Euro Basketball Championships Preview
Throughout this decade if one were to talk about Greece and sports, they would most likely discuss their Cinderella run to the top of the soccer world by winning the Euro Cup in 2004, or the amazing show they put on for the world in the 2004 Summer Olympics (2004 was a Good year). What may slip peoples mind is that in this decade Greece had very successful basketball runs, both internationally and in the EuroLeague, and with the EuroBasket being the last major international competition for Greece this decade, they are poised for a strong showing.
The Past three showings at the Eurobasket have been great for Greece, in 2003 they finished 5th (Losing to eventual 3rd place Italy), in 2005 where they won it all in Serbia – Montenegro, and 2007 finishing 4th (Losing to European powerhouse Spain, winners that year), 2009 should be a great showing for the team as they have their starters back from the last tournament and added two young intriguing players, Kosta Koufos (Back – up centre for the Utah Jazz) and Giorgios Printezis (Toronto Raptors prospect). Throw all of this in together and Greece will be a force to be reckoned with at this tournament.
This year, Greece has Macedonia , Croatia, and Israel in their group. The games against Israel and Macedonia are very winnable games, provided that the Greeks play their gritty, hard nosed game against them. The most important game is against Croatia, who just came off winning the Gold Medal in the Mediterranean cup in late June, they will pose the toughest test for Greece getting into the 2nd Round.
All in all, Greece has once again brought a talented team into the Eurobasket and will likely make some head turns, and hopefully win a medal in order to make it one of Greece’s most successful decades not only in Basketball, but in sports in general.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Fresh change.
Alright, so my former blog oneloveoneeye fell off the grid, I lost interest in just posting random videos. However I did enjoy venting a bit on this site about the state of Toronto sports.
Lets get this straight, I've been following sports since I was about 3, every day since 1993 I've been watching Sportscentre, Score Tonight or some variation of news show would would give me my sports highlights for the day. I've been with the Leafs through thick and thin, and I've been a fan of them for almost 16 years now. The Raptors, however I really became hardcore about them when I started to work at the Air Canada Centre in 2006, the beginning of the Colangelo (Savior) era. The jays, unfortunatley I've been following them since the year AFTER they beat the Phillies in the '93 series, so I haven't had a great go with my taste of Toronto sports so far.
This past 08-09 Campaign for each of the Toronto franchises were filled with different levels of expectations, The Raptors were expected to be a 50 win team with the Bosh/O'neal twin headed monster, that didn't end up too too well, as J.O is in Miami. The Leafs were expected to be a bottom dweller and be a part of the John Taveras sweepstakes, that also didn't go to favorably in our favor, as we ended up with the 7th overall pick and drafted Nazem Kadri, a team mate of Taveras. The Jays, were supposed to be down right awful, but they started off the season on a tear, and had the best record in the American League, now they're 4th and under .500 and now are pretty much ready to blow it up.
This, however does not phase me, now don't get me wrong, I don't think that the Raptors/Leafs/ will compete for championships next season, and I sure as hell don't think the Jays are either. I do remain optimistic though!
The Leafs made some great changes, and altered the whole way they are going to approach their games over the course of the 2009-2010 season, they're going to be a tough team, something similar to the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks, a team that what lacks in talent, will make up for in heart and grit. Granted, I still think they need someone to score their goals, but it sure will be great to see them enforcing rather than being pushed around by opposing teams.
The Raptors, well more Bryan Colangelo shell shocked me this off season by turning Shawn Marion, Kris Humpheries, Nate Jawai into Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, Marco Bellinelli, Jarret Jack, and of course my favorite, Rasho Nesterovic. This team went from no depth whatsoever, to having one of the best benches, and arguably starting lineups in the NBA (aside from the Big 4 of Cavs, Lakers, Magic, Spurs).
EDIT!: I neglected to mention the Celtics in my rant (Please don't kill me Mr. Garnett). They are part of the Big 5!
We can't win them all though, the Blue Jays also shocked me this season by not trading Halladay (I didn't want him gone, but they really have nowhere to go but down) and giving away Rios for absolutley nothing. I can't really stay optimistic for them, but its really tough for them considering they're in the toughest division in baseball with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays all who are top 10 teams in the league in my opinion.
So, that ends it. I'm back. consider this my fresh start!
Check out my friend Matthew's blog at http://the3rdpage.blogspot.com
Catch ya later!
Lets get this straight, I've been following sports since I was about 3, every day since 1993 I've been watching Sportscentre, Score Tonight or some variation of news show would would give me my sports highlights for the day. I've been with the Leafs through thick and thin, and I've been a fan of them for almost 16 years now. The Raptors, however I really became hardcore about them when I started to work at the Air Canada Centre in 2006, the beginning of the Colangelo (Savior) era. The jays, unfortunatley I've been following them since the year AFTER they beat the Phillies in the '93 series, so I haven't had a great go with my taste of Toronto sports so far.
This past 08-09 Campaign for each of the Toronto franchises were filled with different levels of expectations, The Raptors were expected to be a 50 win team with the Bosh/O'neal twin headed monster, that didn't end up too too well, as J.O is in Miami. The Leafs were expected to be a bottom dweller and be a part of the John Taveras sweepstakes, that also didn't go to favorably in our favor, as we ended up with the 7th overall pick and drafted Nazem Kadri, a team mate of Taveras. The Jays, were supposed to be down right awful, but they started off the season on a tear, and had the best record in the American League, now they're 4th and under .500 and now are pretty much ready to blow it up.
This, however does not phase me, now don't get me wrong, I don't think that the Raptors/Leafs/ will compete for championships next season, and I sure as hell don't think the Jays are either. I do remain optimistic though!
The Leafs made some great changes, and altered the whole way they are going to approach their games over the course of the 2009-2010 season, they're going to be a tough team, something similar to the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks, a team that what lacks in talent, will make up for in heart and grit. Granted, I still think they need someone to score their goals, but it sure will be great to see them enforcing rather than being pushed around by opposing teams.
The Raptors, well more Bryan Colangelo shell shocked me this off season by turning Shawn Marion, Kris Humpheries, Nate Jawai into Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, Marco Bellinelli, Jarret Jack, and of course my favorite, Rasho Nesterovic. This team went from no depth whatsoever, to having one of the best benches, and arguably starting lineups in the NBA (aside from the Big 4 of Cavs, Lakers, Magic, Spurs).
EDIT!: I neglected to mention the Celtics in my rant (Please don't kill me Mr. Garnett). They are part of the Big 5!
We can't win them all though, the Blue Jays also shocked me this season by not trading Halladay (I didn't want him gone, but they really have nowhere to go but down) and giving away Rios for absolutley nothing. I can't really stay optimistic for them, but its really tough for them considering they're in the toughest division in baseball with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays all who are top 10 teams in the league in my opinion.
So, that ends it. I'm back. consider this my fresh start!
Check out my friend Matthew's blog at http://the3rdpage.blogspot.com
Catch ya later!
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