Group B
Slovenia – Lithuania 92:85 (27:27; 24:21; 18:19; 23:18)
Slovenia: Toby (24 + 8 rebounds), G. Dragic (19), Doncic (14+10 assists +6 rebounds), Blazic (14), Chancar (11), Dimech (4), Prepelic (3), Muric (2), Z. Dragic (1).
Lithuania: Kuzminskas (19), Grigoris (18),
Before the match, fans of the Slovenian national team could only guess whether the team had managed to recover from the recent defeat in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. After all, Sunday’s failure in the match with Germany could unsettle a team that had previously won 7 games in a row. To the delight of Slovenian fans, on the day of the game, positive news from the camp of their favorites began to come in the morning – the world media flew footage from the training session, in which the main star of the team Doncic effectively gets into the ring from the middle of the court.
However, in the late afternoon, the infopods became much less positive. Sekulich’s wards had to get to the arena by taxi. The bus that was supposed to pick up the team did not arrive.
“Ah yes Eurobasket! A bus was not organized for the European champions. This must be a joke. After 20 minutes of waiting, we caught a local taxi,” Slovenian point guard Goran Dragic was indignant on Twitter.
The unfortunate incident, however, was quickly forgotten. The game of the tournament against the Lithuanian national team clearly did not promise to be an easy walk. The statistics of personal meetings are in favor of the Balts, 12 wins against 6.
From the very first minutes, the Lithuanians showed that they intend to bet on the advantage in size. The combination of Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas formed a tall tandem of lethal force, against which the Slovenes sometimes had no antidote. Nevertheless, the leaders of the Slovenes – Doncic, Dragic and Mike Toby – used their trump cards, providing a small, but constant advantage in the score during the opening minutes. Nevertheless, by the end of the first quarter, equality was recorded on the scoreboard – 27:27.
Starting from the second quarter, the course of the match became more and more “qualitative”. The teams approached the equator of the meeting with a slight advantage of the Slovenes – 51:48.
But after a long break, things went noticeably better for the Lithuanians. They took the lead for the first time in the match – largely due to the fact that the Slovenes did not execute penalties in the best way, the Balts took the third quarter, and in the middle of the fourth, the son of the best center in the history of European basketboa Arvydas Sabonis Domantas brought his team’s advantage to “+5″. Sekulic took a timeout – and managed to find words and moves for the wards, thanks to which they turned the course of the match. Excellent mutual understanding in the end was demonstrated by Doncic and Tony. In general, Loncic showed himself masterfully this evening not only in creation, but also in defense. Moreover, in the selfless struggle for the ball, he could get injured twice in the fight with huge opponents. First, he got a good elbow from Valanciunas, and then the point guard skillfully substituted for Sabonis.
Slovenians will play against Hungary on September 3, then against Bosnia and Herzegovina (September 4), Germany (September 6) and France (September 7).
Results of other matches of the opening day of Eurobasket 2022.
Group B
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Hungary – 95:85 (17:23, 28:23, 28:17, 22:22).
B.: Musa (19), Nurkic (19), Robertson (18), Halilovic (16).
V.: Benke (20), Hanga (16), Vojvoda (15).
France – Germany – 63:76 (13:17; 18:21; 12:19; 20:19)
F.: Yabusel (18);
G.: Tiemann (14).
The position of the teams:
Germany – 2 (1), Bosnia and Herzegovina – 2 (1), Slovenia – 2 (1), Lithuania – 1 (1), Hungary – 1 (1), France – 1 (1).
Group A
Spain – Bulgaria – 114:87 (28:17, 29:18, 32:31, 25:21).
I.: Brown (17), Hernangomez (16).
B.: Vezenkov (26 + 11 rebounds).
Group A
Turkey – Montenegro 72:68 (14:18, 27:13, 12:20, 19:17).
T.: Larkin (18), Osman (15).
M.: Dublevich (18).
Belgium – Georgia 79:76 OT (16:11, 22:21, 20:19, 12:19; 9:6).
B.: Taboo (14).
G.: Mamukelavshili (18+13 rebounds).
The position of the teams:
Turkey -2 (1), Belgium – 2 (1), Spain – 2 (1), Bulgaria 1 (1), Montenegro – 1 (1), Georgia – 1 (1).