EuroBasket new format equals big pressure

PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - Two weeks ago, I wrote that France and Spain were my favorites to make it to the Final in what might turn out to be one of the best editions of EuroBasket ever.

With Marc Gasol deciding to sit out this summer, the cards have been reshuffled a bit but Spain remain a favorite.

I really like the new format of the competition which resembles last summer's FIBA Basketball World Cup and will be one week shorter than EuroBasket 2013 which, everyone agreed, was too long because of the drawn-out Second Round.

Now, with a Round of 16 of cutthroat elimination games just after the First Round, things won't drag on and we will get to the heart of the competition much quicker.

This was a good decision but it puts incredible pressure on all the ambitious nations in the Round of 16. You win and you open the doors to a chance at one of the six Olympic spots - two direct qualification places for the finalists and four spots in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for teams finishing between third and sixth place.

You lose in the Round of 16 and it's goodbye Rio 2016!

I see Groups B and C as being much stronger than Groups A and D and I would not be surprised to see three teams from both Groups B and C go through to the Quarter-Finals.

The defending champs France, for example, should finish first in Group A without too much stress but when they cross paths with Group B in the Round of 16, the French will have to win that elimination game against a very strong nation like Germany with Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Schroder, Italy with four NBA players around their leader Marco Belinelli or Turkey.

Serbia and Spain are in a very strong position to make it to the Quarters - or better - out of a Group B, where all the teams will leave the first round battle-hardened and ready for the knockout round, which is a real advantage!

Like France in Group A, Lithuania seems like a lock to finish first from Group D.

In Group C, Croatia will be fielding a very strong squad around Bojan Bogdanovic for new head coach Velamir Perasovic who has had an amazing career as both a player and coach. Will he be this summer's Aleksandar Djordjevic, Serbia's young boss who was the coaching revelation at the World Cup in Spain?

Behind Croatia, I see Greece, Slovenia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) with good chances of making the quarter-finals from Group C. The key for those three countries is to avoid Lithuania in the Round of 16!

Picking favorites and anticipating match-ups is tricky business at a EuroBasket as MKD proved in 2011 and Ukraine in 2013. Who will be the surprise country this time? Finland, the Czech Republic or Bosnia and Herzegovina look like good candidates but they are not alone!

Contrary to the World Cup format, at EuroBasket 2015, starting in the Quarters, both sides of the bracket will cross paths which is more legitimate from an egalitarian standpoint.

The intense interest for all the elimination games during the second week in front of 27,000 fans in Lille should be something to remember - almost like organizing an NCAA Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four in the same city and stadium during one glorious week!

The recent numbers of ticket sales prove that this will be a tournament for the ages.

See you there in 46 days!

George Eddy

FIBA

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