In just ten days, basketball will take center stage across Europe—journeying from Limassol to Katowice, Riga, and Tampere for the European Championship.

In the northernmost host city, Montenegro is set to draft the fifth chapter of its Eurobasket narrative, facing off against Israel in Bar today at 16:30 PM in their fourth summer test match.

Under the guidance of Boško Radović, the team has secured victories over Bosnia and Herzegovina, while suffering defeats against formidable foes France and Greece. Overall, despite the setbacks, the outlook for our national team remains optimistic.

What about the competition that Nikola Vučević and his teammates will meet in Finland, namely Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, Great Britain, and the host nation?

Sweden and Great Britain are largely seen as teams that Montenegro can defeat to reach the round of 16, making their preparation performance less concerning for our players.

Both squads have struggled through their prep games, with the Scandinavians managing at least one win in a closed-door match.

Sweden faced defeats against Poland (74:72), Iceland (73:70), and Portugal (78:61), while securing a win over Poland in a closed match. It’s evident that much of their performance hinges on Pele Larsen, a player for Miami.

Meanwhile, Great Britain had limited success against France (74:67), Belgium (84:72), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (103:73).

At the start of their preparations, it appeared that Lithuania might face significant turmoil; however, their performances quickly showcased their incredible talent as a team.

From their five NBA players, only Jonas Valančunas will lead Lithuania at EuroBasket. Matas Buzelis stirred controversy before preparations by failing to report due to criticism from team staff member Tomas Pacesas of Valančunas and himself.

In any case, these issues did not impact their test matches, as Rimas Kurtinaitis’ squad has achieved victory in all five this summer—against Estonia (89:68), Turkey (91:70), Georgia (77:54), Latvia (109:105), and Slovenia (94:72).

In their most recent games, Gitis Radzevičius, a Rytas wing player, has shined alongside Valančunas and Rokas Jokubaitis.

Germany also maintained an undefeated streak until last night, when Serbia delivered a lesson to the world champions in Munich (91:81). Prior to this, Denis Schroeder and his team had bested Slovenia twice (103:89 and 80:70) and Turkey (73:71).

The host nation, Finland, has engaged in the fewest matches thus far—just two against Belgium, both of which they won (105:62 and 92:74).

One of those games featured an outstanding performance by Lauri Markkanen, who scored 48 points.

Montenegro will kick off its EuroBasket campaign on August 27th against Germany, with an additional test match against Turkey in Istanbul prior to that.

News