The FIBA EuroBasket 2011 Starts

Finally, pro-basketball is back and with it the best European championship of basketball of all time. Day one started with victories of the favored teams, even if some matches were quite tight. The Spanish team seemed to have some problems to start the tournament but thanks to Pau Gasol(29P.and7R.)they achieved a 83-78 win over Poland. A lot of improvement is needed by the spaniards to make their way to the top. Serbia on the other hand defeated Italy with an overall team victory. It looks like as if Serbia has the most balanced team in this tournament. Tony Parker, who scored 31 points, rescued a not dominating French team's victory against Latvia by 89-78. Greece and Turkey also won their first game and can now prepare for the more difficult matches to come. The most convincing team on day one was the German squad which won against Israel by 91-64.Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points. Furthermore, Montenegro defeated Macedonia, Belgium lost against Georgia, Russia defeated the Ukraine with 73-64.

All results of day one:

Spain-Poland 83-78
Serbia Italy 80-68
Montenegro-Macedonia 70-65
Belgium-Georgia 59-81
Turkey-Portugal 79-56
France-Latvia 89-78
Greece-Bosnia and Herzegovina 76-67
Slovenia-Bulgaria 67-59
Lithuania-Great Britain 80-69
Germany-Israel 91-64
Croatia-Finland 84-79
Russia-Ukraine 73-64