The 32 national teams split into eight equal groups launched the 2025 EuroBasket Qualifiers.

The EuroBasket Qualifiers draw was completed setting the path toward the next edition of EuroBasket Tuesday.

Per the press release: “The groups for the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers are now set after the draw was conducted in Munich, Germany, on Tuesday.

The 32-team field was split into eight groups of four teams with Final Round co-hosts Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Poland placed into separate groups.

The results for the draw are as follows:

Group A: Slovenia, Ukraine, Israel, Portugal
Group B: Italy, Turkey, Hungary, Iceland
Group C: Spain, Latvia, Belgium, Slovakia
Group D: Germany, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Sweden
Group E: France, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus
Group F: Greece, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Great Britain
Group G: Serbia, Finland, Georgia, Denmark
Group H: Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, North Macedonia

Seedings for the draw were assigned in accordance to the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, with teams from Seed 1 drawn with teams from Seeds 4, 5 and 8 into Groups A, C, E and G, while teams from Seed 2 were paired with teams from Seeds 3, 6 and 7 into Groups B, D, F and H.

The three highest-placed teams from each group, except the groups which include FIBA EuroBasket 2025 co-hosts Cyprus, Finland, Poland and Latvia, will qualify for the Final Round. In the groups containing the host nations, the host and the two other highest placed teams will qualify for the FIBA EuroBasket 2025.

The FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers will be played across three windows on February 19-27, 2024, November 18-26, 2024 and February 17-25, 2025 with two games played by each team in every window.”

2027 World Cup Pre-Qualifiers

Earlier, the groups were set for the European Pre-Qualifiers of the 2027 FIBA World Cup.

Per the press release: “Teams participating in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers First Round now know their opponents after Tuesday’s draw in Munich, Germany.

The 10 nations were split into three groups – one consisting of four teams and the other two both with three teams.

The groups for the First Round are as follows:

Group A: Switzerland; Kosovo; Ireland; Azerbaijan
Group B: Romania; Luxembourg; Norway
Group C: Austria; Armenia; Albania

Teams were seeded for the draw based on the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, while Armenia and Azerbaijan could not be drawn into the same group, as per the decision of the Board of FIBA Europe.

The three group winners alongside the best-ranked second placed team will advance to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Pre-Qualifiers Second Round – which is scheduled to be played in the summer of 2025.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Pre-Qualifiers First Round will be played across three windows on February 19-27, 2024, November 18-26, 2024 and February 17-25, 2025 with two gamedays in every window.”

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“The field for the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers is now set, with all 32 participating teams confirmed following the completion of the Pre-Qualifiers”, as the official press release stated by FIBA says.

In the final game to reach the other 31 national teams qualified – including Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia as the four group winners who advanced from the Third Round of the Pre-Qualifiers -, Denmark had the better of Kosovo 88-63 on the road.

Gabriel Iffe Lundberg led his team with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. He was followed by  Bakary Dibba, who had 17 points and 7 rebounds off the bench, and Jonas Zohore, who went close to a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

“The 28 other national teams booked their places in the Qualifiers either through the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers or the Second Round of the EuroBasket Pre-Qualifiers”, FIBA’s statement continues.

These are the confirming 32 national teams that will fight for a spot at FIBA EuroBasket 2025: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine.

Here’s the rest of the press release:

“The 32 participating nations will be sorted into eight groups of four teams each at the Qualifiers draw, which will take place on August 8 in Munich, with the ceremony streamed live on the official FIBA YouTube channel from 11:30 CET. The seedings for the draw will be unveiled on Monday.

The FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers will be played across three windows on February 19-27, 2024, November 18-26, 2024, and February 17-25, 2025 with two games played by each team in every window.

The three highest-placed teams from each group, except the groups which include FIBA EuroBasket 2025 co-hosts Cyprus, Finland, Poland, and Latvia, will qualify for the Final Round. In the groups containing the host nations, the host and the two other highest placed teams will qualify for the FIBA EuroBasket 2025″.

Who will you be cheering for?

The field for the #EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers is complete!

— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) August 5, 2023

PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers

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Aleksandar Petrovic, sports director and acting head coach of the national team of Croatia announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming prequalification games heading to Eurobasket 2025. Croatia’s national team will play Austria on November 10 and Poland in Zagreb on November 13.

Croatia has been eliminated from next year’s FIBA World Cup,  instead forced into the 2025 EuroBasket Pre-Qualifiers.

Alba Berlin’s Jaleen Smith was not called up for the upcoming games. “Alba has informed us that Jalen is not ready to play because of a small injury and they do not wish to aggravate it more”, Petrovic said.

Croatia NT roster:

Roko PRKAČIN – Girona (Spain)
Danko BRANKOVIĆ – Mega MIS (Serbia)
Matej RUDAN – Mega MIS (Serbia)
Dario DREŽNJAK – Zadar (Croatia)
Tomislav IVIŠIĆ – SC Derby (Montenegro)
Dragan BENDER – Obraidoro CAB (Spain)
Filip BUNDOVIĆ – Cibona (Croatia)
Toni NAKIĆ – CB Breogan (Spain)
Mateo DREŽNJAK – SC Derby (Montenegro)
Toni PERKOVIĆ – Orléans Loiret (France)
Roko BADŽIM – Konyaspor (Turky)
Luka BOŽIĆ – Zadar (Croatia)
Dominik MAVRA – Split (Croatia)
Vito KUČIĆ – Cedevita Junior (Croatia)
Borna KAPUSTA – Cibona (Croatia)

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One month after returning to the Croatia senior national team as the sports director, Aco Petrovic took over as the interim head coach, the Croatian Basketball Federation announced Monday.

Petrovic, 63, was tasked with narrowing down the list of candidates to the next head coach of the Chequered Ones. However, the approaching international window and Croatia participating in the 2025 EuroBasket Pre-Qualifiers prompted him to emerge as the play-caller for the games versus Austria in Graz and Poland in Zagreb on November 10 and 13, respectively. Also, he will be the head coach in FIBA’s next international window scheduled for February 2023.

“This was not the direction I was expecting four weeks ago, but considering the initial talks with potential candidates and myself reaching out to all the players, maybe this is the logical solution,” Petrovic explained the current situation.

He returns to the role of head coach of his home country’s national team after three previous stints, focused on the 2016 Olympic Games, and the 1995 and 2001 editions of EuroBasket. Further experience at the international level stems from Brazil and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Knocked out of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, Croatia switched to the 2025 EuroBasket Pre-Qualifiers and is up 2-0 in Group E. With Poland named host of the 2025 EuroBasket, Croatia was effectively left in a battle with Switzerland and Austria for one single berth in the EuroBasket Qualifiers. The national teams currently placed in the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers will be part of the next stage.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Summing up the 2022 EuroBasket, FIBA released the number of people attending and watching games across the five venues along with the digital connections formed by the fan engagement.

Per the press release: “FIBA EuroBasket 2022 celebrated unprecedented levels of success both on and off the court in the return of Europe’s flagship event.

More than 651,000 people attended the tournament across 76 games in five different venues from September 1-18, 2022 with the overall number almost double the combined figure from the previous edition in 2017.

Cologne set a new record for attendance of a Group Phase with an overall total of 236,515 spectators which averaged out at 15,768 per game as fans were able to take in high-level action in Group B as well as record-breaking feats such as Slovenian star Luka Doncic scoring the most points in a single game at EuroBasket for 65 years.

The exciting action on the court was met with further digital growth as the tournament generated an outstanding 4.2 billion impressions on social media along with 971 million video views across the competition with 45 percent directed from FIBA’s own channels.

Half of the 140 million engagements came through FIBA’s own content with the official EuroBasket channel on Instagram soaring beyond 250,000 followers during the tournament as well as passing 50,000 on Twitter.

The official website attracted a total of 21.5 million page views, while there was an increased level of interest in covering the event with a combined total of 1,256 accredited media made up of rights holders and non-rights holders.

Live broadcasts of EuroBasket 2022 were enjoyed by millions of fans across Europe and the rest of the world via FIBA’s broadcast partners, complemented by the Courtside 1891 digital service.

All decisive games of the tournament – both Semi-Finals, the Third-Place Game and the Final – were all on free-to-air channels in all four countries who reached this stage of the competition.

Spain’s victory against France in the Final was watched by 3.75 million people on Telecinco – with a market share of 28.9 percent and peak of 8.5 million – making it the most viewed basketball game in Spain since the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Final.

The title-decider was watched by 2.3 million spectators on M6 in France, with a peak audience of 3 million – in addition to the audience on Canal+.

The Semi-Final involving the hosts Germany and Spain captivated viewers in the host nation with over 4 million tuning into the live coverage on Magenta and RTL.

In Poland, the Third-Place Game against Germany generated a peak audience of 1.3 million on TVP1 and another 0.7 million on TVP Sport.

More broadly, live telecasts of the national team games in EuroBasket were a dominant television presence across traditional powerhouses such as Greece, Slovenia and Lithuania, but also in newer basketball markets such as Finland where the Susijengi’s run to the Quarter-Finals made a major impact, particularly amongst key younger demographics.

EuroBasket 2022 provided ample evidence of the power of national team basketball as a major audience driver for free-to-air broadcasters across the continent, giving the sport unmatched visibility and a place in the national consciousness.

“With FIBA EuroBasket 2022 now concluded, I think we can unequivocally say that it was the best in many different regards,” said FIBA Executive Director Europe Kamil Novak.

“The 2022 edition will go down in the books as the strongest one to date with the top European stars answering the call for their national teams. The unprecedented digital engagement from fans and the popularity of the event on TV confirms its continuous growth in stature in Europe and beyond, with attendance numbers for the event also very powerful.”

The 2022 event was the third iteration of FIBA EuroBasket to be co-hosted by four countries, with the multi-hosting format also in place for the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket 2025, which will be organized in Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Poland.”

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Tales to tell are many for Gianmarco Pozzecco, the star of multiple moments going viral during the 2022 EuroBasket.

Pozzecco, 50, added the missing pieces to the hug with Giannis Antetokounmpo. His jump on the Freak was crazy. Well, maybe not as unexpected as the reaction of the Milwaukee Bucks and Greece’s senior national team leader.

“He’s such a nice person. I hugged him and I kissed him. Really nice guy,” he then explained to Eurohoops explaining his decision to give him a big hug in the corridors of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in the celebrations of Italy’s win over Serbia in the EuroBasket Round of 16.

“I noticed Giannis,’ he began going into details appearing in Trento’s Il Festival dello Sport, “I’m sure he knew what I was going through emotionally. When he first saw me, he smiled. You could tell he wanted to share my happiness. And then I got ready to jump, I saw his face, and he was clearly thinking, ‘This is an idiot’. Luckily, he was ready to take me in his arms.”

Desiring to share the story of two weeks ago, Pozzecco continued and revealed the reaction of Antetokounmpo. “I kissed him and said, ‘I love you,’. It went unnoticed, but he responded to me in Greek, ‘f… you,’.”

“I apologized to him. Giannis said he had to thank me because I had taken away some tension before the game,” he said about talking to him the next day and went on to clarify not being at fault for Greece being later eliminated from EuroBasket, “He played great that day, but Greece lost two days later. At least, they can’t say they lost because I jumped on Giannis.”

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Galatasaray coach Andreas Pistiolis talked to Eurohoops about the EuroBasket 2022 and commented on the eliminations of medal favorites Slovenia, Serbia and Greece before the semifinals.

“People oversimply things,” Pistiolis said on Slovenia, Serbia and Greece not making the Top 4 of the EuroBasket. “They think of Giannis, Doncic, and Jokic. That is not who’s playing the game. It’s their teams. Greece, Slovenia. Those are the ones that play the game. You may have good players but the team may have bad chemistry or they may end up as not a good team in total.”

“Alternatively, you can also have a good team in total but sometimes it is not your day,” Pistiolis added. “This is the knockout format, one bad game and you are out. These things happen. This year’s Eurobasket proved exactly that with a single game, anybody can beat anybody. In the end, the teams that made it to the final were better teams. They had better psychology and better teamwork. They enjoyed playing the game more. They had a different energy. No matter how good players you have, this is not a guarantee that you will build a successful team. People want to attribute a defeat to a great player but it doesn’t work like that. It’s everybody’s defeat in the team. And it is the same when you win. One guy cannot win the tournament by himself.”

Spain won the gold medal against most predictions and Pistiolis believes that this is a testament to the quality of the overall basketball infrastructure in the country.

“I think the people who did not see the Spanish team as favorites, never learned a lesson,” Pistiolis mentioned. “These teams are not an accident. For both Spain and France, you can see their success at every level. From youth ages to women’s team and men’s team as well, you can see the organization and team’s culture. No matter what, these teams will always be there and produce and be successful because they are built correctly, from head to bottom. They are always on the right path.”

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The Spanish team was proclaimed champion of Europe for the fourth time and the celebration continued in Madrid after Berlin.

With the calendar of the clubs already beginning to press, there was no time to lose and the WiZink center was the place chosen for the Spanish national team to meet up with the fans.

Once all his teammates and members of the coaching staff have been introduced, Rudy Fernández and the Eurobasket trophy appeared on the scene to unleash total madness.

The Hernangómez Brothers, Lorenzo Brown who finally spoke a little Spanish, Alberto Díaz, a total idol of the Spanish fans…

¡Ya estamos todos! Rudy Fernández, capitán de la selección española, sale al escenario con el trofeo de campeones del #Eurobasket2022 pic.twitter.com/KE2dAkCtq5

— EurohoopsES (@EurohoopsES) September 19, 2022

They have all had their moment with the microphone, but few have received an ovation at the level of Sergio Scariolo. The national team coach, who has a solid case for being a Eurobasket legend, has given us a life lesson, explaining to all of us how this team has once again become the best in Europe.

“We are European champions again”, said Sergio Scariolo in the center of the platform located for the occasion on the court of the Palacio de Deportes and explained how he managed to lead this team to Gold: “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. If you want something, go for it ”

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Berlin – Usman Garuba was a believer from day one. He believed Spain can go all the way in the 2022 EuroBasket, despite the projections for a rocky transition coming out of the golden generation winning multiple titles and accolades in major FIBA international tournaments.

Head coach Sergio Scariolo was clear on not keeping any secrets regarding the team’s approach to the tournament. However, there was a secret among the players, the nutrition program of Juancho Hernangomez on the track to him dropping 7/9 three-pointers in the gold medal game opposite France in Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena Sunday. “I don’t know. I would like to know and eat the same every day,” jokingly said the former Real Madrid rising star and current Houston Rockets big man.

Hernangomez, 26, was named TLC Player of the Game thanks to the game-high 25 points alongside five rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes. More praise came from Hustle co-star Adam Sandler. “Bo Cruz! Getting it done. Love you Juancho. And Willie! Congrats to the whole Spanish team,” wrote American comedian, actor, and filmmaker in a post shared on Twitter.

This time around, Spain did not have the big stars but featured players ready to function as a team and focus on the game plan every night.

Garuba, 20, delivered 4.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game as La Roja exceeded expectations to capture gold in the 2022 EuroBasket.

“Honestly, we did not care about big names,” he replied to a question on teams featuring stars and more household names ranking lower than Spain, “At the end of the day, basketball is five on five. Everyone is normal because you just keep fighting and play as a team. That’s our strength.”

Serbia and Nikola Jokic, Slovenia and Luka Doncic, and Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo were all knocked out well before Spain and France battled it out for the first place. Mainly due to the presence of the aforementioned NBA players on other sides, the team coached by Scariolo was not labeled as a contender at the beginning of the tournament. “You can ask anyone, since the first day I came here. I knew our team would fight every day. Our strength is the team. And teams like that will succeed,” countered Garuba.

The future looks bright for the next generation of players succeeding in keeping Spain on the level set by their predecessors.

“The best thing is that we have plenty of room for improvement in the future,” said the Madrid-born player, “We are just starting, this is the beginning of something big. I think we are going to be a very good team in the next few years. This experience will help us in the future.”

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Berlin – Spain landed the top spot of EuroBasket four times since 2009. In all triumphs, Sergio Scariolo was in charge of the senior national team. The 2022 EuroBasket was different.

Scariolo, 61, elaborated on the ‘special taste’ of capturing gold in Berlin talking in the mixed zone following the gold medal game against France Sunday evening.

“Honestly, no,” the Italian mastermind confirmed being unable to predict this triumph beforehand, “You always believe you can do a good job, play good basketball, your team entering a competition and getting more positives than negatives. Honestly, I never doubted as much. But nobody could expect this outcome.”

Spain greats such as Pau and Marc Gasol retired after last summer’s Olympic Games. Sergio Rodriguez as well. Ricky Rubio and Serio Llull were forced to the injury list. Nevertheless, Spain is on top of Europe.

“We came in on the range for a run to the Quarterfinals according to the Power Rankings and finished first,” Scariolo added referring to the initial projections for La Roja, “Teams will NBA All-Stars and MVPs were left behind in this tournament. Today, there were one maybe two All-Stars.”

Spain was in Tbilisi for the duration of the preliminary round of the 2022 EuroBasket. The loss to Belgium was a bad sign but not enough to prevent the team coached by Scariolo from securing the top seed. In the knockout stage of the tournament, beating Lithuania, Finland, and Germany led to the final.

“I feel a great satisfaction for the level of our performance in the tournament and for the effort of the guys from day one,” he recapped, “In the end, basketball has been generous to those who really respected its team sport values, passing the ball, working very hard in practice, defending all opponents, helping each other, and playing for the team. It has been a triumph for basketball as a team sport. Of course, a coach can’t be unhappy with this game, regardless of everything else. We played great from start to finish.”

Players the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic did not even make the medal round. Spain had a system and relied on the team instead of individuals to receive the ultimate prize.

“You must take into account what you have in front of you, any given day, and do it well. Period. That’s it. Practice? Do it right. Watch a scouting video? Do it right. Watch five scouting videos? Do it right. Shootarounds of focusing on the game plan? Do it right. There aren’t any secrets. Don’t underestimate any small part of the process,” he explained, “Adding many small good things leads to success. This has been a huge success, but it usually helps you emerge as a respectable team with the players playing and working together gel to form the identity of the team.”

The former assistant of the Toronto Raptors will be switching to the club level and Virtus Segafredo Bologna prepping for the next edition of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and Italy’s domestic competitions. In international duties, Spain will be back in action seeking to clinch a berth in next summer’s FIBA World Cup in FIBA’s international windows scheduled for November and February.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Berlin, Germany – Spain won the fourth EuroBasket of its history, and part of the credit must be given to Lorenzo Brown, who played perfectly the point guard role under Sergio Scariolo’s system.

After the win in the final against France, the president of the Spanish Basketball Federation Jorge Garbajosa spoke in the mixed zone about the addition of Brown.

“It was the right thing. I can’t understand everybody: everyone has his own opinion and I respect all of them. But when you work hard and you have been advised by experts, coaches, and sports directors after the injury of Ricky Rubio, or Carlos Alocen. After Sergio Rodriguez quits or the injury of Sergio Llull… he was the right key”, he said about the naturalization process of the new Maccabi Tel Aviv player.

“He did much more than what we expected from him. Since the first day, he felt like one more part of this family, as we like to call it. He felt in a right way, in a team that received him like one of us. His performance on the court shows how committed he is to our basketball. Playing for Spain was his dream, and for us, it’s a huge honor “, Jorge Garbajosa added. For his full, long answer to the topic, watch the video.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Sergio Scariolo won his fourth Eurobasket gold, surpassing legendary Dusan Ivkovic, tying iconic USSR coach Stepan Spandaryan and after this tournament, only the notorious Alexander Gomelsky, also a former coach of the USSR, has more than him with six.

That’s why the first answer from the Italian coach of the Spanish national team in the press conference was expected: “It’s easy to say we are extremely happy. We were at 8th place in the power rankings and we managed to climb over great teams, especially this last one, full of NBA and EuroLeague players. It’s been amazing to see now the final rankings and be above all those great teams. We said in the start, that we should put a guy at least at the Top15. That’s why I am happy and as a basketball coach, I am very happy because we played great basketball”.

Scariolo elaborated on this: “Right now, let me be just a basketball coach and be happy because we played great basketball. Despite our limitations we played at a fast tempo, we had many assists, and we had the ability to overcome hard times not with individual moves, but through the team. It’s normal to make adjustments and most of those turned us into a very efficient team”.

Coach Scariolo also talked about how he prepared this version of the team, a concept that he had already analyzed on Eurohoops: “This is a special taste, different. I would say there’s a lot of work behind, first of all, the clubs and the youth programs. And then in the youth programs in the federation and then what we did to prepare this specific generation to prepare actually for the FIBA Windows. We had back them 12-14 players in the EuroLeague and in the NBA. And we had the vision to create a fully different team. Even during the day-by-day work, we had the feeling that progress was moving forward. We couldn’t expect something like this, but the overall work was going in the right direction. The way to compete as a team has to be there. That’s not negotiable”.

In the past, Scariolo has compared the Spanish national team to a Ferrari. This year, he was asked to give a similar analogy and while he didn’t mention a specific car, he said the following: “It’s different for sure. Driving a Ferrari is tough because you have to be careful about the details in a machine that is delicate. This time around, I got to be more rude, even aggressive at times, because I felt that this was the way to drive it. And when I understood that the players were not offended to drive hard, then I gave it more push and did things that back then, I wouldn’t even dare to do”. 

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Berlin, Germany – Spain got to the top of Europe once again, beating France and becoming the EuroBasket champions for the fourth time in its history.

Rudy Fernandez, the veteran of this Spanish roster led by Sergio Scariolo, was present on each one of these golden occasions, and he helped in the Eurobasket 2022 final with two clutch three-pointers, in his style.

The Real Madrid veteran was basically speechless after the game. “I can’t describe how I feel. This was so special. This group was so young but they fought in every game and now this work put in the whole tournament is recognized. I’m happy and proud to be part of this group”, he emotionally said.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Berlin, Germany – Spain made history, beating France in the EuroBasket final and winning its sixth FIBA tournament of the century.

Lorenzo Brown played once again an amazing game, recording a 14 points and 11 assists double-double and earning a spot in the EuroBasket 2022 All-Star Five, alongside his teammate and MVP of the tournament Willy Hernangomez.

The naturalized point guard expressed his joy in the mixed zone after the game, while calling his family. “Winning the gold medal with Spain was my first objective. It came with a lot of trous, and we did it”, he said after the 88-76 victory.

The new Maccabi Tel Aviv player was criticized a lot after his arrival on Sergio Scariolo’s team.

“At the end of the day, we all speak the same language out there on the court. No matter what color you are or where you are from, we’re all brothers and we’re all humans. Winning this gold medal speaks for itself”, he said.

“I don’t use any words right now. I smile, sit back and enjoy what I’m doing. I’ve learned a lot of Spanish so far, but I can’t quite put everything together. Next summer I’ll be speaking full Spanish for you guys”, he joked about his language level.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Berlin, Germany – France couldn’t get the job done, as they lost in the EuroBasket 2022 final against Spain. Unlike his previous appearances, Moustapha Fall like the rest of the team didn’t have a great game. He ended scoreless, with only 1 rebound and 1 block in 6:31 minutes on the court.

The Olympiacos center expressed his delusion in the mixed zone, trying to explain what happened. “We lost. It’s a bad feeling. They were better than us today, they played better and we didn’t adjust when Juancho started scoring six threes”, he said.

“We didn’t adjust on defense, we turned over the ball too much. There was nothing good from us tonight, we played a bad game. It’s on us”, he admitted, talking about the 88-76 loss.

France was once again surprised at the beginning of the game, as Spain ended the first quarter up by 9 points. “It’s not the first in this competition that we start really bad. I can’t even say it was a mental feeling. They were just better than us today”, Moustapha Fall added.

Now, he’s focused on the next season with the Greek powerhouse. “I’m pretty excited to come back to Olympiacos: I need to start to recover totally and play my game, getting rhythm. I hope to see them soon”, he concluded.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Spanish big man Willy Hernangomez who finished the Eurobasket 2022 averaging 17,2 ppg and 6.9 rpg was named MVP of the tournament after Spain’s win in the final over France.

“It’s very hard to explain with words how I am feeling right now”, he said in the official press conference. “I am extremely proud, we deserved this gold medal and the trust in the locker rooms was something special. I am thankful to be part of this team”. 

The champions got also one more player in the best five of the tournament. Naturalized point guard Lorenzo Brown, averaging 15.2 ppg and 7.6 asp also made the cut, and his addition in the roster was crucial for the eventual winners of the trophy.

French big man Rudy Gobert who got the silver was also part of the best team, averaging a double-double (14.4 ppg, 11 rpg) in the tournament.

Dennis Schroder who led hosts Germany to a medal after 17 years also got in, averaging 22.1 ppg and 7.1 asp.

The last spot of the best five went to the Greek Freak. Giannis Antetokounmpo made it to the quarterfinals, being the top player in efficiency rating (32.7 per game), top scorer of the tournament (29.3 ppg) and sixth rebounder (8.8 rpg).

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Juancho Hernangomez proved that “Bo Cruz”, his role in the movie “Hustle”,  is a real person, by scoring 27 points on 9/11 FG and leading Spain to the Eurobasket 2022 gold medal over France. The final score was 88-76 as Spain dictated the pace for the most part of the game and had always an answer to every move France made.

In total, Juancho made seven threes, the second-best performance in a Eurobasket final after the nine threes of Aleksander Djordjevic for Serbia in the final of Eurobasket 1995.

His brother Willy Hernangomez added 14 points and eight rebounds as Spain got its fourth Eurobasket gold, for a total of 14 Eurobasket medals including six silvers and four bronzes, plus two FIBA World Cup golds and four medals in the Olympics.

And as he said in the press conference: “I am very happy because today it was Juancho and not Bo Cruz who did all this”. 

Naturalized point guard Lorenzo Brown also did his part with 14 points and 11 assists, Jaime Fernandez scored 13 while in total Spain had 15/31 threes. Alberto Diaz with eight points and two big threes in the fourth quarter also did his part.

Evan Fournier with 23 points was the top scorer of France, which never got the lead in the game after the initial 1-0 score thanks to a free throw by Rudy Gobert.

“Spain played better from start to finish, they had a clear gameplan and we didn’t execute ours well enough, we never really had control of the game”, said Fournier after the game with Spain having just nine turnovers and France 19 at the end of the game.

Thomas Heurtel had 16 points and seven assists, while Guerschon Yabusele added 13 for the losing side.

Spain started the night with a 14-5 run and dominated most of the first half.

The “Rojas” were up by 19 twice in the second quarter (35-16, 41-22) with Juancho scoring 18 points in just nine minutes of action and 6/7 threes and also by 21 points (47-26) after a layup by his brother Willy who had 10 points up to this point.

The French answer was a steal and a layup by Terry Tarpey plus a three and a dunk by Evan Fournier, which made it a 10-point game (47-37) after an 11-0 run as the two teams went to the locker rooms.

The comeback was complete at the start of the third period, with France having a partial score of 20-2 and trimming the lead to three (49-46). However, Spain reacted swiftly with a 10-0 run  (61-48) as Jaime Fernandez scored eight of those points to push the distance back to double digits.

France didn’t give up and made it again a three-point game (63-57) after a three by Elie Okobo. But one more three by captain Rudy Fernandez made the score 66-57 at the end of the third and Spain kept its solid lead until the final buzzer.

“We knew most of the things Spain was going to do, but we couldn’t respond”, admitted disappointed French coach Vincent Collet. “We didn’t give us the weapons to change the game”. 

Photo: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Berlin, Germany – Franz Wagner is just 21 years old and he is already a bronze Eurobasket medalist. It’s a great start and as he said, he is happier about the older guys on the German national team, who finally got a medal after a 17-year drought since the 2005 silver of the Dirk Nowitzki generation.

As he said: “It’s a really great feeling obviously for us, winning a medal in our country. I’m from Berlin so it’s extra-special for me. The coolest thing for me is to see all of these guys that have been working towards this for so many years and we managed to reward them, so it’s really cool”.

Wagner is representing the next generation, that’s why he hopes that for his this is just the start: “Hopefully we can build on this. The most important thing is that people are healthy and they keep wanting to play: this definitely helps with that. Hopefully, we can keep a little momentum from this. It was very difficult, I thought. Mentally, to re-focus and get a really intense Polish team. They did a good job fighting all tournament and obviously tonight. That was the toughest part”.

The question is if he can play better also in the NBA in his second season with the Orlando Magic getting boosted by the national team’s success. As he said with a smile, when he was asked about it: “If I will play better after EuroBasket 2022? We’ll see. This is my first time doing it”.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Berlin, Germany – Germany achieved its goal, beating Poland and getting the EuroBasket 2022 bronze medal in front of its audience. They haven’t stepped on this podium since the 2005 Eurobasket silver and Daniel Theis was a key element for Gordie Herbert’s team, as he proved once more with 9 points and 6 rebounds.

The Pacers big man expressed his satisfaction after getting the bronze medal in the mixed zone.

“That was our goal. When we came together this summer with everybody, we said the medal is our goal. Obviously, when you go to the semifinal, you want to go to the final to play for gold. We were disappointed after the loss, but we achieved our goal”, he said about the 82-69 victory.

As he explained, this can really be the start of an important growth project for Germany. “We want to play successful basketball with the national team. Like we always said, we’ve gotta respect everybody we play, but we’re not scared: now people and teams have to respect us too. We’ve got a great team: we showed it this tournament, and hopefully for more years to come”.

“After the loss against Spain it wasn’t easy, but we came together as a team. It’s tough, you’re coming after the biggest loss probably of someone’s career, and you’ve got to focus and lock in because this game is important too, you’re playing for a medal. So, I think how we stayed together as a team for the whole tournament”, he added about what was his most memorable moment of EuroBasket 2022.

Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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Dennis Schroder celebrated his return to the Lakers by winning the bronze medal in Eurobasket 2022. Germany beat Poland 82-69 and Schroder completed the tournament in style.

To be exact the leader of the German national team had 26 points on 7/10 FG and made all the big shots when it counted the most.

Johannes Voigtmann added 14 points, nine rebounds, and six assists for the winning side which once more shot with a solid 41% (15/37) in threes to make things happen while shooting just 18 two-pointers and making half of them.

“That was the goal of the federation, of coach Herbert and for the team and it’s an unbelievable feeling to win a medal in a Eurobasket”, said Schroder after the game.

“I am extremely proud of this group, the commitment they made, it’s been 17 years since Germany won a medal and it’s fitting that Dennis’ number is 17”, added coach Herbert. “It was an unbelievable honor to coach these guys. We are a bit disappointed, after beating Greece we hoped that we could get a bit more, but this is sports”.

The game started with Germany getting a solid first-quarter lead (19-14) and Poland trimming it to one point (21-20). However, the hosts with a 13-0 run (34-20) got things under control and led by 13 at halftime (36-23), while Poland had 0/10 threes.

Poland managed to cut the lead to five (54-49) making six threes in the third quarter and finally tied the score at 57 with less than eight minutes left in the game. Still, Germany stayed in control and with a 16-7 partial score (73-64) entered the last three minutes with a solid advantage.

With one more big three, Schroder made the score 76-66 and the game was over.

Michal Sokolowski with 18 points tried his best for Poland, but the team of coach Igor Milicic couldn’t keep up until the end, having already achieved in this tournament much more than expected.

“That’s pretty tough, ’cause we were so close to this bronze”, said Sokolowski, “in the first half we couldn’t find our flow in the offense, and in the second when we got close, they hit all the big shots”.

“My players are still superstars for me, for what they achieved”, added coach Igor Milicic for a historic run of Poland, that included a win over Luka Doncic’s Slovenia in the quarterfinals but not an elusive medal.

On the contrary, this is the third Eurobasket medal in German basketball history after the gold in 1993, and the silver in 2005.

“I think we made basketball more “sexy” and more trendy”, explained Schroder about the influence of this success on German basketball, while also underlining the potential of the German national team for the future and honoring the past.

“I hugged Robin Benzing after the end of the game because he sacrificed so much for this team all those years, even if in this summer things didn’t work out (ed.note: he was not on the final roster of the team) and I’ll see if we can find another medal. If not, my bronze medal will go to him'”, said Schroder for his gesture toward 33-years old Robin Benzing who was just a spectator in this game.

“See you next year”, concluded coach Herbert, referring to the upcoming FIBA World Cup.

Photo: FIBA.BASKETBALL

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