FIBA Europe

[thadzonline]

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Di pa. Each team will play a single-game format against the opposing group. The first from Group E will face the last team in Group F, 2nd vs 3rd and vice versa and the losers will immediately be eliminated. So basically, the two teams that will remain unbeaten prior to the finals will automatically qualify to the Olympics. The quarterfinals losers will just play classification games for the FIBA Europe 2007 rankings.

In case Germany fails to advance to the Olympics, Dirk Nowitzki plans to retire from Germany's national team.

after the single game format naa pay 4 unbeaten teams(at least in this bracketing) kay 4 matches man since 8 teams remain..so winner of GRoup E 1 vs. Group E4 vs. winner of Group E2 vs. group F3? same with other pairings sad?

[yokam]

I think it will go all the way. I guess the winners of the quarterfinals will be ranked according to their overall standings and statistics and will follow the 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 format irregardless of the group they belong to.

[thadzonline]

aw okies..thanks for clarifying..so 3 Olympic qualifying slots are up for grabs in this tournament ayt?

[j_tan168]

aw okies..thanks for clarifying..so 3 Olympic qualifying slots are up for grabs in this tournament ayt?

Only two slots for Olympics bro,

quaterfinals kicks off tonight, these are all do or die games from now on :

Russia vs. France
Spain vs. Germany

For tomorrows games :

Lithuania vs. Croatia
Slovenia vs. Greece

[j_tan168]

I think Spain would be crowned Europe Champions 2007 no doubt,
so the two remaining Olympic slots will be for the 2nd and 3rd place finishers since Spain is already qualified...

I think 2nd Place would be Lithuania and 3rd would be Greece.

But I see Slovenian team progressing very well, and they're still very young, they should be a powerhouse team in the next few years...

[digitalsuperman]

oh man..i saw the game between Lithuania and Slovenia..awesome game..

i hope to see spain and lithuania in the finals..it will be one heck of a game..

my predictions would be, either Spain or Lithuania for the champion and Slovenia for the 3rd Place.

[j_tan168]

Just saw the game between Lithuania and Slovenia, Wow, oh man, never thought Slovenia has progressed this great, I think Digital Superman is correct, just watching Slovenia play, it seems Greece will really have a hard time beating this team, Lakovic and Smodis's games progressed a lot.

If Slovenia continue their style of play, they should have no problem taking 3rd place.

And going back to Lithuania, almost anybody on the floor can shoot the three ball, give me a break! Wow!

The U.S. Team and Argentina will really have a hard time beating Lithuania and Spain in the Olympics...

And who says that the Americans will surely win the Gold in Beijing? It ain't over till the fat lady sings!

[thadzonline]

Did Spain qualify for the Olympics by virtue that they are the defending world champions?

[yokam]

Jose Calderon made up for his missed three point shot two years ago that cost Spain the game against Germany. Calderon scored 17 points in Spain's 83-55 blow out over Germany to advance to the semifinals. In the other game, Russia defeated France 75-71.

[j_tan168]

Did Spain qualify for the Olympics by virtue that they are the defending world champions?

Yup, Spain automatically qualifies because they won the Fiba World 2006. Like China, they don't have
to send their top players in this tournament, but since I've read that Spain's current National Roster
has not yet won a Euro League, and since this FIBA Europe 2007 tournament is also being held in Madrid,
that's why they are still sending their best players in this tournament. So should Spain wins this tournament,
the 2nd and 3rd place will be the two Europe Teams that will qualify for the Olympics 2008.