It’s EuroBasket time! The United States is not in this competition (obviously), but there is still plenty of skill on display as EuroBasket showcases the prime talent that is European Basketball.
What is EuroBasket?
It’s a quadrennial Basketball Competition between the men’s national teams that are part of FIBA Europe. It began in 1935 and although the competition has undergone some evolutions, it’s a premier European Basketball showcase.
What Is the Format?
24 teams are divided into four groups and those teams play a round-robin tournament. The top four teams in each group advance, but 16 total teams make it through to the knockout stage.
Those 16 teams then play in a single-elimination tournament where a champion is ultimately crowned. (For more specifics, you can check out the FIBA Website.)
When and Where Can I Watch?
The tournament begins on Sept. 1 and ends on Sept. 18 — the game times are all throughout the day, generally starting at 7:20 a.m. ET. The last game typically tips off by 4:35 p.m. ET as the playoffs progress. ESPN+ will air every game.
What Are the Primary Differences Between EuroBasket and NBA Rules?
| Euro Basket | NBA | |
|---|---|---|
| Game Time | 4 x 10 min quarters | 4 x 12 min quarters |
| 3-Point Line | 21.65 ft corner, 22.15 ft rest of the arc | 22 ft at corner, 23.75 ft rest of the arc |
| Restricted Area | 4.1 ft | 4 ft |
| Goaltending | Any player can touch the ball after it hits the rim | No player can touch the ball until it exits the cylinder |
| Zone Defense | No restrictions | No 3 in the key |
| Timeouts | 5 | 7 |
| Personal Fouls | 5 (includes both personal and technical) | 6 personal or 2 technical |
Some countries are excited to just be in the Group Stage, but others are perennial contenders as they mesh NBA Stars with their home-grown talent.
At the time of this writing, not every team has finalized its roster, but I’ve taken the time to outline some of the notable/familiar names.
EuroBasket Rosters and Title Odds
Odds as of Wednesday and via DraftKings/FanDuel
Group A
Montenegro (+5000 / OTB)
- Marko Simonovic
Georgia (+6500 / +5000)
- Goga Bitadze
Spain (+1400 / +650)
- Usman Garuba
- Juancho Hernangomez (Bo Cruz!)
- Willy Hernangomez
- Coach: Sergio Scariolo — Assistant Coach w/ Raptors title, '22 EuroCup Champion
Bulgaria (+10000 / +11000)
- No notable players
Belgium (+6500 / +11000)
- No notable players
Turkey (+1500 / +2400)
- Furkan Korkmaz
- Cedi Osman
- Alperen Sengun
- Coach: Ergin Ataman — '21, '22 EuroLeague Champion, '21 EuroLeague Coach of the Year
Group B
Germany (+1800 / +2900)
- Dennis Schroder
- Daniel Theis
- Franz Wagner
- Coach: Gordon Herbert
Hungary (+20000 / +6000)
- No notable players
Slovenia (+400 / +470)
- Luka Doncic
- Goran Dragic
- Zoran Dragic
- Mike Tobey
- Vlatko Cancar
- Coach: Aleksander Sekulic
Lithuania (+1000 / +1200)
- Ignas Brazdeikis
- Domantas Sabonis
- Jonas Valanciunas
- Coach: Zalgiris KaunasGold Medal 08 (U16), 10 (U18), 11 (U19), 12 (U20)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (+15000 / +11000)
- Luka Garza
- Jusuf Nurkic
France (+400 / +550)
- Evan Fournier
- Rudy Gobert
- Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
- Theo Maledon
- Vincent Poirier
- Coach: Vincent Collett — Silver Medal in Tokyo 2020
Group C
Greece (+400 / +430)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Kostas Antetokounmpo
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo
- Tyler Dorsey
- Georgios Papagiannis
- Konstantinos “Kostas” Papanikolaou (incredible defender)
- Kostas Sloukas — All-EuroLeague First Team (2019)
- Coach: Dimitrios Itoudis (EuroLeague Champion and COY 2016, 2019)
Estonia (+20000 / +11000)
- No notable players
Ukraine (+5000 / OTB)
- Sviatoslav Mikhailiuk
Great Britain (+8000 / +11000)
- No notable players
Italy (+1400 / +1500)
- Nico Mannion
- Nicolo Melli
- Simone Fontecchino
- Stefano Tonut (LBA MVP — 2020-21)
- Coach: Gianmarco Pozzecco (2019 FIBE Europe Cup Champion)
Croatia (+2000 / +2900)
- Bojan Bogdanovic
- Mario Hezonja
- Dario Saric
- Ivica Zubac
- Jaleen Smith (2020-21 Bundesliga MVP)
Group D
Netherlands (+8000 / +11000)
- Jesse Edwards (Syracuse)
Finland (+5000 / +6000)
- Lauri Markkanen
- Petteri Koponen
Poland (+5000 / +6000)
- No notable players
Czech Republic (+3000 / +5000)
- Tomáš Satoranský
- Vít Krejčí (OKC Thunder/OKC Blue)
- Jan Veselý (2019 EuroLeague MVP, 3x EuroLeague MVP)
Israel (+4000 / +6000)
- Deni Avdija
- Tomer Ginat
- Yam Madar
- Tamir Blatt (Yes, son of David Blatt)
Serbia (+380 / +300)
- Nikola Jokic
- Nikola Kalinic ('17 EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer, '22 ABA League MVP
- Vladimir Lučić – ('21 All EuroLeague First Team, '22 2nd Team, '21 German Cup Final 4 MVP)
- Marko Guduric ('17 Serbian Cup MVP, '19 Turkish League 3-Point Contest Champion)
- Vasilije Micić ('21, '22 EuroLeague Final Four MVP, '21 EuroLeague MVP, '21, '22 Top Scorer)
- Coach: Svetislav Pesix
