KAUNAS, Lithuania — There is only one thing that is ultimately relevant for Americans about the team that just won EuroBasket: One year from now, will Spain have what it takes to defeat Team USA in the gold medal game of the London Olympics? Because let’s face it, this Spanish team showed it is clearly the second-best team in the world right now, just as they were three years ago in Beijing when they put 107 points on the board (in a
This is big news in Greece this morning, reported in gazetta.gr by my good friend and colleague Antonis Kalkavouras. Jasikevicius spent three seasons with Panathinaikos from 2007-08 to 2009-10, then split last season for Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania and Fenerbahce Ulker in Turkey. Despite playing less than 20 minutes per game, the 35-year-old Jasikevicius was Lithuania’s third-leading scorer in EuroBasket and averaged 4.6 assists — the third-highest total in the tournament behind Milos Teodosic of Serbia and Viktor Khryapa of Russia. Lithuania finished fifth in the tournament after defeating Greece 73-69 Saturday night, and they
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — The most memorable dunk in French basketball history will remain a dunk that they are not proud of. But at least now, there is a dunk — courtesy of Nicolas Batum — that the French can replay over and over again without feeling ashamed. France qualified for the 2012 Olympics by defeating Russia 79-71 Friday night in the semifinals of EuroBasket, staying strong down the stretch, thanks mostly to Batum, to end an 11-year limbo that began
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — “He was like a maestro today. He was like a picture in the Louvre or something like that — just beautiful. Juan Carlos, you’ve got to recognize, is one of the artists of European basketball.” It was a DaVinci of a quote that Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo delivered Friday, about as eloquent of an assessment a man could deliver after what he witnessed from his own personal Michelangelo. Juan Carlos Navarro scored 19 points in the third quarter to single-handedly break
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — You never quite know what will come out of David Blatt’s mouth, but it is always interesting, often controversial (such as what he said last summer about the Soviet Union rightfully winning the 1972 gold medal game against the United States at the Munich Olympics in 1972), and sometimes right on point. Emphasis on sometimes. Two examples from his post-game comments after Thursday night’s 77-67 victory over Serbia put Blatt’s Russian team into the semifinals of EuroBasket. _ “Viktor Khryapa was
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — Historically, when the French have played the Greeks, the script has so often played out the same way: It would be a close game in the fourth quarter, and the French would then fall apart like they were mimicking the recent Greek economy. So when Thursday’s quarterfinal was a two-point game with 2:01 left, the French should have been predisposed to expect the worst. Who would make the crucial mistake? Who would commit a stupid foul? Who would let
KAUNAS, Lithuania — Sadly, there will be no more Dancer of the Day entries from EuroBasket. Now that the tournament has moved to Kaunas, the setup in the arena is different than it was in Vilnius. The media is restricted to one end zone area of the arena, and the dancers are stationed at the other end of the arena. There is no free movement between the two zones (Lithuanian security guards take themselves quite seriously), and thus no opportunity to
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — Just when you thought you’ve seen it all … Well, you’ve never seen it all. That’s something you always have to keep in mind when attending a FIBA tournament. Greece defeating the United States in the semifinals of the World Championship in Japan in 2006? That was right up there, probably No. 1 in my book. Russia beating Spain in Madrid for the gold medal at EuroBasket in 2007? Yeah, that’s up there, too. Might have been the closest