FIBA's final international tournament of the summer, Eurobasket, ended with Spain winning its first continental championship. Pau Gasol won the tournament MVP award as Spain knocked off Serbia in the title game. Spain, the No. 3 team in the world according to FIBA's rankings, won the 2006 World Championship, but had never won Europe.Spain actually coasted through the early rounds before obliterating Greece in the semifinals and Serbia in the finals. Serbia may have been the surprise of the tournament, though. After taking gold at the 2002 World Championships, the Serbs have been on a shocking downward trajectory ... until this tournament, where the team cut through competition with ease. (Serbia actually kicked off the tournament with a big win over Spain in round play.)
France also had a stellar tournament, despite a fifth-place finish. The French lost only once. They, along with Spain and Serbia, have qualified for the World Championships next summer in Turkey. The other European qualifiers are Greece, Slovenia and Croatia.
Four at-large berths remain in play. FIBA officials will announce their selections in December. Russia is the only European team that seems like a shoe-in for a berth, though Lithuania (who had a bad run in Poland) could also get a nod.
(We'll also see how much pull the 2012 Olympic Committee has, as Great Britain was dreadful this month, but needs to at least appear at Worlds to justify getting a host slot for the London Games.) The Dominican Republic, who finished just short of an automatic bid in the FIBA Americas tournament last month, is a good bet for an at-large bid, as well.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gasol is the real deal. With him, Kobe, Lamar and now Ron Ron-Lakers should come out of the west. Man if Bynum develops- great year for Laker fans.
I presume we`ll see a few more Spanish, Serb, Croat, Slovenian, (Yugo Slavs, all), Greek, and French old boys trying out for the NBA, maybe this year?