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EuroBasket 2011

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EuroBasket 2011
Tournament details
Host countryLithuania
Dates31 August – 18 September
Teams24
Venue(s)6 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Spain (2nd title)
Runners-up France
Third place Russia
Fourth place North Macedonia
Tournament statistics
Games played90
MVPSpain Juan Carlos Navarro[1]
Top scorerFrance Tony Parker
(22.1 points per game)
← 2009
2013 ⊟

EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 championship. FIBA Europe asserted that Lithuania managed to organize the best European championship in its history.[2] The top two teams are guaranteed spots at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

EuroBasket 2011 was the largest sporting event in the history of the Baltic states, both in terms of the number of national teams (24), games (90), and that of spectators (158,000 tickets sold, with most tickets valid for three separate games.)[3]

Spain won the title for the second consecutive tournament, after defeating France, by a score of 98–85 in the final.[4] Spain's Juan Carlos Navarro was the tournament's MVP.

Venues and attendances

[edit]
Inside of Žalgiris Arena

The group matches were played in four arenas, namely Alytus Arena, Šiauliai Arena, Cido Arena in Panevėžys and an arena in Klaipėda. The second stage matches were played at the Siemens Arena in the capital Vilnius and the playoffs at the new Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas.

All tickets were sold for matches in which Lithuania played in a matter of several hours after the start of sale. Other tickets were also sold out in advance for all venues except for Alytus (75% of available tickets sold in total). However the Organizing Committee's policy of selling tickets as a 3-game package meant that in some cases the sold-out arenas were not full as some fans would choose to go to only some of the games their ticket entitled them to. This policy was altered in Panevėžys where there were separate tickets for the games Lithuania played.

20,000 foreign visitors went to Lithuania for the championship. 135,000 local fans visited the arenas. 120,000 people (both local and foreign) watched EuroBasket 2011 matches in special fan zones that were constructed beside every arena with a large screen and outdoor seating available.[3]

Among the foreign teams the Georgian, Slovenian, Russian and Latvian national teams had the most fans traveling from their home countries. Georgians had certain city squares decorated in their flags in both Klaipėda and Vilnius.

Several famous people and heads of states went to championship. This included the president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and prince of Spain Felipe.

Location Picture City Arena Capacity Status Round
Kaunas Žalgiris Arena 15,442 Opened in 2011 Knockout stage
Vilnius Siemens Arena 11,000 Opened in 2004 Group E, Group F
Šiauliai Šiauliai Arena 5,700 Opened in 2007 Group B
Panevėžys Cido Arena 5,656 Opened in 2008 Group A
Alytus Alytus Arena 5,500 Opened in 1981, reopened after reconstruction in 2011 Group C
Klaipėda Švyturio Arena 5,486 Opened in 2011 Group D
  • Postage stamp issued to commemorate the EuroBasket 2011
    Postage stamp issued to commemorate the EuroBasket 2011
  • Slovenian national team bus in Vilnius
    Slovenian national team bus in Vilnius
  • Huge ball for EuroBasket 2011 in Vilnius
    Huge ball for EuroBasket 2011 in Vilnius
  • Baskets and balls in Vilnius center
    Baskets and balls in Vilnius center
  • One Litas coin for EuroBasket 2011
    One Litas coin for EuroBasket 2011

Teams

[edit]
EuroBasket 2011 participants.

It was first decided that 16 teams would participate in EuroBasket 2011, however FIBA Europe decided on 5 September 2010, in a meeting in Istanbul, that there would be 24 teams in the tournament, after the Qualifying Round was concluded.[5]

Lithuania automatically received a place as the hosts, nine other countries that competed in the 2010 FIBA World Championship also received a place, 12 Countries were determined through qualifying matches played in August 2010 (five had initially qualified, and seven were added after the decision to expand the tournament to 24 teams),[6] and two more qualifiers were decided in an additional qualifying tournament that took place in August 2011. All but one of the 15 countries that participated in the Qualifying Round qualified for the final tournament.

Qualification

[edit]
Main article: EuroBasket 2011 qualification

Qualified teams

[edit]
Competition Date Vacancies Qualified
Host nation – 1  Lithuania
Participant of 2010 FIBA World Championship 28 August – 12 September 2010 9  Croatia
 France
 Germany
 Greece
 Russia
 Serbia
 Slovenia
 Spain
 Turkey
Qualified through Qualifying Round 2 August 2010 – 29 August 2010 5  Belgium
 Great Britain
 Israel
 Macedonia
 Montenegro
Qualified through FIBA Europe decision 5 September 2010 7  Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Bulgaria
 Georgia
 Italy
 Latvia
 Poland
 Ukraine
Qualified through Additional Qualifying Round 9 August 2011 – 24 August 2011 2  Finland
 Portugal

Squads

[edit]
Main article: EuroBasket 2011 squads
Bo McCalebb led Macedonia squad

Each team consisted of 12 players. Only 1 among the 12 could be a naturalised foreign player, who could not have been in the national team of another nation. Some of the teams had players that traced their ancestry to the teams they represent and were allowed to play for that team, such as Germany (US-born Chris Kaman) and Israel (US-born David Blu, who as Jewish was entitled to Israeli citizenship from birth). Other teams naturalised players participating in their country's league system, among them Spain (Congolese-born Serge Ibaka), Croatia (US-born Dontaye Draper), Bulgaria (US-born E. J. Rowland), Belgium (US-born Marcus Faison), and Poland (US-born Thomas Kelati, who qualified for Polish citizenship through marriage to a Pole). Montenegro and Macedonia each naturalised US-born players who had never played in their league system, but had played in neighbouring Serbia, respectively Omar Cook and Bo McCalebb. Other naturalised players moved to their current countries in their youth, with a notable example being Great Britain's Luol Deng, who fled the Sudanese Civil War with his family as a child.

Lithuania, Serbia, Portugal (Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony) and Finland are notable exceptions, with all of their players having been born in Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia and Finland respectively. Another exception was Latvia playing without foreign players. Turkey had Enes Kanter, who was born to Turkish parents in Switzerland as well as Emir Preldzic, who was born in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina and had already played on the national team of Slovenia in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2008 and Slovenian youth national teams.

Some of the Eastern European national teams, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, were composed mainly or entirely from players playing abroad. This was primarily true for countries that have good basketball players but no powerful clubs or leagues to match that.

On the other hand, for countries with strong leagues, such as Italy, the National teams were primarily composed of players playing in the local league. The same was true for countries weak in basketball (i.e. with both weak national team and local league) as their players are unable to get into strong foreign leagues. Portugal could be an example here.

Many NBA players represented their national teams, with the Spanish team having 6 NBA stars, the French team having 5, the Turkish team having 4, and so on. It was one of the strongest European basketball competition ever organized as a lot of European stars helped their nations.

Notable players and coaches

[edit]

Group draw and championship system

[edit]

The draw ceremony held on 30 January 2011 in the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Vilnius, divided the qualified teams into four groups of six, groups A, B, C, and D. The hosts of the evening were Jurgita Jurkutė and Vytautas Rumšas. The balls were drawn by retired basketball players European champions and Olympic medalists Stasys Stonkus, Modestas Paulauskas, Dino Meneghin, Sergejus Jovaiša, Alexander Anatolyevich Volkov and Arvydas Sabonis. A special concert followed the draw where a song was dedicated for each of the participating nations.

It was decided that Group A games would take place in Panevėžys, Group B in Šiauliai, Group C in Alytus and Group D in Klaipėda.

Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 Line 4 Line 5 Line 6

 Spain
 Serbia
 Greece
 Slovenia

 France
 Croatia
 Russia
 Turkey

 Lithuania
 Germany
 Montenegro
 Belgium

 Great Britain
 Macedonia
 Israel
 Georgia

 Italy
 Bulgaria
 Poland
 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Ukraine
 Latvia
 Portugal
 Finland

In the first stage every team had to play against every other team of their group (round robin). This meant five matches per team.

From every group the 3 best teams advanced to the second stage and the 3 worst teams were eliminated. In the second stage 2 new groups were formed. The 3 best teams from groups A and B were united to form group E whereas the 3 best teams from groups C and D were united to form group F.

In these two new groups of the second stage only matches by teams that had not yet played each other had to be played. As for the matches that had already happened in the first stage their results would also count in the second stage. Therefore, every team played 3 matches and there were 12 teams in the second stage.

Out of the second stage the 4 best teams from each of the two groups advanced to the quarterfinals (8 teams in total) whereas the 2 worst teams were eliminated from championship (4 teams in total).

Logo, official song and mascot of the championship

[edit]
Official mascot
"Celebrate Basketball" (2011)
Official EuroBasket 2011 song
Problems playing this file? See media help.

A public contest was introduced to create the logo for the competition. 49 designs were presented initially to the organizers and the best three were sent to FIBA Europe, which selected the winning design. The author of it was designer Kęstutis Koira. The EuroBasket 2011 logo was unveiled on 24 January 2009 in Cido Arena, Panevėžys, during the final game of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation Cup. It displays the Columns of Gediminas overlaid on a backboard.

Lithuania is the first host country of EuroBasket to have an official EuroBasket song. The song "Celebrate basketball", written by Marijonas Mikutavičius and performed by Mia, Mantas Jankavičius and Marijonas Mikutavičius, was chosen by a televoting in Lithuania. There are two versions of the song – in Lithuanian[7] and English.[8] Later, another version was added – "Nebetyli sirgaliai" (lit. The Fans are no Longer Quiet).

The mascot of the championship was Amberis. Its head was in the form and color of a piece of amber. The name "Amberis" is a portmanteau of the English word amber and the Lithuanian nominative case masculine gender ending "is". The real word for amber in Lithuanian is Gintaras. There was an Amberis in every arena and quite frequently there were more than a single Amberis at a time interacting with each other as well as spectators. On the screens in the arenas a "legend" was shown where a piece of amber was given by a coach to a young basketball player to bring him luck and this piece turned into Amberis.

Special events

[edit]
Huge ball in Vilnius center.

Basketball enjoys extraordinary popularity in Lithuania. As such, many events were organized to mark the championship, including:

  • In summer 2011 a dribble marathon around the whole of Lithuania was organized. Groups of people would dribble from one town to the next one, where they would give the balls to another set of people who would then dribble to the next town and so on. Every town of Lithuania was visited with TV documenting the events every day. Among the people who took part in the event were the president of Lithuania, several ministers, mayors, sportsmen, opera and ballet stars and so on. In the end the 13 balls were given to the Lithuanian National Basketball team on 29 August 2011.
  • On 29 August 2011, Lithuania set a new record for simultaneous dribbling, previously held by Poland. 60,000 Lithuanians from Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Alytus dribbled Molten balls simultaneously, beating Poland's record of 30,000 people.
  • The Vilnius TV Tower observation deck was turned into a large basketball basket. It was made of lights that shone in the dark. The "basket" was 160 meters tall, higher than any other building in Lithuania.
  • Composer Vidmantas Bartulis and poet Gintaras Patackas wrote an oratorio for basketball called "That Space-like Feeling of Basketball" ("Tas kosminis krepšinio jausmas"). This oratorio, praising basketball and Kauno Žalgiris team, was performed during the opening of Kaunas Arena on 16 August 2011.

Additionally, from Spring 2011, many of the TV and newspaper advertisements became basketball-oriented. Each of the cities where EuroBasket 2011 would take place received many minor details marking the championship: for example, the trash bins in Panevėžys were repainted to look like basketballs, an abandoned building in Vilnius had its windows covered by flags of the participant nations while balls were drawn on the pavement in some places.

Many ordinary Lithuanians decorated their cars with small Lithuanian flags flying above side windows (like during every other basketball championship). Flags covering the opposite side of the car mirrors are also popular. Some foreign fans who visited Lithuania during the championship adopted this practice as well.

A major Lithuanian news company adopted the practice of predicting each Lithuania national basketball team match in the EuroBasket. Lazdeika the Crab served as the oracle. The crab selected one of the two coconut shells to hide in when light was shone on it. Each of the two coconut shells has a country's flag – Lithuania's flag and opponent flag. At the beginning the crab's guesses would prove to be correct yet in the end they went wrong. Some people believe that the predictions were fixed - that is, the crab would be filmed many times and only when its "prediction" would match that of bookmakers would the "prediction" be aired on TV.

FIBA broadcasting rights

[edit]

At least some matches were broadcast in 150 countries and territories all over the world.[3]

Financial details

[edit]

According to the Lithuanian Basketball Association the championship expenses were 32 million Litas and the income was 34.8 million Litas, which means the profit of the event was 2.8 million Litas.[3]

Out of the 32 million Litas expenses some 9.8 million were funded by the Lithuanian state institutions whereas the remaining 22.2 million were amassed from sponsors or other sources. It is assumed that the state earned 11.9 million Litas due to VAT taxes paid by 20 000 foreign visitors therefore earning a 2.1 million Litas profit.[3]

Out of the 34.8 million litas income 24.7 million Litas were amassed by selling tickets (TV rights and certain other rights are owned by FIBA rather than the local basketball association and therefore are not included in the revenues).[3]

During the championship there were 3,984 people responsible for safety and 1,500 volunteers responsible for various duties such as helping spectators or giving the balls for play. The 1,500 volunteers were chosen out of 6,000 persons who wanted to volunteer.

1,300 journalists worked in the championships, out of them 200 were TV and radio commentators. 1,300 media accreditation licenses were issued.[3]

Preliminary round

[edit]

Teams played each other once. The top three placed teams move on to the next round. In the event of a tie on points, direct matches between (points and goal average, i.e. points for/points against) were taken into account, if still tied, goal average in all matches was used as tiebreaker and not points difference.[10][11]

All times are local (UTC 3)

Group A

[edit]

Venue: Cido Arena, Panevėžys

Main article: EuroBasket 2011 Group A
Team Pld W L PF PA GA Pts. Tie
 Spain 5 4 1 404 364 1.109 9 1–0
 Lithuania 5 4 1 429 374 1.147 9 0–1
 Turkey 5 3 2 385 333 1.156 8
 Great Britain 5 2 3 372 410 0.907 7 1–0
 Poland 5 2 3 401 424 0.945 7 0–1
 Portugal 5 0 5 344 430 0.800 5


31 August 2011
Spain  83–78  Poland
Turkey  79–56  Portugal
Lithuania  80–69  Great Britain
1 September 2011
Portugal  73–87  Spain
Great Britain  61–90  Turkey
Poland  77–97  Lithuania
2 September 2011
Spain  86–69  Great Britain
Portugal  73–81  Poland
Turkey  68–75  Lithuania
4 September 2011
Great Britain  85–73  Portugal
Poland  84–83  Turkey
Lithuania  79–91  Spain
5 September 2011
Great Britain  88–81  Poland
Spain  57–65  Turkey
Portugal  69–98  Lithuania

Group B

[edit]

Venue: Šiauliai Arena, Šiauliai

Main article: EuroBasket 2011 Group B
Team Pld W L PF PA GA Pts.
 France 5 5 0 438 391 1.120 10
 Serbia 5 4 1 432 386 1.119 9
 Germany 5 3 2 377 357 1.056 8
 Israel 5 2 3 399 448 0.891 7
 Italy 5 1 4 380 405 0.938 6
 Latvia 5 0 5 385 424 0.908 5


31 August 2011
Serbia  80–68  Italy
France  89–78  Latvia
Germany  91–64  Israel
1 September 2011
Latvia  77–92  Serbia
Israel  68–85  France
Italy  62–76  Germany
2 September 2011
Serbia  89–80  Israel
Latvia  62–71  Italy
France  76–65  Germany
4 September 2011
Israel  91–88  Latvia
Italy  84–91  France
Germany  64–75  Serbia
5 September 2011
Israel  96–95 (OT)  Italy
Latvia  80–81  Germany
Serbia  96–97 (OT)  France

Group C

[edit]

Venue: Alytus Arena, Alytus

Main article: EuroBasket 2011 Group C
Team Pld W L PF PA GA Pts. Tie
 Macedonia 5 4 1 362 337 1.074 9 1–0
 Greece 5 4 1 360 324 1.129 9 0–1
 Finland 5 2 3 373 366 1.019 7 1–1, 1.155
 Croatia 5 2 3 396 404 0.980 7 1–1, 0.959
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 2 3 380 409 0.929 7 1–1, 0.907
 Montenegro 5 1 4 357 388 0.921 6


31 August 2011
Montenegro  70–65 (OT)  Macedonia
Greece  76–67  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia  84–79  Finland
1 September 2011
Bosnia and Herzegovina  94–86  Montenegro
Finland  61–81  Greece
Macedonia  78–76  Croatia
3 September 2011
Finland  92–64  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Greece  58–72  Macedonia
Croatia  97–81  Montenegro
4 September 2011
Macedonia  72–70  Finland
Montenegro  55–71  Greece
Bosnia and Herzegovina  92–80  Croatia
5 September 2011
Finland  71–65  Montenegro
Greece  74–69  Croatia
Macedonia  75–63  Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group D

[edit]

Venue: Klaipėda Arena, Klaipėda

Main article: EuroBasket 2011 Group D
Team Pld W L PF PA GA Pts. Tie
 Russia 5 5 0 371 321 1.155 10
 Slovenia 5 4 1 356 324 1.098 9
 Georgia 5 2 3 352 343 1.026 7 1–1, 1.045
 Bulgaria 5 2 3 339 357 0.949 7 1–1, 0.993
 Ukraine 5 2 3 322 327 0.984 7 1–1, 0.960
 Belgium 5 0 5 304 372 0.817 5


31 August 2011
Belgium  59–81  Georgia
Slovenia  67–59  Bulgaria
Russia  73–64  Ukraine
1 September 2011
Bulgaria  68–65  Belgium
Georgia  58–65  Russia
Ukraine  64–68  Slovenia
3 September 2011
Ukraine  67–56  Bulgaria
Slovenia  87–75  Georgia
Russia  79–58  Belgium
4 September 2011
Georgia  69–53  Ukraine
Bulgaria  77–89  Russia
Belgium  61–70  Slovenia
5 September 2011
Georgia  69–79  Bulgaria
Slovenia  64–65  Russia
Ukraine  74–61  Belgium

Second round

[edit]

Group E

[edit]
Main article: EuroBasket 2011 Group E

The group composed of the three best ranked teams from Groups A and B. Teams coming from the same initial group didn't play again vs. each other, but "carried" the results of the matches played between them for the first round.

Four teams with the best records advanced to the quarter-finals.


Team Pld W L PF PA GA Pts. Tie
 Spain 5 4 1 405 340 1.191 9 1–0
 France 5 4 1 383 388 0.987 9 0–1
 Lithuania 5 3 2 405 397 1.020 8
 Serbia 5 2 3 388 412 0.942 7
 Germany 5 1 4 345 379 0.910 6 1–0
 Turkey 5 1 4 331 341 0.991 6 0–1


7 September 2011
Germany  68–77  Spain Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Turkey  64–68  France Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Serbia  90–100  Lithuania Siemens Arena, Vilnius
9 September 2011
Spain  84–59  Serbia Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Germany  73–67  Turkey Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Lithuania  67–73  France Siemens Arena, Vilnius
11 September 2011
Serbia  68–67  Turkey Siemens Arena, Vilnius
France  69–96  Spain Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Lithuania  84–75  Germany Siemens Arena, Vilnius

Group F

[edit]
Main article: EuroBasket 2011 Group F

The group composed of the three best ranked teams from groups C and D. Teams coming from the same initial group didn't play again vs. each other, but "carried" the results of the matches played between them for the first round.

The four teams with the best records advanced to the quarter-finals.


Team Pld W L PF PA GA Pts.
 Russia 5 5 0 355 310 1.145 10
 Macedonia 5 4 1 338 313 1.079 9
 Greece 5 3 2 348 336 1.036 8
 Slovenia 5 2 3 337 337 1.000 7
 Finland 5 1 4 338 372 0.909 6
 Georgia 5 0 5 329 377 0.873 5


8 September 2011
Georgia  63–65  Macedonia Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Finland  60–79  Russia Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Slovenia  60–69  Greece Siemens Arena, Vilnius
10 September 2011
Georgia  73–87  Finland Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Macedonia  68–59  Slovenia Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Greece  67–83  Russia Siemens Arena, Vilnius
12 September 2011
Slovenia  67–60  Finland Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Greece  73–60  Georgia Siemens Arena, Vilnius
Russia  63–61  Macedonia Siemens Arena, Vilnius

Knockout stage

[edit]
Main article: EuroBasket 2011 knockout stage
Finals: Spain vs. France
Bronze game: Macedonia vs. Russia
5th place game: Lithuania vs. Greece
All matches were played in: Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas[12]
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 14 September
 
 
 Spain86
 
 16 September
 
 Slovenia64
 
 Spain92
 
 14 September
 
 Macedonia80
 
 Macedonia67
 
 18 September
 
 Lithuania65
 
 Spain98
 
 15 September
 
 France85
 
 France64
 
 16 September
 
 Greece56
 
 France79
 
 15 September
 
 Russia71 Third place
 
 Russia77
 
 18 September
 
 Serbia67
 
 Macedonia68
 
 
 Russia72
 
5th place bracket
 
Semi-finalsFifth place
 
      
 
 15 September
 
 
 Slovenia77
 
 17 September
 
 Lithuania80
 
 Lithuania73
 
 16 September
 
 Greece69
 
 Greece87
 
 
 Serbia77
 
Seventh place
 
 
 17 September
 
 
 Slovenia72
 
 
 Serbia68

Quarterfinals

[edit]
14 September
18:00
Spain  86–64  Slovenia
Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 19–8, 36–14, 15–19
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 11,000
14 September
21:00
Macedonia  67–65  Lithuania
Scoring by quarter: 18–20, 12–14, 19–18, 18–13
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 15,000
15 September
18:00
France  64–56  Greece
Scoring by quarter: 14–17, 13–14, 13–12, 24–13
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 9,000
15 September
21:00
Russia  77–67  Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 16–12, 18–15, 20–21, 23–19
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 11,500

Classification 5–8

[edit]
15 September
15:30
Slovenia  77–80  Lithuania
Scoring by quarter: 20–19, 13–25, 24–19, 20–17
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 11,000
16 September
15:00
Greece  87–77  Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 34–8, 14–18, 16–22, 23–29
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 1,500

Semifinals

[edit]
16 September
17:30
Spain  92–80  Macedonia
Scoring by quarter: 26–18, 18–27, 27–17, 21–18
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 11,000
16 September
21:00
France  79–71  Russia
Scoring by quarter: 17–16, 22–18, 16–13, 24–24
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 14,000

Seventh place game

[edit]
17 September
18:00
Slovenia  72–68  Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 27–20, 17–19, 20–12, 8–17
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 5,000

Fifth place game

[edit]
17 September
21:00
Lithuania  73–69  Greece
Scoring by quarter: 14–20, 18–17, 24–11, 17–21
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 14,000

Third place game

[edit]
18 September
17:30
Macedonia  68–72  Russia
Scoring by quarter: 13–17, 17–19, 20–16, 18–20
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 11,000

Final

[edit]
Main article: EuroBasket 2011 Final
18 September
21:00
Spain  98–85  France
Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 25–21, 25–21, 23–23
Žalgiris Arena, Kaunas
Attendance: 14,500
Referees: Luigi Lamonica (ITA), Ilija Belosevic (SRB), Sreten Radovic (CRO)


 EuroBasket 2011 champions 

Spain
Second title

Final standings

[edit]
Results
Spain became the Champions of Europe
France won their second Silver medals
Russia won Bronze medals
Macedonia was only one-step away from their first ever EuroBasket medal

The results of the championship included some surprises. Finland and Georgia, the latter supported by some 1,500 fans who had traveled to Lithuania, managed to reach the second stage despite being allowed to take part in the championship only after FIBA Europe decision. In fact Finland had the possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals until the very last game against Slovenia.

Croatia on the other hand was a powerful team that failed to reach even the second stage. Turkey with 5 NBA players failed to reach the quarterfinals.

The biggest surprise was probably Macedonia, a country that had had no major basketball victories prior to this championship. Having lost only two games in the first and second stages and these two by just a single point each (one of them after overtime) Macedonia easily advanced to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals the Macedonians defeated the hosts Lithuanians, and went to the semifinals.

A match between Georgia and Russia in Klaipėda was regarded to have political significance due to these countries having recently fought a war (the South Ossetia War). There were more than 1,000 Georgians and under 1,000 Russians in the arena during the game and large police forces were amassed to prevent possible riots. Despite the tight battle the Russians defeated the Georgians and prevented any surprise result. No riots happened.

These are the final standings. Two countries, Spain and France, qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics basketball tournament outright. Four more qualified for the 2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, with Russia and Lithuania obtaining qualification through the tournament. In addition, Great Britain qualified as host.

Qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Qualified as host nation for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Qualified for the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Rank Team Record
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Spain 10–1
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  France 9–2
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Russia 10–1
4  Macedonia 7–4
5  Lithuania 8–3
6  Greece 7–4
7  Slovenia 6–5
8  Serbia 5–6
9-10  Germany 4–4
 Finland 3–5
11-12  Turkey 3–5
 Georgia 2–6
13-16  Croatia 2–3
 Bulgaria 2–3
 Great Britain 2–3
 Israel 2–3
17-20  Ukraine 2–3
 Poland 2–3
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–3
 Italy 1–4
21-24  Montenegro 1–4
 Latvia 0–5
 Belgium 0–5
 Portugal 0–5

Statistical leaders

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See also: FIBA EuroBasket 2011 statistics

Individual Tournament Highs

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Individual Game Highs

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Department Name Total Opponent
Points Italy Andrea Bargnani 36  Latvia
Rebounds North Macedonia Pero Antić 19  Finland
Assists Croatia Dontaye Draper 12  Montenegro
Steals France Nicolas Batum
France Tony Parker		 6  Israel
 Serbia
Blocks Spain Serge Ibaka 5  France
2-point field goal percentage United Kingdom Joel Freeland 100% (11/11)  Poland
3-point field goal percentage North Macedonia Vojdan Stojanovski 100% (5/5)  Lithuania
Free throw percentage France Tony Parker
Portugal Miguel Minhava		 100% (12/12)  Serbia
 Great Britain
Turnovers Serbia Miloš Teodosić 9  Russia

Team Tournament Highs

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Team Game highs

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Department Name Total Opponent
Points  Lithuania 100  Serbia
Rebounds  Montenegro 50  Macedonia
Assists  Croatia 26  Montenegro
Steals  France
 Russia		 14  Serbia
 Finland
Blocks  Spain 10  France
2-point field goal percentage  Lithuania 78.4% (29/37)  Poland
3-point field goal percentage  Lithuania 63.3% (7/11)  Portugal
Free throw percentage  Spain 100% (16/16)  Great Britain
Turnovers  Montenegro
 Ukraine		 23  Macedonia
 Georgia

All-Tournament Team

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Juan Carlos Navarro was named MVP

The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team:[14]

PG – France Tony Parker

SG – North Macedonia Bo McCalebb

SF – Spain Juan Carlos Navarro (MVP)

PF – Russia Andrei Kirilenko

C – Spain Pau Gasol

References

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  1. ^ "Another masterpiece for MVP "La Bomba"". Eurobasket2011.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  2. ^ ""FIBA Europe": lietuviai Europos čempionatą suorganizavo geriausiai per visą istoriją". 15min.lt. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Naujienos - Europos krepĹĄinio Ä?empionatas: kiek uĹždirbome?". Vtv.lt. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  4. ^ Nilsen, Paul (18 September 2011). "Spain Retains European Crown". FIBA. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  5. ^ "Eurobasket 2011 will be played with 24 teams". Fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Seven More Teams Get Direct EuroBasket Berth". Fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  7. ^ "Official EuroBasket 2011 anthem (Lithuanian version)". 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2013 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "Official song of EuroBasket 2011 Celebrate Basketball HD (with lyrics) - YouTube". 17 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2017 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ Keisels, Guntis (19 August 2011). "Latvijas valstsvienības spēlēs Eiropas čempionāta finālturnīrā translēs TV6". Basket.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  10. ^ "FIBA Europe Regulations". FIBA. 17 August 2011. p. 18. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  11. ^ "Official Basketball Rules". FIBA. 11 January 2011. p. 69. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  12. ^ "EuroBasket 2011". EuroBasket 2011. 16 April 1985. Archived from the original on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  13. ^ a b c "McCalebb statistics in 2011". Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  14. ^ "News". EuroBasket 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
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