Home court: Can EuroBasket hosts end 32-year title drought?

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RIGA (Latvia) - The quartet of Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Poland are tipping off FIBA EuroBasket 2025 thrilled to welcome the continent to their respective countries and hopeful to match Germany's success from 1993 of winning the title as a host nation.

Symbolically, Germany are also the last nation to reach the podium as hosts, when they finished third at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 in Berlin.

Of the four host nations, Latvia are the only country to actually have hoisted the trophy - winning the first ever EuroBasket in 1935. They hosted the event in 1937 and then waited 78 years for their next opportunity when they were one of four co-hosts in 2015.

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"If we're playing somewhere else, it's not gonna give us the same juice."

Europe is back in Riga a decade later.

"I like being in a situation with some pressure. There is more on the line. If we're playing somewhere else, it's not gonna give us the same juice," said Latvian star Kristaps Porzingis, who just missed playing in 2015 as he made his senior national team debut in 2017.

"You leave everything out there. And there's no place better to do it than at home."

Finland was sole host nation in 1967 and then was one of four co-hosts in 2017. The Susijengi star Lauri Markkanen was already a leader for the team eight summers ago, and he is ready to thrill the home fans again.

"It's a honor. Just to play in a competition like EuroBasket in front of your home fans and friends is very special. This is the second time as well, so it's really cool and I don't think many people can really claim that they have done this," said Markkanen, who averaged 19.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in 2017 as a 20-year-old.

Poland star Mateusz Ponitka remembers well the last time his country hosted the EuroBasket - back in 2009.

"It's really an amazing feeling, because the last EuroBasket was in 2009 in Poland, and I was in the stands," said Ponitka, who was 16 years old then. "When you're a kid, especially from a not-so-advanced basketball country, your dream is to play in your home, with your fans, in a situation where you can all team up against opponents on the basketball court."

EuroBasket 1963 also also took place in Poland.

For Cyprus, who are not only hosting the event for the first time but also making their EuroBasket debut, the success of the tournament won't be judged on their on-court success. In many ways, the long-term impact of hosting Europe's biggest basketball event could be much more important than that.

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"Just to be able to inspire one young kid coming from a small town like Limassol is a dream come true."

"There's definitely been more excitement and a lot more people are paying attention to the sport of basketball lately. And it's been great," Cyprus co-captain Simon Michail said.

Filippos Tigkas is one of Cyprus basketball's biggest future hopefuls at 22 years of age. And the point guard knows many youngsters in Limassol will be watching him at EuroBasket.

"Just to be able to inspire one young kid coming from a small town like Limassol is a dream come true. There's nothing else better," he said. "You dream of growing up being able to inspire. It's something we're really blessed to do."

This is the fourth straight EuroBasket with four co-hosts, and one of the host nations have reached the podium twice in the previous three events - France taking third in 2015 and Germany third in 2022.

Those two medals are actually the only ones any of the host nations have captured in the last six EuroBaskets dating back to 2009. The current dry spell follows an 11-event run between 1987 and 2007 in which the hosts won the title three times, three times finished second and twice took fourth place.

All told, the hosts have nine times ended up hoisting the trophy - the most recent one coming in Germany in 1993. Eight times the hosts grabbed second place and four times did they finish in third place.

How did host nations fare in past EuroBasket tournaments?

FIBA