Eurobasket 2011 - Aug 31 - Sep 18

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Any French fan here? I just hope the'll get trashed soon. I'm not sure I want Greece to win though. Nevertheless, what France's done today is both revolting and a manifest insult towards the spectators. I've felt like throwing up several times during the game.

What happened? I haven't watched the game yet, and from the looks of it, it isn't worth watching. Did France throw the match or something?

[Bomba Navarro]

Any French fan here? I just hope the'll get trashed soon. I'm not sure I want Greece to win though. Nevertheless, what France's done today is both revolting and a manifest insult towards the spectators. I've felt like throwing up several times during the game.

What happened? I haven't watched the game yet, and from the looks of it, it isn't worth watching. Did France throw the match or something?

No Parker, no Noah, no playing intensity and no respect for spectators. They must prefer facing Greece than Slovenia and to dodge Lithuania till a hypothetical championship game so they have gone for throwing out the game. In the future FIBA must grant semifinals for top spots so that we'd avoid this shameful mummeries.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Any French fan here? I just hope the'll get trashed soon. I'm not sure I want Greece to win though. Nevertheless, what France's done today is both revolting and a manifest insult towards the spectators. I've felt like throwing up several times during the game.

What happened? I haven't watched the game yet, and from the looks of it, it isn't worth watching. Did France throw the match or something?

No Parker, no Noah, no playing intensity and no respect for spectators. They must prefer facing Greece than Slovenia and to dodge Lithuania till a hypothetical championship game so they have gone for throwing out the game. In the future FIBA must grant semifinals for top spots so that we'd avoid this shameful mummeries.

Interesting... So they did it to control their match-ups?

I don't really understand the FIBA ranking system... How would a win against Spain put them in a less favorable position?

[eric365]

Any French fan here? I just hope the'll get trashed soon. I'm not sure I want Greece to win though. Nevertheless, what France's done today is both revolting and a manifest insult towards the spectators. I've felt like throwing up several times during the game.

What happened? I haven't watched the game yet, and from the looks of it, it isn't worth watching. Did France throw the match or something?

No Parker, no Noah, no playing intensity and no respect for spectators. They must prefer facing Greece than Slovenia and to dodge Lithuania till a hypothetical championship game so they have gone for throwing out the game. In the future FIBA must grant semifinals for top spots so that we'd avoid this shameful mummeries.

Noah have a real injury. Minor but real so it was normal to rest him.
If they had won againt spain, the quarter final would have been easier but the semifinal against lituania at home would have been really tough.

So it's a good move to let Spain and lituania face each other in semi.

And just remember the eurobasket 2009 where France finished 5th and was probably the 2nd best team. They won every game but one because Greece tanked their last group game to send France against Spain in quarter final. For once, France is not the team f*cked by theses kind of tanking

[jman3134]

Yeah Macedonia has been playing really well in this tournament. Greece and Russia in a close game right now, I think Russia will win this one. Can't wait for Spain vs France tomorrow, should be a great game.

McCalebb is having a heck of an effort. Someone needs to pick this guy up in the NBA.

As for the French thrown game, I think that this calls for FIBA to rework their bracketing so this cannot happen again.

[Bomba Navarro]

DeBlazerRiddem: if they had won against Spain they'd face Slovenia —perhaps Finland, but it's unlikely that Finnish win tomorrow— in the quarter finals and Lithuania in the semifinals, as long as they both won their respective games. With today defeat the'll avoid playing Lithuania in Lithuania till the final game.

Pretty much: top spot (group E, Spain) faces fourth (group F, Slovenia or Finland) in QF AND second (group F, Macedonia or Rusia) or third (group F, Lithuania) in SF.

On the other hand, second (group E, France) faces third (group F, Greece) in QF AND first (group F, Russia or Macedonia) or fourth (group E, Serbia) in SF.

I'm sorry that I've explained it so bad, but I've tried

eric365, whatever happened in 2009 doesn't justify the game France's played today. System is the real problem, but picking rivals when it implies —and it always does— to adulterate games this way is disgusting. I'd feel scammed if I had payed to watch that game.

[aristippus]

Italy was eliminated early from Eurobasket, meanwhile Bargnani takes comfort whit his new girlfriend (wow, another girlfriend for him....), the Italian-Moroccan Chihab Nabila, 27, volleyball player.

Bargnani grabs more girls that rebounds...

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/basket ... sotto+rete

[Sildegil]

DeBlazerRiddem: if they had won against Spain they'd face Slovenia —perhaps Finland, but it's unlikely that Finnish win tomorrow— in the quarter finals and Lithuania in the semifinals, as long as they both won their respective games. With today defeat the'll avoid playing Lithuania in Lithuania till the final game.

Pretty much: top spot (group E, Spain) faces fourth (group F, Slovenia or Finland) in QF AND second (group F, Macedonia or Rusia) or third (group F, Lithuania) in SF.

On the other hand, second (group E, France) faces third (group F, Greece) in QF AND first (group F, Russia or Macedonia) or fourth (group E, Serbia) in SF.

I'm sorry that I've explained it so bad, but I've tried

eric365, whatever happened in 2009 doesn't justify the game France's played today. System is the real problem, but picking rivals when it implies —and it always does— to adulterate games this way is disgusting. I'd feel scammed if I had payed to watch that game.

So when a good third of the NBA teams are, at some point, all tanking, are you as disgusted or feel as scammed ? When some playoff teams, for picking the right opponent, are doing the same, are you revolted as well ?

Or maybe is it just because it is France ?

Freedom fries anyone ?

[Bomba Navarro]

So when a good third of the NBA teams are, at some point, all tanking, are you as disgusted or feel as scammed ? When some playoff teams, for picking the right opponent, are doing the same, are you revolted as well ?

Or maybe is it just because it is France ?

Yes, yes, and no. Try to find bias elsewhere —France is not the center of the universe. At least not mine.

[flyingvee]

Well McCalebb playing for Macedonia in the first place is bs, they just handed him citizenship just so he could play for the team. FIBA needs to crack down on this like they used. Before you had to live in a country for 5 years before being granted citizenship. Like the guy will live there at all after these games anyway. This is national team play, not club play.

[morol]

Well McCalebb playing for Macedonia in the first place is bs, they just handed him citizenship just so he could play for the team. FIBA needs to crack down on this like they used. Before you had to live in a country for 5 years before being granted citizenship. Like the guy will live there at all after these games anyway. This is national team play, not club play.

FIBA is just a basketball governing body and has no power or intent to lecture national governments on their citizenship policies, which also vary by nations. Sometime it's 2/3/5/10 years of residence, sometime you need ancestors from a given country and sometime it's only about the figures on your bank account.
There's a rule that prevents more than one player of 'awarded' citizenship to be on the team but it's subject to change as FIBA has no right to declare than one kind of citizenship is better than the other.

[Rasho Brezec]

FIBA could easily make a rule that a player has to play a certain amount of years in the nation's domestic league before being eligible to play for the national team. That would do away with all the McCalleb's of this tournament.

[gadiegolo]

FIBA could easily make a rule that a player has to play a certain amount of years in the nation's domestic league before being eligible to play for the national team. That would do away with all the McCalleb's of this tournament.

Then you begin to mess with players born in a particular country and not playing in its league because either the league is not competitive enough or the formation system is not god for developing players: e.g. Daniel Clark has played in Spain longer than in the UK, does he play for Spain? no, he plays for England.
Anyway, we're at the biggest stage in this Eurobasket and nobody expected Lithuania to be out at this point and Macedonia occupying its place.
Is it still Spain's to lose?
Has France put it all together once and for all this time around?
Will we see a rematch of that 2007 Madrid Spanish nightmare with Spain-Russia in the Final?
And Macedonia, is it just a lucky strike or do they have a real team to compete in future competitions?

[Rasho Brezec]

Not really. He was born in UK, he has the citizenship, don't see the problem there.

[obradorista]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSPZB0Gx9_s[/youtube]

[King d]

Viva España!!!!

[vmor]

Spain, led by inspirational point guard Juan Carlos Navarro with 27 points, became the first team to win back-to-back titles since the former Yugoslavia did it in the 1995 and 1997 tournaments. Jose Luis Calderon and Los Angeles Lakers centre Pau Gasol added 17 points each for Spain, the latter also collecting 10 rebounds, Rudy Fernandez added 14 while Marc Gasol chipped in with 11 and six rebounds.

Earlier on Sunday, 2007 champions Russia won the bronze medal with a dramatic 72-68 win over the tournament's surprise package Macedonia. Spain and France also qualified automatically for the 2012 Olympics in London

per Yahoo Eurosport

[cloudXXI]

Since 2006, Spain has played all the finals when Pau was in the team. Only in worlds 2010, Pau didn´t play.

Indivudual awards

NBA Rookie of the Year (2002)
4× NBA All-Star (2006, 2009–2011)
All-NBA Second Team (2011)
2× All-NBA Third Team (2009–2010)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2002)
FIBA World Championship MVP (2006)
EuroBasket MVP (2009)
Spanish King's Cup MVP (2001)
Spanish League Finals MVP (2001)
All-Euroleague Second Team (2001)
2× FIBA Europe Player of the Year (2008–2009)

With Spain

Euro Junio: Gold 1998 Bulgaria
WC Junior: Gold 1999 Portugal
Euro: Bronze 2001 Turkey
Euro: Silver 2003 Sweden
WC: Gold 2006 Japan
Euro: Silver 2007 Spain
Olympics: Silver 2008 Beijing
Euro: Gold 2009 Poland
Euro: Gold 2011 Lithuania

With Lakers

2× NBA Champion (2009–2010)

With F.C. Barcelona

2 x Spanish League (1999-2001)
1 x Spanish Cup (2001)

Amazing!

[morol]

FIBA could easily make a rule that a player has to play a certain amount of years in the nation's domestic league before being eligible to play for the national team. That would do away with all the McCalleb's of this tournament.

Then you have guys like Lampe, who was born in Poland and from Polish parents, yet has never played a single game in polish league, Turiaf with France (Noah as well, although he was born in US), Steve Nash of course, Diop with Senegal, Thabeet with Tanzania... man, I'm done searching, this rule would be plain dumb. But yeah, McCalleb would have been dealt with - as well, as many others.

[Rasho Brezec]

Like I've said above, the rule would apply for naturalized citizens only. Otherwise, it would be (Please Use More Appropriate Word).