Two teams that go for it

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - We're counting the days, hours and minutes until the EuroBasket tips off in Slovenia.

The battles commence on 4 September and I can't wait to see how a couple of the national sides in the 24-team tournament, a qualifying event for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, are going to fare.

They are Finland, and The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia (MKD).

I like these teams because they embrace the spirit of competition.

They like to jump into the ring with any team, no matter how good, and slug it out, come what may.

These are two cerebral national sides, both on the coaching staff and the players.

The preparations are meticulous.

Game-plans are drawn up.

Everyone has to be on the same page for things to work.

Finland, after making it to EuroBasket 2011 the hard way, via the Additional Qualifying Round, arrived in Lithuania and advanced from the opening round ahead of more celebrated teams like Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

MKD emerged from the same First Round Group and made it to the very last day of the competition.

Their story was so remarkable that we still shake our heads and wonder if it really happened.

Did MKD really upset Lithuania, the tournament hosts, in the Quarter-Finals?

Did Vlado Ilievski bury a go-ahead three-pointer with 11 seconds left?

Yes they did and yes he did.

Ilievski's shot was the mother of all daggers.

Chaos ensued after Lithuania rebounded a miss by MKD.

Lithuania's Darius Songaila attempted to make a pass to teammate Sarunas Jasikevicius but the ball ended up in the hands of MKD’s Bo McCalebb.

The naturalized guard from America dribbled around before seeing a wide-open MKD playmaker Vlado Ilievski alone beyond the arc.

Ilievski caught McCalebb’s pass, stepped up and made the biggest shot in MKD history, the three-pointer to give MKD a 66-65 lead.

Lithuania then missed at the other end and fouled Ilievski, who sank one of two free-throws for the two-point win.

The 67-65 triumph so captivated fans back home that most of them – men, women and children - poured into the streets of Skopje to celebrate.

MKD, after falling to eventual champions Spain in the Semi-Finals, missed a chance to send their Third-Place Game against Russia to overtime when Damjan Stojanovski was off target with an easy shot under the basket with seven seconds remaining.

The magic was missing last summer for MKD at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Caracas, Venezuela.

The team had the same players, including the electric McCalebb, yet MKD looked tired and bowed out of the OQT after a listless display against the Dominican Republic in their first knock-out game.

Yet all signs suggest the magic is back for this summer.

Earlier this year, it was feared Pero Antic and Ilievski might retire from the national team.

But MKD have both in the fold.

Antic, having won back-to-back Euroleague titles with Olympiacos, will arrive in Slovenia after signing a contract with the Atlanta Hawks.

Todor Gechevski has also decided to come out of retirement to play and why not?

He loves the national team and wants to do his part in making sure MKD have another special summer.

MKD impressed at times in two friendlies against Spain this week.

I think they're going to be good in Slovenia.

Ditto for Finland.

They have a 'Let's take on the world' mentality that was evident this week when they traveled to Vilnius to face Lithuania in a EuroBasket warm-up.

In 2008 and 2010, the teams met in friendlies and Lithuania laid the wood to the Finns, winning by 32 and 28 points.

Before the two sides clashed on Wednesday, Dettmann explained why he craved the opportunity to play in Vilnius.

"Lithuania has for some time been our yardstick," he said.

"It will be interesting to see if we have been able to catch up with them in recent years, to close the gap."

The Lithuanians like to play an up-tempo, aggressive game and so do the Finns.

The difference between the two is that Lithuania have had a much deeper talent pool over the years and basketball is the number one sport in the country.

Finland’s effort on Wednesday was encouraging.

Had Petteri Koponen made a three-pointer at the end, the Finns would have won but he only drew iron and Lithuania prevailed, 78-76.

One of Lithuania's most famous players, Linas Kleiza, was impressed.

"Finland have a very interesting team," he said.

The Finns put the disappointment behind them and beat the Czech Republic on Thursday, 98-89.

They will face Greece, Russia, Italy, Turkey and Sweden in Group D in one of the toughest pools.

MKD, meanwhile, are in the other extremely demanding pool, Group B.

They will take on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Latvia and Lithuania.

These teams may be not be the favorites on paper, with MKD No. 34 in the FIBA Ranking Men and Finland No. 48, but they'll go for it.

It's going to be fun to watch.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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