EuroBasket 2009 Thread

[I Feel Devotion]

Can anyone post a page that has a link to watch any of the games? I can't find one anywhere and haven't been able to find it on American TV. It would be very appreciated.

http://forums.interbasket.net/f61/eurob ... 05/p8.html

http://atdhe.net/index.html

http://www.fromsport.com/c-6.html

http://espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/index

http://www.justin.tv/

Actually, it's very easy to find the game links, just use Google. The tournament is broadcast live in 112 countries, so there are all kinds of game links all over the place. Most of the games air in the US on ESPN360.com in high quality. And the Final Four supposedly will air in the US on TV on either ESPN or ESPN2.

[Stretch82]

http://www.fromsport.com/c-6.html

[Stretch82]

I really dont like the way the Germans play. Defensively all they do is fouling, trying to expose weaknesses from the free throw line and slowing down the game tempo. They are by far the most fouling team in the tournament. Offensively things look scrappy as well. They dont seem to have any plays at all. They shove the ball from side to side and in most cases try taking a jumper. Reminds me more of handball.

[suckfish]

Germany have really been quite impressive considering thier roster. Right now there still in this game with the Greeks.

[dirkules_41]

Yeah, I think so, too. I don't remember Germany having this many talented young players (e.g. Schaffartzik, Benzing(remember his name!) or Pleiss) playing at this high level without being experienced on an international stage at all. I remember Schaffartzik for example when he played backup at my regional German Bundesliga-Team Ludwigsburg. He has developed soooo much since then. Or just have a look at Benzing(6'9'' SF) who's just 19 or Pleiss(7'1 C just 19, too) who in my opinion are the first Germans in a long while who could make it to the NBA one day... Also there's no Nowitzki who you can turn to and rely on in pressure situations. Gotta say I am really impressed by the teams play and you gotta love it knowing the background of this team!

[wilt]

I really dont like the way the Germans play. Defensively all they do is fouling, trying to expose weaknesses from the free throw line and slowing down the game tempo. They are by far the most fouling team in the tournament. Offensively things look scrappy as well. They dont seem to have any plays at all. They shove the ball from side to side and in most cases try taking a jumper. Reminds me more of handball.

well, without checking hard 8 out of 12 players have played less than 10 MPG at first league competition last season. Benzing and Harris haven´t played at all in the german first league but in the 3rd highest division, Pleiß and Ohlbrecht played about 10 minutes a game. Femerling didn´t play for months after being cut from Alba, even Jagla saw his minutes cut. Guys like Hamann and Wysocki or Green barely play 20 minutes and get like 5-7 PPG.
Schaffartzik is the only german who was an undisputed starter and offensive factor last season.
I hope you get the picture.

If your veterans aren´t very good and your talents aren´t getting PT you have to find ways to get them in a position to be competitive and it´s not allways pretty.

Don´t get me wrong, i´d love them to play more attractive basketball as much as anyone, but i´ll take close, ugly games over blowouts with a couple good plays until guys like Benzing, Pleiß, Harris (or Staiger as well) have developed.

Maybe today was a first step, the 2nd half was the most fluent and versatile i´ve seen the german offense since early in the Nowitzki era.

Benzing finally trusted his abilities, the guy has some serious skills and quickness for his size (legit 6´8 on the wing) , Pleiß fought back, Harris showed glimpses and Schaffartzik is officially nuts in a good way

[Apollo64]

Germany had to play the way they played, they did ok with the exception of the Pleiss-Schortsianitis matchup which was a disaster. Benzing is going to develop to a decent SF, he is one of the best players in his age bracket in Europe.

To anyone who is saying that Croatia can go places, i don't think so, their interior defense allows too many easy points in the paint.

[Stretch82]

I think you guys are right. There is nothing more to expect, but still i dont like it

The German Basketball Association + German clubs are to blame here. Not supporting German talents or even German players at all is just awful. How can they not get any playtime in their clubs? Some German players dont even have a club. Clubs seem to prefer non German players instead of trusting in potential talents. The interesting thing about this is the fact that German clubs arent particularly successful in European club tournaments. To be frank, they dont play any role at all. So why not support German talents instead of paying for others.

[Batu7]

Schaffartzik was amazing, 23 points on 100% shooting in 24 minutes.

[suckfish]

Tomorrow is the beginning of the group F games; the more exciting group of the two. I personally can't wait for tomorrow to see what kind of performance Spain will display against Turkey. My money is on the Spaniards to really step it up a notch now. They stepped it up against Slovenia, but they struggled to close the game out. I think they'll be out to make a statement vs Turkey.

Today's games were a tad dull.

[Rasho Brezec]

I said it before, I like Germany's team. You can see that all they've done is pure hard work and hustle. If basketball was a bit more popular in Germany and if their basketball federation was a bit more competent, they'd have a great future ahead of them.

I've been impressed with all of their young players, considering the lack of playing time they got in their clubs. Olbrecht reminds me of Nowitzki a bit, Pleiss is promising but needs to bulk up, Harris is an athletic freak, but Robin Benzing intrigues me the most.

I think he's at least 6'10", if not 6'11 - he looked taller than Olbrecht when standing next to him - he's got good handles, he can get to the basket, he can shoot. I'm hoping scouts are keeping eyes on him and he finds himself a club in a higher level of competition than Germany.

Oh, and more thing for the Germans around here: why is Dirk Bauermann giving instructions in English during timeouts? I thought everyone on the team was German.

[Stretch82]

Oh, and more thing for the Germans around here: why is Dirk Bauermann giving instructions in English during timeouts? I thought everyone on the team was German.

Actually he mixes it up. He also gives instructions in German sometimes. Maybe some of the "naturalized" Germans dont speak any German or at least prefer English.

[Rasho Brezec]

Yeah, I thought I was crazy when I heard a bit of both languages. But which players are naturalized? Harris perhaps? Demond Greene's been in Germany long enough to have no problems with the language.

[AdamTheGreek]

EuroBasket Day 4 Review:
http://mason360.com/20090911559/News/Sp ... day-4.html
Every day someone seems to be getting bloody.

[wilt]

He never was asked about it or said anything about it, i just guess that since basically all basketball terms are englisch anyway and he´s prepared in englisch all his life as well as his players allways get prepared in english (with how many non-german speakers there are in the BBL) it just comes more natural actually.
Basically as of now it seems that if he really wants to bring a point across in terms of effort or personal advice than he speaks german, but whenever plays are involved it goes to english. Just a personal observation

Harris was born in germany so there´s no one that´s not a 100% fluent in german on this roster.

@ Rasho Brezec : Ohlbrecht actually has been stagnating the last 2 years, not much development and a few problems in terms of work ethic. His new club (bonn) has a great coach though who is known for developing young players and trusting them through mistakes and has allready stated that Ohlbrecht will be his new starting Power Forward.

Hope Staiger gets back into his old self (had a knee injury and has not yet found back trust in his legs really, was mainly a spot up shooter last season and also now while before that he was much more of a comboa guard. Could be the starting 2 for the next 10 years, very skilled and smart player.

Hope the NCAA doesn´t ban Harris for a year just in case any of his "professional" teammates got paif his gas money ... And hope he doesn´t have to play the 4 too much at Gonzaga, needs to work on his ball skills and shot.

Pleiss doesn´t strike me as that talented actually, a ton of bad habits, slow feet, bad hands and no touch. Germany´s starting center for the next decade ? sure. NBA ? Not really ...

Benzing hopefully gets meaningfull playing time next year, he´s the most talented out of that group definitely.

Another young german PG (Per Günther) injured himself before the Euro, between him (pass first, very smart), Hamann (defense) and Schaffartzik (offense) the PG spot looks very bright.

Schaffartzik is, like said, just insanely confident and a blast to see play as he´s just so refreshing and has also really improved his non-scoring skill. His defense is meh, but whatever

From the old guys Femerling has got to be the stragest player in history. He still has really quick feetz, great moves and timing but can´t finish at all around the basket and has atrocious hands yet still tries to do crazy ass passes because he sees all the angles (just can´t execute). Word is that he´s the reason behind the rule of "big guys shouldn´t drible"
Great leader and teammate though, glad he came out of retirement to lead the squad.


They should beat Macedonia who were a trainwreck today, holy **** did they implode

[knicksfan974]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxd60ADNOWM

Big Sofo!

[Batu7]

Turkey - Spain game starting in 4 hours. Let's see if our magic will continue.

[Stretch82]

I think there have been players on the German squad who didnt speak German (Kaman?). Maybe the coach has made a habit out of it or he is suffering from schizophrenia.

[Basti]

I think there have been players on the German squad who didnt speak German (Kaman?). Maybe the coach has made a habit out of it or he is suffering from schizophrenia.

Bauermann has done it for years now. I guess it's a mystery nobody can fully solve. but I think it's safe to assume he does it because he's used to it. years ago he was also the head coach of a domestic league team, Bamberg which had a lot of foreign players on their roster. I'm sure he just used to do it in englisch.

and damn I'm so sad that I can't watch one minute of this young team playing while Frank Buschmann is commentating. I'm sure he's been going nuts every game.

[wilt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxd60ADNOWM

Big Sofo!

that poor basket Yeah, Sofo was incredible yesterday, he´s a load when he´s halfway in shape as he has such quick feet and a terrific body balance to go with his weight, it´s amazing how good he is running the Pick and Roll. Totally unguardable most times .