Onwards and upwards at EuroBasket 2007!
Hello, Euroleague fans! Since I am always keeping an eye on you, I guess you have a right to wonder who I am, so let me introduce myself. I am Javier Gancedo, one of the editors at both Euroleague.net and ULEBCup.com. You might have seen me on camera if you watched our live streams of recent draws. Or, if you are a Fantasy Challenge players, you might know that my teams once ranked first and second in the same week - and I DIDN'T EVEN GET A PRIZE!!!.... Well, to be honest, by the rules, no employee of Euroleague Basketball can win prizes. Besides, I am the guy who prices the Fantasy Challenge players' market at the beginning of the season, so I guess that gives me a little bit of an unfair advantage...
And speaking of the players market.... Euroleague and ULEB Cup teams have 124 out of 192 players on rosters at EuroBasket 2007 in Spain this week, plus dozens more who are part of our recent history, so we all know each other pretty well, especially when I have written no less than 250 game reports in the last three seasons, including Final Fours and ULEB Cup finals. Even with that, I am always excited to get to know new players, and none is more interesting than Przemyslaw Frasunkiewicz of Poland. If his game is as complicated as his name, we are about to see the next European superstar! By the way, Poland is without Marcin Gortat, Michal Ignerski, Maciej Lampe and above all, Jeff Nordgaard, our blogger last season. It's a shame that Norgy will not be around for EuroBasket 2007, but I will try to keep you guys entertained in his absence. I will be around for the entire tournament, spouting all the info and stories I can get my hands on...
I think it is the best EuroBasket ever, with a lot of teams able to reach the medal round. We will see some unpredictable results along the way, of course, even when everyone considers Spain the team to beat. It's logical, however, as the Golden Boys have been unbeaten for 26 games - almost two years - and have arguably the best team chemistry of any national team in the world right now. All 12 players have taken part in the Euroleague, and Pau Gasol is simply unguardable when he is a motivated as he is for this tournament. It's also good to see that Sarunas Jasikevicius is back in action. He left as the King of European basketball and now his throne is shared by Theo Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis, who, as you all know, play together for Greece. He will certainly want to show that he still is capable of sitting on that throne.
I guess everyone wants a prediction and this is the right time to do it, so here's mine for the first group stage:
Group A is going to be exciting. To begin with, it is the chance to see Papaloukas face J.R. Holden, something that happens on daily basis in any CSKA Moscow practice, but rarely in an official game. Russia posts an incredibly athletic team with players like Andrei Kirilenko, Viktor Khryapa, Sergey Monya and Anton Ponkrashov, all members or graduates of the CSKA basketball factory. Russia will need to run the floor well to beat Greece, though. But with Papaloukas, Diamantidis, Vassilis Spanoulis and Nikos Zisis handling the business, I don't think that will happen. Serbia comes with a lot of young talent. FMP proves to be the best farm system in Europe with guys like Milos Teodosic, Dragan Labovic and Zoran Erceg already in the national team. Their time should come soon, but now it is Milan Gurovic running the show. If he is focused, he is unstoppable and everyone knows that. With no other dominant big man in this group and Lazaros Papadopoulos in the middle, Greece is the favorite. I predict Greece, Serbia, Russia, in that order, will qualify.
The anticipation is huge in Seville, where Spain starts the competition in Group B. With or without Jorge Garbajosa, Spain is a deep team with talented players all over the place. They all get together to play card games at night and even though Felipe Reyes is rumored to be terrible at that, he is the most improved player on court and ready to replace Garbajosa. Rudy Fernandez, Berni Rodriguez - what a crucial element he has become - and Juan Carlos Navarro are also better players than last season, so Spain should beat everyone in the first round. Croatia claims revenge from its controversial EuroBasket 2005 overtime loss against Spain, but without Nikola Vujcic, the team is set to struggle a bit. Marko Popovic has been unstoppable in preparation games and there are talented players all over like Zoran Planinic, Niksa Prkacin and Davor Kus. Still, it seems too little to stop Spain. Keep an eye on Latvia, which had an incredible win over Lithuania in preparation on a wild triple by Kristaps Janicenoks (see the video) and has a nice backcourt featuring Sandis Valters and Janis Blums. The problem is that its inside defense is poor. Also, big man Kaspars Cipruss played in Seville for three years and knows the kind of city it is when it comes to having fun - dangerous! Still, they only need to beat a tougher-than-expected Portugal, with Elvis Evora, Sergio Ramos and Joao Santos ready to upset anyone. Spain, Croatia, Latvia qualify.
The organization has been smart to put Germany in Palma de Majorca and Group C. Why? Because the entire island is colonized by Germans, who guarantee a sellout crowd to see Dirk Nowitzki, the one and only. It's funny to see that the NBA MVP is German and the NBA Finals MVP - Tony Parker - is French. Nowitzki is the ultimate basketball package, but this is a team sport and he will need plenty of help from his supporting cast. Steffen Hamann, Patrick Femerling, Ademola Okulaja and above all, Demond Greene. I am happy to see Greene in there after the horrendous injury he had in a ULEB Cup game with Alba this season. Lithuania arrives with Saras, the Lavrinovic twins, superstar Ramunas Siskauskas and scorers like Darius Songaila, Linas Kleiza and Rimantas Kaukenas. Team chemistry is the only issue here, because player by player, only Spain and Greece can look them in the eyes. Turkey is my underdog in this tournament. Mehmet Okur and Hedo Turkoglu missed the World Championship and without them, the team played better than ever. The message was received and now Turkey is happy not to be in the big headlines - yet. Serkan Erdogan's last-minute injury will force Cenk Akyol and Ersan Ilyasova to step up big. With Okur, Kaya Peker, Ermal Kuqo and Kerem Gonlum inside, Turkey is also powerful. Watch out! Even with how much I like Lubos Barton and Petr Benda, the Czech Republic has it tough. It's Turkey, Lithuania, Germany in Group C.
And that leaves me with Group D. France was fifth without Parker in the World Champs, so they should be battling for medals now. Boris Diaw is also around and so is Tariq Kirksay for the first time. Kirksay is set to be a surprise in the tournament, as he is a great rebounder at small forward and can team up with Diaw to drive everyone crazy. The problem is that they won't find much help inside. France will be able to motor with any team and success will depend a lot on Parker - simple as that. Slovenia has several players missing, but still enough resources in a country where basketball talent runs incredibly deep. The great Matjaz Smodis will be the captain aboard just when Slovenia needs him most, in the prime of his career. In shape, Smodis can be among best performers in the tournament. Jaka Lakovic and Goran Jagodnik are also good scoring aces, while Erazem Lorbek will take another chance to show why he was Euroleague Rising Star Trophy winner a few years ago. Italy has a lot of young talent with Andrea Bargnani, Marco Belinelli and Stefano Mancinelli - who his own fan club here at Euroleague headquarters, but maybe their time has not come yet. They will have to prove me wrong with the help of veterans like Massimo Bulleri, Denis Marconato or Gianluca Basile. Poland will definitely have it tough. My prediction is France, Slovenia, Italy.
That's all for now, but I will be covering the entire event and blogging throughout the non-stop action. If you are watching on TV, just look at the press area for the laptop computer with a huge Euroleague logo. And with reputation this blog has for injuries, if you see a journalist fall down the stairs, that's me, too. Let the games begin and follow the tournament in Euroleague.net for a complete coverage!
POSTED BY
Javier Gancedo, Euroleague.net
DATE:
Monday, September 03, 2007