Deciding the quarterfinalists
Hello again from Madrid! EuroBasket 2007 just gets better and better as the most critical games approach. As you can see from the picture, I am watching it all in the Euroleague.net desk at Telefonica Arena, where the second group stage takes place. Well, the picture wasn't taken at my desk. You have to apply Euroleague.net's rule of how to find your seat at non-ULEB events: look in the last row. The rule applies to domestic competitions, too. I can't complain, however, as I have excellent court vision and I am sitting alongside the great Gokhan Ture, our Istanbul correspondent. The first games at Telefonica Arena have shown where every team stands. It is clear enough that Russia, Spain, France and Lithuania are strong as they can be, while teams like Slovenia and the surprising Israel are on the way up. Croatia, Greece and especially Turkey registered key losses over the last couple of days.
Israel is now in a very good position to advance to the quarterfinals if they beat Portugal. I had the chance to see the team right before the players stepped on court. They all knew it was going to be the most important game of the tournament. You could feel the electricity in that small corridor, with everyone waiting for the lst player to arrive, not to mention one of the best in the tournament so far, Yaniv Green, in order to step on court all together. That's when they all started to shout and clap before running out, ready for a physical game. Lior Eliyahu of Maccabi was underused in this game because coach Zvi Sherf needed bigger, stronger guys like Ido Kozikaro and Green to battle against Niksa Prkacin of Dynamo and Mario Kasun of AXA FCB, who is ready to bounce back from a disappointing season. Lack of concentration was never a problem for Israel, even when Marko Tomas did a great defensive job on scoring ace Yotam Halperin of Maccabi Elite. Green and Kozikaro argued on court, Mair Tapiro kept everyone together while Amir Tamir was the X-factor in the second half before Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem duo Dror Hagag and Matan Naor sealed the outcome. It was fun to see Kozikaro after the game. "Javi, man, you should be here all the time!" he told me, remembering that I have only seen him live in two games. The other one was the 2004 ULEB Cup Final, in which Kozikaro and Jerusalem upset Real Madrid and became champions. Back to the present, it is interesting to note that Israel has now beaten Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Serbia and Croatia - all teams of ex-Yugoslavia - in a span of 10 days. Slovenia should try to avoid Team Israel.
Russia beat Portugal without any kind of trouble, too. I really like Team Portugal, a bunch of hard-nosed players giving 110% on court and not being afraid of any opponent. Mario Fernandes is a brave, talented playmaker while Elvis Evora and Francisco Jordao are big guys with shooting range able to open the court for Joao Santos or Joao Gomes, one of the most athletic forwards in Europe. Russia opted to keep Andrei Kirilenko or J.R. Holden on court when the outcome was clear, while Nikolai Padius did not play at all. We will see if Russia loses its power with so many games in the upcoming days. It is time to write about Viktor Khryapa, the silent star of this team. Kirilenko and Holden are the most visible stars, but Khryapa is doing a fantastic job at small forward. Aggressive, powerful and with a deep range, Khryapa is one of the best players at EuroBasket 2007, even when people don't seem to be noticing him. In another game in that group, Spain downed Greece too easily, as it led 45-24 at halftime. Theo Papaloukas tried to change things in the second half, but when Spain shows its top defensive level, it is a very, very tough team to beat. The Greek rotation is as changeable as Lazaros Papadopoulos' hair style. Giannis Bouroussis, who had stepped on court for only a single minute in the three previous games, was its top scorer this time around.
Spain was back with Juan Carlos Navarro and that gives the team way more flexibility in offense and a go-to guy when the shot clock winds down. As for homecourt advantage, the atmosphere in Madrid was not as wild as I expected, but maybe that's because my last big event was the Euroleague Final Four at OAKA, where it was beyond wild. The crowd in Madrid only erupted in anger with Papaloukas trash talked with Rudy Fernandez and the entire Spanish bench, trying to take the game to his own territory, where he dominates. Theo had it tough, as Berni Rodriguez of Unicaja seems to be the best Papaloukas stopper in the world. No wonder he was a candidate for the Euroleague's Top Defender Trophy last season. By that time, I had moved from my location to seat with the Spanish press for a while, to get some leg room, as the last row is quite narrow, in my opinion. You should have seen two-time Euroleague champion Zoran Cutura trying to fit into his place right next to me. You see tons of former Euroleague greats all around the competition, enough to put together a veterans tournament if they all agreed.
France beat Germany in a showdown between two of the most predictable teams in the competition. France did what it had to do, use its athleticism against the great Dirk Nowitzki, and it paid off. Boris Diaw and Florent Pietrus managed to keep Nowitzki scoreless in the opening 12 minutes of the second half, enough for France to break the game open in the third quarter. I briefly spoke to Kirksay after the game, asking him about his choice of headband. "It is just my name and signature in there, it is something very personal", he told me. On the other hand, Parker was way more athletic than Pascal Roller or Mithat Demirel and made the most out of his superb one-on-one skills. I am looking forward to see Parker against Engin Atsur of Benetton Treviso in the upcoming France vs. Turkey game. Let's see if Atsur is intimidated or not. Speaking on intimidation, Diaw had a huge block on Robert Garrett and ran the other way to draw a foul under the other basket. If Kirksay, Diaw and Ronnie Turiaf are all involved, with Parker running the show, France has few limits in the competition.
It was a great touch by FIBA to call a minute of silence for the late Luciano Pavarotti right before the Italy vs. Lithuania showdown. Euroleague's official speaker Eddy Vidal managed to quiet the noisy Lithuanian crowd in style before the game: "We respect you," he said, "so please respect us." Of course, the "minute of silence" in basketball is never longer than 45 seconds, but that's a different issue. Matteo Soragna of Benetton picked up a loose ball and hit an incredible three-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer. Lithuania finally found the way to play without Saras, by using swingmen Rimantas Kaukenas of Montepaschi, Jonas Maciulis of Zalgiris, Ramunas Siskauskas of CSKA and Linas Kleiza of at the same time with Darius Songaila or either of the Lavrinovic twins, forcing mismatches everywhere against any classic lineup. When Saras was back, however, he dominated the game. He slammed the ball on the floor at the buzzer, releasing all the adrenaline he had left. In my opinion, Jasikevicius is made for the beautiful game of European basketball. His team is undefeated and already qualified for the quarterfinals, yet Saras is just getting comfortable again.
Turkey entered its game against Slovenia knowing it was a last-chance situation. Everyone had good vibes before the game, and players like Efes big guys Ermal Kuqo and Kerem Gonlum, plus Kaya Peker of Tau Ceramica, were jumping off the bench with every shot made. In other words, the attitude was way better than what they offered in Palma de Mallorca. On the other hand, Slovenia is finally Matjaz Smodis's team. He's the man, period, a natural-born leader right in the prime of his career. His deep range, post skills and experience turn him into a nightmare for every opponent. Turkish head coach Bogdan Tanjevic has five assistants backing him, including legendary shooter Harun Erdenay, whose presence recalls a great story. In 2003, a half-retired Erdenay went to see his good friend Ibrahim Kutluay when he was playing for Seattle in the NBA. Erdenay was asked to shoot some after a Supersonics practice and he hit 33 consecutive three-pointers, at the NBA distance. Everyone there was puzzled. It was Turkey's turn to be puzzled this week, as Slovenia dominated their game. Rasho Nesterovic showed proved anyone who think he has ice water in his veins wrong, because he gave his best. Uros Slokar of Triumph Lyubertsy singlehandedly ended Turkey's hopes of qualifying by nailing 3 triples in a 1-21 run that kept the rock-solid Team Slovenia not only unbeaten, but mathematically in the quarterfinals. Advancing early and building confidence game by game make Slovenia extremely dangerous from now on.
I will be back after the next two days' worth of games, when more quarterfinalists could be determined. Spain goes against Russia in what should be the most interesting game Sunday, while Lithuania takes on France the next day. Everything can happen from now on, and I will be on top of it from the last row of the press section. Remember, the best is yet to come!
POSTED BY
Javier Gancedo, Euroleague.net
DATE:
Sunday, September 09, 2007