"At the European Championships, no game is easy."
After Slovenia's 93-97 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenian player Chanchar, who played for the Nuggets in the NBA team, made this statement.
If you pay attention to last night's event, you will recognize Qianchar's expression.
If Digo chooses to be a "headline party", I may use words like "shock" and "big upset". But after more knowledge and understanding of the level of European basketball, we will all find: "This, really normal!" ”
Let's take a look at the results of these games:
With Varan and Sasa, Lithuania, ranked 8th in the world, lost to 11th-placed Germany in double overtime. At this year's European Championships, Lithuania has a hard-to-find victory and is currently losing three consecutive games.
The 2nd team is close to the world ranking, and Germany also has NBA players Schroder, Theis, and Wagner Jr., so the strength of the two sides is close, and the victory or defeat is unpredictable.
The most surprising thing is that Spain, ranked No. 2 in the world, "flipped" and lost to Belgium. If it's a football World Cup and Spain loses to Belgium, I'm sure everyone can understand.
However, this is the men's basketball European Championship. Perhaps, with a mocking or doubtful tone, you will ask, "Belgians still play basketball?" "What's going on here, so powerful?" ”
In terms of popularity and influence in the world, their football is indeed stronger.
In the latest edition of the World Rankings, the Belgian men's basketball team ranked 37th. What about the Chinese men's basketball team? 29th. Can the current Chinese men's basketball team beat Spain? I don't believe it.
So the point that has always been emphasized is that FIBA's world rankings are "deceptive". Ranking by the points of a time period is highly deceptive and inaccurate.
Particularly manifested in the artificially high rankings of Asian teams. The reason is very simple, the Chinese men's basketball team is difficult to meet with Belgium, Hungary and other teams, they have lost in Europe before, so the ranking is low and normal.
However, it does not mean that people are not competitive. And this time the defeat of Spain is proof of this.
Yes, the decline of the Matadors is a fact, they no longer have the dominance of the Gasol brothers, Navarro, Rubio in that era, and Rudifernandes is still in the squad, but he is 37 years old.
At the moment, the core of Spain is the Hernangomez brothers.
While the world runners-up are regressing, Europe as a whole is on the rise.
So, the defending Champions Slovenia lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Doncic suffered the first defeat at the European Championships. The 77's outside performance of 16+8+8, especially 8-in-0, once again shows that it is not bragging: it is indeed easier to score in the NBA than in Europe.
Slovenia is the world's no. 5 strong team, while Bosnia and Herzegovina is no. 46.
But is this a blast? No.
Another strong team, Turkey (16th in the world), also overturned, losing 83-88 to Georgia (world 36).
World No. 4 France, stumbling, defeated the recognized weak team Hungary (world no. 43) 78-74, barely managing to save the dignity of the strong team on this special night.
Yesterday, there were 5 games in total, and 4 of them were "below the gram" in the ranking.
Group A: Spain, Montenegro, Turkey, Georgia, Belgium, Bulgaria.
Group B: France, Lithuania, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Group C: Greece, Italy, Croatia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Estonia.
Group D: Serbia, Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, Israel, Netherlands.
The above is the grouping of this European Championship, the first 4 of the group, make a hypothesis:
Putting the Chinese men's basketball team in any group, can we win even one game?
At least, I'm pessimistic.
The overall level of the European Championships and the fierceness of the competition are higher than the World Cup.
After yesterday's game, I have a new understanding of the phrase "no weak brigade in Europe". In addition to the basic skills, technical and tactical awareness that has been emphasized before, there is also a very important point:
You can't simply look at European games with the popularity of a player.
Sabonis Jr., an All-Star, the NBA averages close to the all-around interior line of 20+5+5 per game, with tens of millions of annual income. But in the European Championship 3 games, the scoring data is: 10/6/13, the effect presented on the field is very poor, I don't know the Kings coach "bread" on the sidelines, there is no return idea ...
On the contrary, Hai Dazuo, who did not play in the NBA, can play with the letters. For example, in the Belgian men's basketball team, there are no NBA players, you can't call their names, but you can do Spain.
The NBA and FIBA are two different things.
In addition, the fact that many European players are not playing in the NBA does not mean that they do not have that strength or level. In addition to opportunities, it also depends on individual choices.
Money is more troublesome and less close to home can still be the boss, why should people play the NBA?
The NBA is the highest level of professional league in the world, which must be acknowledged. However, the style of play in Europe is closer to FIBA.
Therefore, the boss said very predictably: "The United States, don't think it is stable." ”
And after witnessing the strength of European basketball, Digo also wants to say:
The Chinese men's basketball team is really not the 29th in the world...