Interbasket

Spain (7-1) and Russia (7-1) advanced to the finals of Eurobasket 2007, bringing an end to the nearly two-week tournament.

Spain: Russia @ 21:30, September 16, 2007 (game thread)
The final game will be played exactly one-week to the day when Russia’s only loss came at the hands of the Spanairds in the second round. Russia lost that game 81-69 and never seriously threatened Spain, who held a comfortable lead the entire fourth quarter.

Pau Gasol isn’t nearly as dominating as he has been in previous tournaments, but that isn’tbecause the Spanish superstar has lost a step. Unfortunately for Spain’s opponents, the Spanairds rely less on Gasol because they have fantastic experienced players supporting him — Juan Carlos Navarro, Jose Manual Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, Jorge Garbajosa, Felipe Reyes, Alex Mumbru, and Carlos Jimenez.

Jose Calderon has been fabulous for Spain, shooting 55% from the field and showing fire and leadership at just the right times. Navarro, injured at the beginning of the tournament, is shooting 61% from three since returning to the team.

No doubt, the key player for Russia has been Andrei Kirilenko. Kirilenko had an up-and-down last season with the Utah Jazz, however he’s shown no ill-effects and has quietly dominated the tournament thus far. He leads his team in points (18.1), rebounds (9.0), steals (2.4), blocked shots (1.8), and is second in assists on the team (2.5). But as important a player as Kirilenko is, don’t underestimate the contributions of his teammates, particularly Victor Khryapa and naturalized player John Robert Holden. Holden actually averages the most minutes per game and Khryapa has been steady throughout - 11.9 points, 7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2 steals a game. As a team, the Russians are shooting a very efficient 54.5% from 2-point. Make sure to follow/discuss the game in our forum, click here.

Semi-final action:
Spain 82: Greece 77
In a hotly-contested match, Spain prevailed over Greece for the third time in a year. Greece, the Eurobasket 2005 champions, will play Lithuania in the third place game and that means that there will be a new EuroBasket champion this year. Spain was led by a three-pronged attack; Juan Carlos Navarro and Pau Gasol each scored 23 points for Spain, the two will team up this year in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies and Jose Manual Calderon added 18 points. Following a fantastic performance yesteday against Slovenia, Theo Papaloukas could not follow-up on that and finished the game with only three points. Vasillis Spanoulis led Greece with 24 points and 5 assists. Pau Gasol added 6 rebounds and 3 blocks for Spain.

Russia 84: Lithuania 76 (game thread)
Russia upset the previously-unbeaten Lithuania. Led by Andrei Kirilenko’s 29 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals for Russia. JR Holden added 18 points, while Victor Khryapa had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. “This tournament we have not quit, not once,” Russia coach David Blatt said. “In this tournament, we have played to win.” Ramunas Siskauskas scored 30 points for Lithuania. Sarunas Jasikevicius had only 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 turnovers.

The first and second-place finishers at Eurobasket determines the two European teams that will receive an automatic berth to the 2008 Olympics in Beijeing. Since Spain has already qualified via the 2006 World Championships, and are guaranteed at-worst a second place finish at EuroBasket, the third place game has additional meaning as the winner of that game will receive the automatic berth. Lithuania and Greece will battle it out for third place @ 19:00 (game thread).