[Vilius]

2007-09-03
Serbia vs Russia 18:00 GMT
Israel vs Greece 20:30 GMT

We could a new topic for each game but I doubt we will have enough activity. I expect Serbia and Greece to win their opening games tomorrow. Serbs don't have all their best players but I still put them above. Russia was not impressive in their preparation games and they lack squad depth. Relying only on 3-4 players is not a good thing. Alhough David Blatt was promising a different basketball in Eurobasket compared to preparation.

Greece are defending champions and obvious group favourites. I can't see them losing to Israel. It should a comfortable win for Greeks.

[rikhardur]

Serbia 65 Russia 73
(Milan Gurovic 24 pts | Andrei Kirilenko 24 pts + 12 rebs + 3 blocks)

The come back of Kirilenko and the misery of Milicic's game (2 of 13 in FG).

[rikhardur]

Israel 66 Greece 76
(Yotam Halperin 20 pts + 6 assists | Vassilis Spanoulis 19 pts)

[Vilius]

I had a hope that Serbians could win it but Russia proved me wrong. They took control right from the start and although Serbs managed to cut their lead, David Blatt's men were better. A very important win for Russia which should secure them 2nd place in the group.

European champions didn't have an impressive win. Israel didn't let Greeks to run away and kept the game open. However Greece is a better team in terms of players and experience. It's good to see all the teams fighting well and not letting big guns to get easy wins.

[rikhardur]

Russia 90 Israel 56
(Andrei Kirilenko 17 pts + 13 rebs + 5 assists | Lior Eliyahu 17 pts + 6 rebs)

Kirilenko's tournament so far... superb.
I do hope Sloan is watching this

[Vilius]

Confident wins for favourites of each game in day two so far. It is the largest margin in Eurobasket so far. Russia certainly didn't leave Israel a slightest chance in this game. David Blatt is keeping his promise that Russia will be a different team in Eurobasket compared to their friendlies. They'll have their final test tomorrow and who knows maybe even take the 1st place in the group.

[rikhardur]

Greece 68 Serbia 67
(Dimos Dikoudis 20 pts + 8 rebs | Marko Jari? 18 pts + 6 rebs)

Intense and emotional game. Dikoudis almost gave it away, but he did a lot in the final minutes. Serbia had an excellent display after yesterday's performance. In the final moments I thought to myself, Greece is going to win this. Typical Greek game in recent years, they push it to the limit and often end up winning.

[Vilius]

I feel sorry for Serbia this time. If they had won then it would have really messed up the group and nothing will be certain today. I never rated Greece as high as everyone else. Their experience in critical moments had won the game for them. Tonight they'll face Russia in group winner deciding game. Kirilenko and company are having a good championship so far and they could bite Euro champs.

[Vilius]

Israel 87:83 Serbia

Israel: Green 26, Halperin 17.
Serbia: Gurovic 19, Milicic 18.

A fiasco for Serbia. For a country with such history in basketball it is a huge disappointment that so many their top players refuse to play and let the team have these results. On the other hand Israel now is in the second round and it is a huge success for them. They get 3 more games with a chance to make more upsets.

[rikhardur]

Vilius, on 05 September 2007 - 07:25 PM, said:

On the other hand Israel now is in the second round and it is a huge success for them. They get 3 more games with a chance to make more upsets.

And think Israel made it to the EC through the additional qualification... Incredible. Surprising round as I already said.

[Vilius]

Russia 61:53 Greece

Russia: Jon Robert Holden 17.
Greece: Vasileios Spanoulis 12.

I never liked that ultra defensive style that Greece play. I actually hate it if I'm honest. The score was 41:38 at the start of the 4th quarter! Russia look very good so far and that adds more interest since more teams are strong. Full credit to David Blatt. Yet another shock? I don't think so. Considering how Greece played in first two games they should feel lucky to have two wins.

1. Russia 3/0 6
2. Greece 2/1 5
3. Israel 1/2 4
4. Serbia 0/3 3