EuroBasket 2013: Spain rolls, France downs hosts
Looking at the final standings of the EuroBasket 2013 Round 2 would leave one thinking that 2013 might be some other club’s turn to stand on top of the podium, where a team from Spain has stood at the end of the last two EuroBasket competitions. As the dust had settled on Round 2, including a Game 5 overtime loss for Spain at the hands of the Italians, the two-time defending champs sat in a tie for the fourth, and final, spot in the playoffs coming out of Group F. By finishing fourth, Spain drew the Number 1 club from Group E, Serbia, who finished the round at 4-1. It was a highly anticipated match-up, that never materialized as Spain used a 21:5 first quarter and ran away from the Serbs, letting the rest of the remaining teams know that they were in Slovenia to once again pick up the championship hardware and head into the FIBA 2014 World Cup, which will be hosted by Spain, with the knowledge that they didn’t get their spot in the cup by default, but by defeats.
In the second contest of the day, France cut short the host club Slovenia’s bid to win their own EuroBasket, and also qualify for the World Cup. Slovenia will now play in the consolation round that will determine the fifth, sixth and possibly seventh qualifiers after the top four are determined. France will now match up with Spain to determine which team will make it to the championship.
Slovenia’s Goran Dragic addresses the crowd at Stozice Arena and thanks them for their support after their tough 72:62 loss to France, ending their changes of pulling off an upset. EuroBasket 2013 mascot, Lipko, stands next to Dragic in support of his message.
Spain – Serbia, 90:60
The defending EuroBasket champions walked off the court in Ljubljana, Slovenia on Wednesday knowing that they erased much of the doubt that they could win the 2013 version after their lackluster performances in the opening rounds. Behind 13 points by Rudy Fernandez in the first frame, on his way to 19 for the contest, the Spanish squad pounded the much younger and less experienced Serbian team to the tune of 90:60. Spain will now advance to the semifinals and will play France for a return trip to the finals.
Two minutes into the game Spain had already built an 8:0 advantage, with Serbia getting their first points off a Nikola Kalinic lay-up. Three minutes later, Spain had dropped in 17, while only allowing two on the other end of the court. It would take Serbia to just under the seven minute mark to get their next point. Fernandez dropped a triple with 45 seconds to play in the first 10 to put Spain up 21:5. Bogdan Bogdanovic missed on a pair of free throws at the end of the frame, highlighting Serbia’s shooting issues on the day.
Spain extended their lead to as many as 26 in the second, getting up 43:17 with 2:39 to play in the half, before setting in with a 25-point advantage at the half after Pablo Aguilar knocked down a triple at the buzzer to take a 48:43 margin into the break.
Sergio Llull was on the receiving end of a Marc Gasol assist after a Fernandez rebound and quick outlet, resulting in a lay-up and the biggest lead of the night, 40 points, 69:29, with 3:38 to play in the third frame.
Serbia was able to cut the margin by a small amount in the fourth quarter, but the final result was the Spanish side taking a big step towards defending their title, while Serbia now needs a win over Slovenia in the consolation round if they want to plan a trip to Spain in 2014 for the World Cup.
Sergio Rodriguez was game-high for Spain with 22 points, while Fernandez added 19. Ricky Rubio had a productive contest for Spain tallying 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Rasko Katic and Danilo Andjusic led Serbia with 11 points each.
France – Slovenia, 72:62
It was standing room only at the Stozice Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia as the host club took to the floor against France in hopes of qualifying for the semifinals against Spain. Unfortunately for Slovenia, their ride is over as the high profile French roster held their ground down the stretch to advance.
The locals got the nod in the first frame, coming out with a 12:10 margin. The Dragic brothers dominated the Slovenian scorebook in the opening 10 with the duo accounting for 10 of 12 of their club’s points. The two would finish the contest with 30 between them with Goran picking up 18 and Zoran connecting on 12.
France opened the second with a 7:2 run, but Slovenia wouldn’t allow them to build any kind of an advantage, knotting the score at 22 and then again at 24. Tony Parker hit two of his game-high 27 as time expired in the first half.
France’s Tony Parker drives the lane for two of his game-high 27 against Slovenia in the EuroBasket 2013 quarterfinals.
Lorbek continued where he left off on Friday, with a jumper 19 seconds into the fourth. Parker countered with a jumper of his own, then Lorbek connected on a pair of singles. Spain then ran off seven unanswered to get up 59:49, with just under six minutes to play. Zoran Dragic drove the lane, made the basket, and was fouled, then connected on the lone single to complete the three-point play. Goran Z. knocked down a jumper and then a three-ball to pull within four, 61:57. France had a couple of productive trips to the hoop over the next few minutes, bumping their advantage to nine, 69:60, with under a minute to play. Some key misses by the Slovenians cost them important points in the final minutes, giving the Frenchmen a slot in the semifinals.
Slovenia will now have to beat Serbia in the 5-8 round to move on to the World Cup, while France will toe the line against Spain in the semifinals. The Slovenia-Serbia game will be the opening contest on Thursday, before the second set of quarterfinal matches between Croatia and Ukraine, and Lithuania and Italy.