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By: Freaknick/@euro_adventures

After last week’s verbal beating at the hands (mouths) of my commenters, I’ve scraped up whatever ego I could find and collected myself for a re-do. Yes I listened to all of your complaints regarding last week’s power rankings and though occasionally valid, I’ve decided the only thing worse than a moron is a moron with no backbone, so I’m sticking to my guns this week and rating these teams based on talent, make-up, and a heaping dose of relentless subjectivity. The number in (parentheses) is where they were ranked last time around. If you’d like to sound off, I think you’re all familiar with the location of the ‘Comments’ section by now. Lights, camera, reaction:

1. United States (1): They’ll pick you up fullcourt. They’ll play four guards and outrebound you. Derrick Rose will make you forget about Chris Paul, and Andre Iguodala will make you remember Vince Carter. “Rudy Gay?” will become “Rudy Gay!”. And Kevin Durant? He’ll lift the MVP Trophy. Right after he kisses his Gold Medal.

2. Spain (2): Sergio Scariolo sees Carlos Suarez as an integral component in Spain’s future; I just see a coach who’s holding onto the past. Garbajosa and Mumbru should’ve rock-paper-scissored for the rights to stay on as Spain’s token oldie.

3. Serbia (4): I put them in the four spot last week, and I’ve felt dirty ever since. After a season that lacked definition with Messina’s Real Madrid team, Novica Velickovic will be called upon to be be a killer, a role he thrives in. Of the 288 ballers in this tourney, Novica might be the most critical to his team’s medal chances. If he amps it up, the Serbs go home with new necklaces. And now that Marko Keselj signed on to play three seasons with Dusan Ivkovic’s Olympiacos (also head coach of the Serbian NT), FIBA will be about earning some Euroleague burn as well. Extra incentive for a team that needs it the least.

4. Brazil (3): Remember when Sarunas Jasikevicius dropped 28 points on Team USA in the 2004 Olympics and NBA teams all scrambled to pronounce his name correctly and sign him to a deal? Say it with me Donnie Walsh: Mar-cel-o Huer-tas.

5. Turkey (5): Engin Atsur’s ruptured achilles has severely ruptured my mood for about two days. It was his turn to bust out with some much-needed point guard play. I love Kerem Tunceri but he doesn’t make plays like Engin. Time for ELA blogger Sinan Guler—aka “Turkish Chocolate”—to get busy. He’ll get up for the hometown crowd, best believe. Because remember: Guler Goes Hard.

6. Greece (7): All that fuss. And for what? One spot in the power rankings. Hooray for ELA’s version of democracy. If I sour on Turkey in the next week then they might crack the top five, but it’s not like that would satisfy everyone who thinks I’m incredibly f***ing stupid and should have my FIBA credentials revoked. I love you too.

7. Argentina (6): This roster’s more fit to win a shuffleboard tournament. They’re old and Manu-less, but they just might have one more collective run in them. Sometimes the old white guys at the YMCA whip up on the youngsters. Hard fouls, heavy picks and set shots. The Age Bowl against Serbia should be a telling battle.

8. Slovenia (9): All of the attention will be focused on Goran Dragic, and rightfully so. But it won’t take more than a quarter or two for the world to realize Sani Becirovic is as deadly as any Slovenian. If they let the shooters and cutters orbit around Uros Slokar, Primoz Brezec and Mirza Begic inside they’ll knock off one of the big dogs in the group. Don’t be shocked to see Goran drop 30 on Team USA in an extremely close game.

9. Australia (10): Australia should’ve been near the top of everyone’s “I hope we don’t have to face ______” list a month ago. If they weren’t, Aleks Maric thinks you should make the appropriate changes. Otherwise, he’s going to make your big man his bitch for forty minutes.

10. Puerto Rico (14): Renaldo Balkman’s been a joke nearly his entire NBA career, but we shouldn’t let the New York Knicks’ trademark stupidity get in the way of our perception as Renaldo’s skills. He never should’ve gone in the first round but I’ll be damned if this dude can’t guard all five positions in international ball. He sucks at performing basketball’s most fundamental objective—putting the leather through the nylon—but Arroyo, Jose Juan Barea and ELA All-Turkish Breakout Team favorite A.D. Vassallo have that aspect of the game down to a science.

11. Russia (8): If you’re here it means you’ve made it through one and a half of my power rankings, and you might’ve noticed that I don’t put too much emphasis on pre-tournament warm-ups, so everyone’s panic regarding Russia’s early troubles is premature. Slovenia, Puerto Rico and Australia all had weeks full of good news and healthy additions.

12. Lithuania (11): Just texted Kestutis Kemzura. Dragging his feet on naming the final roster. Killin’ me over here.

13. Croatia (15): In ESPN’s broadcast of Team USA’s Radio City scrimmage, Fran Fraschilla called Ante Tomic “the next Pau Gasol.” Well, then.

14. Canada (13): I am about to be a hypocrite, but I can’t ignore Canada’s dismantling of China in Vancouver and then France in Toronto—twice—the second in the form of an 85-63 shellacking. Yeah, I know what I said about not taking stock in exhibitions but I’m making an exception because this is my website.

15. France (12): Watching the game between USA and France as I write this and Boris Diaw looks like he ate a Volkswagen.

16. Germany (16): It looks like ELA has lined up a podcast with a German überblogger from Grubelei.de, so we’ll have plenty more to report after air date. Interested to see if he’s intrigued with his own team as I am.

17. New Zealand (18): Trying to think of something to say other than “Kirk Penney.” Drawing blanks.

18. China (17): A gazillion people and this is the best 12 you can find?

19. Lebanon (23): I had them at 23 based on nothing. I’ve now moved them up after looking more deeply into their sprinklings of past basketball competence.

20. Iran (19): The real shocker of this list here is Iran’s tumble. The internet community will surely let me have it for this one.

21. Angola (21): Does anyone in Africa ever beat these guys?

22. Cote d’Ivoire (20): I’ve been staring at a blank screen for about six minutes trying to come up with something witty to write about the Coasters. Make it seven.

23. Jordan (22): They’ve only been in the FIBA Worlds once before, and the second will not be the charm.

24. Tunisia (24): Snubbed again.

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19 Responses

  1. Slam

    Serbia’s Killer: Milos Teodosic, he handled late game shots in Eurobasket last year. Velikovic play will be integral, but I got Milos as my the guy most dangerous with the ball.

    If Marcelo Huertas works his magic for Brazil like he did with Caja Laboral, then Brazil is my Bronze medalist. Huertas and Splitter already have that great chemistry from their ACB Championship run.

  2. Xristos

    A few things:
    - Mumbru and Garbajosa have actually played well for Spain. Mumbru was the best player in the recent game against Slovenia and isn’t afraid to go one on one against anyone. He knows the system and has great chemistry with his Spanish NT teammates. San Emeterio may be one of the top small forward’s in Europe, but for the NT Mumbru is a great fit.
    - Garbajosa may even start in front of Reyes, that’s how well he’s playing. He’s hitting his 3s, posting well, and has been solid on D. He had a few nice games in the ACB playoffs last year as well.
    -Turkey’s guard play is too suspect for me to rank them ahead of Greece. Turkey doesn’t have a single guard as good as Nick Calathes, let alone Diamantidis, Spanoulis, Vasiliadis or Zisis. Ilyasova and Hedo are better than the 3s and 4s Greece has but Bourousis, Sofo, and Tsartsaris can do everything Asik, Erden, and Savas can do and do it better.
    - I don’t think Mirza Begic is playing for Slovenia…the bigs will be Brezec, Slokar, Vidmar, Rizvic, and Zupan. Becirovic got injured a few days ago. Nachbar and Lakovic will be important.
    - Lebanon is probably better than China and is coming off a great run at the Stankovic Cup. They’ve got 3 legitimate threats in Jackson Vroman, Fadi El-Khatib, and Matt Freije as well as a solid point guard that can shoot in Rony Fahed. They could give some good teams tough games.

    Check out my power rankings:
    http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1045821

  3. Eric

    ESPN picked their top 4. It was:

    1. Greece
    2. Spain
    3. USA
    4. Argentina

  4. Perseus

    come on Freaknick,you know that Greeks love people with great sense of humor like you.

  5. Yao

    Greece just beat Canada by 74 points by a score of 123-49. Bourousis did not even play in the game and Spanoulis barely even tried. This team is ranked 6th? USA might lose by 20 to this Greek team.

  6. Freaknick

    @Xristos: I’m fine with one of the two being on the team (Mumbru or Garbajosa), but leaving Suarez off was still a mistake in my mind. Garbajosa just doesn’t bring nearly the activity that he used to.

    @Eric: I heard Fran Fraschilla pick Greece to win it on ESPN and I nearly threw my fork at the screen. I think Greece is great but there comes a time where you need to be loyal to your country. The media in the USA, Spain, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, Serbia and even Turkey should all think of themselves as favorites.

    @Perseus: Thanks brother. And we Americans love fans as passionate as the Greeks.

    @Yao: Congrats on the W. Again, though, I don’t put so much stock into warm-up games. It’s like using pre-game shooting drills to predict field goal percentage. Completely different context.

  7. Eric

    Warm-up games? You obviously did not see Greece-Canada. Even though Bourousis will not play, IF Greece chooses to beat the US on 8-25 they will. EASILY. The question is whether they will pull the game or not for tactical reasons, which European teams commonly do. Greece will crush that US team if they play like today.

  8. Freaknick

    @Eric: Perfect. So now even if USA wins it will be because Greece let them, right? Quite the competitors.

  9. Olia

    Lithuania in 12th place? Just as high as it managed to reach in Euro 2009. 😀 You’ve got to be kidding. Lets be honest, you should have ranked it much lower as it’s obvious they will have to cope without a help from some of their big names this time. 🙂

  10. Eric

    If you are a USA fan you better hope Greece does not choose to play 100% in that upcoming friendly for tactical reasons, as European teams are known to do. Because the way Greece is playign right now, if they go 100% in that game the US is going to suffer its worst defeat in history and they are going to get embarrassed on ESPN.

  11. Xristos

    I’m Greek and you sound dumb saying that. There’s no way the US gets blown out. By anyone.

  13. Olia

    If you didn’t know, Ayuso and Dalmau have left the Puerto Rico national team while Brazil got trashed by Spain as they have to deal without their injured stars. In short, if I were you, I wouldn’t trust the outside-of-Europe national teams (with an exception of two, namely USA and Argentina). 🙂

  14. Freaknick

    @Olia: I saw that Dalmau/Ayuso decided FIBA wasn’t for them. Very stupid move if it turns out the only real reasons are playing time issues. I’d put them right up there with Beno Udrih on my list of selfish assholes this summer.

    But Guillermo Diaz and David Huertas (the replacements) are studs. Obviously not the experience of the other two, but they’re both scorers, though Diaz is about as streaky as they come. The real issue will be perimeter defense for these guys and I’m not sure they can handle the pick and roll without Balkman in there. A lot of extra pressure has now fallen on my boy A.D. Vassallo.

    @Eric: With all due respect, I’ve got to side w/@Xristos on the whole “U.S. getting blown out” thing. If we’re defining a blowout by 20+, absolutely not. 15+…still no. 10+? It’s conceivable, but I think it could be to Brazil in pool play.

    Thanks for everyone’s comments.

  15. Eric

    Canada 62 - Serbia 58

    Greece 96 - Slovenia 72

    So how many does Greece have to beat the USA by to move up to #5 here? 20 or 30?

    • Freaknick

      @Eric: From what you’ve said, it sounds like anything other than a 50-point deficit would be unacceptable.

      Unless you know, they’re “not trying.” But like I said man, I’ll trust my instincts over the pre-tournament results for now. I won’t commit to anything for the warm-up game between USA-Greece, but if we meet in the real thing we should arrange a bet. Like maybe I’ll paint my face blue and white or streak through the streets of Istanbul. Second thought, maybe we should stick with the paint. This might be a dumb question: are you Greek? I’ve enjoyed the back-and-forth brother. Keep it up through the tournament.

    • Freaknick

      @Eric: From what you’ve said, it sounds like anything other than a 50-point deficit would be unacceptable.

      Unless you know, they’re “not trying.” But like I said man, I’ll trust my instincts over the pre-tournament results for now. I won’t commit to anything for the warm-up game between USA-Greece, but if we meet in the real thing we should arrange a bet. Like maybe I’ll paint my face blue and white or streak through the streets of Istanbul. Second thought, maybe we should stick with the paint. This might be a dumb question: are you Greek? I’ve enjoyed your comments brother. Keep it up through the tournament.

  16. Eric

    Yes, I am Greek, but I live now in USA. I know where you get this idea that Greece is so low. You believe they will lose in the game agianst Turkey because of the refs, the crowd, and the motiviation of the Turkish players. You then believe that Greece will get the USA in the quarterfinals and lose there.

    I assume you get 6-7 place, instead of 5, by thinking that after such an unlucky darw (certainly the unluckiest imaginable in the tournament if that happened) and the huge disapointement of not winning a medal, that you think Greece will fold up the tent psychologically after this and thus lose the placement games as well. Similar to what happened to Turkey last year.

    Well, there are some real holes in this logic IMO. First, Greece is definitely a better team than Turkey is, and if Turkey continues to allow Hedo to play however he wants to, they can’t beat a team the level of Greece, even playing at home.

    And even assuming Turkey gets their act together and plays more discipled (as they can) and does beat Greece……..so what? First US might not go undefeated in group stage. And even if they do it does not matter.

    Greece can beat Brazil, Slovenia, Croatia no problem. And yes, they can definitely beat USA also. You have it all backwards. If Greece loses to Turkey then it is the nightmare scenario for USA and not Greece. Because then USA has to play Greece at the quarterfinals and all I can say is remember Yugoslavia - USA quarterfinals in 2002?

    USA wants absolutely no part of Greece at the quarterfinals. I assure you of that. And the truth is that the easiest time to beat a team like USA is at the quarterfinals. That’s the easiest time to do it. USA, and not Greece could very well end up being the 5 placed team.

    But this only assumes that Greece loses to Turkey. And what you need to remember is the long tradition in the rivalries. Greece has never forgotten the EuroBasket where Turkey refused to play the Greek national anthem before the game. Ever since then Greece has pretty much owned them, and that includes wins on their home soil.

    The Greek players will be just as motivated as the Turks will and also will want to shut the crowd up. I admit though that having the game in Ankara was brilliant by FIBA because it makes it where few Greeks will be there. If it was in Istanbul or Izmir there would be a lot of Greeks. In Ankara it will be a big side of Turks.

    And another thing to consider, Greece knows if they beat Turkey and go 5-0 in the group stage that they can avoid USA and Spain. It means possibly Serbia or Argentina at semifinals and possibly Spain-USA winner at the finals. And of course the better schedule. Greece already experienced the bad schedule in 2006 of having to play games exhausted with no rest, while Spain had the easy schedule. So I assure you that Greece will want to go 5-0.

    Finally, Greece’s coach is a tactician. Giannakis also did that (he called off the game at the 15 minute mark between US and Greece in 2008), but not as much. He sometimes let ego get in the way (choosing to play Argentina in 2008 for revenge of 2004). Kazlauaskas will approach it tactically without letting ego get in the way. You can bet on that because he already learned his lesson when Lithuania beat US in the group stage in 2004 and then lost to them in the bronze medal game.

    You could see that obviously in how Greece tanked their games in the group stage last year at the EuroBasket against Russia and France, in order to avoid Spain. I understand your logic and how you think Greece is going to falter, but I do not think you have analyzed it, nor thought it through one bit.

    Greece was 5th in the world in 2004. They had a 15 point lead on the US and blew it in the fourth quarter. They had a 15 point lead in the quarters against champs Argentina and also blew it in the fourth quarter. Greece was first in Europe 2005 (won Spain during the summer), second in the world 2006 without Bourousis and Zisis (beat US), fourth in Europe 2007 (without Fotsis) and only lost because playing against Spain on their home court the refs gave the game to Spain……..

    was 5th in the world in 2008, losing to Argentina when the refs purposely did not call a blatant foul on Argentina at the end of the game, actually throwing a Greek player to the floor with force. Otherwise it would have been overtime…….

    All of this was done with a BAD COACH. Almost every loss was because of bad coaching, except the 2007 EuroBasket semifinals with Spain, where the refs decided it. The game against Argentina in 2008 was one of the worst coached games you could imagine for Greece.

    Now they have a GOOD coach. Last summer they were just experimenting basically. This summer they are actually implementing his offense. I don’t think you understand the level of the Greek players. They have always been the best in Europe for the last 5-6 years and the A1 has been the highest league. The problem has always been the coaching.

    Not anymore. Now people will see that. Teams like Spain will no longer be playign against a team with an amateur coach. You will see just how good the Greek players are now.