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[2nd round] Group J: SRB-SPA-ITA-PUR

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  • [2nd round] Group J: SRB-SPA-ITA-PUR

    Group is set with Serbia and Spain coming in undefeated. Most intriguing game to me right now is Italy/Spain. Spain has had their slow starts as per usual and might be right for an upset.
    55
    Serbia (3-0)
    0%
    28
    Spain (3-0)
    0%
    19
    Italy (2-1)
    0%
    7
    Puerto Rico (2-1)
    0%
    1
    Pistons: 2021-22 Let the Motorcade begin!!

    Bronze medal 2013 Eurobasket prediction Game.

  • #2
    Italy has defeated Spain in their last two meetings. The first win was at Eurobasket 2013 ,86-81 during the second phase and the second win at 2015 Eurobasket, 105-98 for the group stage at Berlin. Spain last won Italy at Summer Olympics 2004, at group stage games. As i remember the old days Italy always is a pain in the ass for Spain. I believe Italy is the team from Europe that makes more anxious Spanish players.

    P.S. Spain-Serbia-Italy have met all together for last time at Summer Olympics of Athens. Guess which one failed from the group?

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    • #3
      Originally posted by soulis79 View Post
      Italy has defeated Spain in their last two meetings. The first win was at Eurobasket 2013 ,86-81 during the second phase and the second win at 2015 Eurobasket, 105-98 for the group stage at Berlin. Spain last won Italy at Summer Olympics 2004, at group stage games. As i remember the old days Italy always is a pain in the ass for Spain. I believe Italy is the team from Europe that makes more anxious Spanish players.

      P.S. Spain-Serbia-Italy have met all together for last time at Summer Olympics of Athens. Guess which one failed from the group?
      I can help there

      We lost to fucking New Zealand and China, after defeating Italy and were dead last in our group with 1-4 score.

      Even though it was a weaker squad compared to 2002, the team still had 31-year old Bodiroga, Vujanic, Rakocevic, Scepanovic, Tomasevic, 21-year old Krstic, Radmanovic, Drobnjak, 20year old Pavlovic (4 of those were in the NBA at that time). To me that and 2005 Eurobasket at home with an even stronger team are the biggest embarrasments of our basketball. 2003 was also very bad but that team was just fucking awful, with so many cancellations, so I don't hold it against them that much.

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      • #4
        It was the Ginobili buzzer beater in a game you had won in the opener that sunk Serbia.
        Silver medal 2012 Olympics prediction game.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by soulis79 View Post
          Italy has defeated Spain in their last two meetings. The first win was at Eurobasket 2013 ,86-81 during the second phase and the second win at 2015 Eurobasket, 105-98 for the group stage at Berlin. Spain last won Italy at Summer Olympics 2004, at group stage games. As i remember the old days Italy always is a pain in the ass for Spain. I believe Italy is the team from Europe that makes more anxious Spanish players.

          P.S. Spain-Serbia-Italy have met all together for last time at Summer Olympics of Athens. Guess which one failed from the group?
          I was thinking exactly the same regarding the Spain v Italy game and yes, in 2004 it was Serbia Montenegro who was out which won't happen now unless they get abducted by aliens or something.

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          • #6
            It is pretty weird that both the US and Serbia had their most embarrassing Olympic performances in their histories in the same tournament. I couldn’t enjoy and appreciate yours because I was dealing with mine.
            Silver medal 2012 Olympics prediction game.

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            • #7
              For Spain there will be no let's turn it on now this time. They are not that good.
              Going with Italy here. Serbia as well, obviously.
              Bronze Medal - IBN 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Prediction Game

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              • #8
                Serbian basktball romantics have very strange relationship with Puerto Rico. They used to beat us at crucial tournaments where we took gold (like 1990 with this fantastic generation). I was very happy that they got tremendous applause in 2016 OQT, so many legends like Aroyo, Barea. Great team which has huge respect in the Balkans even most important fragments of this generations aren't there any more. Great classic tomorrow. Never underestimate the heart of a fighter team like Puerto Rico.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Buzissa View Post
                  For Spain there will be no let's turn it on now this time. They are not that good.
                  Going with Italy here. Serbia as well, obviously.
                  Surely Italy can beat Spain. They have a style of play that gives us the most trouble: very good outside shooting and tough as nails. And they have the kind of players that can get hot at any moment and single-handedly win a game in Belinelli, Gallinari, even Gentile who's having a very bad tournament so far.

                  But, come on, Spain does not need to "turn it on". We came out of the first round 3-0 winning by an average of 19 points while keeping opposing teams under 65 points. If we have a halfway-decent shooting day it will be over soon. If we struggle to make shots from outside as against Iran and Puerto Rico it will be our undoing, though.

                  All in all, I expect a good game. Spain is the favourite, but Italy has a good chance of coming out on top.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Darrell Armstrong View Post
                    Surely Italy can beat Spain. They have a style of play that gives us the most trouble: very good outside shooting and tough as nails. And they have the kind of players that can get hot at any moment and single-handedly win a game in Belinelli, Gallinari, even Gentile who's having a very bad tournament so far.
                    There was definitely an evolution on how Belinelli leads this team. Maybe I am being unfair, but I used to have the feeling that he came to these tournaments to get his 20ppg and then go home.
                    Maybe being with a championship team like the Spurs changed him for the better.

                    Originally posted by Darrell Armstrong View Post
                    But, come on, Spain does not need to "turn it on". We came out of the first round 3-0 winning by an average of 19 points while keeping opposing teams under 65 points. If we have a halfway-decent shooting day it will be over soon. If we struggle to make shots from outside as against Iran and Puerto Rico it will be our undoing, though.

                    All in all, I expect a good game. Spain is the favourite, but Italy has a good chance of coming out on top.
                    I know the opponents were not really demanding, but Spain was underwhelming in this group stage. They had to kind of 'turn it on' in every game. Against Tunisia they were down 10 at some point in the 2nd quarter, for example.

                    Italy is a team that can really put in the basket on a good night and I just don't see that kind of offensive firepower from Spain.
                    It is a bit concerning that Ricky Rubio has been carrying a big chunk of the offensive load for Spain. Marc Gasol is not even half as good as his brother offensively. Rudy is past his peak. No more Navarro. Sergio Llull is Spain's best playmaker and he has never been up to expectations when playing for the national team.

                    Let's see. But I like Italy's chances here.
                    Bronze Medal - IBN 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Prediction Game

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Buzissa View Post
                      I know the opponents were not really demanding, but Spain was underwhelming in this group stage. They had to kind of 'turn it on' in every game. Against Tunisia they were down 10 at some point in the 2nd quarter, for example.
                      Oh, well. Maybe we have different ideas of what "turning it on" implies. Let me explain: in previous years a common pattern was to see the starting lineup play well and get an early lead, then the second unit came in and all the 2nd quarter was a struggle, reaching halftime with a close score. The starting lineup would then spend most of the 3rd quarter pressured to rebuild the lead, only with much less success than in the 1st quarter. Then a flurry of changes would happen and at some point during the 4th quarter someone (usually Pau or Navarro) would get hot and score several baskets in a row while the rest of the team worked their tails off in defence and got some crucial defensive stops. That 4 or 5 plays displaying extra defensive effort while making tough baskets is my definition of "turning it on".

                      We have had nothing similar this year. On the contrary, that moment you mention we were down 10 against Tunisia, instead of reinserting Ricky and Marc into the game, Scariolo scoured the end of the bench and put Quino Colom in. And he wasn't espectacular, simply slowed the game down a bit, made a three pointer, organized the offence a little bit better... and slowly but surely we closed the gap and then beat them by 40 points in the second half.

                      The other two games also featured comebacks, but instead of going all-out for two or three minutes, we mostly kept a level head and looked for different solutions other than dumping the ball to our best player (the tried and true tactic of "let Pau dig us out of this hole"). Against Iran we saw Claver taking the role of go-to scorer for a couple plays, then Rudy, then Willy, then Ricky, then Marc... it's a much more balanced offence than before, although it may not be as effective. You can argue that this year we are not seeing those prolonged spurts of brilliance because we lack the top gear we had in the past. It may be true, but I'd like to think we are just taking things in stride and we'll see their best effort only when it's truly needed.
                      Last edited by Darrell Armstrong; 09-05-2019, 01:14 PM.

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                      • #12
                        Thanks!

                        Originally posted by Katastroika View Post
                        Serbian basktball romantics have very strange relationship with Puerto Rico. They used to beat us at crucial tournaments where we took gold (like 1990 with this fantastic generation). I was very happy that they got tremendous applause in 2016 OQT, so many legends like Aroyo, Barea. Great team which has huge respect in the Balkans even most important fragments of this generations aren't there any more. Great classic tomorrow. Never underestimate the heart of a fighter team like Puerto Rico.
                        We have equal respect and admiration, you forgot WC 2002 ;-).

                        Your team is impressive and they play high quality basketball they been working on grooming the stars for a long time and has given great success. There is a great basketball philosophy and money to support the Federatio.

                        Fire power is definitely gonna be an issue for us, as well as height. I ll wake up to watch the game and hope I don’t suffer as much as the Olympic qualifier that you just mentioned. I hope we can keep it semi-close and I hope we have a miracle with Italy.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Sergio Llull with a lightly sprained wrist and Rudy Fernández with a problem in his left ankle are doubts in the game against Italy. Apparently they are going to force to play.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by HeinrichMohr View Post
                            Sergio Llull with a lightly sprained wrist and Rudy Fernández with a problem in his left ankle are doubts in the game against Italy. Apparently they are going to force to play.
                            Maybe a 5th guard like Jaime Fernández, who can play both positions, would come in handier than Colom now. Not that I'm complaining, after a dreadful preparation he's been quite useful in the first round.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Darrell Armstrong View Post
                              Maybe a 5th guard like Jaime Fernández, who can play both positions, would come in handier than Colom now. Not that I'm complaining, after a dreadful preparation he's been quite useful in the first round.
                              Could be. It's true that Colom has some limitations but did a good job during the qualifying round just like Oriola, but if there is one that cannot put the ball in an olympic pool, that's Beirán.

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