VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - The 2017 international basketball year was eventful. It was fun. It was inspirational. It was unforgettable. Here are my top 10 memories, saving the best for last.

10 - Iberostar Tenerife win Basketball Champions League

It was fun watching Iberostar Tenerife week in and week out, rolling to big wins at home and on the road, a long way from the Canary Islands. The biggest achievement of all was seeing this club capture the Basketball Champions League crown in front of their raucous fans on April 30.

9 - Turkey and their fans

Coach Ufuk Sarica took a squad that was short on experience and star power and turned it into a battling unit that everyone was proud of. The connection between the fans in Istanbul and the national team was there for all to see and not only at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, where the Twelve Giant Men reached the Round of 16 before falling to Spain. It was also that way in Bursa on Gameday 1 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers in their victory over Latvia. The fans were amazing. Watch this team develop.

8 - The Japanese Blur

You know what makes for compulsive viewing in international basketball? How about a FIBA Women's Asia Cup Semi-Final in Bengaluru when the "Japanese Blur", Manami Fujioka, tears apart China with 19 points and 14 assists and comes up 2 rebounds shy of a triple-double in a 74-71 win?!

7 - The Boomers

FIBA Asia Cup first-timers Australia marched to the title in Lebanon, steamrolling every opponent in their path. It was spine-tingling stuff watching the Boomers raise the bar on the continent with a relentless, suffocating defense. There appears to be a huge gulf in class between Australia and the rest of Asia. All you other teams out there, it's time to get to work!

6 - Cecilia Zandalasini

It was sheer joy watching the first-ever Zandalasini show at a FIBA EuroBasket Women for Italy. She was breathtakingly good. The disappointment, of course, was the unsportsmanlike foul called on the 21-year-old at the end of Italy's game against Latvia which effectively ended her hopes of playing at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2017 in Spain. Even so, she made the All-Star Five.

5 - The Susijengi and Lauri Markkannen

It was high time that Finnish fans, who travelled in huge numbers the previous several years, got a chance to watch their national team host big-time games. At FIBA EuroBasket 2017, they saw Finland's new star, Lauri Markannen, live up to the hype with 22 points in an opening night win over France. The Finns lost just once, to eventual champions Slovenia, in the Group Phase in Helsinki.

4 - USA's comeback stunner

In the title game of the FIBA AmeriCup in Cordoba against Argentina, the United States fell behind by 20 points in the third quarter against the tournament hosts but charged back to win an 81-76 thriller. It was a tough night for the home side and its fans, but what a tremendous moment for USA Basketball and a never-say-die team coached by Jeff Van Gundy!

3 - Slovenia 103 Latvia 97

The best game at a tournament doesn't have to be the Final, and it certainly was not at FIBA EuroBasket 2017. The clash that captured the imagination was Slovenia's riveting Quarter-Final triumph over Latvia. It was Dragic beating Porzingis, Doncic edging Davis Bertans and Prepelic outgunning Dairis Bertans. It was epic. It was absolutely breathtaking.

2 -  Fourth Quarter of EuroBasket 2017 Final

The brilliance of Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic at the EuroBasket was something to behold! Yet neither was on the court when Slovenia made the plays that had to be made in the fourth quarter of the Final to beat Serbia in Istanbul to capture the crown for the first time. What did this mean? Basketball is a team game and it took more than Slovenia's two superstars to come up with the biggest achievement in the nation's hoops history.

1 - The November World Cup Qualifiers

From the very first contest, Korea's upset of New Zealand in Wellington on November 23, the 76 World Cup Qualifiers were just what we were hoping for. There were tremendous games in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. There were game-winning shots and MVP performances. There was the emergence of young players. There were the fans, getting a chance to watch their favorite team, their national teams. There was so much to celebrate.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

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