The surprising basketball thread (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Martin
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deserved win for France. glad for Parker and Diaw, though id rather saw them with gold. Gobert played a great game defensively, completely locked down the paint area. that floater of Teodosic he blocked was amazing, he touched the ball atleast 20cm above the rim. crazy
Lithuania - Spain tonight, Spain are favorites mainly because of Gasol, but Lithuania will put up a fight for sure. in order to win, they will have to keep it an ugly low possessions game (like they did vs Serbia). the faster the game, the more chances for Spain to win. they must box out on the defensive rebound, not allowing Gasol and the rest easy 2nd chance points. they must keep their number of turnovers low, Mantas Kalnietis mainly, who does some amazing things in one possession, but makes a terrible decision in the next one (its understandable though, he plays way to much in this Eurobasket without a decent sub for him). Valanciunas cant get into foul trouble and should attack Gasol as much as he can to tire him out. they will also need production of their bench. Kuzminskas played the key role vs Serbia in the 3rd and 4th quarter, he was very important vs Italy too. they will need him to be like that in this game. Maciulis and Seibutis will also have to be on their best.
Spain played some fantastic perimeter defense vs France, Rudy Fernandez mainly. they were constantly attacking the passing lanes and made it maximally difficult for France to move the ball and organize the play. most times it resulted in the French having to play 1on1 and forced shots over defenders. Gasol draws a lot of fouls, he forced Gobert out of the game due to a 5th foul in overtime vs France before he scored 6 easy points to win the game (though he made a foul on De Colo on the offensive rebound he grabbed when dunking for 78-75). Spain will surely switch a lot of players on Kalnietis to tire him out even more. Llull, Rodriguez, Ribas, you will see all of them defending on Mantas at some point. and ofcourse, they will put the ball down to Gasol as much as they can.
Spain traditionally doesent have many turnovers. they are also very good at rebounding in this Eurobasket. if they can control their turnovers and rebounds, and Gasol gets any half decent support, they will win this. last game he scored half of the points of his team (Gasol 40pts, the rest 40pts), but most of the time, when they needed to score and Gasol couldnt create a position to receive a pass, Rodriguez and Llull mainly delivered some crucial points. Lithuania will probably repeat the same as in their previous 2 games. full of contact, on the edge of fouls defensively, and moving the ball around and using up as much time as they can offensively. but i think this wont be as effective vs Spain as it was till now, but we'll see. 60-40 for Spain in this game, though i would love for Lithuania to win this with a weakened roster after losing the final with a stronger team 2 years ago.
Lithuania - Spain tonight, Spain are favorites mainly because of Gasol, but Lithuania will put up a fight for sure. in order to win, they will have to keep it an ugly low possessions game (like they did vs Serbia). the faster the game, the more chances for Spain to win. they must box out on the defensive rebound, not allowing Gasol and the rest easy 2nd chance points. they must keep their number of turnovers low, Mantas Kalnietis mainly, who does some amazing things in one possession, but makes a terrible decision in the next one (its understandable though, he plays way to much in this Eurobasket without a decent sub for him). Valanciunas cant get into foul trouble and should attack Gasol as much as he can to tire him out. they will also need production of their bench. Kuzminskas played the key role vs Serbia in the 3rd and 4th quarter, he was very important vs Italy too. they will need him to be like that in this game. Maciulis and Seibutis will also have to be on their best.
Spain played some fantastic perimeter defense vs France, Rudy Fernandez mainly. they were constantly attacking the passing lanes and made it maximally difficult for France to move the ball and organize the play. most times it resulted in the French having to play 1on1 and forced shots over defenders. Gasol draws a lot of fouls, he forced Gobert out of the game due to a 5th foul in overtime vs France before he scored 6 easy points to win the game (though he made a foul on De Colo on the offensive rebound he grabbed when dunking for 78-75). Spain will surely switch a lot of players on Kalnietis to tire him out even more. Llull, Rodriguez, Ribas, you will see all of them defending on Mantas at some point. and ofcourse, they will put the ball down to Gasol as much as they can.
Spain traditionally doesent have many turnovers. they are also very good at rebounding in this Eurobasket. if they can control their turnovers and rebounds, and Gasol gets any half decent support, they will win this. last game he scored half of the points of his team (Gasol 40pts, the rest 40pts), but most of the time, when they needed to score and Gasol couldnt create a position to receive a pass, Rodriguez and Llull mainly delivered some crucial points. Lithuania will probably repeat the same as in their previous 2 games. full of contact, on the edge of fouls defensively, and moving the ball around and using up as much time as they can offensively. but i think this wont be as effective vs Spain as it was till now, but we'll see. 60-40 for Spain in this game, though i would love for Lithuania to win this with a weakened roster after losing the final with a stronger team 2 years ago.