On Friday, the groups for EuroBasket 2023 in Slovenia and Israel were drawn.  The teams were drawn into ten groups with games to be played in November as well as November 2022 and February 2023.  Group winners will automatically qualify with the top second-place teams joining them and the hosts to complete the field of sixteen.  Since the field was two teams short of being able to have groups of all the same size, the ranking of second-place teams will exclude results against fourth-place teams.  The big news ahead of the draw was the return of Luxembourg and the first participation for Ireland and Austria in this format.  Both hosts will be included in this format to give them the chance to play high-level games during the windows in preparation for the tournament.

The two groups with three teams are E and J.  Both Serbia and Croatia made it to the last tournament and will both be expecting to do the same again with a pair of rivalry games to look forward to in Group E along with games against Bulgaria.  Sweden and Latvia will be fighting in Group J with Israel’s strength not clear yet having already earned a place as hosts.  Groups A, D, F, H, and I also have two teams that made the last tournament.  Bosnia and Herzegovina was the surprise team, but they have Belgium in Group A and Germany and North Macedonia to complete the strongest group overall.  In Group D, Slovenia is in a position to win if they field strong squads with Turkey and Poland looking to secure key results behind them with games against Albania unlikely to factor into the final results.  In Group F, Russia should be fine with Montenegro in solid position if they secure good results against whichever of Denmark or Austria finishes third.  Italy and Slovakia will both feel like they have the chance to grab the automatic spot in Group H as Luxembourg and Switzerland are unlikely to challenge either.  Group I also presents a good opportunity for either Belarus or the Czech Republic to qualify, but the Netherlands has spoiler ability while Ireland will mainly be looking to benefit from the experience at this level.  The other teams in Group B will feel unlucky to have drawn France with Ukraine looking to return to the continental stage, Lithuania facing a hard path to breaking in, and the young talent of Finland having a tough task ahead of them.  Spain is in transition, but figures to have no trouble in Group C as Hungary will expect to finish behind them with the hopes of getting the necessary results to still qualify.  Romania can certainly be a spoiler and there will be tough trips in this group all the way out to Iceland.  Greece is the team in Group G that was at the last tournament, but Great Britain will certainly expect to qualify as well as Portugal and Estonia are going to feel that upsets are not completely out of the question.

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

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

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

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

June 20, 2021

Group A:

Belarus took care of business as Alex Bentley led them to a 78-54 win over Sweden.  The final standings were determined after the last game as Spain’s – win eliminated Slovakia and put the hosts in second place.

Sweden vs. Belarus 54-78 SWE F. Eldebrink 13/6r Johansson 9 E. Eldebrink 9 Loyd 5 Drammeh 5 E. Nystrom 3/6r Ekh 3 Lundquist 3 Hersler 2 A. Nystrom 2 Fontaine DNP Visscher DNP BLR Bentley 20 Papova 17/12r Verameyenka 12/9r Hasper 9 Likhtarovich 8 Tarasava 6 Rytsikava 3 Ziuzkova 3 Vasilevich 0 Inkina 0 Brych 0 Karasevich 0

Spain vs. Slovakia 93-61 ESP Ouvina 17 Dominguez 14 Gil 11 Ndour 10 Conde 10 Cazorla 10 Rodriguez 9 Quevedo 8 Casas 4 Carrera 0 Palau 0 Ginzo 0 SVK Palenikova 15 Dudasova 10 Prazenicova 9 Jakubcova 9 Oroszova 7 Remenarova 5/6r Sujova 2 Fekete 2 Kovacikova 2 Stasova 0 Martiskova 0 Moravcikova 0

Standings: Belarus 2-1, Spain 2-1, Sweden 1-2, Slovakia 1-2

Group B:

Tina Krajisnik and Serbia started the day in Valencia with an 87-75 win over Markeisha Gatling and Montenegro to take the top spot in this group.  Greece needed a big win to avoid elimination and trailed early, but Anna Stamolamprou helped them make one late charge before Italy won 77-67.

Montenegro vs. Serbia 75-87 MNE Gatling 22/6r Dubljevic 10 Mujovic 10/12a M. Jovanovic 9 Kovacevic 9 Aleksic 5 Pasic 4 Lekovic 4 Rakovic 2 Zivkovic 0 Lazarevic 0 Jaksic 0 SRB Krajisnik 20/9r Anderson 14 Brooks 13 Vasic 12 N. Jovanovic 11 Cado 6 Butulija 4 Dabovic 4 Skoric 3 Dugalic 0 Crvendakic 0 Jankovic 0

Italy vs. Greece 77-67 ITA Penna 13 Zandalasini 11/6a Bestagno 9 Carangelo 9 Romeo 9 Andre’ 8/7r Pan 7 Keys 4 Attura 4 Cinili 3 Cubaj 0/8r De Pretto DNP GRE Stamolamprou 23 Bosgana 13/6r Spanou 13 Fasoula 7 Nikolopoulou 5/7r/6a Sotiriou 3 Tsineke 3 Pavlopoulou 0 Alexandri 0 Diela 0 Louka DNP Anastasopoulou DNP

Standings: Serbia 3-0, Italy 2-1, Montenegro 1-2, Greece 0-3

Group C:

The first game in Strasbourg saw Bosnia and Herzegovina’s star duo of Marica Gajic and Jonquel Jones get firing at the same time, but Eva Lisec and Slovenia built a big lead by halftime in a 91-81 win.  That result meant that both teams were moving on, but the victors were still waiting for the second game to see where they would finish.  That game nearly resulted in a big shock as Turkey got back in the picture in the second half and nearly avoided elimination, but Belgium won 63-61 and went from fearing elimination themselves to taking the top spot in the group on the tiebreaker.

Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Slovenia 81-91 BIH Gajic 28/11r Jones 24/10r Babic 12 Tavic 7/6a A. Delic 4 Deura 3 Dzebo 2 Dzombeta 1 N. Delic 0 Domuzin DNP Brcaninovic DNP Vrancic DNP SLO Lisec 22/7r Friskovec 15/6r Oblak 13/11a Baric 12/10a Kroselj 8 Evans 7/10r Prezelj 7 Gorsic 3 Jakovina 2 Debeljak 2 Trebec 0 Senicar 0

Turkey vs. Belgium 61-63 TUR Hollingsworth 16 Gulcan 15/7r Bilgic 13/8r Cakir 10 Canitez 5/6r Fitik 2 Yildizhan 0 Caglar 0 Guclu 0 Onar 0 Ural 0 Uzun 0 BEL Meesseman 15/8r Delaere 13 Linskens 11/9r H. Mestdagh 9 K. Mestdagh 7 Bi. Massey 4 Allemand 4 Vanloo 0 Carpreaux DNP Geldof DNP Be. Massey DNP Nauwelaers DNP

Standings: Belgium 2-1, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1, Slovenia 2-1, Turkey 0-3

Group D:

The first game in this group was the elimination game and Ivana Dojkic and Croatia rolled to an 84-56 win to toss out the Czech Republic.  That left the game for the top spot in the group and Russia played well early, but France took the lead by halftime on their way to an 85-59 win.

Czech Republic vs. Croatia 56-84 CZE Stoupalova 10 Brezinova 8 Hejdova 7 Hanusova 6 Sipova 6 Reisingerova 4 Elhotova 4 Vorackova 3 Hamzova 3 Brabencova 3 Vyoralova 2/6r Andelova 0 CRO Dojkic 24/7a Slonjsak 18 Tikvic 17/8r Begic 13/10r Tadic 6 Miletic 3 Cvitkovic 2 Premasunac 1 Masic 0 Perisa 0 Petrak 0 Erjavec 0

France vs. Russia 85-59 FRA Duchet 12 Gruda 11 Williams 11 Michel 10/6r Chartereau 9 Vukosavljevic 8/9r Johannes 8/8a Miyem 8 Ciak 6 Tchatchouang 2 Rupert 0 Epoupa DNP RUS Komarova 10 Vadeeva 8 Goldyreva 8 Musina 7/10r Glonti 7 Kurilchuk 6 Levchenko 5/6a Ogun 4 Shilova 4 Shabanova 0 Shtanko 0 Fedorenkova 0

Standings: France 3-0, Russia 2-1, Croatia 1-2, Czech Republic 0-3

Bracket:
Belarus vs. winner Italy vs. Sweden
France vs. winner Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Croatia
Serbia vs. winner Spain vs. Montenegro
Belgium vs. winner Russia vs. Slovenia

June 18, 2021

Group A:

Belarus was looking to grind out another win, but it was Slovakia that made the key plays to get their first win 58-54.  Spain looked much more like their traditional selves at home with a 76-55 win over Sweden behind Astou Ndour.

Slovakia vs. Belarus 58-54 SVK Jakubcova 16/6r Dudasova 13/9a Prazenicova 12 Oroszova 15/7r Moravcikova 5 Palenikova 4 Sujova 3 Remenarova 0 Stasova 0 Martiskova DNP Fekete DNP Kovacikova DNP BLR Bentley 17 Papova 13/8r Verameyenka 12/11r Rytsikava 4 Hasper 4 Ziuzkova 2 Tarasava 2 Likhtarovich 0 Karasevich DNP Vasilevich DNP Brych DNP Inkina DNP

Spain vs. Sweden 76-55 ESP Ndour 22/13r Ouvina 8 Conde 8 Rodriguez 8 Cazorla 8 Gil 6 Quevedo 6 Dominguez 5 Carrera 3 Casas 2 Palau 0/7a Ginzo DNP SWE E. Nystrom 11 F. Eldebrink 8 Fontaine 8 Loyd 6 E. Eldebrink 6 Lundquist 6 Drammeh 6 Johansson 2 Ekh 2 A. Nystrom 0 Hersler 0 Visscher 0

Group B:

The first game of the day in Valencia was in this group and it was an easier win this time for Serbia 85-51 over Greece.  Italy bounced back with a 77-61 win over Jelena Dubljevic and Montenegro.

Greece vs. Serbia 51-85 GRE Spanou 10 Bosgana 9 Sotiriou 7 Pavlopoulou 7 Tsineke 6 Fasoula 4 Alexandri 3 Nikolopoulou 3 Louka 2 Diela 0 Anastasopoulou 0 Stamolamprou DNP SRB Crvendakic 13 Butulija 11/8r Anderson 9 Jovanovic 8/6r Cado 8 Jankovic 7/6r Skoric 7 Vasic 7 Dugalic 5 Dabovic 5 Brooks 3 Krajisnik 2

Italy vs. Montenegro 77-61 ITA Carangelo 13 Zandalasini 11 Andre’ 10 Bestagno 10 Attura 9 Cinili 6 Cubaj 4/8r Pan 4 Penna 3 De Pretto 3 Keys 2 Romeo 2 MNE Dubljevic 23/7r Jovanovic 17 Zivkovic 9 Gatling 9 Mujovic 2/6a Kovacevic 1 Pasic 0 Aleksic 0 Rakovic 0 Jaksic DNP Lazarevic DNP Lekovic DNP

Group C:

In Strasbourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina were surprised to find themselves trailing after their big first win, but Jonquel Jones helped them recover and beat Turkey 64-54.  Emma Meesseman and Belgium showed their strength in the next game by crushing Slovenia 92-57.

Turkey vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 54-64 TUR Gulcan 17/14r Caglar 9/6r Hollingsworth 7/12r Bilgic 5 Cakir 4/6a Onar 4 Fitik 3 Guclu 3 Canitez 2/8r Yildizhan 0 Ural 0 Uzun 0 BIH Jones 22/15r Tavic 14 Babic 10 Gajic 7/9r Dzombeta 4 Dzebo 3 A. Delic 2 Deura 2 Domuzin DNP N. Delic DNP Brcaninovic DNP Vrancic DNP

Belgium vs. Slovenia 92-57 BEL Meesseman 23/7a Linskens 14 Delaere 13 H. Mestdagh 13 K. Mestdagh 11/6r Allemand 6/10a Geldof 6 Bi. Massey 5 Vanloo 1 Nauwelaers 0 Carpreaux 0 Be. Massey 0 SLO Lisec 11 Jakovina 10 Trebec 8 Prezelj 6 Debeljak 6 Baric 6 Evans 4 Oblak 4 Senicar 2 Friskovec 0 Gorsic 0 Kroselj 0

Group D:

Ivana Dojkic and Croatia kept it close with Russia for a while before falling 73-62.  Hosts France had a strong second half to get past the Czech Republic 71-51 to at least set up one group with no tiebreaker considerations on the final day.

Croatia vs. Russia 62-73 CRO Dojkic 25 Slonjsak 17 Masic 6 Begic 5/7r Tadic 4 Tikvic 3/6r Cvitkovic 2/7r Miletic 0 Perisa 0 Petrak 0 Erjavec 0 Premasunac DNP RUS Musina 19/14r Vadeeva 17/9r/6a Komarova 12/6r Glonti 9/8r Shilova 5 Levchenko 4 Shtanko 3 Fedorenkova 2 Goldyreva 2 Ogun 0 Shabanova 0 Kurilchuk DNP

Czech Republic vs. France 51-71 CZE Elhotova 13 Brezinova 11 Vorackova 10 Hanusova 7 Hejdova 5 Brabencova 3 Reisingerova 2 Vyoralova 0/6r Hamzova 0 Stoupalova 0 Sipova 0 Andelova 0 FRA Gruda 16 Miyem 11/7r Johannes 10 Duchet 7/7r Michel 7 Vukosavljevic 6 Ciak 6 Williams 5 Chartereau 3 Tchatchouang 0 Epoupa DNP Rupert DNP