Despite it all, suggests Tom Schad in the Copenhagen Post Online, “Denmark could become world beaters in basketball.” Citing the examples of Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming, Schad argues that it only takes “one great player to give a country hope” in its national basketball program, and “For Denmark, maybe that player is about to arrive.”

That would be Anton Larsen, currently with Old Dominion University.

It’s a compelling argument, as basketball allows one outstanding player to carry a team through a tournament single-handedly – and Spain can be added to the list of countries that came from seemingly out of nowhere to become a perpetual powerhouse in the modern era.

On the other hand, if Larsen’s the centerpiece, wellllllll … time will tell, one supposes.

The seven-footer played sparingly in Saturday’s 63-46 loss to Northern Iowa (!), going just 0-of-1 from the floor in seven minutes. Last year, as a sophomore, Larsen played in 12 games last season, with season totals of 15 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes.

Another potential problem: Larsen is 23 years old; at his age, Nowitzki had already played three years of NBA ball and was the top scorer in EuroBasket 2001. Parker wore two NBA championship rings (!!!) and one EuroBasket bronze medal. The Monarch is a bit behind the curve here, but presumably we’ll be seeing him with Team Denmark in FIBA Europe’s Division B play in 2013.

So call Larsen, like Danish basketball (particularly the U18s, whom Schad notes “finished second and are now considered one of the best young squads in Europe. Teen phenoms Rasmus Glarbjerg and Esben Reinholt will be particularly interesting to watch”), a work in progress. It’s good that they’re keeping the faith up there…

Highlighted in the Spanish league reportage is Pau’s line to the effect that “I prefer the European game in the NBA because basketball is a team sport and is more beautiful to watch when players pass the ball or when ball movement creates shots.”

(Gods know what language this interview took place in, so bear in mind that this quote is probably emerging by way of English to French to Spanish and back to English; however, surely the sentiment survives through this mutant translation.)

Gasol also seemingly put to rest any notions of his playing for FC Barcelona this season, stating that he’s only training with the club and that it wouldn’t be “fair” were he activated only to have to return to America for the NBA season. With his addition to the team, Gasol reckons that “the Barça game would change. In the end, my starting the season with the team would penalize them.”

Of course, these particular comments precludes the possibility of the entire 2011-12 NBA season’s cancellation … so let the speculation continue!

Meanwhile, with an eye on the 2012 Olympic Games, L’Equipe invested many column inches in Pau’s opinions of Teams Spain, France and USA. Gasol defers on the question of whether the 2011 Team Spain was the best edition since 2001, but touts the excellent “esprit de corps” the twelve enjoyed during the EuroBasket tournament.

As for Les Bleus, Pau naturally had nice things to say, agreeing that Joakim Noah made a huge difference for Team France: “What he brings in terms of energy, activity, mobility and physical strength was a huge help to France at [EuroBasket].”

O, and here’s some more grist for the rumor mill: When asked if he’d be interested in recruiting Juan Carlos Navarro to come play for the Los Angeles Lakers when the lockout ends, Gasol smiled and replied that “he should receive an interesting offer…”

The Kazakh Academy of Sports and Tourism yesterday announced that a revamped national basketball academy would be headed up by Zharmukhamedov. Working from a seven-year plan, the retired USSR player has shown his dedication to the project by moving from his long-time Moscow home for Almaty. It must be noted that the medalist has some way to go in creating a viable program, as Team Kazakhstan couldn’t even manage to squeak into the recent FIBA Asia Olympic qualifying tournament.

Zharmukhamedov played for the Soviet Union national team between 1967 and 1979, as well as professionally with CSKA Moscow from ’69 to ’79. Through 1989, Zharmukhamedov also served in various assistant coaching positions for Team USSR. His medal collection as a player includes four golds – including the infamous 1972 Olympic victory over Team USA – two silvers and two bronzes.

The English-language version of the Serbia-based Blic online ran a piece on Monday which sought answers under the headline “Basketball stifled by financial troubles and busy calendar.” Writer Tatjana Dragojevic investigated some of the woes she (and others) see as dogging Serbia hoops; today BallinEurope takes a closer look at some points of speculation.

Setting the table for the “gloomy situation none of us are accustomed to when it comes to the sport in which the national teams have achieved top results with almost predictable regularity in the past,” Dragojevic says that “For a second time running captain Nenad Krstic and his teammates will miss out on an appearance at the Olympic Games and the team will now have to go through a qualification process for the 2013 EuroBasket [tournament].”

While the veracity of the statement cannot be debated, a couple of facts might quell the disappointment somewhat. Though Team Serbia managed to earn a spot in the ‘Games in 1996, 2000 and 2004, the pool gunning for Olympic basketball medals is quite an exclusive club: Just 12 sides will be invited to the 2012 London Games tournament … though the possibility of seven of these spots filled by European teams cannot be heartening for Serbia backers.

On the other hand, the list of European nations who also missed the mark for 2008 and 2012 includes Turkey (no. 6 in FIBA’s rankings after the 2010 World Championship and no. 3 in Europe), Italy (no. 7 and no. 4), and Slovenia (no. 17 and no. 9) – not exactly shabby company. Factor in France’s non-placement in 2000 and 2004 and it might be concluded that poor performance in one high-level international tournament or two does not a disaster make.

In fact, history indicates that Serbia fans might not exactly enjoy their team playing in the 2012 Games, as the squad fared worse on each of the three occasions after Barcelona, chasing its silver medal of ’96 with a 6th-place finish in 2000 and a lowly 11th in 2004.

As Dragojevic sees it, “it will be up to the Serbian Basketball Association to tackle the crisis” and “Until that happens, we can only hope for miracles and flashes of brilliance, such as the silver medal at the 2009 EuroBasket and a semifinal [finish] at the World Championships last year.” Sheesh, top-four finishes at two major international tourneys in a row is cause for panic? Plus, if you want to talk miracles, Serbia was on the wrong end of one in 2010; would the feeling be different in Serbia now had the team taken the silver in Turkey? More importantly, would the team have performed better in EuroBasket ’11?

In “Basketball stifled,” Red Star Belgrade head coach Svetislav Pesic calls for “formation of a strong Serbian league” in which “winning the domestic league is the top priority for players.” Well, he’ll get no argument from BiE here: Serbia’s top-heavy association suffers from the same ennui that is bothersome (at least to outside observers) for a disturbingly high number of European leagues, i.e. Italy, Israel, Turkey, Lithuania, Greece, and Russia to a great extent. When one or two clubs dominate, the remaining “competitors” in the given domestic league either not-so-subtly (and in Lithuania, not subtly at all) become a breeding ground for the top teams or are simply out-budgeted.

Yet, take a look at Team Serbia’s roster for EuroBasket 2011: Though technically they brought no NBA players to the tournament – unless one includes Nenad Krstic, officially with CSKA Moscow for the 2011-12 season before August – this twelve was stocked with 10 Euroleague players: Krstic, Nemanja Bjelica, Marko Keselj, Milan Macvan, Boban Marjanovic, Kosta Perovic, Aleksander Rasic, Dusko Savanovic, Milos Teodosic and Milenko Tepic. If the national federation is going to look outside Serbian clubs for ballers, why wouldn’t a youngster take the money and run in the meanwhile? Perhaps it’s more a question of money rather than motivation … no, not perhaps. Definitely.

KK Hemofarm coach Zeljko Lukajic meanwhile sees something of a paradoxical problem in scheduling. While “Hemofarm take part in all of the three domestic competitions every season and play in Europe,” says Lukajic, “what is alarming is that some teams finish their seasons as early as March. That means that for three or four months they don’t have any tough competitive games, eventually don’t develop well enough and are simply not ready for a step forward in their careers.”

Unfortunately for them, the strange Serbian schedule is imbalanced toward competitors like Hemofarm. “We reached the final stages in three domestic competitions and in Europe last season. Together with training matches we played over 80 games,” explained Lukajic. “With the calendar and schedules that tight and with games played at that pace, you lose track of the work with young talent.”

In the near-final assessment, BiE would point out that perhaps Serbia is merely facing a bit of a nadir due to inexperience: After all, the oldest player on the team going into EuroBasket was Krstic at just-28 years old. How many national teams in Europe would enjoy having under-24s like Teodosic, Tepic, Keselj and Bjelica or their squads, reckoning they’d be around for six or seven more years (and two more FIBA World Championships)? Most, BiE thinks.

However, all of this is for naught, too, if Lukajic’s informal assessment of the state of his country’s playground ball is correct: “Some former basketball centres like Subotica, Nis, Cacak and Kraljevo are faltering and basketball is not played as it used to be. You can’t see as many kids playing basketball in the street.”

Not being familiar with local Serbian ball, BiE won’t comment on this specific; any Serbian readers care to enlighten us on the true of this statement? And how about that bigger question: Is Serbian basketball suffering from terminal illness or just a bit sluggish for the time being? We may have to wait for the 2012 squad to be assembled to find out…

To show their appreciation, over 5,000 fans greeted the dozen basketballers at Alexander the Great Airport in the capital of FYR Macedonia – not at all bad for a workday in a city of under 670,000 – and many more lined the streets of Skopje to show gratitude for their underdogs. Noted the Macedonia-based MicNews: “The joy of the nation is worth more than a medal. The uniting power of victory is amazing. We returned with a trophy after all.”

(Impressive) video of the celebration runs below.

Come on! While the BallinEurope prognosticators took something of a hit in the comments section here beginning a few nanoseconds after Vlado Ilievski’s game-winner, few truly had this one pegged. Team Russia coach David Blatt kinda sorta probably wasn’t surprised, but even the mystical crustacean Lazdeika had Lithuania to win last night.

And hey, note that right here at BallinEurope it was guessed that “this game comes down to turnovers; FYR Macedonia needs to hang close throughout and exploit the three or four opportunities they get.”

(Incidentally, Macedonia won the turnover battle, 14-8.)

So BallinEurope plods forth with another two sets of official Fearless Predictions™ for tonight’s France-Greece and Serbia-Russia games. BiE’s man in the U.K. Sam Chadwick joins in on the fun in forecasting the matches again and, as yesterday, neither writer read the other’s opinion before posting.

Also provided strictly for the reader’s edification are some lines from the sportsbook, in this case Sporting Bet. As BiE previously stated, whether gambler or no, it pays for the fan to know the bookie’s stand; after all, these guys have the most to lose financially if they get it wrong. (But they cleaned up a bit last night, eh?)

And a few more YouTube clips…

• France (7-1) vs. Greece (6-2)
Os says: It’s not quite a rematch of their 2009 EuroBasket Group E game – Greece is bringing exactly half that roster into this game, while Team France returns eight from ’09 – but these two sides are playing up the rivalry aspects of the matchup.

What should be played up is how much losing the rebound battle will hurt France; if France has an Achilles’ heel in this tournament it’s here. Bottom of the table statistically among remaining team, Les Bleus are fated to be outboarded by the bigger, stronger Team Hellas. As awesome as Joakim Noah has been at 8.0 rpg (including 2.6 offensive), he can’t do it all against Antonis Fotsis and his guys.

From the other angle, France would appear to have a huge advantage up top, with Nick Calathes looking to contain Tony Parker. BiE’s hedging that the Spur goes for his biggest game of the tournament yet; he may have to go for 30 to keep his side in the game.

Finally, here’s a bonus Fearless Prediction™ free of charge: Crazy as it feels, the X- (and probably even deciding) factor in this game will be Boris Diaw. The on-again/off-again play that has dogged Diaw since the beginning of his career has been in full evidence in EuroBasket 2011 – and it’s not just a question of providing the Bobcat with scoring opportunities, because Parker et al do, as Diaw is getting off over seven shots per game.

But take a look at his scoring lines: 14, 6, 2, 21, 15, 3, 4, 5. Better yet, here are his shooting percentages: 7/10, 3/7, 1/6, 7/9, 6/10, 0/5, 1/8, 1/4. That’s right, 2-of-17 over the last three games, against the likes of Turkey, Lithuania and Spain.

As for specific instances of previous play against Team Greece, Diaw’s been shaky: unimpressive on EuroBasket 2005 opening day with just six points and two rebounds; a respectable 6-of-13, 14-point, four-rebound performance in a Greek victory on the way to the title in the ’05 quarterfinals; and a total disappearing act of 0-of-2, zero points, five turnovers and one rebound in 19 minutes in 2009 as France managed to top the Greeks despite him.

It’s a good thing that Diaw has steadily contributed four to five rebounds per game in the tournament despite his playing time: BiE believes France will need it. But here’s to thinking they’ll need key shots from their captain in the second half in this one. Fearless Prediction™: Diaw does okay, France squeaks out the 80-79 win.

Sam says: France rested its stars against Spain and got dominated; hopefully that rest was enough for Parker and Noah to be back to full heath for this matchup with the Greeks. On the other hand, Team Greece have steadily been improving for this whole tournament and will look to reclaim their place among Europe’s basketball elite. Prediction: France take the win.

Sportsbook says: France (3/10 to win outright) gets a handicap of minus-7.5 against 5/2 underdogs Greece. The over/under line for the game is 138.5 points, thereby implying a final prediction a 73-65 or 73-66 French victory.

• Russia (8-0) vs. Serbia (5-3)
Os says: The day before the FYR Macedonia Miracle, this matchup was forecasted as the most closely-contested of the four quarterfinal games. Make no mistake, however: This should be a dandy.

Russia escaped Group F undefeated thanks to the last-second three by Sergey Monya, the second close call the team has survived to this point. Though most all observers reckoned Russia would sweep the floor with FYR Macedonia, well, by now everyone knows who the gods’ favorite team is in this EuroBasket. BiE’s been blowing Russia’s horn since day one of this tourney, so the praise will be kept short here; however, it should be said (written?) that the eked-out victory, a couple games after the one-point win over Slovenia, demonstrated again that Russia’s crazy-good defense is backed with a spine strong enough to survive the pressure of crunch time.

So what does Serbia bring to the table? In this opinion, Greek fans need to be a bit concerned about their team’s recent play, entering Group F with a loss and chasing this with two more consecutive Ls and a sloppy win over Turkey in which Greece nearly handed the game over in the second half. Despite putting up 90 or more, Greece managed to get outgunned by the quicker, more “athletic” France and Lithuania; Spain tromped them, while fatigue was a disturbing factor in the FYR Macedonia game.

Speaking completely empirically/subjectively, no one outside of Milos Teodosic has looked good for Team Serbia as of late, and nothing but the extra time for Dusan Ivkovic to cook up a gameplan suggests that will change here. Fearless Prediction™: This one’s for you, Konj: Russia 67, Serbia 59.

Sam says: This is another game I’m looking forward to; the Russians and Serbs have had a long rivalry and we’re all looking for that to continue, as no matter who wins, the loser will be out for revenge the next time these two teams meet. AK-47 has been solid this entire tournament for the Russians, but Nenad Kristic has been adding his own solid play for the Serbians … The good news is that I don’t think this is going to turn into a battle between just those two, with the solid play of Timofey Mozgov at centre and Victor Khryapa constantly finding the open man for the Russians, helping them go undefeated so far. The Serbians, on the other hand, recently lost to Spain by 25 but are nonetheless buoyed by the steady play of Milos Teodosic. Prediction: I see no upset here; Russia take it rather convincingly.

Sportsbook says: Russia (3/4) is a two-point favorite over Serbia (11/10). With an over/under of 140.5, that makes a final predicted score of Russia 71, Serbia 69.

And in the placement game, Os says Lithuania bounces back to top Slovenia, 70-60.

Though in an interview with the network, Nowitzki stated that “he wanted to ‘see what the future brings,’” Sport1.de went on to opine that “after the [second] round at the European Championship in Lithuania … everything points to farewell.”

Said Dirk: “It was 13 great years. It was a great time with big success, which I will always look back on with mixed emotions.” (And yes, he was using the past tense: “Es waren 13 tolle Jahre. Es war eine Riesenzeit mit großen Erfolgen, auf die ich immer mit einem lachenden Auge zurückschauen werde,” runs the original.)

How does it go? It goes like this and this and this and this and just about all of this and of course this – and that’s just Greece and Turkey; don’t get BiE started on Vladimir Romanov.

Certain high-level executive types, along with the occasional marquee name player, apparently throw a collective middle finger gesture to the fans, even throwing a, let’s say, colorful discombobulation of the truth or two to the masses once in a while – just to keep things interesting, one guesses. And because they can.

In America, multibillionaires essentially blackmail local taxpayers for further millions to keep the local franchise in town with a shiny new privately-owned stadium; here, some owners and/or club presidents would kill a club as easily as a single player’s career for, well, you figure it out.

A distinctive cynicism from unnecessary politicization of basketball is produced in Continental fans (BiE includes himself in this class at this point); caught in the line of fiery sarcasm and bitter rage kept barely in check are referees, players, federation officials, coaches. “Anybody can be bought,” they we think in times of their our despondent lows.

No wonder the Lithuanian journos at halftime of the Spain-Lithuania match in EuroBasket 2011 Group A play, with the home side down a crazy 62-36, were putting their team’s woes as due to hangovers at best, payoffs at worst. One bit of dialogue ran thusly:

BiE: Ah, come on. Look, i’ve lived in Hungary for more than 10 years. I know how it works, but come on! How much would it take to pay the Lithuanian team to not only lose a game to Spain at home, but to lose in a blowout?

Lithuanian journalist: (shrugs)

BiE: Really? Come on, man…

Et cetera. BiE just thought Spain was firing on all cylinders, doing everything perfectly short of losing some individual positioning battles with Jonas Valanciunas, but what do i know? BiE’s not quite hardened enough yet, it seems…

This rant was merely the backdrop to present an interesting conversation i had with BallinEurope correspondent code-named Y, chatting during halftime of the Lithuania-Germany match. Y. presented an all-too plausible scenario regarding France’s 96-69 rolling over for Spain yesterday.

And this is how it started:

Y.: FRA are suckers
Y.: i hope they lose in quarterfinal
BiE: Gee, they might.
BiE: Damn, what a statement game.
Y.: i mean
Y.: and it’s just strange

That should have been my cue that Y. was way ahead of BiE. A familiar trembling sensation ran through me as BiE knew that cherished beliefs were to be swept aside and illusions dissed.

Y.: they trade Slovenia or *Finland* in the quarterfinal for *Greece*
Y.: just to miss LTU/MKD in probable semifinal

At first, BiE didn’t let the implications of the statement sink in, going on instead to kick around predictions for the next round; we’re both assuming Russia stops the FYR Macedonia machine. For the final four,

Y.: i would pick
Y.: ESP FRA LTU SRB
Y.: then
Y.: ESP SRB for final
BiE: Wow, going against your boys?
Y.: well
Y.: we’ll see
BiE: You know, Serbian hasn’t looked really awesome yet … and Lietuva has at times.
Y.: ESP is very very good
Y.: SRB has a better road for the final
Y.: they don’t play LTU or ESP

BiE was thinking at time, “I might trade out Greece for France in that final four.”

BiE: Do they really think France can beat Greece like that?
Y.: i hope they don’t
Y.: they don’t deserve to
Y.: btw
Y.: can you imagine
Y.: they would get LTU which i think they don’t want to
BiE: O, so Lithuania does have to meet Spain again?
Y.: in the semifinals
Y.: that’s why people say
Y.: FRA dropped the game
Y.: to play whoever else

Pragmatically speaking, Les Bleus had nothing to prove against Spain – yet. But of course, there was one key question.

BiE: Why would they not want Finland?
Y.: it’s MKD-LTU v ESP-SLO and FRA-GRE v SRB-RUS

Hmmm … not having to go through Lithuania would probably assist any team in the knockout round, wouldn’t it? Heck, in another society, these move might get lauds to Vincent Collect and the Team France brain trust for possibly getting Les Bleus to the podium. But, wait, as they say, there’s more!

BiE: so France gambles that they can beat Greece and then win the next.
Y.: i guess
Y.: i don’t know
Y.: what would you say
Y.: ?
Y.: Parker, Noah will have *five* rest days now
BiE: So if France won, they’d’ve had Lithuania in the next round?
Y.: yep
Y.: isn’t it a bit too much
Y.: ?
BiE: compelling conspiracy theory there.
BiE: I may write this up.

And so it was … because the world needs to know. After all, how hard is it to imagine a costly club built to win this tournament would perform the equivalent of poor NBA teams tanking down the stretch for more pingpong balls in the lottery: It’s a short-term risk for a long-term gain.

Now tell BiE true: Did France give this game early for an easier path to the semifinals? Could it be, despite rhetoric practiced by players and coaches worldwide, that they don’t “take these games one at a time”? And was it a clever tactical maneuver or a chicken move worthy of derision? BiE guesses he knows how the Team Greece supporters feel about this…

And as for Lithuania veteran Sarunas Jasikevicius, who prayed through FIBA.com with “Dear God, please let us meet [Spain] again one more time,” well, you can thank France for the assist in fulfilling your quest.

• Importance of remaining games. Of six games left to play, four are critical to shaping the knockout round while two feature battles of undefeated teams fighting for group supremacy and the no. 1 seed. Both Spain-France tonight and FYR Macedonia-Russia tomorrow determine the group’s top two finishers, while the Slovenia-Finland (definitely) and Turkey-Serbia (most likely) games will lock in the no. 4 teams from the groups.

• Valanciunas vs. Kanter. In terms of prospect-watching, these are the guys observers have their eyes on. In general, Toronto Raptors fans should be fairly stoked – even a tad miffed that the Lithuanian lad won’t be joining their club for the 2011-12 season (should it happen) – about Valanciunas’ progress.

After a rocky and/or blink-and-you’ll-miss-it start in games one through three of the tournament – playing a total of 22 minutes, including a DNP against Turkey and a five-turnover match against Poland – Valanciunas put in a performance that quite possibly we’ll someday remember as his breakout game against Spain. The sole bright spot of that game for Lithuania, the 19-year-old got lots more court time in substituting for the injured Marijonas Petravicius and looked like an old hand in matching up against The Gasol Boys while stymieing them with the ball as well. And since the Turkey game, Valanciunas has owned the paint, going a big 18-of-27 shooting, highlighted by his 8-of-19, 18-point performance against Serbia.

Kanter, on the other hand, still disappointingly falls into the “work in progress” category, especially after comparing him to Valanciunas’ and his common opponents. While Team Turkey is happy to let their youngest player dominate the key when applying a bombs-away strategy against squads like Poland, Portugal and Great Britain, Kanter has been outplayed and constantly out of position against NBA-heavy squads France and Spain. Valanciunas definitely won the head-to-head battle against Kanter in game three of pool play, as Kanter demonstrated his footwork on defense is not developed enough to handle a speedy big man like The Big V.

Sure, Kanter heartened Turkey (and Utah Jazz) fans with his cool effort against Chris Kaman and Germany in going 5-of-5 for 11 points in 19 minutes, but he sat to watch the game’s final eight minutes against one of the less physical teams in the tournament. Utahans, you’ll have to wait a bit longer for your guy to blossom, it seems – though BiE believes you needn’t be quite as critical as this guy. Raptor Nation, you’ll have to wait, too … but rest assured, you’re getting a good one in Valanciunas.

• The Clips Nation finds “mostly positive” things to report on Chris Kaman’s performance, while ESPN has Ricky Rubio’s stock dropping.

• Vive la France! Going into the Lithuania game, BallinEurope’s UK guy Sam Chadwick wrote BiE to ask theoretically, “If anyone can defend Tony Parker, it’s Sarunas Jaskevicus, right?” After the game, we can say, “well, yes and no.” While Saras may have the smarts to play Parker, the grizzled old veteran is about a step too slow for Parker, who’s about a half-step too slow for, say, the speedy PGs of Spain.

But while Parker is driving this team, the Lithuania game showed that France can play ball with a truly deep squad and that Les Bleus are no one-man effort. Team France is in an enviable position of being able to stock a lineup full of top-level specialists playing at top form. While the Spur was good for 19 points (his second-lowest game total in the tournament), Nando de Colo was better with 21 to accompany five steals after serving as a fill-in in the first six games. Joakim Noah has seemingly never been happier defending and grabbing boards: His 13 rebounds against Lietuva increased his EuroBasket average to an even 8.0 per game, including 2.6 per off the offensive glass.

Naturally, much will be revealed in the Spain-France game tonight – in fact, BiE’s got Spain winning – but you’ve got to like Les Bleus as a top-four side right now at least.

• Speaking of the France-Spain contest, these two countries have quite the rivalry going in recent years. Back in 2005, Parker and Team France humiliated Spain the third-place game of this tournament, 88-68. Spain returned the favor in EuroBasket 2009, knocking out Parker’s guys in the quarterfinals by nearly the same score at 86-66. In the 2010 FIBA World Championship, France presented Spain with a bit of a speed bump, taking out the Spaniards on day one, 72-66. And of course, though friendly games don’t matter, Les Bleus certainly haven’t forgotten the thrashing Les Rojos handed them in August.

Better yet, with the way these teams are playing, we may see this matchup again – in the finals.

• With their approximately 3,743 draft picks stashed in Europe, San Antonio Spurs fans had a number of reasons to watch this EuroBasket – even beyond Tony Parker. Project Spurs provides a glimpse of Team Georgia’s Viktor Sanikidze, selected by the team in 2004 and perhaps the least likely European to ever join the NBA club at this point…

• While the marquee game is Spain vs. France, most likely the only crucial game vis-à-vis the knockout round tonight is Turkey vs. Serbia. Assuming a Lithuania win against Germany in the late game, the Turkey-Serbia throwdown will determine the no. 4 spot in Group E.

You want a clash of styles? How about Serbia’s second-high scoring team (83.0 ppg) vs. the big Turkey defense (fifth-best among remaining teams at 67.7 ppg allowed)? Team Serbia will have its hands full in attempting to slow down Omer Asik, who has seemingly found his rhythm after inconsistent play in the first round: He’s gone for 11 boards in each of the last two games, including seven offensive in both. However, Turkey has been dogged by general inconsistency and horrible three-point shooting from most of the backcourt (Ender Arslan, Kerem Tunceri and Cenk Aykol have combined for a 7-of-47 – just under 13% – “success” rate); clearly Asik won’t be enough, particularly should Nenad Krstic be keeping him good and busy underneath the rim.

In case you’ve forgotten, this game also represents a virtual rematch of the 2010 FIBA World Championship showdown. After an incredibly hard-fought, evenly-matched battle, Turkey emerged with the right to take on Team USA for the title after a second-half comeback and last-second heroics by Tunceri – heroics that probably should have been whistled dead before they happened.

Think Serbia wants revenge, badly? Think Milos Teodosic, whose brilliant 11-assist performance in that semifinal match will set out to torture Kunceri et al is this one? O, yes.

• How about that FYR Macedonia? Not only is Team Macedonia thrilling in EuroBasket 2011 with its stirring run as dark horse, they’re also causing broken hearts and heart attacks along the way. After taking care of Slovenia last night, that team is now forced to control its destiny against Finland tomorrow – a game in which all the pressure is on the traditional basketball power.

So how is FYR Macedonia doing it? A steady diet of Bo McCalebb (maybe this tournament’s most alpha of alpha dogs with Luol Deng’s Britain out holds a stat line of team-leading 21.3 points, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game), of course, but also an ingenious plan built around the naturalized citizen’s game. McCalebb, Pero Antic and Vlado Illievski have combined to take 57% of all the team’s shots and nearly 88% (73-of-83) of all Macedonian assists.

Macedonia has been playing a disproportionate amount of one-on-one challenges and shot-creation with the ball, a neo-American approach that is frustrating seemingly better defenses (Greece, BiE’s looking at you…), while dividing up rebounding chores among a stable of workhorses. Plus, FYR Macedonia’s turning the ball over just 10.4 times per game, best among remaining teams.

Tomorrow’s game will determine the top seed in Group F and, though this side is perfect 5-0 in September (last losing to Montenegro in the EuroBasket opener in overtime on August 31), BiE nevertheless has Russia penciled in. While this would most likely set FYR Macedonia up with Lithuania in the knockout stage, not even the hosts should take such a game for granted right now.

Group E
• France and Spain have clinched the top two spots in the group; their game tomorrow night will determine which is which seed.

• Lithuania gets the no. 3 seed with a win over Germany on Sunday. In this case, the Group E no. 4 seed would be determined with the outcome of the Turkey-Serbia game (by the way, nice grudge match there, eh?): Winner takes the last ticket to advance. Should Lithuania lose to Germany, there will be one of those messy multi-team ties for third and fourth spot, which would shake out something like the following.

• If Lithuania loses to Germany and Serbia beats Turkey the three-way tie of Lithuania, Germany and Serbia would go down to points, with head-to-head-to-head records all at 1-1. Currently, that differential is Lithuania, +10; Serbia, +1; Germany, minus-11 – meaning Germany needs to win huge and that, even with a loss plus a Serbia win, Lithuania could back into the no. 3 seed.

• If Lithuania loses to Germany and Turkey wins over Serbia, the three-way tie would end with head-to-head-to-head records of Germany, 2-0; Lithuania, 1-1; and Turkey, 0-2, putting Germany into the Group E no. 3 seed for the tournament round, with Lithuania at no. 4.

Group F
• The loser of tonight’s Finland-Georgia match is eliminated from the tournament.

• Russia and FYR Macedonia (yes) have clinched spots in the second round. If Russia wins over Greece and Macedonia beats Slovenia, the top two spots in the group would be determined by the Russia-Macedonia match on Monday night.

• FYR Macedonia will finish no. 1 with two more wins; no. 2 with a win against Slovenia and a loss to Russia; no. 3 in the case of a three-way tie between Russia, Greece and themselves and point-differential tiebreakers; and no. 4 if they lose out.

• Russia’s case is a bit different from FYR Macedonia’s, as Russia can go into the next round with no worse than a no. 3 seed: Russia finishes first in the group with two wins, second with a 1-1 record regardless of which result ensues, and third by losing out.

• If Greece beats Russia tonight, they’ve clinched a top-three spot in the group. A subsequent win in their game five against Georgia equals the top seed, with the no. 2 and no. 3 spots to be determined by the Russia-FYR Macedonia game.

• Slovenia is in with two wins (against FYR Macedonia and Finland). If Greece wins one more game, Slovenia gets the no. 4 seed, while an 0-2 Greek finish would put Slovenia in at no. 3 from Group F.

• If Slovenia loses tonight and Finland bests Georgia, the no. 4 spot would be filled by the winner of Monday night’s Slovenia-Finland matchup.

• Finland and Georgia are both mathematically alive, but either side would have to win out before any discussion of such a Cinderella story began.

• Under these conditions, a Greece/Slovenia/Finland three-way tie would result in records of Greece, 2-0; Finland, 1-1; Slovenia, 1-1, and Finland sneaks in with the no. 4 seed and the “privilege” of playing either France or Spain. With Georgia winning out, a Greece/Slovenia/Georgia tiebreaker would put all three teams at 1-1 and the tiebreaker going down to the point differential – imagine Greece eliminated and Georgia advancing … BiE’s head is ready to explode.

• Finally, Official BallinEurope Fearless Predictions™ for the third round: Spain vs. Slovenia; Macedonia vs. Lithuania; France vs. Greece; Russia vs. Serbia or Turkey … and if you think BiE’s picking the winner of that one, well, let’s just say we ain’t that fearless.