MUNICH (Germany) - The countdown is on, as FIBA EuroBasket 2025 tips off in less than 10 days.
The reason why we're all here again is because most of the rosters are taking shape, while the friendly games are being played all over the continent. That allows us to move the teams up or down in the Smart Power Rankings, again.
#1 Serbia (0)
Never in doubt. Serbia are easily the most dominant team of the preparation period, and it looks like Svetislav Pesic is about to have a hard time cutting the list down to 12 names.
Nikola Jovic - nope, not Jokic, not a typo - was unstoppable against Germany just the other day, knocking down four triples for 22 points, so yeah, deal with it, he's not a kid anymore, he's ready to dominate right now.
One more game left for Pesic's men, facing Slovenia in Belgrade on August 21.
#2 Germany (0)
Gonna take a lot more than just one defeat to Serbia for us to push the FIBA Basketball World Cup winners down this list.
A debate for you, though. Is this still a Dennis Schroder team? Or is it now a Franz Wagner team?
We have the answer, based on our first-hand experiences next to Dennis and Franz and the rest of the Mannschaft. Don't have to believe us, but we kinda know their answer would be something like:
We don't care whose team it is, it's not about the names on the back, it's about the big name on the front of the jersey.
#3 France (0)
Give us a second to explain why we haven't moved France up, despite their perfect record in both the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers and the friendly games played so far this summer, including home-and-away wins over the reigning FIBA EuroBasket champs Spain.
Firstly, it's because Serbia and Germany looked equally as good. Secondly, it's because of Vincent Poirier's injury, which makes us kinda worried about their frontcourt, as it's not just VP, it's also VW*, RG** and ML*** missing this event after dominating the Olympic summer a year ago.
A lot of size and quality to make up for.
*Victor Wembanyama **Rudy Gobert ***Mathias Lessort
#4 Lithuania (+5)
You better write it down - Lithuania are legit! We already told you this reminds us of their 2023 lineup which defeated the United States at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and their results this summer are showing they are ready to fight for a medal, again.
They haven't been on the podium since 2015. Latvia was hosting one of the groups then, too. Oh, and when they won it for the first time ever, back in 1937, you guessed it, Latvia was hosting, yep.
#5 Latvia (0)
Up-tempo basketball will be the main idea, there's zero doubts when it comes to that. Points total in their first three friendly games of the summer:
166 vs Italy
214 vs Lithuania
188 vs Slovenia
It's in their DNA now, they can't and won't stop running. Which is ironic, because their slow-motion videos look incredible on Instagram.
#6 Italy (+5)
Never again are we putting Italy out of the Top 10. These guys are 4-0 over the summer, winning all four games by double digits, in fact, defeating all of their opponents so easily, we can consider a 12-point win over Argentina as a close call.
It's Simone Fontecchio who is clearly the leader of the team, but guys like Saliou Niang, Gabriele Procida and Momo Diouf have impressed, too.
Just a friendly reminder - all of them are in their early 20s.
Gives you more context when you're assessing Italy's results at U20s (won it), U18s (finished third) and U16s (finished fourth) this summer.
#7 Türkiye (-3)
Gonna need to see a bit more from you if we're gonna keep you in the Top 5. Remember, we had them at #4 last time around, sparking debates about what's wrong with us.
Nothing's wrong, on paper they looked as good as anybody. On the court, they haven't exactly transcribed those words into points, losing to Germany and Lithuania, defeating Czechia so far.
With all the others storming through, Lithuania and Italy especially, there was no way we keep them so close to the top. It can all change though, especially if they ruin the perfect Lithuanian run in Vilnius on Wednesday.
#8 Greece (-2)
Let us be clear: once Giannis Antetokounmpo plays - and we hope it's going to be as soon as possible - you will not see a negative sign in those brackets next to Greece's name.
Without him in the lineup, though, it was impossible to have a clear picture, and their 2-2 friendlies record offered us no help at all.
But with Giannis, against Latvia, Italy and France next week? Yeah, next edition of the Smart Power Rankings will tell you if the Greeks belong in the Top 5 here.
#9 Finland (+1)
You know who'll be Giannis' biggest rival in the battle for the top scorer's honors? Lauri Markkanen.
Not much to add to this tweet, really.
#10 Slovenia (-3)
Down goes Luka, up go heart rates across Slovenia.
Actually across the world, if we're being honest. Luka Doncic suffered a knock to his leg in the last friendly game, so let's all collectively hold our breaths until he gets the green light from the medical team to go and light up the competition, again.
His injury is not the only concern for Slovenia, though, as they are yet to win a game this summer, 0-4 so far. That's why they lost three spots here.
#11 Spain (-3)
Never.
That's the answer when Spain were outside of the Top 10 in any Power Rankings in any competition in any sport in any edition.
But after back-to-back defeats to France and a number of notable absentees from the lineup, we just had to do it. Sorry. But we had to.
Potentially good news? Santi Aldama is looking better and he may be ready to return to the lineup. He'll get them back to Top 10. Right?
Right.
#12 Israel (0)
Gonna keep them at 12, just because they were about to lose a few spots after their double digit defeat to Estonia, and gain a few with a double digit win over Greece.
Deni Avdija and Roman Sorkin scored 16 apiece in that win over Greece, proving that the frontcourt could be Israel's strength this time around, after years and years of their guards and shooters leading the way on and off the court.
#13 Estonia (+3)
Run.
That's what works for you, Estonia. Keep running and shooting, and if you get a game in the 80s or 90s, you're probably winning, just like you did against Israel earlier this month (93-81).
Two more games before tip-off in Group A for Estonia, but the problem is it's against Sweden and Great Britain, so not at all the kind of profiles Estonia will see in Riga, Latvia.
However, a good chance to try and run again, because running could get the job done against Serbia or Türkiye or Latvia or Portugal or Czechia or all of them when the main event starts.
#14 Montenegro (+4)
Around the time we were wiping our tears because Nikola Vucevic is set to retire from the national team, Montenegro gave us a few clues as to what's coming up this summer for them.
They can hold big named opponents to low scoring affairs, holding Greece to just 69 points, or playing a close one against France.
They can also score in bunches when it's their day, scorching BIH with 102 points in Sarajevo nine days ago. Now it's a matter of putting those two together, that physical defense with that scoring.
The sole potential of that happening sees us moving you up by four spots.
#15 Poland (-1)
And the winner of the Most Confounding Team of the Summer award* - Poland!
You think they are good? No, no, don't do that, it's like a curse, and they end up losing a superstar like Jeremy Sochan to an injury.
You think they'll fall apart? No, no, don't do that, either. Because they come back and play highly competitive basketball, ending up with a pair of wins in completely different games against Sweden and Georgia.
Again, a reminder they were in the Semi-Finals three years ago. Which is what makes them all the more confounding, too.
*Not an actual award.
#16 Georgia (-1)
Desert in philosophy is the condition of being deserving of something, whether good or bad. Good deeds will be rewarded, evil deeds punished, as simple as that.
It's usually expressed in formulations: Thing X deserves Y in virtue of Z, according to Wikipedia, so Georgia (X) deserve to lose a spot in the Power Rankings (Y) because they lost all four games this summer (Z).
See, this is how deep the Power Rankings go. A bit of sports, geography, general trivia, and now, philosophy.
#17 Portugal (+4)
You know how much we talked about the big men from Group A? Well, Portugal seem ready for all the physicality, because Neemias Queta has got a high flying partner in Candido Sa.
They have been one of the feel-good topics of the summer, defeating Spain in Malaga, then getting back-to-back wins over Iceland and Sweden in Braga.
This could be the Cinderella story everybody loves so much.
#18 Bosnia and Herzegovina (-5)
Never a dull moment with BIH. They looked down and out, allowing 126 points against Serbia and 102 against Montenegro, with Dzanan Musa suffering an injury that leaves him questionable ahead of the main event.
And just as we were getting ready to push them down to the 20s here, they come back and win two straight against Great Britain (+30, too) and Belgium.
So while we are still bumping them down, take notice, because even if they aren't through to the Round of 16, they'll still be a fun team to follow when competition tips off in Cyprus.
#19 Belgium (-2)
Gonna be a long summer, huh?
Belgium are 1-4, including a -43 blowout against Finland, and a -13 defeat to these guys just above them in the Power Rankings.
It's not looking good right now, but they still have a pair of games against BIH to show us something more than this.
#20 Czechia (0)
Make no mistake about it, Czechia can be a dangerous team due to their core's longevity. They can be a dangerous team because they've got that man named Tomas Satoransky.
They can be a dangerous team because just four years ago, they were a contender for the Quarter-Finals of the Olympics in Japan.
But while they can be a dangerous team, they aren't one right now. No wins across four games this summer.
#21 Sweden (+1)
You probably expected them a bit higher in the Power Rankings after they had defeated Poland in Poland to start the camp.
But you know the +1 here is very generous because they actually dropped three straight to Poland, Iceland and Portugal. Oh, Portugal -17, too.
The last time they won a FIBA EuroBasket game was back in 2013, so repeating that kind of result should be the starting point for Sweden.
#22 Iceland (+1)
Cry us a river, but we can't move Iceland higher than #22, sorry. They did pick up one win so far this summer, but they lost three games, too.
They get one spot up because we see them competing and not giving up, as two of those defeats were by 2 and 4 points, respectively.
When they turn those kind of defeats into wins, the crying can stop and we'll move them up to Top 20.
#23 Great Britain (-2)
Thank their 30-point defeat to BIH for the -2 you see in brackets up here.
Team GB is struggling, no wins in three games so far, even though they were hanging on against France earlier this month. No wins? Not a lot to talk about here, then.
#24 Cyprus (0)
You saw us say we'll move Cyprus up if they pick up a win or two in the last Power Rankings.
That has not happened, not even close, 109-69 to Israel and 122-57 to Serbia. They've got a mountain to climb, but with defeats like those, it's impossible to move them out of the last spot.
Note:The Power Rankings are entirely subjective and is in no way a true, accurate ranking system. All comments are purely those of the author.