By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
It’s amazing how time goes by, but 2014 will not be easily forgotten. The year of the first FIBA World Cup changed quietly the basketball landscape for years to come.
Here are the top ten moments of 2014, some of them loud celebrations and some others key turns in the flow of things. Changes are coming in the horizon and that includes also Eurohoops. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet. So with no particular order, those are the 2014 key incidents.
Serbia emerges again
Milos and company proved that one of the great basketball schools in Europe is back on track. The Yugoslavian and then Serbian national team dominated the European and world stage from late the 70’s until 2002 and the Mundobasket crown. Since then and after a relatively quiet decade, the Serbs are back with a silver world medal. And speaking of medals…
Team USA still out of reach
Having many and key absences, many believed that this relatively week version of US national team was going to be in trouble in Spain. Is it turned out, USA still means trouble for the rest of the world. There’s no way to deny that the best players and the best league of the globe reside in the States, the know-how and the talent is unmatched and despite the huge progress of the rest of the world, the gap is still there.
“Freak” no more
He was introduced to us during 2013, but 2014 is the year of his explosion. Giannis Antetokounpo is not a “freak” anymore, but a solid player and a future All Star who evolved incredibly in just a year. The sky seems to be the limit for him, he is a unique case and a unique story that never stops to amaze everyone.
Spurs international love
San Antonio may be a small market, but the Spurs have the unified support of the basketball world outside the US borders. Not only they have a coach of Serbian decent, they added an Italian born and raised top assistant in Ettore Messina amd they have a record number of non American players, including two Frenchmen, Parker and Diaw, and an Italian, Belinelli. That’s what makes them true world champions, as the NBA likes to call the winners of its league title.
Maccabi keeps the underdog trend
Who believed that Maccabi Tel Aviv will return to Israel with a Euroleague title? Probably Maccabi and its fans who stormed Milan in Euroleague’s Final Four. After the back to back titles of Olympiacos, the Israelis did their best to imitate the success of the Reds in 2012 against heavily favorited CSKA Moscow, destroying on the way also Real Madrid. And that brings us to the next topic…
Blatt gets to coach Lebron
David Blatt is American, but he has made a career for himself in Europe. He became a legend in Maccabi by winning the Euroleague title and then left in order to became the first Euroleague coach of the year who gets a head coaching job in the NBA. And after that, he got to coach Lebron James! Despite the recent woes of Cleveland, this was a storybook year for Blatt.
Turkey rising
It was a trend from last year, but in 2014 it became more than obvious. Turkey is European’s basketball “El Dorado” as it was Italy in the late 80s, Greece in the 90’s and Spain during the last decade. There’s money to spend and prestige, as some of the top coaches and players in Europe made Turkey their home. The basketball explosion in the country can’t be compared not even with 2001, when Turkey got a silver Eurobasket medal, and for the near future TBL is going to get only bigger and better.
Eurobasket in four countries
The political situation in Ukraine forced FIBA Europe to think out of the box. The result is that Eurobasket 2015 will be played in four different countries, making it an experiment which will help the whole old continent to focus more in the sport with France, in love with Parker and “Les Bleus”, being the center of the tournament.
Operation “time out”
What happened in Siena and the inglorious end of glorious team – which fought until the last moment on the court for the Italian league title – is a lesson to be learned. Rules, laws and authorities which are ready to do their job are needed in European basketball, or else it’s just a matter of time for this to happen again.
FIBA’s new statuses
This piece of news didn’t make big headlines, but the changes it brings will have more than great ramifications in the near future. FIBA took back power from the local FIBA zones, decided on a unified calendar which includes national team games during the season – an idea opposed by the NBA, Euroleague and some domestic leagues – and tries to establish its World Cup as the biggest basketball event, taking the attention away from the Olympics with the idea of turning them into an U22 tournament still being circulated. So, interesting times are coming….