It may not have been a final that many people predicted in the build-up to the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket tournament but even with that in mind, there was a shock win. Slovenia have been crowned the Champions of Europe for the first time in their history and they were very much deserved winners on Sunday... Continue Reading »
FIBA EuroBasket 2017
The main basketball competition for national sides in Europe is the FIBA EuroBasket tournament and the 2017 edition was a very special tournament. This event saw the format of the tournament, changing from a two-year cycle to a four-year cycle. This means the winners of this specific years’ event will hold the title until 2021, at least. The 2017 FIBA EuroBasket tournament was also set to be a special occasion because it was the 40th edition of the tournament.
The 2017 EuroBasket tournament started on the 31st of August and the final game was played on the 17th of September.
Like the 2015 tournament, the 2017 EuroBasket event took place in four countries. The host nations for the 2017 tournament were Turkey, Israel, Finland, and Romania. The tournament saw four group stages, with six teams that took part in a group, and then a knock-out stage. The knockout stage of the tournament was held in Istanbul, in Turkey. The Sinan Erdem Dome played host to the knockout stage and given this venue was the host of the 2017 Euroleague Final Four back in May, it has been an illustrious year for this popular Turkish venue.
Slovenia Take EuroBasket 2017 Crown
Spain Take Bronze At 2017 EuroBasket
With Spain falling short in the semi-final against Slovenia, who would eventually go on to take the title, this could have been a game that the Spaniards just wanted over and done with. Mind you, with Russia also involved in the third and fourth game for the Bronze medal, this would have been the Sunday... Continue Reading »
The 2017 EuroBasket Tournament
The teams involved with the 2017 EuroBasket were:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Poland |  |
Ukraine |  |
Croatia |  |
Great Britain |
 |
Greece |  |
Israel |  |
Czech Republic |  |
Russia |
 |
France |  |
Lithuania |  |
Spain |  |
Serbia |
 |
Finland |  |
Georgia |  |
Montenegro |  |
Latvia |
 |
Iceland |  |
Italy |  |
Romania |  |
Turkey |
 |
Slovenia |  |
Germany |  |
Hungary |  |
Belgium |
FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Results
Group A – Head to Head
- Slovenia vs. Poland 90-81
- Iceland vs. Greece 61-90
- France vs. Finland 84-86
- Poland vs. Iceland 91-61
- Greece vs. France 87-95
- Finland vs. Slovenia 78-81
- France vs. Iceland 115-79
- Slovenia vs. Greece 78-72
- Finland vs. Poland 90-87
- Iceland vs. Slovenia 75-102
- Poland vs. France 75-78
- Greece vs. Finland 77-89
- Slovenia vs. France 95-78
- Greece vs. Poland 95-77
- Finland vs. Iceland 83-79
Group B – Head to Head
- Germany vs. Ukraine 75-63
- Lithuania vs. Georgia 77-79
- Italy vs. Israel 69-48
- Georgia vs. Germany 57-67
- Ukraine vs. Italy 66-78
- Israel vs. Lithuania 73-88
- Georgia vs. Ukraine 81-88
- Lithuania vs. Italy 78-73
- Germany vs. Israel 80-82
- Ukraine vs. Lithuania 62-94
- Italy vs. Germany 55-61
- Israel vs. Georgia 91-104
- Germany vs. Lithuania 72-89
- Georgia vs. Italy 69-71
- Israel vs. Ukraine 64-88
Group B – Head to Head
- Hungary vs. Croatia 58-67
- Spain vs. Montenegro 99-60
- Romania vs. Czech Rep. 68-83
- Montenegro vs. Hungary 72-48
- Czech Rep. vs. Spain 56-93
- Croatia vs. Romania 74-58
- Hungary vs. Czech Rep. 85-73
- Montenegro vs. Croatia 72-76
- Spain vs. Romania 91-50
- Czech Rep. vs. Montenegro 75-88
- Croatia vs. Spain 73-79
- Romania vs. Hungary 71-80
- Czech Rep. vs. Croatia 69-107
- Hungary vs. Spain 64-87
- Montenegro vs. Romania 86-69
Group D – Head to Head
- Belgium vs. Great Britain 103-90
- Serbia vs. Latvia 92-82
- Turkey vs. Russia 73-76
- Latvia vs. Belgium 92-64
- Russia vs. Serbia 75-72
- Great Britain vs. Turkey 70-84
- Latvia vs. Great Britain 97-92
- Belgium vs. Russia 67-76
- Serbia vs. Turkey 80-74
- Russia vs. Latvia 69-84
- Great Britain vs. Serbia 68-82
- Turkey vs. Belgium 78-65
- Russia vs. Great Britain 82-70
- Belgium vs. Serbia 54-74
- Latvia vs. Turkey 89-79
Round of 16 Results
The pairings for the Round of 16 were determined with the fixtures set to run as follows:
- Game 1) Runner up in Group B vs. Third place in Group A
- Game 2) Winner of Group C vs. Fourth place in Group D
- Game 3) Winner of Group A vs. Fourth place in Group B
- Game 4) Runner up in Group D vs. Third place in Group C
- Game 5) Winner of Group B vs. Fourth place in Group A
- Game 6) Runner up in Group C vs. Third place in Group D
- Game 7) Runner up in Group A vs. Third place in Group B
- Game 8) Winner of Group D vs. Fourth place in Group C
Saturday 9 September 2017
- Germany vs. France 84-61
- Slovenia vs. Ukraine 79-55
- Lithuania vs. Greece 64-77
- Finland vs. Italy 57-70
Sunday 10 September 2017
- Spain vs. Turkey 73-56
- Latvia vs. Montenegro 100-68
- Croatia vs. Russia 78-101
- Serbia vs. Hungary 86-78
Quarter Finals
The tournament was scheduled so teams could work out their path to their final if they were confident of progressing. The Round of 8 took place on the 12th and 13th of September and featured:
- Game A) Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
- Game B) Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
- Game C) Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6
- Game D) Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8
Tuesday 12 September 2017
- Germany vs. Spain 72-84
- Slovenia vs. Latvia 103-97
Wednesday 13 September 2017
- Greece vs. Russia 69-74
- Italy vs. Serbia 67-83
Semi Finals
The semi-final matches took place on the 14th and 15th of September with the games being as follows:
- Winner of Game A vs. Winner of Game B
- Winner of Game C vs. Winner of Game D
Tuesday 14 September 2017
- Spain vs. Slovenia 72-92
Wednesday 15 September 2017
- Russia vs. Serbia 79-87
Third Place and Final
On the 17th of September, the two teams who won their semifinal competed in the Championship game while the two losing semi-finalists participated in the Bronze medal match.
Sunday 17 September 2017
- Spain vs. Russia 93-85
Sunday 17 September 2017
- Slovenia vs. Serbia 93-85
Best Teams in EuroBasket History
The history of the tournament sees the top two spots held by nations who no longer exist. With 14 Gold medals, 3 Silver medals and 4 bronze medals, the Soviet Union is the most successful participant of the EuroBasket tournament. In second place is Yugoslavia, with a total of 8 Gold medals, 5 Silver medals and 4 bronze medals.
In third place are the reigning champions, Spain, and they have a total of 3 Gold Medals, 6 Silver medals, and 3 Bronze medals. Lithuania have also won the tournament three times but they can only call on 3 Silver medals and 1 bronze medal.
While this year starts a new cycle for the EuroBasket event, there have been a number of changes to the EuroBasket tournament over the years. While the current format sees 24 teams taking place, the event used to feature 16 teams, with the change taking place in 2011. You can read more about this at the end of this page.
FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Trophy
The format of the tournament is a simple one, with the 24 teams being split into four different groups. The 2017 EuroBasket tournament saw the top 4 teams from each group progressing to the knockout stage, which means the bottom two teams of each group were eliminated.
- Group A which will be played in Finland
- Group B which will be played in Israel
- Group C which will be played in Romania
- Group D which will be played in Turkey
With the next FIBA EuroBasket tournament not taking place until 2022, since it got postponed because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, there was an added incentive for players taking part in this event. Knowing that they would automatically hold the title for 4 years is something that every player was looking for. It is not as though any team or player should needed an added incentive going into a tournament like the FIBA EuroBasket event but knowing their reign would be a longer one was giving players something else to play for.
Starting out though, the focus was on the group games making sure they would rank as strongly as possible to get their best possible draws, and hopefully route to the final, in Istanbul.