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Eurobasket 2007


Will Greece repeat as European Champions?  

22 members have voted

  1. 1. Will Greece repeat as European Champions?

    • Yes
      11
    • No
      9


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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • 3 weeks later...

The opening of ticket sales for EuroBasket 2007 was met with a flood of internet traffic and phone calls on Friday proving that the event, to take place from 3rd to 16th September in Spain, is one of the hottest sporting events on this year’s calendar.

In just a 45 minute window between 10 and 10:45 Friday morning the EuroBasket ticketing website received an impressive 690,000 hits, forcing officials to expand the amount of bandwidth available to the site and setting a Spanish record for ticket sales over the internet.

In a similar time span operators fielded 80,000 phone calls from fans hoping to get to see the continents premier basketball tournament.

As a result, tickets for the Quarterfinals and beyond, to be held at the Palacio de la Comunidad in Madrid, have been sold out.

However, some tickets do still remain for both the Qualifying Round-also held in Madrid-and the Preliminary Round, to take place in the cities of Granada, Sevilla, Palma de Mallorca and Allicante.

For EuroBasket 2007 ticket information visit www.eurobasket2007.org or, in Spain, call 902 22 18 22. Those outside of Spain should call +34 91 837 2692 for ticket information.

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groups -

we are in tough in rd 1

GROUP A (Granada, ESP)

Serbia 03.09.2007 18:00 Russia

Team(A/1) 03.09.2007 20:30 Greece

1. Team(A/1) 0/0 0 -Bosnia?Isreal?FYROM?

2. Serbia 0/0 0

3. Russia 0/0 0

4. Greece 0/0 0

GROUP B (Sevilla, ESP)

Latvia 03.09.2007 19:00 Croatia

Portugal 03.09.2007 21:30 Spain

1. Portugal 0/0 0

2. Latvia 0/0 0

3. Croatia 0/0 0

4. Spain 0/0 0

GROUP C (Palma de Mallorca, ESP)

Czech Republic 03.09.2007 18:00 Germany

Turkey 03.09.2007 20:30 Lithuania

1. Czech Republic 0/0 0

2. Turkey 0/0 0

3. Lithuania 0/0 0

4. Germany 0/0 0

GROUP D (Alicante, ESP)

Poland 03.09.2007 19:00 France

Italy 03.09.2007 21:30 Slovenia

1. Poland 0/0 0

2. Italy 0/0 0

3. Slovenia 0/0 0

4. France 0/0 0

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That is a tough group for the defending European Champions. I would love to see Greece face Spain in the finals & beat the living crap out of them just to show who's really the best basketball team in the world!

:gr: :gr: :gr: :gr:

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That is a tough group for the defending European Champions. I would love to see Greece face Spain in the finals & beat the living crap out of them just to show who's really the best basketball team in the world!

:gr:  :gr:  :gr:  :gr:

Well, its not as tough as it seems. Serbia is not the great team it once was years back. Eurobasket 2005 was in Serbia and they did not even make the quarterfinals. In FIBA 2006, they were in fourth place and lost to Nigeria!?!? who was in third place in the division. Russia was tough in Eurobasket 2005 but did not qualify for FIBA WC 2006. The other team will be a team winning a tournament that includes

Group A

Bulgaria

Hungary

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group B

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Sweden

Estonia

Group C

Israel

Belgium

Ukraine

Denmark

Since these teams have to play a tournament, that means that none of these teams are a serious threat. Israel and Bosnia are the best teams here and neither made FIBA Wc 2006 and both lost to Greece in Eurobasket 2005. Although, I personally want Skopia so we can whip them. So, our division isnt all that hard and Spain and Croatia have a very easy division as well....

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  • 1 month later...

Zisis Excited By Greece Return

Nikos Zisis is counting the days before he takes his first jump shot for Greece at the EuroBasket.

It will mark the official return to action in a competitive tournament with the national team since the shooting guard's horrific facial injury in Hamamatsu last year, one that was suffered after a collision with Brazil's Anderson Varejao.

Zisis, just one game after capping a remarkable comeback against Australia with a last-second three-pointer in Group C action, experienced the worst moment of his career and one of the worst in his life.

Doctors discovered broken bones in his face and there were immediate concerns Zisis might not play again.

Varejao incensed Greek fans, and Zisis' teammates, who believed there had been intent on the Brazilian's part to deliver a hard blow.

Zisis returned to playing again for Benetton Treviso, and this summer, he completed a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world, CSKA Moscow.

Now, with his move to the Russian champions complete, Zisis can firmly focus on the EuroBasket.

"Yes... I will be more calm," he said. "I have the chance to rest and to work at the same time."

Because Benetton did not play in the Italian play-offs, Zisis had additional time to get ready for Spain, where Greece will defend their title in September.

"It's the first time after so many years that I have finished playing with my team so early," he said.

"I needed this time off. For two to three years, I had no holidays."

Greece take on Russia, Serbia and the team that wins the additional qualifying tournament in the first group stage. Those games will be in Granada.

Winning gold in Belgrade is still fresh in the memory, and capturing another gold is something Zisis and his teammates crave.

"It's something that we all want very much," he said. "We are hungry for a new success with the national team. We have the character and the talent to make a lot of things happen.

"But we'll have to be the same, hungry for new titles. This is what makes the big difference. All the teams have talent, players from the NBA or highly paid stars. But during the games what counts is who wants to get the win, the title the most."

Zisis is going to embark on his biggest challenge in professional basketball when he runs onto the court with CSKA later this year.

National team duty is different.

"Every summer," he said, "the national team is what we care about. Especially now that we want to reach another high goal."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Flevarakis Focusing On Swedish Performance

Sweden coach Kostas Flevarakis insists his main concern this summer is making sure his players improve on the performances of last season, regardless of whether or not they qualify for EuroBasket 2007.

Sweden will be one of 10 countries competing in the additional qualifying round in August to decide who will take the final spot at EuroBasket 2007.

But Flevarakis is focused purely on the performance of his own side.

"I am looking forward to working with the national team again," he said, "because in the last two summers we had a good time.

"We have a chance in qualifying if we play well but the main goal for me is to improve the team season on season.

"Each of the last two years has been better than the year before it, and I want us to continue that trend."

The Swedes finished their initial qualifying campaign last summer with wins over Ukraine and Bulgaria, and Flevarakis was happy with how the victories were received by the Swedish public.

"So many people in Sweden were happy because we beat Ukraine and Bulgaria," he added.

"They started to believe in the national team which is good, as two seasons ago when I started there was no belief. Now I know that more and more people want to come and watch us."

The Swedish squad contains many young players, and Flevarakis admits it will be crucial to find the ideal balance between youth and experience if his team is to succeed.

He said: "My main concern is always to help the young players.

"But we need to combine them in the best possible way with the ones who have experience. If we can do that, we have a good chance."

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^ Greece's first opponent will be the winner of that tournament. Sweden would be cool because of the Greek coach. Although, I want FYROM to win so we can beat them to a pulp...

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Additional Qualifying Round

GROUP A

Bosnia and Herzegovina 08.08.2007 20:30 Bulgaria

1. Bosnia and Herzegovina 0/0 0

2. Bulgaria 0/0 0

3. Hungary 0/0 0

GROUP B

Sweden 09.08.2007 19:00 Estonia

1. Sweden 0/0 0

2. Estonia 0/0 0

3. F.Y.R. of Macedonia 0/0 0

GROUP C

Ukraine 08.08.2007 19:00 Belgium

Denmark 08.08.2007 19:00 Israel

1. Ukraine 0/0 0

2. Denmark 0/0 0

3. Israel 0/0 0

4. Belgium 0/0 0

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Greece lost 2 out of 3 times in the Strasbourg tournament in preparation for Eurobasket 2007. They beat France and lost to Slovenia and Serbia and did not play well.

http://eurobasket2007.org/en/cid_BqypGFJPH...cleMode_on.html

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In the friendly Acropolis tournament that consists of 4 teams:

Greece - Lithuania 78-71

Two of the top teams in Europe made the nearly 7,000 basketball fans to enjoy themselves in a wonderful game with the NBAer Jasikevicius being the man of the match as rumors are bringing him in Olympiakos Piraeus for the next three years…

Slovenia - Italy 84-81

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Acropolis Tournament - Greece - Italy 72-62

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The two teams began the game with two players (key) on the bench. For the Hellenic team Kostas Tsartsaris remain out while from Italy Andrea Barniani didn't play. The games started as a derby and continue like that until the very end. With EuroBasket 2007 tipping off in 13 days, Panagiotis Yannakis’ team showed signs it is coming into peak form. Vassilis Spanoulis and Nikolaos Chatzivrettas scored 16 points apiece for the Greeks.

Also - Lithuania - Slovenia 87-72

Greece 2-0. Lithuania and Slovenia 1-1. Italy 0-2.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Zisis Sarikopoulos (213-C-90), the young talented player of Olympiakos Piraeus, will continue his career for the next four years in the University - Birmingham UAB in the NCAA-CUSA division. After Koufos and Matalon, another Greek player is heading to the NCAA

A picture of him shaking hands with Spike Lee

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Dunking at Madison Square Garden

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Greeks Beat Slovenia and wins Acropolis Tournament (3-0)

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If Greece were looking to peak shortly before travelling to Spain to defend their EuroBasket title, they appear to have met that aim.Panagiotis Yannakis’ men beat Slovenia 80-65 on Wednesday for the third straight triumph at the Acropolis Tournament.

Spanoulis led Greece with 16 points while Domen Lorbek had 15 in defeat for Slovenia.

In the second game on the final night of the Acropolis Tournament Lithuania pulled away from Italy 84-70, claiming their second win in as many nights while condemning the Azzurri to a third successive defeat.

Linas Kleiza and Darius Songaila each had 15 points for the Baltic giants in this friendly ahead of EuroBasket 2007.

Italy, playing again without seven-footer Andrea Bargnani who is resting a back injury, got 20 points from Massimo Bulleri.

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Greece's Fotsis Suffers Broken Finger

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Defending champions Greece may not have Antonis Fotsis at the EuroBasket because of a broken finger.

A huge contributor in the side that won gold two years ago in Belgrade and in last year's silver-medal winning team at the FIBA World Championship, the Dynamo Moscow forward suffered the injury in the Acropolis Tournament victory against Slovenia.The 2.09m Fotsis will have the finger examined again in 10 days.

Greece may opt to keep Fotsis in the squad, but use him sparingly or not at all in the group games against Russia, Serbia and the side that wins the additional qualifying tournament.

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Spanoulis glad to be back home

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ATHENS (EuroBasket 2007) - Vassilis Spanoulis spent last season in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, but his heart and mind were in Athens, Greece.

The 1.92m guard admitted as much after discovering he would be allowed to return home to play in 2007-08 for European champions, Panathinaikos.

"I know where I am going," he said. "I know them and they know me.

"I was feeling part of the team even when I was in Houston because they always treated me the right way, even when I left last summer. They understood me and let me live my dream."

The Rockets traded Spanoulis to the San Antonio Spurs earlier this summer as part of a deal which sent the draft rights to Argentina international Luis Scola to Houston - a move which freed up salary cap space for the Spurs.

As Spanoulis was never a big part of San Antonio's plans, the deal has worked out just fine for the Greek guard as he is going back to Europe.

His letter of clearance has yet to arrive, which means he can't sign a contract with Panathinaikos yet, but the documentation should be forthcoming.

Spanoulis he should receive big minutes immediately with Pana - last year's Euroleague winners.

"The way the team is playing is closer to my philosophy," he said. "It's simply a joy to play for a team that has fans on the court playing basketball and getting results at the same time. I always felt part of the team."

Panathinaikos lost a key player when small forward Ramunas Siskauskas joined CSKA Moscow.

Otherwise, last year's all-conquering team that won the Greek Cup, the Greek domestic title and the Euroleague crown remains in tact.

"The targets of the team can only be the highest possible," Spanoulis said. "It's the same every year for Panathinaikos. The team begins preparing, having as a target three titles for the season."

For now, Spanoulis is preparing for another important tournament with Greece.

He won the EuroBasket gold medal with the national team in 2005, and last year Spanoulis and Greece upset Team USA in the semi-final at the FIBA World Championship before losing to Spain in the title game.

In Europe, especially a place like Greece, representing one's country is as important as it gets for most players.

Spanoulis expects a difficult summer.

"The difficult thing is not to get to the top, but to remain there," he said.

"We have to take an uphill path at the Eurobasket and we all feel ready for this new challenge. We know what to expect and we are ready to give our best to make a success of it."

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