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Olympic Quarterfinals August 4th

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August 4, 2021

All four quarterfinals were on Wednesday.  The first game featured a close first half, but China had a strong third quarter only to be answered by Serbia dominating the final period to win 77-70.  Breanna Stewart and the United States used a strong start to roll past Australia 79-55.  A game that was expected to be fantastic lived up to the hype as Emma Meesseman and Kim Mestdagh led Belgium, but Yuki Miyazawa and Japan persisted and completed a comeback to win 86-85.  The last game of the day saw Spain’s hopes of staying on the global stage next year fade as their late efforts fell short against France 67-64.

China vs. Serbia 70-77 CHN Shao 17/6r Han 15/7r Li YR 12/6r Sun 9 Li M 6 Pan 4 Li Y 4/6a Wang 3 Yang 0 Huang 0 Wu 0 Zhang 0 SRB Brooks 18 Vasic 16/10r Dabovic 13/6a Stankovic 8 Jovanovic 6 Anderson 6 Krajisnik 4/8r Crvendakic 3 Skoric 3 Butulija 0 Cado DNP Dugalic DNP

Australia vs. United States 55-79 AUS Mitchell 14/6a George 11/7r Tolo 6 Magbegor 5 Talbot 4 Allen 3/7r Lavey 3 Blicavs 2 Ebzery 2 O’Hea 2 Madgen 2 Smith 1 USA Stewart 23 Griner 15/8r Wilson 10 Bird 9 Gray 7/8a Fowles 4/7r Taurasi 4 Diggins 4 Atkins 3 Charles 0/6r Loyd 0 Collier 0

Japan vs. Belgium 86-85 JPN Miyazawa 21 Takada 19 Akaho 12/7r Machida 10/14a Motohashi 10 Hayashi 9 Nagaoka 4 Mawuli 1 Todo 0 Okoye 0 Miyoshi DNP Miyazaki DNP BEL Meesseman 25/11r/6a K. Mestdagh 24/7r Allemand 11/8a Delaere 10 Raman 8/7r H. Mestdagh 3 Vanloo 2 Linskens 2 Massey 0 Nauwelaers 0 Carpreaux DNP Wauters DNP

Spain vs. France 64-67 ESP Ndour 16/11r Cazorla 12 Ouvina 11 Torrens 10 Dominguez 7 Gil 4/9r Casas 2 Carrera 2 Palau 0 Conde 0 Rodriguez DNP Abalde DNP FRA Johannes 18 Williams 11 Miyem 9 Duchet 8 Gruda 6 Chartereau 4 Rupert 4 Vukosavljevic 4 Michel 2 Ciak 1 Fauthoux 0 Tchatchouang DNP

Bracket:
United States vs. Serbia
Japan vs. France

Olympic Group Stage Game 3 August 1st-2nd

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Group A:

The last set of group stage games started with a pair of games on Sunday.  Spain won the group by prevailing 76-66 behind Astou Ndour.  Serbia was not particularly convincing, but did win 65-61 to clinch second while eliminating South Korea.  Their margin was not enough to grab the last seed and the result left Canada with a long wait to see if they would advance as a third-place team.

August 1, 2021

Canada vs. Spain 66-76 CAN Nurse 14 Achonwa 11/6r Amihere 10/6r Carleton 9/6r Fields 9 Ayim 6 Raincock-Ekunwe 4/6r Pellington 3 Colley 0 Alexander 0 Gaucher DNP Edwards DNP ESP Ndour 20/11r Ouvina 15/7a Torrens 12 Gil 8/7r Casas 8 Carrera 6 Dominguez 4 Cazorla 2 Palau 1 Conde 0 Rodriguez DNP Abalde DNP

South Korea vs. Serbia 61-65 KOR Park J-H 17/7r Kim D-B 15/6r Park J-S 8/11r Park H-J 8 Yoon 7 Kang 6/6r Jin 0 Bae 0 Shin 0 Kin J-E 0 Han DNP An DNP SRB Crvendakic 15/7r Krajisnik 14/6r Anderson 12 Brooks 11 Stankovic 8/6r Dabovic 3 Vasic 2/10r Butulija 0 Skoric 0 Cado 0 Jovanovic 0 Dugalic DNP

Standings: Spain 3-0, Serbia 2-1, Canada 1-2, South Korea 0-3

Group B:

The last group stage games were played on Monday.  Saki Hayashi led Japan as they let it fly from distance early and often on their way to a 102-83 win over Nigeria.  France was looking to avoid elimination in the next game and played well early before A’ja Wilson led the United States to a 93-82, which was a small enough margin to send France through.

August 2. 2021

Nigeria vs. Japan 83-102 NGR Macaulay 18 Chidom 13/7r Kalu 11/6a Amukamara 9 Elonu 8/7r Nyingifa 8/8a Ibekwe 7 Balogun 5 Mohammed 2 Okonkwo 2 Ogwumike 0 Kunaiyi-Akpanah 0 JPN Hayashi 23 Miyazawa 19 Takada 15 Akaho 12/7r Motohashi 10 Mawuli 8 Todo 4 Okoye 3 Miyoshi 3 Miyazaki 3 Nagaoka 2 Machida 0/15a

France vs. United States 82-93 FRA Miyem 15 Gruda 12/6r Johannes 11/7a Rupert 11 Williams 10 Chartereau 10 Vukosavljevic 7 Duchet 4 Fauthoux 2 Michel 0 Ciak 0 Tchatchouang DNP USA Wilson 22/7r Stewart 17/7r/7a Charles 15 Griner 11 Fowles 9 Bird 6 Gray 5 Diggins 3 Taurasi 3 Loyd 2/8a Atkins DNP Collier DNP

Standings: United States 3-0, Japan 2-1, France 1-2, Nigeria 0-3

Group C:

The battle for the top spot in this group saw China use a strong second half to win 74-62.  The margin was still enough for Emma Meesseman Belgium to comfortably claim the last seeded position in the knockout stage draw.  Australia knew exactly how many points that they would need to win by in the last game to advance.  Jazmon Gwathmey and Puerto Rico were not ready to just hand them the result that they needed and it looked like a longshot for most of the game.  Australia had the advantage in the paint and Marianna Tolo helped them do enough in the second half to win 96-69 and avoid elimination.

August 2, 2021

China vs. Belgium 74-62 CHN Li YR 14/8r Li M 11/7r Pan 10 Yang 10 Shao 9 Li Y 7 Han 6 Huang 4 Wang 3/6a Sun 0 Zhang 0 Wu DNP BEL Meesseman 24/7r Allemand 12 K. Mestdagh 12 Raman 7 Delaere 5 Vanloo 2 Massey 0 Linskens 0 Carpreaux 0 H. Mestdagh 0 Wauters DNP Nauwelaers DNP

Australia vs. Puerto Rico 96-69 AUS Tolo 26/17r George 19/7r O’Hea 15 Mitchell 12/6a Magbegor 10 Allen 5 Ebzery 4 Lavey 3 Blicavs 2 Madgen 0 Talbot DNP Smith DNP PUR Gwathmey 26/6r Rosado 13 O’Neill 12 Gibson 10/6r Quinones 3 Melendez 3 Salaman 2 Pagan 0 Gonzalez 0 Lozada 0 Stinson DNP Benitez DNP

Standings: China 3-0, Belgium 2-1, Australia 1-2, Puerto Rico 0-3

Bracket:

After the games were complete, the draw was made for the knockout stage with the three group winners and Belgium in one pot and the remaining teams in the other pot.  Teams could not draw teams from their group and Belgium, as the second-place seed, could not draw Australia or France since those were the third-place teams.

Australia vs. United States
China vs. Serbia
Japan vs. Belgium
Spain vs. France

Olympic Group Stage Game 2 July 29th-30th

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Group A:

This group started play again, this time on Thursday.  The two winless teams played first and South Korea did keep it close at several points, but Canada bounced back with a strong 74-53 win.  Spain was looking for revenge against Serbia in the other game, but it was not looking like it was going to happen early.  Their star combo of Alba Torrens and Astou Ndour came to life and a strong second half with a dominant fourth quarter gave them an 85-70 win and then results on Friday meant that they also sealed a spot in the quarterfinals.

July 29, 2021

Canada vs. South Korea 74-53 CAN Carleton 18/7r Achonwa 14/10r Alexander 10 Colley 9/7r Nurse 9 Fields 6 Raincock-Ekunwe 4 Ayim 2/6r Amihere 2 Gaucher 0 Pellington 0 Edwards 0 KOR Park J-S 15/11r Kim D-B 11 Kang 11 Park J-H 6 Jin 4 Yoon 2 Park H-J 2 Shin 2 Bae 0 An 0 Han DNP Kim J-E DNP

Spain vs. Serbia 85-70 ESP Torrens 25 Ndour 20/9r Cazorla 17 Ouvina 10/8r/8a Dominguez 7 Carrera 4 Gil 2 Palau 0 Conde 0 Rodriguez DNP Abalde DNP Casas DNP SRB Brooks 16 Anderson 15/8r Vasic 11/6r Krajisnik 11 Stankovic 6 Dabovic 5/6r Jovanovic 4 Crvendakic 2 Skoric 0 Butulija 0 Cado DNP Dugalic DNP

Group B:

The first game in this group had fireworks early, but settled down as A’ja Wilson and the United States beat Japan 86-69, a result that meant that they advanced to the quarterfinals after the rest of the day’s games.

July 30, 2021

United States vs. Japan 86-69 USA Wilson 20/10r Stewart 15/13r/6a Griner 15 Loyd 12 Taurasi 11 Gray 6 Fowles 4 Bird 3/6a Charles 0 Atkins 0 Diggins DNP Collier DNP JPN Takada 15 Hayashi 12 Okoye 11 Miyazawa 9/6r Machida 9/11a Miyazaki 5 Akaho 4/8r Mawuli 3 Todo 1 Nagaoka 0 Miyoshi 0 Motohashi 0

France vs. Nigeria 87-62 FRA Gruda 14/9r Williams 13/9r Miyem 13 Johannes 13 Duchet 13 Chartereau 7 Fauthoux 4 Michel 3 Vukosavljevic 3 Rupert 2 Tchatchouang 2 Ciak 0 NGR Amukamara 11 Kalu 10 Nyingifa 8 Macaulay 8 Elonu 6 Ibekwe 5 Chidom 4 Okonkwo 4 Mohammed 3 Balogun 3 Kunaiyi-Akpanah 0 Ogwumike 0

Group C:

This group started and ended play on Friday.  Emma Meesseman and Belgium rolled past Jazmon Gwathmey and Puerto Rico 87-52.  The other game was more dramatic as Wang Siyu and China just edged Australia 76-74.  The result sends both Belgium and China through to the quarterfinals with the teams playing each other for the top spot in the group and seeding.

July 30, 2021

Belgium vs. Puerto Rico 87-52 BEL Meesseman 26/15r/6a H. Mestdagh 18 K. Mestdagh 15/6r Allemand 10/6r/7a Delaere 8 Raman 4 Vanloo 2 Linskens 2 Wauters 2 Massey 0 Nauwelaers 0 Carpreaux 0 PUR Gwathmey 20 O’Neill 9 Pagan 6 Rosado 5 Gibson 4 Quinones 3 Salaman 3 Gonzalez 2 Melendez 0 Lozada 0 Benitez 0 Stinson 0

China vs. Australia 76-74 CHI Wang 20 Li YR 12/7r Li M 11/7a Yang 10 Shao 8/8r Han 6 Huang 3 Sun 3 Li Y 3 Pan 0 Wu DNP Zhang DNP AUS Magbegor 15 O’Hea 11 George 10 Ebzery 9 Mitchell 9 Tolo 7 Allen 5 Madgen 5 Blicavs 3 Talbot 0 Smith 0 Lavey DNP

Olympic Group Stage Game 1 July 26th-27th

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Group A:

The tournament started in this group on Monday.  Spain was expected to look more like they had in the past with their full roster after European disappointment, but they ended up getting everything they could handle from Kang Lee-Seul and South Korea before building a lead in the fourth quarter and then hanging on for a 73-69 win behind Astou Ndour.  The other game ended up being a good one as well with Canada using a strong third quarter to tie the game before the final frame only for Serbia to recover and win 72-68.

July 26, 2021

South Korea vs. Spain 69-73 KOR Kang 26/7r Park J-S 17 Park H-J 14 Kim D-B 6 Shin 3 Park J-H 2 Yoon 1 Bae 0 Jin 0 Kim J-E 0 Han DNP An DNP ESP Ndour 28/10r Gil 16/14r Ouvina 10/7r/8a Dominguez 8 Palau 4/6a Torrens 2 Carrera 2 Casas 2 Cazorla 0 Conde 0 Rodriguez 0 Abalde DNP

Serbia vs. Canada 72-68 SRB Vasic 16 Anderson 12 Dabovic 11/6r Krajisnik 10 Crvendakic 10 Brooks 9 Stankovic 4 Jovanovic 0 Skoric 0 Butulija 0 Cado DNP Dugalic DNP CAN Fields 19 Nurse 16/6r Colley 12 Raincock-Ekunwe 8 Carleton 7 Amihere 2 Ayim 2 Pellington 2 Achonwa 0 Alexander 0 Edwards 0 Gaucher DNP

Group B:

Tuesday’s games started in this group with France looking to try to establish post position against the hosts and their unusual style.  Japan was able to prevail 74-70 in what was expected to be the toughest group before the tournament.  Nigeria showed that they were ready for their latest foray onto the global stage, but the United States imposed their will at the right times and won 81-72.

July 27, 2021

Japan vs. France 74-70 JPN Hayashi 12 Nagaoka 11 Takada 10/6r Akaho 8/9r Mawuli 8 Machida 7/11a Todo 5 Miyazaki 4 Miyazawa 3 Motohashi 3 Miyoshi 3 Okoye 0 FRA Gruda 18/9r Miyem 12/6r Williams 9 Michel 8 Duchet 7 Ciak 6/6r Johannes 6 Chartereau 2 Fauthoux 1 Vukosavljevic 1 Tchatchouang 0 Rupert DNP

Nigeria vs. United States 72-81 NGR Kalu 16/6r Macaulay 11 Amukamara 10 Elonu 10 Ibekwe 9 Chidom 7 Nyingifa 5 Kunaiyi-Akpanah 2/9r Okonkwo 2 Ogwumike 0 Mohammed 0 Balogun 0 USA Wilson 19/13r Griner 13/10r Taurasi 10 Stewart 9/11r Fowles 9 Loyd 8 Charles 6/6r Gray 6 Diggins 1 Bird 0/13a Collier 0 Atkins 0

Group C:

The first game in this group was expected to be a good one.  Ezi Magbegor helped Australia take a lead into halftime, but Emma Meesseman and Belgium dominated the fourth quarter to win 85-70.  Puerto Rico had a magical run to secure qualification here, but Li Yueru and China started what will be a difficult campaign for them with a crushing 97-55 win.

July 27, 2021

Australia vs. Belgium 70-85 AUS Magbegor 20/8r George 12/10r Ebzery 11/9r/6a Allen 10 O’Hea 6 Tolo 6 Madgen 3 Mitchell 2/7a Lavey 0 Talbot DNP Blicavs DNP Smith DNP BEL Meesseman 32/9r Delaere 17 Allemand 16/11a K. Mestdagh 8/6r Vanloo 4 Linskens 3/6r H. Mestdagh 3 Raman 2 Massey 0 Carpreaux DNP Wauters DNP Nauwelaers DNP

Puerto Rico vs. China 55-97 PUR Rosado 14 O’Neill 13 Quinones 10 Gwathmey 8 Melendez 4 Lozada-Cabbage 3 Salaman 2 Gibson 1 Gonzalez 0 Pagan 0 Benitez 0 Stinson 0 CHN Li YR 21/12r Li M 15 Han 11/14r Pan 11/7r Yang 9 Li Y 9 Wang 8 Shao 7/6r/6a Sun 3 Huang 3/7a Wu 0 Zhang 0

European Competition Teams 2021-22

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It was exciting news on Wednesday as FIBA Europe announced a spectacular number of teams have applied for places in both EuroLeague and EuroCup.  With so many teams, qualifying games for the last places will be intense and there will be chances to see continental competition in new countries.  Qualifiers and groups will be drawn on August 19th with qualifying games set for September.

EuroLeague:

20 teams applied for spots in EuroLeague this season and it was decided that 14 of the 16 spots in the regular season would be awarded directly, leaving intense qualifiers for the last pair of spots.  As the top country in the rankings, Russia had three direct places, awarded to defending champions Ekaterinburg, league runners-up Dynamo Kursk, and surprise league bronze medalists MBA.  Three countries received two spots each with Istanbul’s great rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasaray participating after squaring off in the finals in Turkey.  France and Spain award their second priority spot to their cup winner so Lattes Montpellier joins champions Landes for France and Uni Girona joins champions Avenida for Spain.  Five league champions received single direct berths for their countries in Hungary’s Sopron, the Czech Republic’s USK Praha, Poland’s Arka Gdynia, Italy’s Reyer Venezia, and Latvia’s Riga.

There will be a new qualifying format this season with six teams competing for two spots, preventing the traditional home-and-home two game format.  Since losing teams will drop down to EuroCup, which remains regionalized, teams will not be drawn and were simply split geographically.  Qualifying will be conducted at a single site for each group with the winner entering EuroLeague.  In the Eastern Conference, Kayseri from Turkey, Hungarian runners-up Szekszard, and Romanian champions Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe will be competing for the spot.  The Western Conference figures to have must-watch games with three big name teams who finished as runners-up in their domestic leagues in French powerhouse Bourges, ambitious Spanish side Valencia, and longtime Italian power Schio.

EuroCup:

With 57 teams applying for EuroCup, the competition was able to expand to 48 teams.  Accounting for teams dropping from EuroLeague qualification, 31 of those teams were given direct spots in the regular season.  That leaves 26 teams playing home-and-home two game qualifiers for the last 13 points.  The teams that will be seeded and unseeded in the qualifying draw have already been decided with the seeded team hosting the second game of each series after the unseeded team hosts the first game.

Eastern Conference:

As expected, there will be heavy representation from Russia and Turkey in this half of the groups.  Nika Syktyvkar joins after an impressive first season in the top division while Nadezhda Orenburg hopes to bounce back from a poor season, and Enisey Krasnoyarsk will be welcoming teams to their home far in the east.  Nesibe and Orman represent Turkey as well as Cukurova Mersin Yenisehir, which has already announced a very ambitious roster with the specific aim of making noise in this competition.  Gyor and DVTK represent Hungary while Polkowice and Gorzow represent Poland.  The other country to get two direct places is Greece as Panathinaikos joins after an impressive league title with rivals Olympiacos continuing to play here as well.  Ramla, which has been Israel’s representative for several years, returns along with the champions of Belarus and the European League, Horizont Minsk, and ambitious Prometey from Ukraine, which figures to be better equipped to deal with this competition in their second attempt.  The final team that does not have to go through qualifiers is Serbia’s champions Crvena zvezda, which is most commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in the English-speaking world.

This conference will have 12 teams compete in the qualifiers with the teams holding seeds being veterans at this level.  Those are Russia’s Spartak Moscow, Hatay and Elazig from Turkey, PEAC from Hungary, Bydgoszcz from Poland, and Umea of Sweden.  Lublin from Poland and Csata from Hungary look to increase representation for their countries among the unseeded teams.  Unprecedented participation from Greece could be possible with PAOK, Eleftheria Moschatou, and Niki Lefkadas will all try to navigate tricky paths.  Another country that has not had much participation with different roster rules in play is Israel, but Elitzur Holon will try to put together a group that can do so.

Western Conference:

As usual, the teams from France and Spain will enter as favorites from this half of the groups.  France has Lyon, Villeneuve, and Roche earning direct places while Spain has Gernika, Estudiantes, and Clarinos.   Belgium will also have three teams with direct places in Namur, Braine, and Mechelen.  Both teams from Brno will represent the Czech Republic while Virtus Bologna is the only Italian team with a direct spot.  Swiss champions Fribourg return and German champions Keltern and Slovak champions Ruzomberok are back in the picture after one year absences.

More teams entered from this side of the dividing line so 14 teams were placed into the qualifiers.  Carolo and Tarbes from France lead the teams awarded seeds.  Both Spanish teams have seeds as well in Ensino Lugo and Islas Canarias, which looks to bring continental competition to Gran Canaria to join their Canary Islands rivals from Tenerife.  Belgium’s Liege and Portugal’s Uniao Sportiva also have seeds with some experience in this competition while the last seed is Grengewald Hueschtert of Luxembourg, which participated last season.  Italy will have two unseeded teams, Magnolia Campobasso and Dinamo Sassari, which looks to increase the number of clubs in the country with success on both the women’s and men’s side of basketball.  Belgium’s Kortrijk and Slovak runners-up Piestanske Cajky look to increase representation for their countries.  The last three teams bring the excitement of participation from new countries into the mix.  British champions London Lions will be trying to qualify both their teams into the regular season of continental competition.  Haukar will try to bring the competition to the far west in Iceland.  Norway is often disconnected from basketball in the rest of Europe and the participation of Ulriken gives hope that that could change and they could take other steps like fielding a senior national team.

Olympic Break Team Stats Update

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With the long break this year, let’s take a look at various team stats from the first portion of the season and see if there can be any insights for the rest of the season.

Net Rating:

The blue bars represent team’s offensive ratings and the orange bars represent team’s defensive ratings with teams sorted by offensive efficiency.  With four teams having a gap between them and the rest of the league, they make up four of the top five on each end of the court.  Dallas has the third most efficient offense, but their porous defense has hurt them despite having a positive net rating.  Chicago’s defense has been the big concern in recent seasons, but they have the third most efficient defense and are trying to get their offense closer to the average.  At the bottom of the standings, Indiana is the second worst on both ends of the court.  Above them, Los Angeles has struggled mightily offensively while Atlanta’s concern is their defense.  Seattle currently sits in the lead in the standings, but Las Vegas has superior efficiency ratings at this point.

Rebounding:

Breaking rebounding into offensive and defensive percentages gives a better view of how teams are crashing the boards.  The x-axis shows what percentage of its own misses that a team is rebounding while the y-axis shows what percentage of its opponent’s misses that a team is rebounding.  Even with the split, the teams at the top and bottom are pretty clear.  Connecticut is the leader in both categories with a lead of nearly three percentage points on the offensive end.  Los Angeles is last at both ends, handing opponents lots of extra possessions by grabbing over three and a half percentage points less defensive rebounds than the next worst team.  Strategy changes over the years mean that not every team is crashing the glass on the offensive end as much.  Las Vegas is not rebounding many of their own misses, but is second in defensive rebounding.

Changes from 2020:

Teams are sorted by improvement in net rating, which is represented by the gray bar.  The change in offensive rating is represented by the blue bar and the change in defensive rating is represented by the orange bar with a negative number in that category representing an improvement.  The change with New York moving from the worst team in the league by some margin to one in the middle of the pack is clear here.  Even though their offense is still not that potent, the improvement from last year’s dismal showing is clear.  Three other teams have improved on both ends as Connecticut returned to contender level play while Dallas has had a smaller improvement in record so far.  Atlanta still has the worst defense in the league, but did improve slightly from last season.  No team had a larger defensive improvement than Chicago, but they also regressed nearly as much on the offensive end for minimal net benefit.  Indiana was second in defensive improvement, but their offensive efficiency declined even more for a net negative effect.  Los Angeles had the worst change with offense as the main culprit.  Seattle and Phoenix also had their numbers fall in both categories, but Seattle continues to lead in the standings despite having the worst defensive change.

There have been some notable changes in other categories as well.  Phoenix and Connecticut are playing at a slower pace, but with differing impacts on their place in the standings.  Atlanta is taking much better care of basketball, but turning it over more often has not hurt Connecticut’s offense.  Atlanta is also turning their opponents over more often, but that has not moved their defensive efficiency much while Chicago has improved in both categories.  Los Angeles was already the league leader in the category, but has managed to force turnovers at an even higher rate.  Seattle and Phoenix are forcing turnovers at a much lower rate.  Minnesota and Seattle improved their defensive rebounding by the largest margins, but both also happen to have the largest decreases in offensive rebounding.  Dallas had strong increases in both while New York saw decreases in both.

2021 EuroBasket Final June 27th

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June 27, 2021

The tournament finished on Sunday and the bronze medal was awarded first as Emma Meesseman and Belgium took the lead early on their way to a 77-69 win.  France was looking to end their recent curse in final games, but Serbia would not be denied the trophy as they won 63-54.

3rd Place:

Belarus vs. Belgium 69-77 BLR Verameyenka 15/6r Bentley 12 Papova 10/12r/8a Hasper 9 Tarasava 8 Likhtarovich 7 Ziuzkova 5 Rytsikava 3 Karasevich DNP Vasilevich DNP Brych DNP Inkina DNP BEL Meesseman 21/10r Delaere 17 Linskens 15/6r K. Mestdagh 8/6r Vanloo 7 H. Mestdagh 5 Allemand 4 Bi. Massey 0 Nauwelaers 0 Geldof 0 Carpreaux 0 Be. Massey DNP

Final:

France vs. Serbia 54-63 FRA Vukosavljevic 15 Johannes 13 Chartereau 6 Michel 6 Gruda 5 Williams 5 Ciak 2 Miyem 2 Duchet 0 Epoupa 0 Rupert DNP Tchatchouang DNP SRB Anderson 18 Brooks 15 Vasic 12/8r/6a Dabovic 9 Jovanovic 3 Krajisnik 2/13r Dugalic 2 Skoric 2 Crvendakic 0 Cajo 0 Butulija DNP Jankovic DNP

2021 EuroBasket Semifinals June 26th

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June 26, 2021

Qualification Games:

The first two games in Valencia on Saturday related to qualification places for the next world championship.  Jonquel Jones and Bosnia and Herzegovina went to work early to roll past Sweden 82-63 for one spot.  Hosts Spain knew they had a tough test and it was Raisa Musina that led Russia to a 79-74 win.  The result means that they must still wait for confirmation of their return to the global stage as Spain will knock them out if they win the gold medal at the Olympics.

Sweden vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 63-82 SWE E. Eldebrink 14 Loyd 13 F. Eldebrink 9/6a Fontaine 9 Ekh 5 Johansson 4/6r Drammeh 4 E. Nystron 3 Lundquist 2 A. Nystrom 0 Visscher 0 Hersler DNP BIH Jones 34/19r Babic 17/7a Dzombeta 8 Dzebo 8 Deura 7 Tavic 4 Brcaninovic 3 Domuzin 1 A. Delic 0 N. Delic 0 Gajic DNP Vrancic DNP

Spain vs. Russia 74-79 ESP Cazorla 19 Ndour 15 Rodriguez 15 Carrera 11 Ouvina 8/6a Gil 2/6r Dominguez 2 Palau 2 Conde 0 Casas 0 Ginzo DNP Quevedo DNP RUS Musina 20/9r Levchenko 15/9a Vadeeva 14/10r Glonti 11/6r Shilova 9 Komarova 6 Kurilchuk 3 Shtanko 0 Goldyreva 0 Ogun 0 Shabanova DNP

Semifinals:

The first semifinal saw Alex Bentley lead Belarus again, but they could not overcome Endy Miyem and France, losing 73-61.  The second game was expected to be a good one and it more than lived up to the hype as Serbia edged the second half and just managed to fend off Belgium 74-73.

Belarus vs. France 61-73 BLR Bentley 23 Verameyenka 14/13r Hasper 6/8r Likhtarovich 6 Rytsikava 5 Papova 4 Ziuzkova 3 Tarasava 0 Inkina 0 Karasevich DNP Vasilevich DNP Brych DNP FRA Miyem 24/7r Johannes 9/7a Williams 8 Chartereau 7 Duchet 7 Gruda 6/10r Ciak 6/7r Vukosavljevic 5 Michel 1 Tchatchouang 0 Epoupa 0 Rupert DNP

Serbia vs. Belgium 74-73 SRB Vasic 16/8r Crvendakic 15 Jovanovic 9 Krajisnik 9 Anderson 8 Dabovic 6 Brooks 4/7r Cado 3 Skoric 2 Butulija 2 Dugalic 0 Jankovic DNP BEL Allemand 18 Delaere 14/8a K. Mestdagh 11 Meesseman 8/7r Linskens 8/6r H. Mestdagh 7 Bi. Massey 5 Geldof 2 Vanloo 0 Nauwelaers 0 Carpreaux DNP Be. Massey DNP

2021 EuroBasket Quarterfinals June 23rd

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June 23, 2021

The quarterfinals were played on Wednesday with winners also grabbing spots in world championship qualifying in addition to staying in championship contention.  Losing teams have one more chance on Saturday with two more qualifying spots on the line.  Belarus continued their same pattern in Valencia, stifling opponents as they beat Sweden 58-46, but will have to step outside of their group for the first time on Saturday.  Their opponent will be France, which withstood a fantastic effort from Jonquel Jones, who was without her frontcourt partner, to win 80-67.  Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a deep enough team to cope with such a key player out, but has a solid chance against Sweden, which lost most of their preferred post players before the tournament.  The other game in Strasbourg was fantastic as two players who spend most of the year as teammates led their teams.  In the end, it was Emma Meesseman and Belgium just fending off Maria Vadeeva and company 85-83.  Russia has been desperate to return to the global stage, but they will have a tough opponent ahead for the last spot as the last game of the day had even more drama.  Spain had the advantage for most of the game at home only to give up the lead late and then missed a chance to regain it at the foul line, allowing Serbia to dominate the overtime period and win 71-64.

Belarus vs. Sweden 58-46 BLR Papova 18/11r Verameyenka 16/10r Bentley 11 Hasper 5 Likhtarovich 2 Rytsikava 2 Ziuzkova 2 Tarasava 2 Karasevich DNP Vasilevich DNP Brych DNP Inkina DNP SWE F. Eldebrink 11/8r Fontaine 10 E. Eldebrink 7/9r/6a E. Nystrom 6 Johansson 4 Drammeh 4 Loyd 2 Lundquist 2 A. Nystrom 0 Ekh DNP Visscher DNP Hersler DNP

France vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 80-67 FRA Johannes 15 Gruda 15 Miyem 14 Williams 12/6r Vukosavljevic 9 Michel 5/6r Rupert 4 Chartereau 2 Tchatchouang 2 Ciak 2 Duchet 0 Epoupa DNP BIH Jones 29/24r Tavic 8 Dzombeta 8 A. Delic 5 Babic 5 Brcaninovic 4 Dzebo 4 Deura 3 N. Delic 1 Domuzin 0 Gajic DNP Vrancic DNP

Belgium vs. Russia 85-83 BEL Meesseman 33/11r K. Mestdagh 19 Linskens 13 Allemand 9/6a Delaere 6/8a Vanloo 5 Bi. Massey 0 Geldof 0 H. Mestdagh 0 Nauwelaers 0 Carpreaux DNP Be. Massey DNP RUS Vadeeva 30/7r Glonti 17 Levchenko 11 Shilova 11 Musina 10 Komarova 3 Goldyreva 1 Shtanko 0 Kurilchuk 0 Ogun DNP Fedorenkova DNP Shabanova DNP

Serbia vs. Spain 71-64(OT) SER Vasic 19/9r Anderson 17 Jovanovic 15/10r Brooks 7/7r Krajisnik 5/7r Skoric 2 Crvendakic 2 Dabovic 2 Cajo 2 Butulija 0 Dugalic 0 Jankovic DNP ESP Ouvina 14/8r Ndour 12/8r Cazorla 11 Carrera 9 Gil 6/9r Conde 5 Dominguez 5 Casas 2 Quevedo 0 Palau 0 Rodriguez 0 Ginzo DNP

2021 EuroBasket Playoff Games June 21st

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June 21, 2021

The knockout round started on Monday with teams looking for spots in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.  Frida Eldebrink and Sweden had an upset on their minds early in Spain and Italy could not find any balance and lost 64-46.  In France, Croatia was looking to also strike as third-place team and Ivana Dojkic helped them lead at halftime, but Jonquel Jones and Bosnia and Herzegovina had the better of the second half to win 80-69.  Also in Strasbourg, Elizaveta Komarova was hitting from the outside early for Russia, which rolled to a 93-75 win over Shante Evans and Slovenia.  Spain was not expected to be in this position, but took care of business in Valencia with a 78-51 win over Montenegro.

Italy vs. Sweden 46-64 ITA Zandalasini 19 Carangelo 5 Cubaj 5 Bestagno 5 Romeo 3 Penna 2 Keys 2 Cinili 2 Attura 2 Andre 1 Pan 0 De Pretto DNP SWE F. Eldebrink 22 Loyd 11/8r E. Nystrom 9/6r E. Eldebrink 6/6a Johansson 5/7r A. Nystrom 5 Lundquist 3 Ekh 3 Drammeh 0 Fontaine DNP Visscher DNP Hersler DNP

Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Croatia 80-69 BIH Jones 24/17r Babic 16/6a Dzombeta 14 A. Delic 12 Gajic 7/8r Brcaninovic 5 Tavic 2 Deura 0 Domuzin DNP N. Delic DNP Dzebo DNP Vrancic DNP CRO Dojkic 22/7r Slonjsak 14 Begic 11/9r Cvitkovic 8 Miletic 5 Tadic 4 Perisa 3 Tikvic 2/7r Masic 0 Erjavec DNP Petrak DNP Premasunac DNP

Russia vs. Slovenia 93-75 RUS Komarova 20 Musina 19/14r Vadeeva 15 Shtanko 10 Glonti 9 Shabanova 5 Levchenko 4/7a Ogun 2 Goldyreva 2/7a Kurilchuk 0 Fedorenkova DNP SLO Evans 21/8r Lisec 19/7r Oblak 12/7a Baric 11/6r Friskovec 5 Jakovina 3 Prezelj 2 Debeljak 2 Kroselj 0 Senicar 0 Gorsic 0 Trebec 0

Spain vs. Montenegro 78-51 ESP Conde 19 Ndour 17/6r Cazorla 11 Ouvina 8/7a Gil 5/8r Carrera 4 Casas 4 Ginzo 4 Quevedo 2 Palau 2 Rodriguez 2 Dominguez 0 MNE Gatling 10/6r Jovanovic 10 Dubljevic 10 Pasic 9/6r Mujovic 8 Zivkovic 2 Aleksic 2 Kovacevic 0 Lazarevic 0 Rakovic 0 Jaksic 0 Lekovic 0

Bracket:
Belarus vs. Sweden
France vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbia vs. Spain
Belgium vs. Russia