While Britain needs an outrageous 58-point margin of victory today (not to mention a Turkey loss later as well) to advance into the next round of the tourney, Poland merely needs a W. BiE thinks they’re good for it. But don’t take this word for it; follow along with BallinEurope live blogging from Panevezys below the break. Enjoy!

Pregame. Luol Deng is the high-scorer in this tourney, by the way, at 23.8 per game. Tony Parker’s at 23.0, Dirk Nowitzki at 22.8, Andrea Bargnani at 22.0, and Pau Gasol’s at 21.8.

First quarter. Two trips down the floor, no points for either side at first.

8.59: Thomas Kelati puts Poland on the board first. 2-0.

8.41: Joel Freeland answers.

8.05: Deng with the smooth 18-footer puts Britain up, 4-2. That 48-point win may not be forthcoming, but early on, Poland better start concentrating a bit … they could lose here, after all…

7.12: Bad TO by Koszarek, but it comes to nought for Britain, despite the offensive board and reset clock.

6.25: Freeland burns his man again on the easy layup. 8-2, Britain. Time for Poland to wake up, here.

6.02: It may be BiE, but Britain does seem revitalized by that first win.

5.38: Daniel Clark with the rebound and the follow. You know, Poland’s not the biggest team in the world, but they should be outrebounded Britain … Instead, GB’s up in the category, 9-3, including four offensive boards.

4.45: Deng sinks two FTs; Britain up, 12-4, and iti feels like more.

3.58: Finally, Poland sinks something. Kelati on a three. Poland’s just 3-of-9 shooting in the game; incredible from a side that hit 57% last night and has five guys averaging 10 or more in this tournament.

3.10: Kelati has two PFs early, but coach Ales Pipan decides to leave him in the game. Why not? At 2-of-2, he’s the “hot hand” for Poland.

2.55: Mike Lenzly, who fouled out in the Portugal win, gets his first, and now Kelati leaves the floor. Poland has snuck back into the game at 12-10, Britain.

2.15: And Pawel Leonczyk ties it up with a shot just inside the arc.

1.56: Britain answers, but last night’s hero Dardan Berisha draws the PF from Nate Reinking. Poland’s first lead at 15-14.

1.12: Deng at the line again for Britain … even if his guys don’t win, Deng will punish the Poles physically in this one … Britain lead, 16-15.

0.26: Poland almost loses control on the fast break, but Koszarek reins in the errant pass for the score.

0.00: Britain is now up, 18-17. Poland, who surely along with the rest us didn’t figure they’d be playing for anything other than the proverbial pride, will now experience pressure.

Second quarter. The stats say the teams are a combined 1-of-9 on threes, with Kelati’s the sole success. Yikes.

9.33: Nice pass from Archibald outside to Freeland inside for the jam. 20-17, Britain.

9.03: There’s Kelati. He’s the man for Poland, BiE telsl ya. 20-19, Britain.

8.16: Lenzly tries to drive the lane, but Szewcyk’s having none of it. RE-JECTED!

8.00: Nice reverse layup by Berisha. There’s the speed.

7.42: And Lenzly redeems himself with a three. Some good back-and-forth here; both teams shifted gears, it seems. A much faster paced game suddenly.

6.11: Ouch. Kelati tries to face down Lenzly and gets called for a carry. Not good. 27-25, Britain.

5.32: Daniel Clark gets the steal, tries to bring the ball upcourt, proves the old axiom “Big guys can’t ball-handle.” TO!

4.39: Wow, Ogo Adegboye really has a turbo boost. Skibniewski, outmatched and knowing he can’t keep up, fouls … Freeland finishes the possession with an easy two. Britain, 29-25.

3.27: The first really sweet ball movement from Poland produces nothing on the Piotr Pamula miss. Clark answers beating two Poles on the tip-in, gets the and-one. Hits. Britain up, 32-26, the biggest lead since two minutes into the game.

2.48: Ogo is allowed the lane, easily connects. Now 34-26, Britain. What is wrong with Poland? Aside from the fact that they’re getting crushed in the rebound battle at 21-11.

2.19: Wow, Poland, 24-second clock violation. Guess their advancement isn’t a done deal, either…

1.29: Kelati fakes past three Brits and finds Koszarek in the opposite corner for the two. Nice.

1.05: Deng answers with the score underneath and draws the foul. Misses, though. 36-29 to Britain.

0.38: Deng again, now with 12. 39-31 to Britain.

0.00: Poland cannot convert on the last possession and whoa, things don’t look great for the upstarts. 39-31 to Britain.

Third quarter. 8:47: Ah, now Poland is playing with energy. A fastbreak ends in a Koszarek three plus a foul. 42-37, Britain. This will be a key four minutes or so for Poland, BiE thinks.

8.33: Not if Freeland has anything to say about it. 44-37, Britain.

7.53: Deng turns it over on the three-seconds call. But Poland can’t answer as Kelati misses the three and they’re out of position for the rebound. Britain up in boards, 29-12!

7.14: The lesson for Poland, as always: Deng is unstoppable. Now 15 for him. Britain up, 46-37.

6.40: …unless he airballs, that is.

6.23: Nice feed to Szewcyzk, who’s wide open in the lane. 46-41, Poland … and then Kelati drives it in to cut it to three.

5.31: Kelati throws it away and Deng lays it in. 17 for the Bull now.

5.13: Archibald goes down in the lane but is nevertheless called for the foul. Again, Poland is outboarded. Szewczyk loses his cool at the other end and fouls Archibald, who hits 1 of 2. 49-43 to Britain.

4.26: Poland gets the T called their way; Archibald is punished, Szewczyk makes 1 of 2. Poland ball and let’s see if this turns this their way like yesterday … there it is! Hrycaniuk inside, hits, gets the and-one, hits. 49-47 to Britain.

3.29: Deng’s pull-up jumper takes it back to a four-point Britain lead.

3.07: Deng chases down the board. That’s the double-double for him already, with 19 and 10. Britain up, 51-47.

2.36: Guess what, Deng again in the paint. 53-48 to Britain.

2.19: First offensive rebound of the game (!) for Poland turns into a two. 53-50 to Britain.

1.38: Working the ball inside to Koszarek gets the foul call aaaaaand … another T, this one on Lenzly. Poland has gotten more flagrants and technicals called their way in this tournament than anyone. FOUR shots sunk by Koszarek AND Poland ball. This will turn things around. 54-53 to Poland.

0.30: Ooooh! Koszarek with the longball at the 24-second buzzer. Poland up, 56-53. BiE doesn’t want to say the refereeing helps, but…

0.05: Deng sinks two FTs. Now at 23 and 11.

0.00: Foul called at the end of the period on Szewczyk, but Poland remains up 56-55.

Fourth quarter. 9.23: Freeland again outrebounds several Poland players, sends it down. Then Freeland hits the two, gets the foul call.

8.44: Freeland again. Five points in the quarter for him.

8.32: Kelati responds with a three. Britain up, 62-61.

7.45: Deng follows his own miss. 64-61 to Britain.

7.04: Back-and-forth game is back … trading buckets here … but not that time; Hrycaniuk misses and again Poland is out of position for the rebound underneath. Britain now up in that stat, 40-18!

6.25: Now there’s a good board, Hrycaniuk! Snags it, hits the two, hacked by Clark, hits the FT. 69-66, Britain.

5.55: Kelati hits two FTs; Britain up by three.

3.31: Yeesh. On the three-on-one break, Poland throws it away. Poland up, 75-74, but Lenzly to the line on the other end. Hits one, tied up.

3.22: Poland throws it away again!

3.03: Yep, Freeland with the goaltend. 77-75 to Poland. Meanwhile, Israel is being outscored 18-0 in the fourth quarter by Italy…

2.09: Nice alley-oop from Deng to Freeland. These guys are doing it all, with a double-double apiece, plus five assists by Deng. First round MVP…?

1.51: Key possession by Poland and they turn it over. Deng for two more on the other end. Turkey is happy right now … 82-79 to Britain, British ball.

1.04: oh, oh, oh! Freeland with a three from the corner! 85-79 to Britain. Two in a row?

0.37: As my Lithuanian compadre says, “How did Turkey lose to this team?”

0.30: Deng gets one more FT for good measure. 28 for him.

0.00: Well, can we call this normalcy restored, sort of? Suddenly, Turkey has impetus to beat Spain … if anyone can. Of course, with a Turkish loss, Poland still goes through to the next round. Weird. Stay tuned.

Pregame. News from other areas of EuroBasket. By nipping Finland, 72-70, FYR Macedonia has clinched a spot in the next round. Stunningly, all they need is a win over Bosnia & Herzegovina tomorrow to take first place in Group C along with bringing forward a 2-0 record. Georgia is also in Group F, thanks to their 69-53 win over Ukraine. In fact, all six teams are just about locked into the next group, with these two teams joining Russia and Slovenia; Croatia and Greece each need one more win, but face each other in game five.

First quarter. 9.50: Wow, Poland wins the tip and scores the first bucket; this marks perhaps the last time they won’t regret Marcin Gortat’s absence today.

7.07: Could Turkey be nervous? Omer Asik just racked up his second foul, they’re 0-of-2 shooting and tied 2-2. On the plus side, Enes Kanter just entered the game.

6.45: Now 4-2 to Poland! An upset in the making? (Yes, that was a joke.)

5.35: Wow, Koszarek made Ilyasova look bad under the hoop there; the Turk left his feet and got snuck past easily.

5.07: Turkey tries a new look, with Cenk Akyol and Ender Arslan now in.

4.49: Koszarek is just gonna keep trying to drive the lane; he threw that one away, though.

4.11: Apologies, BiE’s earlier note about advancing teams gets one addendum: Germany needs one more win or Italy one loss for Dirk’s guys to advance, or else Italy gets in with two more wins. Germany gets Serbia tonight, by no means an easy game at all.

3.05: Kanter hits two FTs to narrow the gap to 11-9 … hold the phone, it’s Szewczyk with a baseline jumper to make it 13-9.

2.27: Whoa, another one. 15-9 to Poland and how nervous are Turkey’s fans right now? Their fans are notably quiet up there…

2.17: Turkoglu may have gotten away with the travel in the lane there … instead he knocks down the two and draws the foul. But misses the and-one. 15-11, Poland.

1.41: Hrycaniuk with the nice move from four feet out and gets the foul from the just-in Oguz Savas. Misses the FT, though. 17-11, Poland.

0.50: Foul on Kanter looks like a bit of a makeup call for an equally dubious offensive foul by Hrycaniuk.

0.16: Slowing things down — the way Turkey wants it — gets Emir Preldzic to the line. Makes one of two. Poland up 17-14.

0.00: Poland wins the first quarter by that score.

Second quarter. The key stat is points in the paint: Poland 12, Turkey 4. That simply shouldn’t be happening. Coach Orhun Ene blamed the loss to Lithuania on poor defense and damn, the Turkey D is porous today…

8.58: Ouch, backcourt violation as Dardan Berisha loses the handle.

8.36: Kanter gives Turkey its first lead from underneath, 18-17.

8.14: But the three-pointer from Hrycaniuk takes it back at 20-18…

7.58: Wow, Arslan gets a T … again, is this a sign of panic? Then outboarded and Poland follows with a two. Didn’t Turkey have the lead? They don’t now, down 23-18.

7.29: “POL-SKA! POL-SKA! POL-SKA!”

7.14: Asik and Preldzic return for Turkey.

6.58: Ilyasova knocks down the far-off jumper. 23-20, Poland.

5.59: Everything is so hard for Turkey right now; the opposite is true for Poland, as Berisha hits a nice three. 26-22 to Poland.

5.21: The Turkey fans are suddenly enlivened. Not sure why…

5.03: …but that helps. Turkoglu with the 20-footer and it’s 26-25 to Poland. Maybe they should go back to that weird jumpshot-first strategy they’ve had going in the first quarter of the previous games after all…

4.36: Poland comes out of the TO with Skibniewski hitting the three. Ilyasova answers. 29-28, Poland.

3.37: And Skibniewski again for three! Those are the first two of the game for Poland, which is now just 2-of-8 from long range; yet they still lead by four.

2.50: Turkoglu works Thomas Kelati and finally gets the blocking call after three bumps. Makes 1 of 2 FTs.

2.37: The steal and coast-to-coast by Kerem Tunceri again brings Turkey back to within one, 32-31. As Bill Walton might say, “Turkey doesn’t seem to be playing with any URGENCY.”

1.43: A combined 19 turnovers thus far.

1.33: And another: Asik with the travel! Ouch.

1.15: It’s not like Poland’s hitting a lot of threes, but every one seems like a killer. That’s one by Kelati.

0.42: After a bucket, Turkey does not get back on defense. Leoncyk makes them pay. 37-34 to Poland.

0.03: Inexplicable foul by Tunceri, who stops the driving Koszarek, though Kanter was coming into good position for the block. Wow, Turkey does not seem to be up for this game at all … to use a cliche, perhaps they’re thinking ahead to the next game (against Spain).

0.00: Nice! Hrycaniuk makes the late substitute Izzet Turkyilmaz look bad, basically walking past for a layup at the buzzer. Poland closes the half up, 39-35, and Turkey will surely be scratching heads at halftime.

Halftime. Let’s see, what do the stats say…? Poland is shooting a nice 57% (16-of-28), including 6-of-12 on threes, against Turkey’s 42% (11-of-26). Poland has just three FT attempts versus Turkey’s 14, while Turkey’s outrebounding, 16-11. Somehow, Polska will have to keep the hot hand … do they wish they could’ve just passed on a halftime break altogether?

Third quarter. Wow, Turkey still looking sloppy. Hrycaniuk was left wide open for the three — in and out.

7.52: But then the steal and Asik throws down the alley-oop. Poland up, 43-40.

7.14: Ah, Onan with the three. That might be the momentum shifter. And Poland calls a very necessary TO. Tied up at 43.

6.55: And Hrycaniuk gets his third personal foul, but Turkey makes nothing of the opportunity…

6.05: Asik with another slam. 45-43 to Turkey for their first lead since the brief while in the second quarter.

5.47: No matter, Berisha with the two and the and-one drawn against Turkoglu. Sinks the FT for a 46-45 Poland lead.

5.17: NICE steal and fast break closed by Onan. 47-46 to Turkey.

4.45: Kanter dances past Adam Lapeta in the lane, gets the and-one, makes the FT. 50-46 to Poland now.

4.16: Now Turkey’s playing a surprisingly fast game again. Turkoglu to the line and makes both. 52-48, but Kelati answers. 52-50.

3.57: Just running the floor back and forth is working for Turkey. Kanter at the line, makes both. Turkey is 16-of-19 from the FT line, against just 2-of-4 for Poland. That’ll be the difference, BiE thinks.

3.13: Kanter with the nice full-court pass to Onan for the lay-in. 56-50 to Turkey.

1.40: Kanter adds another two plus one for a 59-53 Turkey lead; the tide has definitely turned.

0.50: Poland is having serious troubles against Turkey’s big men on defense. A desperate hacking foul by Szewczyk sends Savas to the line and he hits both. 60-53 to Turkey.

0.10: Savas again underneath, 62-55.

0.03: O, and Savas gets T’ed up. This will change things; is a three- or four-point swing imminent?

0.00: At the buzzer, coach Ene is T’ed up, plus Arslan’s foul on the three-point attempt by Szewczyk. Incredible. Guess they get the swing after all. Turkey barely holds the lead, 62-61.

0.00: Not exactly sure what happens now … should Poland get two more FTs, plus the ball? Refs are debating it now…

Fourth quarter. 10.00: Poland does get two more FTs and the ball, but they give up the turnover and Arslan lays it in on the fast break. 64-63 to Turkey but without the weird mini-self-destruction, it wouldn’t be this close…

9.11: Turkoglu coolly hits the 15-footer. This should be where experience wins out…

8.53: Asik’s fourth foul in 14 minutes of court tiime siends Hrycaniuk to the line; he hits both.

8.18: Turkoglu is finally demonstrating some alpha-dog skills, hitting another for a 68-64 Turkey lead.

7.04: Kanter called on the three-second violation … but it comes to naught, with Berisha rushing a bad three attempt.

5.13: Poland just has no answer in the paint, relying on the personal foul. Kanter nails one of two FTs for his 17th point; he’s the leading scorer for Turkey with Berisha having a like 17 for Poland.

4.24: Szewczyk hits a two, celebrates a bit too much with Poland down, 75-71.

3.51: Another technical on Turkey?!?!??! (Or “unsportsmanlike foul.”) Kelati hits one of two.

3.30: And Koszarek ties it with the three…

3.16: …however, the hacks underneath continue for Poland. Ilyasova at the line. His first points of the second half make it 77-75. Meanwhile, France may have bounced Italy, up by five with 20 seconds remaining.

2.20: Ilyasova follows the Asik miss … and Hryanciuk answers again. 79-77, Turkey.

1.42: Turkoglu at the 24-second buzzer makes it 81-77.

1.05: Turkey is killing clock, but then throw it away! Piotr Pamula (really) hits a three on the breakaway for an unbelievable 82-81 lead.

0.31: Tunceri finds Kanter underneath, but guess what. Foul. The young guy demonstrates sangfroid in hitting both, the second after a lane violation.

0.12: Berisha shakes and bakes Tunceri at the top of the key and hits the shot, giving Poland an 84-83 lead. Crazy. He’s also the game-high scorer with 21.

0.00: Wow. The upset! Tunceri misses!

0.00: Final score, 84-83, and again BiE is happy to be proven wrong, in this case vis-a-vis the predicted lack of upsets in this tournament. Poland isn’t quite assured of advancing to the next round, but all they need is a win against Great Britain while Turkey needs a Polish loss plus a win over Spain … awesome stuff. We’ll be back for what BiE thought was the marquee game of the day in Panevezys. Ah, heck, it probably still is, really. But what an upset! EuroBasket rules!

Follow along with BallinEurope’s live blogging (if you dare) below the break. BiE would say “enjoy the game,” but if you’re watching this one, you must be a basketball fanatic or supporter and thus you’ll be assured to.

Pregame. Well, Portugal wins the togetherness battle, with arms around one another while Poland merely stood single file during the national anthem. Plus, these teams must be 1-2 in Group A in tattoos.

The sole other game going on right now: Latvia vs. Italy in Siauliai.

A few Polska fans are here, but BiE can comfortably report that the Lithuanian fans outnumber the Portugal backers … is anyone cheering this team on?

First quarter. 9.23: Inauspicious start: first play result is a travel.

9.06: First points scored by Lukasz Koszarek with a three for Poland. 3-0.

6.17: There’s a reason the entries are so sparse so early here: The teams are a combined 3-of-12 already. Portugal up (for the first time in this EuroBasket?), 5-3.

4.20: Santos hits one. The teams are now a combined 4-of-17. (And it ain’t the defense.) Anybody still think we need 24 teams in this tournament? Portugal up, 7-3.

3.33: Portugal’s Filipe da Silva misses both FTs. Sheesh.

3.00: And Leonczyk ties it up for Poland … at 7.

2.41: Let the bizarre stats begin: Total PFs in the game, 7. Total field goals made, 6. Poland up, 8-7.

2.05: Poor Poland. One of their bona fide studs, Adam Hrycaniuk already — already! — has three fouls. Ugly. Portugal up, 9-8.

0.00: File this under “BiE blogs this so you don’t have to.” After one, it’s 13-10 to Portugal. 8-of-27 combined shooting. Koszarek leads all scorers with a big 5.

Second quarter. 6.49: No, BiE’s not really falling asleep … it’s 17-17 and the best thing that can be said is that the referees are letting everyone play through much contact…

6.07: Wow, Dardan Berisha launches himself over the back of a defender and hits the floor. Good one. Portugal, 18-17.

5.47: Poland finally takes the lead on a Koszarek three. 20-18.

4.26: But a 5-0 run gives the lead back to the “underdogs.” Portugal up, 23-20.

4.17: Miguel Miranda hits for Portugal for a five-point lead, the game’s biggest…25-20.

2.44: Portugal is starting to open things up now! It’s 29-21 and they’re red hot, up to 44% overall shooting.

1.05: Berisha with a nice-looking jumper there … Poland now “up” to 9-of-27 shooting. Portugal up, 34-29.

0.00: And, at the half, it’s Portugal 36, Poland 29. Hello? Anyone? Hellllooooooooo?

Third quarter. This game perhaps illustrates better than any other the havoc wreaked by the NBA lockout/player insurance mess. It’s not that Poland is a bad team per se, but with Marcin Gortat, the side would certainly be a lot more competitive than they’ve shown thus far — even without injured Euroleaguer Maciej Lampe. To think that a viable program is struggling against a Portugal, the last team to qualify for the tournament and reaching these heights by dint of beating mighty Hungary (not even ranked among FIBA’s top 75 men’s programs) twice, is disturbing at best. Talk about torpedoed by business…

Meanwhile, Poland is cruising on a 13-0 run and should put things away before too long. Polska up, 42-36.

0.00: Geez, Portugal suddenly ties things up at the buzzer with a circus three-pointer from Jose Costa. 49-49.

Fourth quarter. 7.50: Now, finally, things get interesting. Teams trading buckets and Poland’s holding a 54-51 lead.

6.37: Costa’s two FTs tie it up again at 56-56.

5.35: Hrycaniuk’s back in the game and establishes himself as Poland’s go-to guy. Miranda is likewise for Portugal and they trade scores. 62-61, Poland.

2.36: Hrycaniuk hits two FTs to make it 73-65. Can we say it’s over yet…?

1.15: Costa again for three … 73-71 and o god, is overtime inevitable?

0.43: Maybe not. Elvis Evora fouls Thomas Kelati … and then Kelati misses 1 of 2. Conspiracy?

0.31: Costa rushes the shot and misses. Can one apply a dagger to his own team? Unfortunate for the almost-hero of this match.

0.17: Kelati may have sealed this with two more FTs. Poland, 76-71.

0.13: Hrycaniuk picks off a badly telegraphed pass from Costa and the free-throw shooting contest has begun.

0.00: Final score, 81-73, after a what-the-hell three from Koszarek at the buzzer. Yaaaay! Polska! Polska! Polska!

Note for the game: Marijonas Petravicius will not be playing tonight due to an unspecified minor injury. Could this mean some time for prospective Toronto Raptor Jonas Valanciunas, who only saw four minutes of action last night…? Find out soon and follow the BallinEurope live blogging below the break. Enjoy!

Pregame. Announced lineups for tonight are as follows. Poland brings Dardan Berisha, Lukasz Koszarek, Adam Hrycaniuk, Thomas Kelati, and Szymon Szewczyk; Lithuania lists Rimantas Kaukenas, Mantas Kalnietis, Paulius Jankunas, Simas Jasaitis, and Robertas Javtokas in the middle.

Other games tonight: Italy vs. Germany in perhaps the marquee matchup; Macedonia vs. Croatia; and Ukraine vs. Slovenia.

First quarter. 9.36: Thomas Kelati starts the scoring in the game and it’s “Lietuva! Lietuva!” early from the full-capacity crowd.

9.23: Kaukenas bags the first points for Lietuva, putting in two FTs.

8.45: Calls going against Lithuania early … Kalnietis gets called for an invisible foul; Lithuania turns it over out of bounds when there appeared to be contact…

8.13: And now a dodgy traveling call…don’t the refs know this crowd could riot?

6.57: With no Polish Hammer, Kelati is the man for Poland. And he’s living up to it again, with four points early. Poland, 8-6.

5.56: Kalnietis with a three for Lithuania’s first lead at 9-8. He’s got five early.

5.24: Poland scores its first rebound *of the game*, only to have to give up the ball on a foul. 11-10, Poland.

5.03: Kalnietis now at eight; it’s always someone different for Lithuania. Lithuania up, 13-11.

4.00: Guess who on the tip in. Poland, 16-15. And then the defensive rebound. And then Songaila on the feed from KALNIETIS!

2.45: Saras pulls up for a three after Kalnietis sits; Poland looks to prevent disaster with a good timeout.

1.55: Valanciunas comes into the game, scores his first points of the tourney on a tip in. Teams trade buckets and it’s 24-18 for Lithuania.

1.10: Interesting early stat: Lithuania has 24 points despite six TOs. The secret? 8-of-11 overall shooting.

0.00: Lietuva can’t convert on the last possession of the quarter and the first ends at 25-20.

Second quarter. 8.37: Some nice ball movement and pick-and-roll action sets Songaila up for the bucket and a 27-22 Lithuania lead.

7.54: Is this quarter Songaila’s? Two for him and it’s 29-22, followed by some nice D by the former 76er to force a Poland turnover.

7.06 Songaila and Songaila again. Really. 33-22, Lithuania.

6.21: No way. Songaila’s 10th point of the quarter. 35-24.

5.33: Lithuania calls timeout for some reason; perhaps to decide who’s going to confuse Poland and dominate next…

4.42: Kalnietis picks Kelati’s pocket, goes coast-to-coast for the layup … o yeah, he’s back in the game, because Songaila’s out. Lithuania, 41-30.

3.05: Sick shooting by Lithuania: 18-of-24 overall; sick in the other meaning is Poland’s, at 12-of-31, including just 3-of-10 on threes. Time out, Poland. 45-30, Lithuania.

1.37: Leoncyk sinks two FTs after a dubious call on Jankunas, but Poland is looking mighty disoriented and disorganized out there. Jankunas returns the favor with two FTs of his own to make it 49-35.

0.41: Another good stat: Lithuania — zero TOs in the second quarter.

0.00: Lithuania is playing to their strengths in this game, simply bringing too much depth and keeping the opposition guessing. The spreading of wealth is Lithuanian basketball at its best and thus they’ve earned the 53-38 halftime lead.

Third quarter. If you’re a Lithuania fan, you are loving this. 71% shooting, zero turnovers in the second quarter, 11-of-14 from the line, 14 assists against Poland’s four…everything is working.

9.23: Nerves? Lithuania fouls three times in the first 37 seconds…

8.33: Another foul, and Saras is brought in to calm things down. Or maybe argue with the ref, which is his first action on the floor. Kelati hits two FTs and it’s a 5-0 Poland run. 53-45, Lithuania.

7.39: Jasikevicius leaves Kelati on the floor for a pull-up jumper. 57-45. And Jasaitis’ subsequent two has Poland heading for the bench on a TO. 60-45, Lithuania.

6.00: Now it’s Martynas’ turn? Two FTs after a hard foul gives him six this quarter already.

5.38: Yep, that’s Pocius drawing another foul. And Jasikevicius throwing down the subsequent two.

3.15: Kelati stops the 8-0 Lithuania run with a Dirk-like jumper. 68-49, Lithuania.

0.00: Sheesh, 76-52 to the homers.

Fourth quarter. This is exactly what Lithuania wants. Poland simply can’t react quickly enough as Lithuania shows off its amazing depth. These guys can go outside or inside, fast break or half court and everyone’s scoring. 44 bench points against 18 for Poland … this team has BiE believing in a deep run.

6.56: Kalnietis’ three brings the overall Lithuanian shooting to a ridiculous 75%. The Dallas Mavericks couldn’t stop these guys.

5.21: C’mon, fans. You’re jeering a bad call at 88-61? The only thing crazier than this team’s red-hot play is the audience … can’t say as BiE ultimately blames ‘em, though, really.

3.59: Serbia’s standing tournament high score of 92 set today is toast. The only question is whether Turkey’s +31 over Portugal is in danger. 89-68, Lithuania.

2.29: More compelling stats: Just two players — Pocius and Kalnietis — have played over 20 minutes.

BallinEurope will be checking in to update on the action throughout the match, so click below the break, stay right here and refresh often! Happy Eurobasket, all!

Pregame. Gee, if you just take a look at these numbers provided by FIBA, it seems equal: Average height of Spanish players, 2.00m; Polish players, 1.97m. Spain’s average age, 26.3 years; Poland’s, 25.4.

Player introductions now happening; unfortunately, a bit of an empty house, with the Poland supporters well outnumbering the Spanish backers.

The marquee game of the day (in BiE’s opinion) is also about to tip off in Siauliai: Serbia vs. Italy. Montenegro-FYR Macedonia and Belgium-Georgia go off at 2.30pm CET…

First quarter: It’ll be Pau vs. Szymon Szewczyk for the tip…and Spain gets it. First bucket (by Marc Gasol) nullified with a travel…nervous energy?

Poland comes out strong, first lead of the game at 2-0 on a jam by Szewczyk.

8.42: Pau puts in Spain’s first points on free throws. 2-2.

7.41: Early observations: Poland came to play, Pau’s giving up the body, having drawn two PFs already.

Whoa, Italy’s already out to a 9-0 lead…

6.58: Poland now has five personal fouls, with Pau drawing yet another. Szewczyk with two.

4.45: Pau already with eight of Spain’s 13 points. Spain up, 13-9.

3.39: First substitutions include Serge Ibaka and Ricky Rubio for Spain. And Rubio soon thereafter notches his first steal.

3.30: The first timeout (by Poland) has the scoreboard at 18-9.

2.59: For the second time, Thomas Kelati hits in the lane as the shot clock expires. Seven points for him.

0.45: Now Poland is beating Spain in the transition game…22-15, Spain, though.

And that’s the score at the end of the first quarter … Spain’s taking out of Poland’s big guys has completely made the difference, with the Gasols especially suddenly able to score at will underneath and the lane wide open for Spain to do as they please.

Second quarter: Piotr Szczota opens the scoring with a nice baby hook in the paint … Poland needs more aggression from the likes of him. Spain, 22-17.

8.57: And now Poland drawing the offensive foul on Rubio … putting a little fear into the defending champs here…Spain, 22-19.

Whoa, in Siauliai, Serbia overtook Italy early in the second quarter there, now up 23-22.

7.44: Ibaka brings the Spanish aggression back to draw the foul in a drive through the lane, makes the free throw for a 27-19 lead.

6.21: Ibaka throws down a dunk for his sixth and seventh points; he’s now Spain’s second-high scorer.

5.20: Navarro unbelievably with his first points … 33-21, Spain. Pulling away…?

4.48: Now both Gasols on the floor for Espana … and Kelati cannot work the magic this time, missing a jumper at the 24-second buzzer. 37-23, Spain.

4.01: Szewczyk finally able to reenter the game after his three PFs in the first six minutes of play.

3.24: What was that about Navarro’s first points? He now has Spain’s last seven. Timeout, Poland, with Spain up to a 40-25 lead.

1.33: Slight scoring drought broken by Pau’s unstoppable spin move on the baseline past Adam Hrycaniuk, plus the foul, plus the FT. 42-26, Spain.

0.37: Give Poland this: they ain’t going down easy. Lukasz Koszarek gives up the body on a breakaway to hit the layup and draw a second foul on Jose Calderon. Spain up 42-31 with the FT.

0.00: At the half, it’s 44-31 to Spain. BiE would sure be hesitant to suggest any advice to Poland, as Spain seems to be doing just everything right.

The halftime stats say they’re outrebounding Poland 21-11 overall, including a huge 8-3 on the offensive glass. And while the Spanairds haven’t yet found their three-point touch at just 1-of-8 for the game, Poland is a desperate 2-of-12 in reply. Both sides shot an equal 13-of-29 overall, but Spain has an incredible edge in fouls, with 20 trips to the line against just four for the Polish. And those 14 additional successes are making the difference in score right now.

Elsewhere, Serbia continues to handle Italy after a spluttering start, 35-29; Georgia’s way up on Belgium in the second quarter at 37-21; and BiE’s dark horse candidate FYR Macedonia is holding off Montenegro at 28-25.

And now it’s Serbia 43, Italy 31?!?!? That’s, what, a 43-22 run? Yikes.

Third quarter: Aaaaaaaaaand the third quarter begins. With Pau and Marc failing to connect for a bad turnover.

9.40: Hrycaniuk gets his third PF, now the fourth Poland player to “earn” number three.

9.05: First points for Spain in in the half? Who else? Pau, now with 17. Spain up, 46-31.

7.17: The cooled-off Kelati misses a jumper from the corner, but Hrycaniuk draws the third PF on San Emeterio, who has shown little thus far…Spain 46-34…and finally San Emeterio gets his points (must’ve heard BiE typing!) to make it 48-34.

6.21: Pau to Marc. Too easy that time. 50-34. Pau chases this with another spin move on the baseline to draw Pawel Leonczyk’s third foul … Poland’s gonna run out of big bodies in this one at this rate…

4.19: Szewczyk’s finally heating up again, now that every other player has caught up to his foul total. He’s got the last five points for Poland. Spain up, 53-41.

3.04: Another foul by Poland; every player with over three minutes of court time has amassed at least two fouls except Koszarek, and five have three or more. Spain, 57-44.

0.00: It seems like every time Pau leaves the floor, there’s a mini-comeback by Poland. They’ve closed the gap to 61-52 with one quarter to play…

Fourth quarter: 8.50: Pau again starts off the scoring for Spain in a quarter, making it 17 for him.

8.29: Kelati nearly dances through the lane, makes the shot and manages to draw the foul. Made FT and then *a steal and a follow for Poland*! Incredible: 63-57, Spain.

7.47: After a timeout, it’s Pau to staunch the bleeding with a three from the side. 66-57, Spain.

7.27: Uh oh, the foul trouble seems to be starting again for Poland. First Kelati, then Dardan Berisha … followed by Sergio Llull bailing them out of a possible 24-second clock violation with a foul of his own.

6.36: Rubio with his second steal, but he cannot make the layup. No problem, though, as — guess what — another Polish foul ultimately makes in 68-57 to Spain.

6.02: San Emeterio fouls out. Five fouls, three points and it’s incredible he left the game before anyone except Szewczyk…

5.45: Pau reenters game after suffering a cut earlier. Never a good sign for Poland in this game.

5.20: With two FTs made, Navarro is now second high-scorer for Spain (and in the game) with 16 points.

4.29: Ouch. Hrycaniuk kills a rally with an offensive foul on an attempted pick-and-roll. Spain, 70-63.

3.30: Szczotka with a 20-footer to make it 70-65! And Pau hasn’t touched the ball since the beginning of the quarter, it seems. Until these two free throws (both made). 72-65.

3.10: Nice feed to Hrycaniuk underneath makes it 72-67. And Poland stops the drive.

2.26: Leonczyk with a fifth foul sends him out and Marc to the line … looking nervous, he misses on 1 of 2. 73-67 to Spain. And Kelati in the land makes it 73-69!

1.49: Naturally, Pau draws another foul on the little jumper — he’s looking a bit weary as he misses the first, makes the second FT.

1.30: Oh, Navarro may just have hit the dagger three there … Spain, 77-69.

1.20: Though Koszarek brings it back to five, steals the ball, gets fed for another two. 77-74!

0.54: Again. Gasol for two, plus the FT. 80-74, Spain. A silly foul from Marc puts Koszarek at the line for two more points. Koszarek has the last seven points for Poland, who’s down by just four.

0.26: Navarro misses on the jumper, and Calderon fouls Kelati … my god, Poland down by just two…

0.16: Navarro puts down two FTs. Spain, 82-78, as we enter the definition of crunch time. Gee, neither side wants to leave the timeout huddle; wonder why…

0.00: That’s the right number. Figures. Lapeta fouls Pau, fouls out, gets Spain the game at 83-78.

Nice start to the Eurobasket … be back shortly for Turkey-Portugal.

With his Dallas Mavericks again in the NBA Finals, this surely won’t be the last Dirk Nowitzki mix you’ll see anytime soon. But this one, dubbed “The Giant Killer,” well, it’s really operatic.

And the Dastardly One has been playing so dreamily in the big league’s playoffs that he managed to sneak his way into the subconscious-centered epic Inception. Well, sort of…

In case you needed a little more hype – or once again want to marvel at the oddity of a tournament in which both Dirk and Lebron James have suddenly and stunningly become known for clutch play – here’s a bombastic clip previewing the 2010-11 NBA Finals. (Hey, this may be the last American rah-rahing we get until autumn 2012, right?

In Spain, despite Bizkaia Bilboa Basket’s shaking up of the bracket early on, another FC Barcelona-Real Madrid final looks to be on tap. On Friday night, youngsters Ante Tomic (15 points, seven rebounds) and Sergio Llull (20 points) led the charge for the Whites in topping Bilboa, 78-67.

Before celebrating the city club’s victory over Manchester United in that other sport last night, Friday night saw the Blaugrana basketball side easily handle Caja Laboral Baskonia, 86-71.

Further south, Maccabi Tel Aviv surprised no one in smoking Galil/Gilboa, 91-64, to retake the Ligat HaAl title in Israel on Friday night.

Guys, next time you take your lady to a game, get her to do this. Women, decorating yourself like this is sure to win the guy’s heart…

The LKL playoffs may be over in Lithuania, but you know folks in “The Heart of Basketball” are looking forward to the biggest hoops event ever to hit the country, i.e. Eurobasket 2011.

Incidentally, here’s Žalgiris fandom basking in the afterglow of retaking the Lithuanian title from rivals Lietuvos Rytas:

Of course, last week saw Panathinaikos end Olympiacos’ notable run in EΣAKE play with a 75-70 win in the Reds’ house in game one of the Greek League finals. In preparation for tonight’s game two, here’s a highlight clip from the first game, with emphasis on the dunking…

Finally, rest in peace, Malgorzata Dydek.

OK, Ponitka was pretty good, too

Team USA won 92-80, though this score belies the fact that the outcome was never truly in doubt. After jumping out to an early lead, the Stars and Stripes held a double-digit lead for most of the game; a 7-0 World Team run reduced the deficit to eight points at just about midway through the third quarter, but this was a last gasp.

Rivers scored 20 and two of the four future Kentucky Wildcats – Anthony Davis and Michael Gilchrist – each added 16.

Sickest of the sick vis-à-vis this Team USA was the chemistry displayed by the squad in general but particularly by the Kentucky-bound foursome. Don’t believe BiE? Here’s a tiny sample, i.e. a sick Marquis Teague-to-Davis alley oop.

In short: Look out, NCAA.

Color commentators for the game enthusiastically described the match throughout as a “block party,” and indeed it was for Congo’s Biyombo, a late addition to the squad who merely contributed a triple-double of 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots for the World Select Team. This represents the first such triple-double in Nike Hoop Summit history, as the 10 blocks sets the Summit record.

Surely Biyombo’s view counts on YouTube are blowing up as you read this, so BiE’ll stoking the surely blazing fire a bit with the following.

The best performance for Team World was probably Nicolas Batum’s. The former Summiteer and current Portland Trail Blazer was on hand to watch the game and contribute some minutes to FIBA TV in an interview; from yesterday, here he is publicizing the present and remembering past Hoop Summits.

Seriously, though, for the European basketball devotees: Mateusz Ponitka, the all-tournament team selection at the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship, played well enough to lead World Select Team scoring with 17 points against some seriously tough Team USA defense.

Team USA is now 11-3 in Nike Hoop Summit history.

• To no one’s surprise, Spanish superpowers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid indeed met in the Copa del Rey final with La Blaugrana overcoming their rivals playing on their home court, 68-60. Check out, as the league’s official website, says a collection of clips including “Alley oops terribles de [Boniface] N’Dong y [Fran] Vázquez, mate furioso de Clay Tucker, D’Or Fischer que pone el candado a su aro … ¡Mucha diversión en la Final!”

Slightly surprising, especially given the number of household names on Barça, was Alan Anderson’s unstoppable performance: The former Charlotte Bobcat/Cibona Zagreb/Maccabi Tel Aviv swingman topped his 17-point showing against Caja Laboral Baskonia with a huge 19 against Real … and tournament MVP honors.

• Anything less surprising than the Spanish matchup? Sure! There’s always the anti-climactic Lithuanian Cup final, certain to feature Žalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos Rytas: After all, all five editions of the LKF Cup have pitted the two Euroleague squads against one another. This year, it was Žalgiris 80, L.Rytas 69, with Travis Watson pacing the winners with 16 points.

• At least the Türkiye Kupasi typically produces an interesting finals matchup: Despite the perpetual dominance of TBL ball by the two big Euroleague sides, Efes Pilsen and Fenerbahçe Ülker haven’t met for the Cup championship game since 2006; they’ve only clashed in the final game of this tournament four times since its inception in 1967.

This time around, the surprise entry was Beşiktaş Cola Turka, who managed to upend Efes Pilsen in round one and survive Trabzonspor in the second to earn the right to face off against traditional superpower Fenerbahçe.

Still without Allen Iverson, the Eagles got monster games from Mire Chatman (22 points on 9-of-16 overall shooting) and A.J. Ogilvy. The Australian went for 24 points, including an incredible 16-of-18 on free throws; the other 11 Beşiktaş players combined for exactly 0-for-1 from the ‘stripe.

Fenerbahçe proved to have too much for the upstarts, however, posting an 81-72 win for the team’s third ‘Cup and second consecutive.

The bad news for Fenerbahçe, of course, is that the war may have been lost in this possibly pyrrhic victory: Mirsad Turkcan suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter that will likely end his 2010-11 season and could even keep him out of Eurobasket 2011.

Anyway, so here’s a crushing jam by Tarance Kinsey from the game.

And the party thereafter.

Incidentally, here’s a featurette on Beşiktaş’ new addition, Marcelus Kemp, with highlights from The Eagles’ 90-88 squeaker over Trabzonspor in the Kupasi quarterfinals. All Beşiktaş’ import did in his second game was go for 19 points and three assists to push the Black-and-White into the final match.

In the final, Kemp showed a bit more evidence of rust, managing just 4-of-13 overall shooting and committing five fouls in 27½ minutes of court time; he’s managing just a 33% overall success rate in three games thus far.

In the first-ever Polish Cup, meanwhile, Polpharma emerged as champions in beating Eurocup side Anwil Wloclawek, 75-67; this just one day after a buzzer-beating win over Euroleaguers Asseco Prokom. Not too much in the way of highlights has been posted to YouTube, but we do have the view from a courtside seat (over 20 minutes of it!) at the Prokom game.

And the post-game celebration…

Finally, to Italy. Stop BiE if you’ve heard this one before: The Coppa Italia in 2011 was once again a race for second place; this year, the metaphorical silver went to Bennet Cantù, who lost to good ol’ Montepaschi Siena in the finals, 79-72. It’s the third-straight Coppa for MPS and the second consecutive championship game win over Cantù; Cantù has thrice finished runner-up in the tournament.

Right, that’s the challenge. So here’s BallinEurope’s suggestion for The Flying One: Give a shoutout to Polish ball with either of the final two successful dunks in the final round over there. Reproduce either the visual tribute to His Airness Himself executed by Cameron Bennerman of Energa Czarni or the six-cheerleader leap by winner Łukasz Biedny and you can’t go wrong.

Dunkophiles may want to keep an eye on the 22-year-old Biedny, who measures all of 6’2” (1.88m) and currently plays for the Poznan amateur squad – the second amateur to take a European all-star dunk contest this season.

Thanks to reader Mirek for the video link!

After an infamous bar fight in which he was stabbed, Giddens transferred from the University of Kansas to New Mexico, where he was the undisputed team stud in 2006-07 and 2007-08, playing over 30 and 32 minutes per game in the two seasons. Giddens was taken as the last pick of the first round in the 2008 NBA Draft, but couldn’t stick with the Boston Celtics. After spending time with the D-League Utah Flash, a cup of coffee with the New York Knicks in 2010 and finally with the Sacramento Kings’ summer league squad, Giddens’ (and Bobby Brown’s) agent had his client take a deal to play with Poland’s Euroleague club.

Thus far in Euroleague play, Giddens has been good for 11.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game (while also occasionally serving as a rare bright spot on a pathetic BallinEurope fantasy basketball team); after three games with Gdynia in the Polish national league, the former Lobo leads in ppg and overall player rating.

Cumulative, Giddens’ averages through 11 Euroleague, VTB United League and domestic games are 11.9 points and 5.3 while he’s shooting 50.1% overall; his top effort this season came in Euroleague game one, when J.R. shot 9-of-9 inside the arc for 20 points, plus 10 boards and three steals.

Check out Real GM for Giddens’ thoughts on Asseco Prokom’s Euroleague woes (they’re lacking chemistry — though they have won two in a row now), quality of Euroleague versus D-League play (Giddens is impressed with the EL), and how he likes Gdynia (the seafood there rules, apparently).