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Eurobasket.com All-European Championships 2005 Awards
MVP:
Dirk Nowitzki (211-F-78) of Germany
All games comments courtesy of Eurobasket 2005.com
 Most
exciting semifinals EVER !!! Germany will face Greece in the final - Sep 25,
2005 It must be said there have NEVER been such exciting semifinals in the history of European Championships. It oes not happen very frequently when the teams wins the game by just one point and it's really unique when two semifinal games end by 1-poin victory each. Semifinals: Greece - France 67-66 (Papadopoulos 15, Dikoudis 14+11r, Zisis 11, Papaloukas 10, Diamantidis 7, Fotsis 4+6r, Chatzivrettas 3, Kakiouzis 3+4r, Tsartsaris 0, Spanoulis 0 - Parker 20+3r+3a, Diaw 14+4r+3a, F.Pietrus 8+9r, Gelabale 7+4r, M.Pietrus 6+4r, Rigaudeau 6, Julian 2, Schmitt, Weis 1+9r) A three-pointer by Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) three seconds from the end set off a thunderous celebration in the Belgrade Arena on Saturday night as the Greeks fought back from a seven-point deficit in the final minute to stun France 67-66 and advance to the gold medal game. France, closing in on appearance in the title game for the first time in six decades, self-destructed as both Tony Parker (183-G-80) and captain Antoine Rigaudeau (200-G-71) missed important free throws to leave the door open for a Greek comeback. After Rigaudeau made just one of two from the line with 11 seconds remaining, Greece inbounded the ball to Nikos Zisis who raced up the floor and towards the basket before kicking the ball out to Diamantidis who never hesitated when releasing his left-handed shot which hit the bottom of the net. France gave the ball to Rigaudeau who dribbled to midcourt and attempted to launch a desperation shot but guarded by Greece players, he was called for traveling as time expired setting off a joyous celebration from Greek players and thousands of their fans in attendance. “Thank God,” said Diamantidis after his heroics. “I wasn't thinking about anything when I shot it. Nothing.” “There are no words to describe what Dimitrios did – he is amazing,” said Nikos Zisis (195-G-83), who scored 11 points, including three big free throws with 40 seconds remaining that allowed Greece to stay close and cut the French lead to 62-58. Greece, who famously won gold in 1987 and then silver in 1989, are back in the title game and will face the winner of Spain´s semi-final with Germany. “This is basketball,” said Greece´s team captain Michalis Kakiouzis (206-C-76). “We never stopped fighting and always believed in oursleves and then got a little luck in the end.” Parker was brilliant in the first half and led all scorers with 20 points, while center Lazaros Papadopoulos (210-C-80) had 15 for Greece and Dimos Dikoudis (208-F/C-77, agency: Court Side) finished with 14. France will try to win their first bronze since 1959 when they take on Spain. Germany - Spain 74-73 (Nowitzki 27+7r, Roller 9+4r, Pesic 8, Femerling 7, Wucherer 6, Demirel 5+6a, Garret 4, Schultze 3, Greene 3, Arigbabu 2, Maras 0, Nikagbatse 0 - Navarro 27+4r, Vazquez 15+4r, Calderon 10, Jimenes 7+9r, Reyes 5+6r, Cabezas 4, Garbajosa 4+6r, De Miguel 1, Fernandez 0) Dirk Nowitzki (211-F-78) came up with another huge game and hit the game-winning shot with 3.9 seconds to go as Germany upset Spain 74-73 in Belgrade to advance to their first gold medal game at the EuroBasket since 1993. After Juan Carlos Navarro (193-G-80, agency: Soresport)´s floater in the lane gave Spain a 73-72 advantage with 14 seconds to go, the Dallas Mavericks superstar who has carried the German squad on his shoulders for all of the tournament, hit a baseline jumper over the outstrecthed arm of Jorge Garbajosa (207-C/F-77, agency: Interperformances) to put Germany back in front. “It was indescribable,” Nowitzki said of the final shot. “After I looked at Navarro´s shot go in I thought to myself that I wanted to start my offensive move with six seconds left so that way we could get an offensive rebound. Garbajosa kind of pushed me towards the baseline so I just went with it.” “Dirk hit a tough shot,” German head coach Dirk Bauermann said. “He bailed us out just like he did against Russia. That is why he is a super star and the leader of this team. But that doesn't take away from the team effort.” Spain called timeout and discussed their strategy. They inbounded the ball to Jose Manuel Calderon (190-G-81) and he drove past mid-court to just a few feet behind the arc and had a clean look at a three-pointer, but his shot clanked off the rim, putting Nowitzki and Co into a gold medal clash against Greece, who earlier stunned France. As the buzzer sounded, Nowitzki circled the court with his right fist in the air and Germany´s squad celebrated a thrilling victory. They will look to continue their Cinderella story on Sunday after Spain take on France in the bronze medal contest. Nowitzki finished with a game-high 27 points, 11 of those coming in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. He made five of 10 three-pointers, with Germany connecting on 13 of 33 as a team. Spain struggled, shooting two-of-19 from behind the arc. "If we had a shot a higher percentage from three-point range, then perhaps the outcome would have been different," said Pesquera. Navarro, one night after finishing with a tournament-best 36 points, finished with 27 points and Fran Vazquez (210-C-83) added 15. Spain lost, despite outrebounding Germany 39-22. 4-8 Places: Slovenia - Croatia 89-80 (Lakovic 20+5r+5a, Capin 14, Lorbek 11+7r, Brezec 11+6r, Becirovic 11 - Bagaric 13+8r, Giricek 13+8r, Tomas 12+6r, Vujcic 10+5r, Popovic 10+4a) Slovenia overcame a big early deficit to beat Croatia 89-80 and claim the final World Championship place still up for grabs at EuroBasket 2005. The Slovenians, who went unbeaten in the group stage but fell apart against Dirk Nowitzki (211-F-78) and Germany in their quarter-final, will now try to play Lithuania in a battle for fifth place on Sunday afternoon. Their main mission is accomplished already, according to Slovenian captain Radoslav Nesterovic (212-C-76). "This is a huge accomplishment for us," said Nesterovic. "We are a country of two million people. If anybody had given this (World Championship qualification) before the tournament, we would have taken it." "This is a great feeling. It feels more important than a gold medal," added New Orleans Hornets forward Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80, agency: Interperformances). And of course, the Slovenian players knew who they had to thank the most - their fans. A reported 10,000 of them made the six hour drive from the neighbouring country to attend their games over the weekend. Guard Sani Becirovic (195-G-81, agency: Interperformances) said the players were well aware of the support they were getting. "The fans were our sixth and seventh man," Becirovic said. "We have to thank them for coming out in such big numbers and helping us in some difficult times." Jaka Lakovic (182-G-78) led six players in double figures for Slovenia with 20 points, while Nesterovic put his nighmare quarter-final behind him with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Giricek and Dalibor Bagaric (217-C-80) each had 13 points for Croatia, while Marko Tomas (199-G-85, agency: XL Croatian BC) chipped in with 12 and both Marko Popovic (185-G-82, agency: XL Croatian BC) and Nikola Vujcic (211-C-78, agency: Interperformances) finished with 10. For Croatia, this was a tough way to follow a heartbreaking loss to Spain in overtime in their quarter-final on Friday. But it was a game that head coach Neven Spahija knew was going to be hard to play because of the controversy surrounding the quarter-final game against Spain. "Already yesterday I said that we don't have a good chance to win this game, I thought our chances are less than 1%," Croatia's coach declared. "Before the game I saw my players in the locker room and knew we have no chance to win this game." Quarterfinals
(Day 2): Germany and Spain make it to the semis - Sep 24, 2005
Quarterfinals: Germany - Slovenia 76-62 (Nowitzki 22, Roller 15, Demirel 15, Greene 10, Femerling 6 - Becirovic 13, Brezec 13, Lakovic 12, Nachbar 9, Lorbek 6) Behind the all-around play of Dirk Nowitzki (211-F-78), ample help from the supporting cast and a large run to start the fourth quarter, Germany silenced the large Slovenian crowd with a 76-62 victory over Slovenia in the quarter-finals of EuroBasket 2005. Germany qualify for FIBA World Championship 2006 in Japan and will take on the winner of Spain's quarter-final with Croatia. "The Slovenians underestimated us," said Nowitzki. "They said we were the team they wanted and that was wrong, you shouldn't do that in the quarter-finals." While Nowitzki was his usual self with 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, guards Pascal Roller (180-G-76), Mithat Demirel (181-G-78, agency: Court Side) and Demond Greene (185-G-79, agency: Court Side) provided crucial offence as Germany upset the Slovenians. The trio combined for seven of 11 from three-point range. Roller, who made a pair of crucial three-pointers in the fourth quarter, and Demirel each had 15 points while Greene 10. Slovenia suffered their first loss of EuroBasket 2005 and will try to beat Croatia in order to secure a top six finish which is needed to qualify for the FIBA World Championship. Spain - Croatia 101-85, OT (Navarro 36, Vazquez 26, Garbajosa 14, Calderon 10, Reyes 4 - Giricek 17, Ukic 15, Popovic 15, Mamic 8, Kasun 8) Spain took advantage of an injured and foul plagued Croatia to win an an overtime thriller in the last EuroBasket quarter-final to stay on course for a medal and secure their place at the FIBA World Championship 2006. Fran Vazquez came to the rescue for Spain with an offensive rebound and put-back to send the game to overtime and then teamed up with Juan Carlos Navarro in a controversial extra period to seal a 101-85 triumph. Croatia played an amazing game despite losing star point guard Zoran Planinic and center Mario Kasun to injuries in the first quarter, but as the game started to slip away in the final minute of overtime, so did the composure of coach Neven Spahija, who drew a technical foul, and Marko Popovic, who was ejected. Navarro had 36 points for Spain, but the man of the match was Vazquez, who might well have jumped out of a telephone booth and donned a cape for the team because he played like Superman. He finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. After missing his first two free throws, he made his next eight. Croatia could hardly contain their anger before the final whistle, with Spahija crossing mid-court to argue with the referees and then Popovic popping off and earning an early shower. Following an acrobatic Vazquez dunk with 28 seconds remaining, Tomas was once again fouled, setting the stage for the dramatic moments at the end of regulation which saw Spain force the overtime. Spain will take on Germany in the semi-final on Saturday, while Croatia battle Slovenia in a pivotal classification game. A victory will still allow Croatia to qualify for the FIBA World Championship for the first time since 1994. 4-8 Places: Lithuania - Russia 89-78 (Jankunas 19, Gustas 13, Siskauskas 12, K.Lavrinovic 11, D.Lavrinovic 10 - Pashutin 27, Holden 14, Monya 11, Samoylenko 9, Khryapa 6, DNP: Kirilenko) What a difference a day makes. One night after shooting just 33% from the field in a loss to France, Lithuania looked like a new team by shooting 62% for the game en route to an 89-78 win over Russia. The victory automatically qualif | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
