That Serbia/Slovenia game was awesome. Hard fought game and Slovenians were very gracious in defeat. Although I don't know how you allow a Croatian to referee a Serbia game but I digress. Serbia-Spain tomorrow...I cannot wait.
Croatian-Serb conflicts arent as bad anymore. But yeah, Milos Teodosic is a beast, 22 year old, 32 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists the kid isnt human.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/19/eurobasket.recap.ap/index.html KATOWICE, Poland (AP) -- Pau Gasol scored 18 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead world champion Spain past Greece 82-64 and into the final of the European basketball championship on Saturday. The dominating win gave Spain, a six-time runner-up at the tournament, another shot at its first European title. On Sunday, Spain will play Serbia, which defeated Slovenia 96-92 in overtime, led by guard Milos Teodosic's 32 points. Playing tight man-to-man defense, the Spaniards shut down Greece guard Vasileios Spanoulis and cleaned up on the boards to control their semifinal. "It was a very good game, especially because our [level of] defense once again was the one we've been working so many weeks to get to," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. "This is the main key." Spain held Greece scoreless for the first four minutes of the second quarter to open a 34-24 lead and continued to push the pace, getting out on the break and extending the lead to as many as 23 points. "We made some bad decisions offensively in the first half, we gave them some fast breaks and they scored some easy points," Greece guard Ioannis Kalampokis said. "It was hard for us to try to recover." Spain guard Rudy Fernandez chipped in 14 points. At the European championship two years ago, Spain beat Greece in the semifinal, only to lose in front of its home crowd to Russia on a last-second shot. Spain is determined not to repeat the failure this weekend. "We are one step closer to our goal," Spain center Marc Gasol, Pau's brother, said. "We want it a lot." Earlier Saturday, Tony Parker scored 28 points to lead France past Turkey 80-68 to clinch a spot at next year's world championship. After trailing by as many as 19 in the first half, France battled back to tie the game at 59 late in the third quarter. Parker then hit two free throws to spark a 17-0 run that put the French ahead for good. "We are so happy to win this game because the first quarter was really tough for us, we were down 20 and never gave up," France forward Florent Pietrus said. "And we're so happy because we're going to the world championship next year." France and Turkey both lost in the quarterfinals, and were playing only to determine the final placings. The top six teams at the tournament automatically qualify for next year's worlds. Turkey has already qualified as the tournament's host. Croatia nabbed the other automatic bid for the 2010 worlds, beating Russia 76-69 behind 18 points and eight assists from Roko-Leni Ukic. Sergey Monya led Russia with 18 points. Croatia will play France on Sunday for fifth place, while Russia will face Turkey in the seventh-place game.
Finals schedule, 20.09.2009 5-6 France vs. Croatia -- 6:00 am ET 7-8 Turkey vs. Russia -- 8:15 am ET 3-4 (Bronze) Greece vs. Slovenia -- 12:30 pm ET 1-2 (Gold) Spain vs. Serbia -- 3:15 pm ET http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/ci...ompID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.html p.s. after the semifinals, Russia became that unlucky team that didn't qualify for the world championship. But, they might get a wildcard to attend.
The France comeback on Turkey was incredible. I think it was 33-14 at one point and even the announcer was saying the game was about to get ugly. Once the game turned, it really turned. TP was showing his stuff.
Spain won the title of eurobasket 2009, Paul Gasol was named MVP. The final standings 1. Spain 2. Serbia 3. Greece 4. Slovenia 5. France 6. France 7. Russia 8. Turkey p.s. Top 6 teams plus Turkey the host have qualified for the 2010 world champioship.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/20/eurobasket.recap.ap/index.html KATOWICE, Poland (AP) -- Pau Gasol scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead world champion Spain to a 85-63 win over Serbia in the final of the European basketball championship on Sunday. The victory gives Spain its first ever European title after six runner-up finishes, and was extra sweet for Gasol, who had to settle for silver at the 2003 and 2007 editions of the tournament. "It was a great game, and obviously we won the final that we lost twice before this year, so I'm extremely happy and it's an unforgettable day for us," Gasol said. "We just worked so hard to win this championship and I'm just super proud of my teammates." Two years after losing in the final in the closing seconds, Spain made sure to take care of business early this year. The Spaniards dominated from start to finish on both ends of the court, playing pressure man-to-man defense, cleaning up on the boards and pushing the tempo for fast break baskets to jump to a 15-point first quarter lead. Serbia would never recover from the early onslaught. "We lost the first half, and probably the game was finished," Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic said. "The Spanish team was better and they deserved absolutely this title." Spain was tipped as the favorite coming into the tournament, but struggled early, dropping its opener to Serbia 66-57 and a second round game to Turkey. That loss, however, prompted the team to change its attitude and raise its level of play. "We were aware of our individual quality, but we weren't playing as well or as good as we should have collectively," Gasol said. "So we sat down, and were like it's now or never, we have to react, we have to work together, we have to start having fun playing, playing with enthusiasm. And it just clicked." The team went on to win its final five games by an average of 21.2 points. "At the beginning we were a little bit concerned, but with hard work and great commitment from players we got to be an excellent defensive team, and we showed it in the last games," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. Serbia, a surprise finalist, had the youngest team at the tournament with an average age of 22.4, and for the first time at the championship it showed against Spain. "Maybe this final came a little bit early for this team," Ivkovic said. "We don't have this kind of experience, but we don't have any reason to be disappointed." Earlier Sunday, Greece slipped past Slovenia 57-56 to win the bronze medal. In a hard-nosed defensive struggle, Greece used a 14-0 run in the first half to open a 10-point gap and hung on in the closing seconds to win the bronze two years after finishing fourth at the tournament. "Today the team was very focused," Greece forward Antonios Fotsis said. "Everybody wanted to play well and at least win the bronze medal. This is a very big success for us." Slovenia closed the Greek lead to just one point in the fourth quarter on a free throw from center Erazem Lorbek, but could never pull even despite a handful of chances. Leading 57-56 with 4.6 seconds to play, Greece guard Vasileios Spanoulis missed two free throws, opening the door one final time for Slovenia. Bostjan Nachbar grabbed the rebound off the Spanoulis miss but couldn't hit a desperation three at the buzzer. "I am very happy today and very proud of my players," Greece coach Jonas Kazlauskas said. "I think we did a great job, we were leading from the beginning to the last minutes." Center Sofoklis Schortsanitis came off the bench to lead Greece with 23 points, while point guard Jaka Lakovic scored 16 points for Slovenia. Also, France beat Croatia 69-62 behind 18 points from Antoine Diot in the fifth-place game. Both teams had already qualified for next year's world championship in Turkey and were only playing to determine the final placings. Also, guard Vitalii Fridzon scored 26 points to lead Russia past Turkey 89-66 for seventh place at the tournament. Center Omer Asik had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Turkey.
All eurobasket 2009 team: Pau Gasol (Spain), Spanoulis(Greece), Erazem Lorbek (Slovenia), Fernandez (Spain), & Teodosic (Serbia).
