From Limassol in the south to Tampere in the north of Europe, basketball will be in the spotlight in just under a month.
The new edition of EuroBasket starts on August 27th, Montenegro will be part of the spectacle for the fifth time in history, and our national team's rivals will be one of the hosts, Finland, world champion Germany, Lithuania, Sweden and Great Britain.
It is known that the selector Bosko Radovic will not be able to count on several important assets, such as Bojan Dubljević, Nikola Ivanovic and guys going to the NCAA, but other opponents are going through similar struggles.
It seems that only one of the EuroBasket hosts does not have such problems, since the biggest star is there. Lauri Markanen, Utah basketball player, but also all the others that the coach Glass Fabric account.
The land of basketball in chaos
Total chaos reigns in the national team where it was perhaps least expected - in Lithuania, the largest basketball nation in our group.
Of the five NBA players, only one will lead this team at EuroBasket Jonas Valančunas, Denver's new center. The biggest star, Sacramento's trump card, Domantas Sabonis will not play this summer "due to personal reasons", while the biggest storm was caused by the absence Young Buzelisa.
Our teammate Nikola Vucevic He decided to make that move in Chicago because he is a member of the coaching staff of the Lithuanian national team. Thomas Paces criticized captain Valančunas and him.
Pacesas said that some NBA players come to the Lithuanian national team camp overweight and need time to recover after the hunt.
"I will definitely play for the Lithuanian national team, but I don't know when yet," Buzelis pointed out.
In the end, of all the NBA stars, Lithuania will be led by one of those who was criticized - Valančunas.
A world champion without an NBA champion
Germany, led by NBA aces in Tampere, will have much fewer problems. Denis Schroeder i Franz Wagner, and there is Tristan da Silva.
With all that, a new coach Alex Mumbru can also count on proven European players, such as Daniel Taisa, Andreas Obst, Johannes Feujtmann, Johannes Timana, while it will be missing Isaiah Hartenstein.
The guy who recently won an NBA crown with Oklahoma City and became only the second German after Dirk Novicki with a championship ring from the strongest league in the world, he will skip Eurobasket due to problems with his Achilles tendon.
Swedish NBA trump card also canceled
Montenegro will primarily seek a chance to advance to the round of 16 in matches against Sweden and Great Britain.
Radović's men also won against the Scandinavian team in the qualifiers, and they shouldn't have too difficult a job in Tampere.
Sweden has two NBA players - First Larson from Miami is in the lineup for the EP, while Bobi Klintman, Detroit's power forward, decided to retire.
Klintman made his NBA debut last season, playing in eight games, and he shone in the summer league.
"Playing for the national team is always a great honor, but after a season full of injuries, it is crucial that I dedicate myself to a full recovery and a strong pre-season with my club," said Klintman.
When it comes to Montenegro, apart from the aforementioned Dubljević and Ivanović, none of the following will be playing for Montenegro this summer: Nemanja Radović, Petar Popovic, Dino Radoncic, Luka Bogavac, Andrija Grbović i David Mirkovic.
Our selection opens the Eurobasket on August 27th against Germany at the Nokia Arena.
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