Thursday, 31.08.2006	posted by Georges Eddy 07:37 pm
Category: FIBA World Championship

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LET THE SURPRISES AND GOOD GAMES BEGIN, PLEASE!

The quarterfinals were one big disappointment, the opposite of what we all expected.

All were onesided affairs lacking suspense(the essence of basketball).

The four undefeated teams logically went through to the semis which shows it's not so easy to shake up the hierarchy in our sport!

I was really sad about France's weak effort vs a vastly superior and experienced Greek squad which mastered tactics, tempo and collective brillance at both ends of the court.

France looked young and lost on offense in the image of a Boris Diaw too timid and not enough of a leader from the get-go and Mike Pietrus who was searching for his shot and his game the whole tournament.

France's passing game offense was more to Diaw's advantage but Mike should have been able to do more against Greece's man to man(at least this tournament proved that his brother, Florent, deserves a shot at the NBA).

The French big men(Petro was 0 for 5) who scored alot more than expected in the preceding games came up short except for Turiaf who should have played more! For once France's outside shooting wasn't the culprit but their free throw inefficiency and turnovers were.

The absence of Parker was really felt vs the Greek's steel(or steal) defense! Seattle's new recruit, Gelabale was France's best player in this game.

I'll never understand why France wasn't able to create the sufficient spacing to permit their athletes to drive off pick and rolls and create more danger.

The answer is Greece could sag in the key because they weren't too afraid of France's outside shooters.

Their genius is taking away the things you do well.

Team USA is warned because they have had an easy draw so far despite Germany's strong first half.

The total opposition of styles is going to be interesting and the USA will finally be tested, mark my word!

The other semifinal pitting Spain against Argentina should produce the best basketball of the tournament with two teams at the summit of their art, teamwork, and confidence!

If Calderon and Gasol have big games, then Spain will win. They want to play faster than the older and more experiencd Argentinians, whose collective genius is only rivaled by Greece.

Spain vs USA would give a more run and gun final while Spain vs Greece would prove the superiority of Europeean basketball on the international stage, but I'm sure Ginobili and his longtime buddies have another scenario in mind!