By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
The rumors of teams tanking games in order to chose opponent in the quarterfinals and the fact that two weeks were spend before reaching the climax of Eurobasket are making FIBA Europe think about changes in the competition format.
The expansion to 24 teams proved a success, with many countries investing into their national teams program. However the current Eurobasket format proved to be quite long – and maybe that kind of explains the empty seats at Stozice Arena – and also the second group phase creates the conditions in which a team may not desire to win a specific game.
FIBA Europe would like to improve the format and the possibility of changes is strong. In that case the new format will probably include only one group phase with the four top teams of each group advancing and then playing knock out games until the final.