Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Les Bleus undefeated, rewarded with...

...a quarterfinal matchup with Spain. Lucky them.

The quarterfinal round leaves us with four pretty damn good games, and a situation where it seems any of the eight remaining teams can legitimately win this thing. Turkey-Greece is a great rivalry, and one which ought to see two relatively evenly matched sides go at each other. Serbia and Russia are two sides meant to be weaker than in the past, but yet both find themselves with a very good chance of qualifying for the World Basketball Championship. Slovenia and Croatia are two underrated sides that, while inconsistent, can challenge any team in Europe when they play to their capabilities

But the previously mentioned game between France and Spain is the undoubted highlight of this round. Possibly the two strongest sides in the competition, this could just as easily be a final. But the loser of this game will find themselves very close to missing out on an automatic qualifying spot for next year's World Basketball Championship, and so this will be a hotly contested matchup. In terms of talent, Spain seem to have the edge, just as they do in every game of this competition. But France's staunch defense and the electric play of Tony Parker will provide the inconsistent Spaniards with a stern test, and if they don't play to their abilities the French could embarrass them. No matter what, it should be a fun game.

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