rises to the top, especially since Greece has an actual elite talent that can cancel out Sengun. Ataman will have to pull another rabbit out of the hat for Turkey to have a chance.

[remiga007]

Rytas and Žalgiris used to develop talents up their butt 25 years ago, Macijauskas, Šiškauskas, guys like that came from Rytas program, now nothing like that comes up it seems. Žalgiris always among favorites in these Euroleague youth tournaments, but who was the last Euro star Žalgiris developed really, I can not think of one, Jokubaitis is the closest one. Even Hartenstein they didn't really develop, they had him for a year, and more so tanked his draft value we could argue.

Sorry for nitpicking, but Macijauskas and Šiskauskas came to Lietuvos Rytas aged 19 and 20 respectively, I don't think Rytas had much development left to do at that stage. I watched lots if not all of Sakalai games and Šiskauskas at like 19 looked like if not the best player, then player with highest ceiling in LKL for sure, at least to me. And remember Macas getting some obscure youth tourney prize at age 17 and openly laughing saying come on, let me play with grown men already.
Now we have nothing close to that, unfortunately.

[GeorgeSears]

Winner gets Istanbul.

[LuDux1]

Anyhow, we missed a lot of Team A talent this tournament

krepsinis.net does yearly Top-50 Best Lithuanian Players list. Basically every second star from 24/25 list was absent
2 Valančiūnas
4 Jokubaitis
5 Sedekerskis
7 Sirvydis
10 R.Giedraitis
11 Radzevičius
13 Birutis
15 Tubelis
17 Blaževičius
21 Normantas
31 Velička
48 Sargiūnas