EuroBasket 2007 commenced yesterday, here’s a quick recap of all the games…
Slovenia 69: Italy 68
The game of the night had to be Slovenia-Italy, as the two teams changed leads four times in the last 30 seconds.
The Italians had made a furious comeback, after being down 13 with just f
ive minutes remaining. Massimo Bulleri hit back-to-back baskets and Italy finally grabbed the lead from Slovenia 65-64 with 30 seconds to go in the game.
From there it was all Jaka Lakovic: Lakovic dribbled into traffic, drew a foul and hit two free throws to put Slovenia up 66-65 with 14 seconds remaining. Massimo Bulleri answered again as he took a pass from Gianluca Basile and hit a three from the corner, putting Italy up 68-66.
With five seconds left, Jaka Lakovic took the inbounds pass, dribbled up-court quickly, crossed his dribble over and launched a straight-away three pointer that hit nothing but net giving Slovenia the 69-68 victory with no time left. Matjaz Smodis, who has missed the last several Eurobaskets because of injuries, returned to lead the Slovenians in scoring with 20 points.
Obviously, Smodis believed that the win was crucial not only because it improved Slovenia’s hopes to advance but for their confidence and how to close out an opponent “The win against Italy has given us further confidence that we can beat top teams. We know that this game is crucial for us and we cannot fail. However, we must learn to be able to control the game when we are leading and not do as we did against Italy when we allowed them to get back in the game.”
Check out the video of the last three minutes and the final shot.
Spain 82: Portugal 56
Host country Spain got Jorge Garbajosa back just in time, but lost Juan Carlos Navarro right before the game. La Bomba was sidelined for three games because of a leg injury. The Spanairds beat Portugal handily 82-56, but had to withstand an early challenge from their Iberian counterparts before eventually taking control of the game late in the first quarter. Portugal was only down 16-13 when Spain went on a 16-0 run spanning the Pau Gasol scored 19 points and had 3 assists. Joao Santos and Paulo Cunha each scored 9 points for Portugal.
Russia 73: Serbia 65
Russia defeated Serbia 73-65 behind a great all-around performance from Andrei Kirilenko. The Utah Jazz player had 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. The Russian defense shut down the middle for Darko Milicic, who scored only 9 points on 2-13 shooting and held the Serbian team to a 32.7 field goal percentage. Victor Khryapa scored 11 points and pulled in 9 rebounds, Milan Gurovic scored 24 points for the Serbs.
Germany 83: Czech Republic 78 (OT)
Germany rode 35 points and 11 rebounds from Dirk Nowitzki in putting down a tougher than expected Czech Republic 83-78 in overtime. Former North Carolina player Ademola Okulaja contributed13 points and 11 rebounds, while Mithat Demirel added 18 points for Germany. Jiri Welsch led the Czechs with 24 points, while sharpshooter Lubos Barton scored 14 points, it was on only 2-11 shooting. Barton also contributed 10 rebounds.
Latvia 85: Croatia 77
Latvia shocked Croatia with strong play from all-around. The Latvians hit 11-18 three pointers but their defense was what won the game for them. Every time the Croatians made a run, Latvia had an answer on the defensive whether taking a charge or coming up with a timely steal. Armands Skele led Latvia with 17 points and 5 assist, and centre Andris Biedrins scored 14 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Mario Kasun was 7-8 from the field and scored 18 for team Croatia.
France 74: Poland 66
France was surely the favorite in this match especially since Poland’s roster was depleted with injuries. France led throughout but was never safely ahead to get comfortable. Tony Parker scored 16 points and passed out 4 assists, but only shot 5-16 from the field. Tariq Kirksay added 12 points for France. Adam Wojcik led Poland with 19 points, while Filip Dylewicz contributed with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Greece 76: Israel 66
Israel was the final qualifier for the Eurobasket and found themselves with no relief in sight as they faced the heavily-favorited Greeks in their first match. The Greeks, led by Vasillis Spanoulis with 19 points, were not able to put their opponents away until a flurry of late three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Without Antonis Fotsis, forwards Kostas Tsartsaris and Demos Dikoudis each scored 15 points for Greece. Yotam Halperin led Israel with 20 points and 6 assists
Lithuania 86: Turkey 69
Lithuania welcomed Sarunas Jasikevicius back to the national team, and the Golden Boy looked as if never missed a beat with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. On the other side, Turkey welcomed back their NBA players Hidayet Turkoglu (18pts) and Mehmet Okur (11 points and 10 rebounds), but the two combined to shoot just 8-26 from the field. And their performance was representative of their offensive woes as Turkey couldn’t find a rhythm for their offense. Rimantas Kaukenas had 14 points for Lithuania while NBA players Linas Kleiza and Darius Songalia each had 12 points. Ramunas Siskauskas added 10, all in the first quarter. Ibrahim Kuatluay scored 17 for Turkey.
[Eurobasket 2007 forum] [official site]
According to ESPN, little 5-5 Earl Boykins, the Charlotte Bobcat’s backup point guard, just signed a one-year contract with Italian club Virtus Bologna worth $3.5 million. According to one of his agents, Mark Termini, Boykins’s contract includes income from the club’s marketing and sponsorship deals.
