• Home
  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More
  • Contact

Grimag

  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More

Eurobasket 2009 fearless predictions VIII: Titanic vs. Hindenburg headline matchup

September 14, 2009
Team Spain photo for Eurobasket 2009

Team Spain photo for Eurobasket 2009

If you had told a basketball fan about today’s Spain-Lithuania Eurobasket second-round matchup two weeks, he/she might have figured it to be one of the tournament’s most interesting games.

It still is, of course, but for the exact opposite reason one may have expected.

In one corner is Team Spain, a bunch of household names with an insane inability to finish games. Against Turkey on Saturday, it was a ho-hum, more-of-the-same performance from the Spanish defense which allowed easy point after easy point in the paint. Ersan Ilyasova, Omer Asik and Semih Erden all contributed to beating that Lakers dude and the rest underneath, tuckering out the team enough to allow Turkey’s guards to put Spain away in the fourth quarter – another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.


All the worst-case scenarios are coming to fruition for Spain: In the past, the team has been chastised for a general low stamina, for not finishing games. For years in the NBA, Pau was labeled “soft,” “especially in last year’s finals against the Boston Celtics”; well, nothing says soft like doing a scarecrow impression in front of another Asik jam. Ricky Rubio is now universally billed as unripened and “not ready to play in the NBA”: The young one’s 2-of-11 three-point shooting and 62.5 percent success from the free-throw line in this tournament attest to that fact.

Team Lithuania photo, Eurobasket 2009

Team Lithuania photo for Eurobasket 2009

In the other corner is Lithuania, not quite as highly regarded as the likes of pre-tournament favorites Spain and Greece but still amid the top of the odds table going into the Eurobasket 2009.

Sure, many names of the recent past – Sarunas Jasikevicius, Ramunas Siskauskas, Rimantas Kaukenas and Darius Songaila – were known to be taking a pass on this tourney, but Team Lithuania had plenty of time to prepare, a roster full of names heading by the exciting Linas Kleiza, and just that Lithuania mojo that has gotten this team into the final eight in six of the last seven Eurobaskets.

Plus, the team looked fantastic in tuning up and beating up on unready opponents this summer, culminating in a 30-point win over Spain on the eve of Eurobasket. Things looked good for the somewhat overlooked Team Lithuania.

But noooooooooooooo! Instead, the Lithuanians have forgotten everything they ostensibly knew going into Eurobasket 2009. They’ve committed 14.5 turnovers per game – “good” for second-worst among remaining teams to Ricky and the boys – and have become proficient at spotting opponents huge leads. (Come on, going down by 23 to Poland in the third quarter?)

While the frontcourt play of Kleiza, Marijonas Petravicius and Simas Jasitis has been competent – good, even – the guards have been miserable and shooting from everybody terrible. At 6-of-16 from the floor, Robertas Javtokas’ poor play is topped by his incredible one for 10 at the charity stripe. Tomas Delininkaitis and Mindaugas Lukauskis are jacking up threes at a 6-for-25 rate and have contributed a combined eight points from the floor.

Particularly atrocious for Team Lithuania has been the play off the bench – no matter who’s on it with the ever-changing rotations employed in this tourney – underscoring the thinness caused by the departure of so many stalwarts.

Jasaitis’ summary? “I don’t understand what happened with our team. You ask me about it, but I have no answer.” You said it, mano draugas.

BiE fearless prediction: Lithuania, but only because the team faces elimination and I need the points for my La Porra game.

In other games today:

Slovenia v. Poland. Though Poland enters the game on a two-game losing streak, Maciej Lampe and the guys continue to play above expectations with an excellent fourth quarter against Serbia on Saturday, mostly thanks to the bench. (Who knew Team Poland was bringing such depth?)

Slovenia has handled its competition very well, though a big win against Lithuania means little as of late – recall, too, that Poland took out Lithuania a few days ago, too. BiE fearless prediction: Poland wins, because they’ve got the home crowd, they’re due, and again, La Porra points.

Serbia v. Turkey. Commented reader Ben after a recent “Fearless Predictions” column in which Ball in Europe went against Turkey: “Everybody has to stop overlooking Turkey in all sports. basketball team was 6th in the last world champs, received silver before in European and has been solid in many other competitions. It is not justice to keep calling a surprise package. Turkish basketball is in the Ivy League of the world basket. … Wake up and smell the Turkey!”

Ben, man, you’re right, but BiE did acknowledge Team Turkey the day after another convincing win over Spain. And objectively speaking, who would have reckoned Turkey to be *this* good, especially with Hedo Turkoglu mostly (properly, as it turns out) in the statistical background – particularly after so-what play in the Efes Pilsen World Cup?

BiE fearless prediction: So with Turkey on a roll, we’ll say – wait a minute, what’s this from Ben? “Hey also, whoever is predicting games for this site really is not successful, makes you wonder. It is time to get real.” Actually, the record shows BallinEurope predictions to have gone 21-12 (or 63.6%) thus far – respectable, if i say so myself, given some of the craziness in this tournament. Serbia wins in a close one.

Sep 14, 2009ballineurope
Powered by Sidelines
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This post was published on September 14, 2009
Fearless predictions for Eurobasket 2009 day sevenNormalcy returns to Eurobasket 2009 (?); plus not-so-fearless predictions
Comments: 5
  1. Shilas
    16 years ago

    Nice predictions. Whose is author (the name)? Lithuanian guy?

    ReplyCancel
  2. antarctica
    16 years ago

    Man, you are wrong again. Serbia could not even make one point in the overtime. The 12 Giant Men have played their worst game so far, they pulled through eventually. Hedo was quite bad too, but I guess it was because of his injury.

    ReplyCancel
  3. Ben
    16 years ago

    well 63% aint bad. However, you still need to smell the Turkey. Also since the thanksgiving is right around the corner, you should give some love to the Turkey since this baby seems to be cooking real hot.

    ReplyCancel
  4. Heisenberg
    16 years ago

    Not biased. Not at all.

    ReplyCancel
  5. Janus
    16 years ago

    63% isn’t a very good prediction when most of the predictions were right in the first run, when there were few major upsets. Well, it looks like the prediction precentage just got worse. It’s nothing tragical, I think most fans would have even worse percentage, but I do hope that the author is not betting his money on teh euro basket.

    ReplyCancel

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

ballineurope
16 years ago 5 Comments EuroLeague, FIBA, MoreErsan Ilyasova, Eurobasket 2009, FIBA, Linas Kleiza, Marijonas Petravicius, Mindaugas Lukauskis, Omer Asik, Pau Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Robertas Javtokas, Semih Erden, Simas Jasitis, Team Lithuania, Team Poland, Team Serbia, Team Slovenia, Team Spain, Team Turkey, Tomas Delininkaitis
Recent Posts
Salt Lake Summer League 2025: Team Breakdowns, Betting Angles & Final Forecasts
3 days ago
From Nolan Traore to Noa Essengue, we break down the top European prospects in the NBA Draft
Top European NBA prospects for the 2025 Draft
5 days ago
Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a Lock for Finals MVP?
20 days ago
Categories
Recent Posts
Salt Lake Summer League 2025: Team Breakdowns, Betting Angles & Final Forecasts
Top European NBA prospects for the 2025 Draft
Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a Lock for Finals MVP?
Tags
EuroLeagueNBAYouTubeReal MadridCSKA MoscowFC BarcelonaFIBAOlympiacosPanathinaikosZalgiris KaunasACBSpainMaccabi Tel AvivRicky RubioTeam SpainLos Angeles LakersMontepaschi SienaPartizan BelgradeLithuaniaIrelandGermanyPau GasolItalyTeam LithuaniaTurkeyTeam FranceCaja Laboral BaskoniaLietuvos RytasFenerbahce ÜlkerGreeceJuan Carlos NavarroSerbiaSan Antonio SpursTony ParkerMinnesota TimberwolvesFranceEuroleagueDirk Nowitzkibasketball highlightsTeam RussiaALBA BerlinEuroCupDallas MavericksTeam USAEuroBasket 2011
Share
0
Facebook
ABOUT
BallinEurope.com was founded in September 2007 by Christophe Ney (who now runs the excellent scouting-themed website European Prospects) and Tobias Seitz, both then bloggers for FIBA.com with over 10 years’ worth of experience in the professional basketball world each. The mission then was to “provide a very unique perspective of Basketball in and about Europe.”
Most Commented
Why Andrei Kirilenko and CSKA Moscow must win the Euroleague
13 years ago
180 Comments
Euroleague Transfers Table 2008/2009
17 years ago
168 Comments
A week in highlights: Spanish block party, mighty Milos, Utah rap and some dude dunking in L.A.
14 years ago
139 Comments
Archives
Get In Touch

Email: emmetryan@gmail.com

Name: Emmet Ryan

2014 © BallinEurope. Join JCI Dublin