[lptitle title=”Start the countdown”]
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By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Only the top is left! Eurohoops power rankings are coming into an end with the top teams of the competitions. All eight of them have a shot for a medal and the minimum for them will be a sport in the pre-Olympic tournaments.
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.
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[lptitle title=”8. Germany“]
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The return of Dirk Nowitzki in the team for one more tournament is the motive that can make a difference for this team. The great Dirk must have a fitting ending with the national team. Also, a new star is rising. Dennis Schroder is starting to mature, he has NBA experience and his quickness can be an issue for many European defences. Germany has a complete roster in every position and playing at home is one more advantage in the “Group B of death”. We don’t expect them to go down without a bang.
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[lptitle title=”7. Turkey“]
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Turkey has won a silver medal in 2001, when the country was hosting Eurobasket. That’s the biggest achievement of the team which never finished in a place better than the eighth since 1951. Still the young generation of Turkish players is ready to change that. There’s a transition from the older quality players left, like Ilyasova, Erden and Guler, to the younger guns, Aldemir and of course the duo of Osman and Korkmaz. Bobby Dixon can provide one more scoring option and also in this case the group stage is crucial and can make or break the tournament.
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[lptitle title=”6. Croatia“]
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The new generation of Croatia is extremely talented, but it’s been 20 years since the last medal of the country, the bronze of 1995. The good news is that Croatia will start its Eurobasket campaign at home and that can build much needed confidence. In the preparation games it was obvious that Perasovic created already a solid and competitive team. However chemistry is still an issue as there’s too much talent and if the roles are not defined, that can create problems. And Croatia still is infamous about its lack of chemistry.
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[lptitle title=”5. Lithuania“]
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They have won the silver medal in the previous Eurobasket and they have proven that the new generation of the country is ready for the big stage. Coach Jonas Kazlauskas will not have in his team Motiejunas, Darius Lavrinovich and Kleiza – practically half a front line – but this doesn’t mean that the paint is empty. Jonas Valanciunas having the help of the veterans Jankunas and Javtokas can do the job and still the main question is the point guard position, where Kalnietis doesn’t have much help. Still Lithuania can even aim to a medal.
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[lptitle title=”4. Greece“]
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It has the best roster of recent years and no one is missing this time due to injury or denial. Greece will try to combine the basketball played by Spanoulis, Zisis, Printezis, Bouroussis and Perperoglou in Europe with the explosive NBA talent mainly of Antetokounmpo and then Koufos, Calathes and Papanikolaou. That been said, the Greeks never won a knock out game since 2009, when they won their last medal. That’s why the main target of the team is a spot in the pre-olympic tournament, but the talent of the team indicates that many more can be achieved, even if this will happen only by defense.
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[lptitle title=”3. Serbia“]
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The FIBA World Cup finalists have the ambition to get back to the pontium for the first time since 2009. Coach Djordjevic has kept his last summer core intact, but now nobody considers Serbia an underdog, like it happened one year ago. Serbia could have been stronger in the paint, if Boban Marjanovic was present. A lot will be decided early in the group phase at Berlin. If Serbia manages to get some kind of a rhythm then everything can be smooth until the end stage. Teodosic, Bjelica and Nedovic are the key players and the creators for the rest of the team, but Raduljica, Erceg and Kalinic have to step up.
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[lptitle title=”2. Spain“]
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Coach Sergio Scariolo is back in order to restore Spain to glory. After all the “Golden Generation” won its last gold back in 2011. There are excuses this time, since Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jose Calderon and Serge Ibaka – who was replaced in the naturalized spot by Mirotic – are missing. Pau Gasol will be once again the leader of the team and the Real Madrid trio, Rudy, Llull and Rodriguez have to take the next step. Yes, Spain is unbeaten in its preparation games but A) the opponents were not that strong and B) the real games are starting now.
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