Dimitris Ritsonis
Once again on the other side of the Atlantic, the most competitive basketball tournament in the world-- the Eurobasket-- took place as it does every two years.
In a very exciting, yet not as strong and high level ten day period as expected, Greece managed to go all the way for the first time in 18 years. The Greeks took a stressful route during the first rounds, which finally ended with confidence and a sweet taste, after a very strong and undoubtedly superior performance in the final game versus Germany.
Based mostly on a smart defensive game and the constant movement of the team's guards, coach Panayotis Yannakis managed to achieve easy baskets, caused partly by the exceeding performances of Dimitris Diamantidis and the smarts of Theo Papaloukas. Both of these tall point guards, as well as the 22-year old Nikos Zissis handled and delivered the ball well and had the skills to lead the team correctly in the crucial knock out game. The three-guard system that coach Yannakis used most of the time in this tournament, along with a deep and lively bench, the team-game mentality and the heroics of its guards (like Diamantidis' incredible buzzer beater in a memorable semi-final game versus France, or Papaloukas' consistency during the knock out games) helped an overall predictable team in the offensive end to overcome mental barriers, more athletic opponents (Russia in the quarters, France in the semis) and the irrational instability of star center Lazaros Papadopoulos to find the way to finally find their way on top.
The team is young, but experienced, and filled with Euroleague talent. From what we have seen in some exhibition games and the finals against Germany, the new European Champions can play the game in a much more attractive way in the near future.
Team Approach Reigns in Europe
Luis Fernandez
Its pretty obvious for anyone who is a bit familiar with basketball that this is a team game, a shared effort between five guys on court. This holds true for the ones waiting for a chance coming off the bench as well. Its obvious, but its not what always happens.
Individual style and poor understanding of the game can be placed in the way of a real team, having its influence on the final outcome. It happens everywhere, but not always with the same intensity. Particularly in the FIBA world, the benefits of the team game are higher than in the NBA. With a bigger lane, a shorter three-point line and a much more strict interpretation of the traveling rules, the one-on-one game in international basketball is not nearly as productive and effective as it can be in the NBA.
However, the word team is not only a matter of game style, but also about cohesion, chemistry in the roster and the sacrifice of the individual egos for the common benefit.
The Eurobasket has showed once again the team nature of the basketball, the importance of the group over the individual.
The new champions Greece is the first team that comes to mind. Its a squad where you wont find any superstars, not even one NBA player, but an excellent collection of extremely solid Euroleague contributors. Just take into account that the top scorer of the team, Nikos Zisis, barely averaged 10 points per game, while the team played some of the best defense seen in the tournament.
Furthermore, the leaders of this team are all solid distributors. Particularly the magnificent guard duo formed by Theodoros Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis, two floor generals who operate on the court like extensions of the coach. Even center Lazaros Papadopoulos, bound to play a key role in this team but disappointing in the end, is a nice distributor from the low post.
Greece represents the unselfish type of basketball team, where the responsibilities on the court are rather equally distributed; even if there are leaders (its almost impossible not to have them). But this not the only possible model. Germany showed what a committed superstar like Dirk Nowitzki, surrounded by an incredibly working and sacrificed supporting cast, can do. Everybody here knew his role and executed it to perfection. Team matters in attitude as much as in game style.
Of course, this one-man show, as well supported as it could be, has limited potential, which Greece made sure to expose in the final. This European Championship hasnt been the best in the last years, and certainly Germany benefited from it.
Nevertheless, much more talented squads fell much lower lacking the chemistry and clear role-distribution of the Germans. The best example was the hosts, Serbia and Montenegro. This bunch has suffered a continuous battle of egos that even such a tough and prestigious coach as Obradovic wasnt able to stop. Jaric, Rakocevic, Radmanovic and Tomasevic have been rumored to be some of the most active trouble makers. Nenad Kristic summed it up really well for HoopsHype: everybody wanted to be the MVP. They were embarrassed in the game opener against Spain, but it didnt help them react, saying goodbye to the title in the elimination round against France.
Its becoming a habit for the Serbians, as much as for other usual suspect, Turkey. Enjoying a roster as deep and talented as this country has ever managed to assemble, they escorted Serbia on their way out of the championship. Mehmet Okur and Mirsad Turkcan copped the headlines with a massive fight. Turkcan publicly blamed Okur for his poor effort: I think we should learn basketball from teams like Bulgaria, Latvia... they play the game, there are no spoiled NBA brats who dont even want to run the floor. Also, Turkoglu cant be forgotten here with his individualistic performances.
Speaking generally, its not easy at all for teams to deal with various stars at the same time, particularly if they play in the NBA. It might sound like a stereotype, but its not that farfetched of a concept. These guys come from the top league in the world, a league that emphasizes individual play, where they enjoy huge exposure, being treated like heroes in their home countries. Its difficult for them to keep their feet on the ground when they are back with their National Teams, to accept a role that perhaps doesnt fit with their expectations, to give the maximum effort in a competition that they might perceive as minor compared to the NBA, or to look to their non-NBA teammates as equals.
Both Turkey and Serbia had a big share of this problem. These words by Serbian coach Obradovic are particularly illustrating: some players couldnt stand Rakocevics leadership.
Other teams apparently didnt have as many problems on the personal level, but their team effort eventually suffered because of individualistic play. Slovenia, filled with NBA players like Nesterovic, Brezec, Nachbar and European stars like Lakovic or Becirovic, seemed to had forgotten the uncountable disappointments in past championships after a promising preliminary round. But facing the first adversities in the crucial quarter final game against Germany, most of them decided to fight their own battle. Obviously, it didnt work.
Not every team featuring various NBA elements finished that bad, although some beginnings were tough. France and its coach Claude Bergeaud had to deal with the awful attitude of Tony Parker, angry because his friend Alain Digbeu was left out of the final French roster while Frederic Weis (in the end, a key piece for the teams success) was called in the last minute. Tony acted like a spoiled kid: What can they do to me? If the French arent happy with me, Popovich would love to see me resting in San Antonio the next summers.
Indeed, France struggled mightily in the preliminary round, with Parker starting at point guard. Without huge offensive references as Duncan or Ginobili on the team to give the ball to, and playing against closer defenses than he usually finds in the NBA, Tony exposed his severe limitations as a playmaker. Fortunately, coach Bergeaud reacted for the elimination round, replacing him in the starting five with the veteran Euro legend Antoine Rigaudeau, a player with an incomparable better understanding of the team game than Parker.
With Le Roi (as Antoine is known in Europe) in charge, escorted by an awesome Boris Diaw, Frances offensive fluidity improved dramatically, missing the final just by an absurd last minute against Greece, wasting a 7-point lead in the final 50 seconds of the game, and having to settle for the bronze medal. Even Parker was able to contribute somehow in this new configuration of the team as an offensive spark off the bench.
Another example of NBA-crowded team that actually worked, Croatia, had a more bitter ending despite deserving a better reward. Not enjoying the most solid preliminary round, the team began to work as soon as the game started to flow through the hands of Euroleague star Nikola Vujcic, an impressive distributing paint player. In this case, the NBA guys (Zoran Planinic, Gordan Giricek and Mario Kasun) perfectly fit into a short rotation where everyone had a big share of prominence, producing some of the best offensive game seen in the tournament. Only injuries and bad refereeing stopped them in the quarterfinals against Spain.
Then there is a different model of failure. Its a team with talented NBA guys too, but without the pieces to make it work. Its Russia were talking about. In terms of egos, there apparently arent big problems in the roster. Much like Nowitzki with Germany, Andrei Kirilenko is the king of this squad. But unlike Dirk, and despite being an awesome player, Andrei is no offensive go-to guy, and Russia didnt feature players capable of properly running a set offense. Their other NBA signees, Khryapa and Monya, are poor versions of Kirilenko himself: athletic and intense players without go-to offensive skills. So as soon as they faced a serious defense that didnt allow them to run, like Germanys or Greeces, Russia got in trouble, not being able to go past the quarterfinals.
Different teams, different cases, all looking for the conjunction, for the formula that meshes the players and prima donnas together as best as possible, to display good effort on defense and unselfish and fluent play on the offensive end. Individualistic efforts have very limited success, as well as players with a low basketball IQ pretending to have a big role in a team.
All in all, this Eurobasket has been quite an education lesson about these concepts. And some squads really need to learn, and were not talking only about European ones...