EuroBasket 2009 — Day 7
The match of the day is without contest Serbia–Turkey: it has been a fantastic match, quite aggressive in defence. Serbia managed to overcome a -7 deficit in the 4th quarter to get the draw (64–64) at the end of official time, despite a basket on the buzzer for Turkey that was subsequently refused by the referees; the extra time was as crazy, and Turkey finally won thanks to 5–0 in extra-time. Ilyasova has been imperial, rebounding (11) and scoring amazing 3 pointers (4/6). Arlsan has once again been key to this victory. Turkey remains undefeated, just like France, and by the look of last night match, they have the strength and the patience to go a long way. This Serbian team looks also very good, despite being very inexperienced.
Earlier in the day, Spain sent Lithuania back home. Lithuania eliminated in the Qualifying Round. It also means Lithuania need a wildcard to go to Turkey 2010… Nobody would have put their money on this before the start of the competition, but after their defeat against Spain yesterday (84–70), this is the reality: Lithuania did not make it through the Qualifying Round.
Poland were also beaten by Slovenia (76&ndash60) despite a heroic first half, but they just could not withstand the level of game, and gave away an awful lot of silly turnovers. Lorbek and Lakovic have had a good day behind the 3-point line and there was not much Gortat et al. could do to contain Slovenia. Polan now must win against Spain if they want to remain in the competition (and potentially send Spain back home too?).
