PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - For me personally, the biggest surprise in 2014 was France's win over Spain in the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup without Tony Parker. Spain dominated the first round while beating France easily which created some overconfidence.

Running into France's buzzsaw defense and some true resistance for the first time in the tournament, Spain cracked, as Vincent Collet coached the game of his life.

Marc Gasol's wife had a baby at just the right time for France!

Serbia making it to the Final was equally surprising and will probably help Milos Teodosic get elected European player of the year ahead of Boris Diaw who captained France to a third-place finish in Madrid, the country's best-ever result in FIBA's flagship event.

The San Antonio Spurs becoming NBA champions for the first time since 2007 was also amazing because of their aging roster and trio of stars but the team found some new blood and a future franchise player in Finals' MVP Kahwi Leonard. 

Seeing Parker and Diaw lift the trophy 10 months after having won the EuroBasket for the first time was glorious. 

The Spurs cruised through their opponents all season long with their international style and teamwork before getting revenge on the favorites, the Miami Heat, after their heartbreaking loss to them in the 2013 NBA Finals.

This was by far the sweetest title for Gregg Popovich and his players after such a long hiatus.

Miami's loss was Cleveland's gain as LeBron James surprisingly decided to return home to Ohio after two titles and four straight Finals' with the Heat.

In today's NBA, any team that signs James automatically becomes a contender because his overall brillance is simply unmatched.

Many people were also shocked when the Cavs announced that their new coach would be David Blatt, a great coach in Europe, but with no NBA experience at all!

This is an historical event as was the nomination of Ettore Messina as top assistant to Popovich. Euro coaches are finally getting some respect in the NBA's often closed circle and this is without doubt just the beginning. Look at how many international players are in the league today compared to 15 years ago!

David Blatt also played a big role in another colossal surprise by winning the Euroleague with Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Milan.

Maccabi was both lucky and good when eliminating Moscow in the semi-final before shocking the favorites, the Real Madrid, in an extraordinary final. Tyrese Rice sort of came out of nowhere to play the best basketball of his life in his two most important games! He was logically voted the MVP of the Euroleague Final Four.

I'll finish my personal list of 2014 surprises with the return of the CSP Limoges club to the summit of the French first division, 14 long years after their last title.

I cover the French league on a weekly basis for French TV and Limoges' incredible comeback from financial difficulties and a purgatory in third division a few years back is stupefying. Frederic Forte, the man who stole the ball from Toni Kukoc to help Limoges win the Euroleague in 1993,  is also the man who took over as President of the club during its darkest hours before leading them back to the title!

Limoges is a throwback, small town team from another era but they fill a 6,000 seat arena for every game and their faithful public has given them the means and support to return to the Euroleague this season.

So there you go, now we can all wonder what will be the big surprises in 2015? Happy Holidays, everyone!

George Eddy

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.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.