[lptitle title=”Start the countdown”]
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By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
What are the power rankings for the teams that are taking part in this year’s EuroBasket? Eurohoops.net presents all the teams based on the goal they’ve set for the tournament and evaluates them based on their dynamics, talent, expectations and cohesion. We start with the teams that would consider advancement to the next stage a success.
The evaluation has been made strictly with basketball criteria based on the roster and the tradition that each team has, on the experience that the players who are going to compete have and the image they showed in the friendly games.
Certainly their presentation does not reflect our predictions for the final rankings, since the formulation of the groups and the intersections in the next stages were not taken into account in the compilation of the list.
So here are the teams that are aiming to get through to the next stage (24-17).
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[lptitle title=”24. Iceland“]
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In their first ever participation in a EuroBasket, Iceland will compete without any real stress and their only goal will be to enjoy their presence in the tournament. The only player that stands out is John Stefansson from Malaga who has a lot of experience from playing at the top level of European basketball. Otherwise, Iceland is characterized by the lack of big bodies and the pressing defense that can discombobulate opponents. However, being in the same group as Spain, Serbia, Turkey, Germany and Italy, it seems like they might easily become… the punching bag for the rest of the teams.
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[lptitle title=”23. Estonia“]
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They qualified for the fifth EuroBasket competition in their history after 14 years of absence. Estonia has only a few high quality players, they clearly lack solutions in the paint and they can stir up a game only if the shooters that they have get into a rhythm. Kangur and Vene lead the game, but it hasn’t been proven that they have solid help on their side. Estonia can make one win in the group, but advancing to the next round will truly be a big leap. Everyone, however, will remember this team since the coach (Tiit Sokk) is the father of two players on the roster (Sten and Tanel Sokk)!
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[lptitle title=”22. Ukraine“]
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The initial host country of this year’s EuroBasket was forced to relinquish holding the tournament, but the losses were not only at the organizational level but also at the level of people. The pleasant surprise of the last EuroBasket that had finished in sixth doesn’t have any special hopes of qualifying in this year’s tournament, since the valuable naturalized Pooh Jeter was replaced by Jerome Randle, while Gladyr, Pecherov, Lishchuk and Kravtsov have been left out as well. Mike Fratello’s departure from the bench and his replacement by Yevgen Murzin is also expected to be felt.
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