[tjmartin23Participant]

 Who does everyone have in the final? I’m going to go with Spain because the Gasols are just too much to handle down low. Also, the way Juan Carlos Navarro shot the ball against Macadonia, its going to be hard to contain him. Plus, Spain has too much depth.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

They won 98-85. Juan Carlos Navarro scored 27 and earned tournament MVP. He also put up 35 against Macedonia, who lost to Russia today to finish 4th. JC had one moderately successful year with the Grizzlies (10.9 ppg in 25.8 mpg, shooting 40% from the field, 36% from 3 as a 27 year old rookie in 2007-08), but there is little doubt that at times, he can score with the best of them. Definitely more of a 2 than 1, but his floaters are a thing of beauty. He would still probably be a nice role player in the NBA, but he is a star in Europe. He was a 2nd round pick, so unlike Rudy Fernandez, he did not have a long term contract. My guess is that after this season in Dallas, unless things go incredibly well (which they could), Rudy will be back playing in the ACB/Euroleague. 

Some notes:

Spain:

• Pau Gasol finishing with 17 and 10. He had a great tournament and seems to have shaken off the awful play-off performance (by his standards, of course). For Eurobasket, Pau averaged close to 20 and a little over 8 rebounds (good for about 2nd in the tournament after Chris Kaman)
• Marc Gasol finished with 11 and 6, averaging about 13 and 7 for the tourney (Very solid numbers). The Gasol brothers make a formidable front line for Spain, no doubt the US will have to take this into account when preparing to play them.
• Serge Ibaka had 5 blocks, apparently all of them in the 2nd quarter. No doubt what his role on this team is, he will be a force as a back-up big with his energetic play come 2012.
• Jose Calderon scored 17 points and had 4 steals. 
• Rudy Fernandez scored 14 points capping off a pretty strong tournament. He also tied with Calderon to lead Spain in assists (3 per game, remember that they count assists differently under European play)
• Ricky Rubio finished the tourney with averages of 1.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 2.1 apg. He scored nothing in 7 minutes against France, and shot 23.3% from the field for the tournament, including 1/15 from long range. Not incredibly encouraging if you are a Timberwolves fan, though I am sure Ricky might do better in the NBA’s faster and more wide open pace.

France:

• Tony Parker finished with 26, 5 and 5 in a losing effort. Finished the tourney with averages of 22.1 ppg, 4.4 apg and 3.5 rpg. Seems like Tony is never really counted as one of the best PG’s, maybe due to his low assist totals, but this guy is a total offensive force. I do not know whether to call him underrated or not, but he seems to hold his own with the best of them.
• Nicolas Batum had 10 against Spain and was France’s 2nd leading scorer behind Parker with 13.8 ppg. He also lead the team in Steals and Blocked Shots per game.
• Joakim Noah finished with 11 points and fouled out. He put up 9 and 8 for the French during the tournament. He shot 81% from the line, but only 43% from the field for the tourney.
• Boris Diaw put up 12 in the final, and had his usual strong across the board averages of 8, 4.7 and 2.5 for EuroBasket.
• Former Seattle Supersonic Mickael Gelabale had a decent tournament as well. He put up 8 in the final and 7.3 for the tournament. He also shot over 60% from the field, including an impressive 14/22 from trey, good for 63.6%.

Consolation Game:

• Andrei Kirilenko has been Russia’s leader throughout the tournament, this game being no different with totals of 18 and 7. Finishing with totals of 15 and 6 for the tournament, it will be interesting to see what happens with Andrei once the lockout is resolved. Will he stay in Utah, or will he be intrigued by Prokhorov and New Jersey, not to mention playing with Deron Williams again.
• Timofey Mozgov finished with 10 against Macedonia, right around his tourney average.
• Victor Khryapa, a former 1st round pick of the Portland Trail Blazers, lead the team in assists with 5.1 per game, to go along with 7.9 ppg and 5 rpg. He did not play in the game, however.
• Sergey Monya, the Blazers other first round draft choice along with Khryapa, was the co-captain of Russia with Andrei, and finished with 10 and 8 against Macedonia. 
• The story for Macedonia, throughout the whole tournament, was Bo McCalleb. He had 22 in the game and averaged 21.4 for EuroBasket. Undrafted, he has really made a name for himself in Europe and is an electrifying scoring guard. Not sure if he would be necessarily solving anyones PG needs as a starter, but I certainly think he could be a spark plug off of the bench. He apparently has yet to receive an offer that has aroused his interest, and should stay in Europe for the foreseeable future, considering he is getting paid very nice money as a lead guard.
• Macedonia shot 37.9% from the field for the tournament as a team. McCalleb shot 47% from the field, and PF Todor Gechevski shot 48.9%, but otherwise, they got very little help on the percentage tip. I think this goes without saying, but without Bo McCalleb, I think this team would have had little to no chance to compete for an Olympic berth. With Bo, they had a couple of huge upsets over Greece and Lithuania, plus were right in there with Russia for a couple of games (losing 63-61 and 72-68). They may have had a favorable draw, but the bottom line is, Macedonia still has a chance to get an Olympic berth and Germany and Turkey will be watching from the sidelines.

 

 

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