VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - So you wondered what it was going to be like for EuroBasket 2015 to be staged in four different countries?

I've got four words for you.

Fun, fun, fun and fun.

Montpellier, Berlin, Zagreb and Riga each hosted three games on Saturday and gave international basketball an unforgettable nine hours.

Who was the team of the day?

My vote goes to the Netherlands, who scraped a 73-72 win over Georgia in Zagreb in Group C.

The revelation in that game was a high-flying, slam-dunking Charlon Kloof.

Kloof, 25, who played American college basketball for St Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York, got it going and the Dutch, making their first EuroBasket appearance since 1989, got a precious victory.

A 1.90m guard, the Suriname-born Kloof finished with a game-high 22 points.

Basketball fans in the Netherlands, get to Croatia as quickly as you can to watch this team that had to make a defensive stand at the end to beat the Georgians.

I had the privilege of watching three thrilling games in Group A in Montpellier.

Poland, so fragile mentally two years ago in Celje, Slovenia, showed tremendous grit to hold off a Bosnia and Herzegovina side that was led by an inspirational Andrija Stipanovic.

The coach of Poland, Mike Taylor, is a breath of fresh for a team that played with confidence, freedom and aggression.

The 22-year-old Mateusz Ponitka revealed himself to be a true leader for Poland against Bosnia and Herzegovina, attacking the rim early and often.

The Poles dug deep as a team on defense when the game hung in the balance in the fourth quarter.

Speaking of leaders, none was more important than Omri Casspi of Israel. He carried his team on his back in the third quarter as it overcame a 12-point half-time deficit and the Israelis held on at the end for a 76-73 victory over Russia.

The 27-year-old drove hard to the basket time and time again and also drilled a couple of three-pointers. He finished with 21 points and nine rebounds.

France v Finland in the Group A nightcap? Are you kidding me?

The fabulous Finns, the team that playing modern, fast basketball, the team brought 10,000 fans to Bilbao last year for the FIBA Basketball World Cup?

The Susijengi (i.e. the wolfpack) gave Jamar Wilson his Finnish debut and he put on a jaw-dropping display, a 21-point performance that made the hair on the back of our necks stand up.

What is it about basketball and Finland? When I watch this team play and see the fans pour into arenas, I think anything is possible for any country when it comes to this sport.

There were 3,500 Finns in the jam-packed, 10,700 capacity Arena de Montpellier. More Finnish fans had wanted tickets to watch.

France, a team loaded with NBA players, built a 16-point lead but Henrik Dettmann's team battled back to force overtime, only to fall, 97-87.

Lithuania fans didn't have to travel far to watch their game play at the Arena Riga and they almost left disappointed.

Kyrylo Fesenko was dominant at times for Ukraine, slamming and jamming his way to 19 points but Lithuania edged the encounter, 69-68.

Even in Berlin, where Germany held off a determined Iceland, Serbia beat Spain and Turkey beat Italy, there were excellent games.

That Baltic rivalry that everyone has been looking forward to the past several months, the one between Lithuania and Latvia?

The trash talk has already begun.

Kaspars Berzins of Latvia, when asked going up against Lithuania's NBA star Jonas Valanciunas, answered: "The big reputation he has is from the past.

"We'll see what reputation he has after this tournament."

Many of the teams entered the EuroBasket dreaming of qualification for the Olympics.

The two teams that reach the Final will clinch places in the Rio de Janeiro Games and the teams that come in third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seven will be invited to FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

The best part of all is?

The tournament has only just started.

Sit back and enjoy, folks.

This tournament is already special.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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