There has been drama — like the Russian win Monday that eliminated Macedonia.
There have been surprises — none bigger that Germany being eliminated in group play and thereby eliminated from the Olympics. Dirk Nowitzki admitted later he was tired and maybe not able to help his team as much as he wanted to.
And now we are down to a final eight at EuroBasket, the Olympic qualifying tournament. This means we are in the knockout stage — one and done. The two finalists will get their passports stamped for England as they will earn berths in the 2012 London Olympics. Finishers two through six are headed to the pre-Olympics last chance qualifying tournament next July.
Here are the four quarterfinal games:
Spain vs. Slovenia: Spain has been the best team in the tournament so far, compiling a 7-1 record behind brothers Marc and Pau Gasol. We all love to watch great perimeter players, but Ricky Rubio has struggled in EuroBasket and it hasn’t mattered because Spain has the best and most skilled front line. Big men win. Spain has depth to go behind them at every position. Anything less than an automatic Olympic bid would be a bitter disappointment for Spain.
Slovenia has not looked good of late and needed to beat Finland on Monday to get into the quarterfinals — they did 67-60, but it was a sloppy, unimpressive win. Slovina’s zone defense can be picked apart and Spain has the players to do it. If you want a silver lining, Slovenia does go in with no pressure against Spain. Just not sure that will be enough.
Macedonia vs. Lithuania: Macedonia has been on of the surprise teams of the tournament and they almost beat Russia on Monday (scroll down to see the video of Russia’s winning shot – that guy did not call bank). Macedonia is led by Bo McCalebb, who was raised and played his ball in the New Orleans area and now makes a nice living overseas.
Lithuania should beat them, but everybody has been surprised by Macedonia this tournament and if Lithuania coasts they will pay. Lithuania has some players you know, such as Darius Songaila, Sarunas Jasikeicius, and recent No. 5 pick of the Raptors Jonas Valanciunas. They move spectacularly well off the ball and are hard to defend. They are rightly favored in this game, but it will not be easy.
France vs. Greece: France came in with questions about their offense but Tony Parker has been the MVP of this tournament, leading the French to a 7-1 record (and the loss came to Spain when Parker and other key players were held out for rest). France has good defense with Joakim Noah in the paint and Nicolas Batum of Portland on the wing, plus they also have Boris Diaw. They expect one of those Olympic berths.
Greece has been solid all tournament but not spectacular — they do not look like the squad that knocked off the Americans the World Championships five years ago, in part because key players are not here. They are good enough not to get blown out of games but seem to lack the ability to finish.
Russia vs. Serbia: Russia has remained undefeated in this tournament (8-0) and Andrei Kirilenko has led the way averaging 13.9 points per game. They haven’t blown people away, but they have played solid all around basketball and in the crunch have found ways to win, like how they beat Macedonia in the final game of group play.
Serbia will be no pushover – this team beat out Dirk Nowitzki’s Germany and World Championship runner up Turkey to advance to this stage. Serbia has one of those classically European offenses with a lot of ball and player movement that when they are crisp is hard to stop. But their pick-and-roll defense has been exposed in this tournament and you can bet Russia will exploit it.