We are getting closer to the shot and it is now time to introduce you to each of the groups constituting this EuroBasket 2022. We are humans equipped with logic so following Group A and B, place at C, a hen where we have a little the impression that there are two divisions with in the first Greece, favorite in front of Croatia and Italy, then in the second Ukraine, Great Britain and Estonia.
The program
- September 2 (2:15 p.m.): Ukraine – Great Britain
- September 2 (5 p.m.): Croatia – Greece
- September 2 (9 p.m.): Italy – Estonia
- September 3 (2:15 p.m.): Great Britain – Croatia
- September 3 (5 p.m.): Estonia – Ukraine
- September 3 (9 p.m.): Greece – Italy
- September 5 (2:15 p.m.): Croatia – Estonia
- September 5 (5 p.m.): Great Britain – Greece
- September 5 (9 p.m.): Ukraine – Italy
- September 6 (2:15 p.m.): Estonia – Great Britain
- September 6 (5 p.m.): Greece – Ukraine
- September 6 (9 p.m.): Italy – Croatia
- September 8 (2:15 p.m.): Croatia – Ukraine
- September 8 (5 p.m.): Estonia – Greece
- September 8 (9 p.m.): Great Britain – Italy
The rosters
Greece: Dimitris Agravanis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Lefteris Bochoridis, Nick Calathes, Tyler Dorsey, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Leonidas Kaselakis, Ioannis Kouzeloglou, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Michalis Lountzis, Georgios Papagiannis, Kostas Papanikolaou, Ioannis Papapetrou, Kostas Sloukas
Estonia: Martin Dorbek, Henri Drell, Kregor Hermet, Janari Joesaar, Kristjan Kitsing, Artur Konontsuk, Maik-Kalev Kotsar, Kerr Kriisa, Kristian Kullamae, Rauno Nurger, Siim-Markus Post, Sander Raieste, Mart Rosenthal, Sten Sokk, Matthias Tass, Kaspar Treier, Robert Valge, Siim-Sander Vene
Ukraine : Bohdan Blizniuk, Viacheslav Bobrov, Volodimir Gerun, Artem Kovalov, Pavlo Krutous, Oleksiy Len, Denis Lukashov, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Artem Pustoviy, Issuf Sanon, Ilya Sidorov, Dmitro Skapintsev, Ivan Tkachenko, Andrii Voinalovich, Vitaly Zotov
Britain : Amin Adamu, Jamell Anderson, Kavell Bigby-Williams, Dan Clark, Ashley Hamilton, Myles Hesson, Kyle Johnson, Sacha Killeya-Jones, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, Callum Lawson, Ben Mockford, Luke Nelson, Teddy Okereafor, Gabe Olaseni, Tarik Phillip, Kareem Queeley, Jacob Round, Ovie Soko, Mo Soluade, Devon van Oostrum, Carl Wheatle, Patrick Whelan, Jordan Williams, Akwasi Yeboah
Italy : Tommaso Baldasso, Paul Biligha, Luigi Datome, Simone Fontecchio, Amedeo Tessitori, Nico Mannion, Nicolo Melli, Alessandro Pajola, Achille Polonara, Giampaolo Ricci, Marco Spissu, Stefano Tonut
Croatia: Bojan Bogdanovic, Lovro Gnjidic, Mario Hezonja, Karlo Matkovic, Dominik Mavra, Toni Perkovic, Roko Prkacin, Ivan Ramljak, Dario Saric, Krunoslav Simon, Jaleen Smith, Ivica Zubac
The main headliners
If you are used to watching the NBA and you are afraid of being a little lost in this EuroBasket 2022, Group C is there to give you some benchmarks. Because yes, there are quite a few familiar names in this rather friendly hen. The biggest ? Mario Hezonja Giannis Antetokounmpo aka the Greek Freak of course, accompanied by his brothers Kostas and Thanasis, and who should score 35 points in 19 minutes without even breaking a sweat. Jazz player Bojan Bogdanovic will also be there along with Ivica Zubac and Dario Saric, witness of Croatia’s “Big Three”. In the Italian workforce, the former Danilo Gallinari unfortunately had to give up the Euros following a nasty knee injury this weekend, but we will find the new player from Utah Simone Fontecchio and the two Nico – Mannion and Melli – passed through the NBA box before returning to Serie A.
On our side of the Atlantic, we also know the Greek maestro Nick Calathes, 33 years old and still all his teeth (if not the hair). His compatriots Georgios Papagiannis and Kostas Sloukas are Euroleague regulars, with each being nominated for the competition’s second-best team in 2022. You’ve probably also heard of Luigi Datome, 34-year-old veteran today. but a big name in Italian basketball. Finally, speaking of veteran, we would also like to mention the Croatian Krunoslav Simon (37 brooms), who has a not disgusting record at all following his two Euroleague titles won in 2021 and 2022 in the jersey of Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
Home predictions
Four out of six teams will reach the round of 16 and except for a big earthquake, we will find the trio Greece – Croatia – Italy. But in what order? Because we like the risk, we put a ticket on Giannis Antetokounmpo, the band at the Freak still seeming well equipped to take control of this group alone. It has a status of favorite to enforce, and a nice course to trace. Bogdanovic’s Croatia will still try to join in the discussion and let’s not forget that Italy – despite Gallo’s absence – will have the advantage of playing all their matches at home (in Milan more precisely) in this first round. The real suspense of this group and what everyone expects (no), is to know who will take the fourth and last qualifying place. Just for information, Estonia and Great Britain are respectively 48th and 45th in the FIBA rankings, enough to offer us a magnificent spectacle in a short week. Ukraine, where we will notably find Alex Len and Svi Mykhailiuk, finally seems to represent the most credible candidate to validate its ticket to the eighth in the company of the three top nations, even if obviously the current context means that the team Ainars Bagatskis will not really be in the best emotional disposition to achieve this goal.
With in particular a Croatia – Greece from September 2, we will quickly be in the atmosphere of this EuroBasket 2022. Beautiful posters, big names, a team which will be supported by its public, a dream Estonia – Great Britain, in short, this Group C will not be the least interesting to follow. Far from there.
