The Final: Spain - France

[Darrell Armstrong]

Woa. The trident of offensive basketball you mention there. You are reaching hard on this one. Very nitpicky on a 14+11ast double double with zero turnovers (magic or not...) with a better plus minus. And at the same time very nonchalant on the (my opinion) weakest MVP of the last 30 years of Eurobasket having a meh performance in the final.

I'm sure you can find a lot of other centers that faced that trident and both outscored and outrebounded them. In little more than 20 minutes and with better percentages than Willy. Go find one if you can.

The truth is, France had a clear advantage at the center position for almost every game in this tournament. And Willy turned this into an advantage for Spain. Brown managed scored 14 points... and was clearly outscored by Heurtel and Albicy.

Having said that, I must agree with you in both statements: weakest MVP, and so-so in the final game. Still, Willy has a better case for MVP as the best player (in terms of statistical efficiency) from the best squad.

[Cojayar]

Lithuanians are so afraid of having a russian minority that they have made double citizenship impossible.

This or they have been too long under a dictature. The guy who is giving passports with his rulles is a bigot. He is not afraid of making a fool of himself.

[Darrell Armstrong]

Thanks Espana. I made big money thanks to you!

Good for you! I am surprised anyone could give better odds to France. Collet has never won an Eurobasket game against Scariolo. Or an elimination game, at any rate. Spain always saves best for last, as history can attest. And you can tell Scariolo considers this squad a coach's dream and would outcoach Collet even harder than usual.

All in all, the result can hardly come as a surprise. My only doubt was who would be the executor today. It's a tribute to Spain's system that almost anyone can rise to the occasion and have a field day even after some poor showings. Jaime Fernández was scoreless against Germany, and then out of nowhere he became a sharpshooter and a pest on defence. And of course Juancho, who had had some very rough shooting nights lately caught fire and provided the iconic moment of the tournament by knocking down 6 three-pointers in 6 minutes. But someone else would have stepped up if these two hadn't. A final game against France? That's like a wish come true for us.

[janketa]

At the end winner is from the famous "the weakest" Group A

[ronmercer80]

France lost shooting 76% 2pts (19/25, they missed only 6!) and a respectable 39% 3pts, 79% Fts.

The final result could seem unbelievable to someone who didn't watch the game. Of course rebounds and turnovers were decisive but the clear sensation especially in the last quarter was that France was unable even to shoot. The same sensation I perceived during the last quarter of the semifinal Germany-Spain.

The Spanish team won thanks to defense giving a lesson to everyone who claims that defense is demodé.

[madmax]

Not sure if you actually remember that Lithuanian Nt used to have 2 polish brothers playing for them at the same time.

lol, so true...but he didn't twist his pants in a bunch back then eventhough they spoke lithuanian with a very heavy accent and had some other off court "misbehaviours", to say the least

[Alvertis4]

Not a fan of Spain but happy for Rudy

[fasoulaki]

Not a fan of Spain but happy for Rudy

For the very first time I feel sympathy for the spanish basketball national team. The Hernangomez brothers are preety cool guys. But especially Alberto Diaz is such a fine character. I remember a scene in the semifinal where he fouled a german player unintended and he apologized several times. In addition his interview where he said that he thougt he will be watching Eurobasket from home was very impressive. Modest and polite a real rolemodel athlete. I did not believe in them at the beginning of the tournament but the gold medal is well deserved. I diont give a shit about these naturalization discussion some guys try to use to reduze this great spanish success.

[Darrell Armstrong]

France lost shooting 76% 2pts (19/25, they missed only 6!) and a respectable 39% 3pts, 79% Fts.

The final result could seem unbelievable to someone who didn't watch the game. Of course rebounds and turnovers were decisive but the clear sensation especially in the last quarter was that France was unable even to shoot. The same sensation I perceived during the last quarter of the semifinal Germany-Spain.

The Spanish team won thanks to defense giving a lesson to everyone who claims that defense is demodé.

Spain employed several zone and mix defences that few other NTs even dare to nowadays. Or at least I haven't seen them, please correct me if I'm wrong. Even though they allowed some good shots, they also caused tons of turnovers. Spain scored 35 points off turnovers. That has to be the stat of the match.

[Killer Bob]

Spain employed several zone and mix defences that few other NTs even dare to nowadays. Or at least I haven't seen them, please correct me if I'm wrong. Even though they allowed some good shots, they also caused tons of turnovers. Spain scored 35 points off turnovers. That has to be the stat of the match.

France was the worst team in turnovers in Eurobasket, kinda shocking that team like that made the Final.

[Darrell Armstrong]

France was the worst team in turnovers in Eurobasket, kinda shocking that team like that made the Final.

They were extremely lucky. Lithuania, Turkey and Italy basically shot themselves in the foot. They could have easily lost any of those three very tight games. Then, every top contender on their side of the bracket removed themselves from competition. Their matchup in the semifinal could only have been Poland, Ukraine, Belgium, or Slovenia (with Doncic on one leg). Not exactly a great challenge.

France has a lot of talented individuals. As a team, well, they didn't show much. Which is a shame since they could have used their strong showing at the Olympics to claim their place as the new European superpower. Instead, I came away more impressed by Germany, Italy, and even Finland. Turkey with a healthy Larkin and Yurtseven would have fared better than France, too.

[turbostef]

Spain gained my respect a long time ago. I would not say that the spanisch team got my sympathy or even love but this years team seemed quite down to earth and sympathic even thoug Rudy was on the team

Nevertheless like 2019, Spain was humble, no drama and at the end they just beat them all. Respect. I whished the so called favourites would have done the same. Semis Greece-Spain and France-Lithuania (with Doncic being 100% healthy) or Serbia would have been Epic from a Basketball Gourmet Standpoint.

And so another FIBA Tournament ends with a quite familiar ending. Spain winning it all.

But I still don't get it why Spain has a need to naturalize a random American (with this year carrying the team during a long period). Spain did it in the past with Ibaka and Mirotic but this year's naturalization was even on a whole other level.

C'mon. 45 Mio. People, high Budget in the Federation, best domestic league after the NBA etc. And then you Naturalize a random American like 2 Million Countrys? That's a weak move in my opinion.

But at the end of the day Spain just utilizes the rules without no second thought.

[paspalj]

France was the worst team in turnovers in Eurobasket, kinda shocking that team like that made the Final.

It defies all logic that France made it to the final. Not only they were the worst in terms of turnovers, they also played really bad basketball throughout the tournament.

[Levenspiel]

France played great in spurts, especially when they exerted lockdown defense, and that was enough to overcome the previous opponents, with some luck obviously. Even in the final we could see that, but Scariolo really did not leave anything to chance. His time out when the difference dropped from 18 I think to 12 pts is an example.

[Killer Bob]

It defies all logic that France made it to the final. Not only they were the worst in terms of turnovers, they also played really bad basketball throughout the tournament.

France lost against Germany, Slovenia and Spain, was really bad against Hungary and Bosnia and luckily escaped against Turkey and Italy. Second place is a miracle.