EUROBASKET 2022: FINAL PREVIEW - Hoopsfix.com

EUROBASKET 2022: FINAL PREVIEW

What are the key facts to know ahead of Sunday’s EuroBasket final between Spain and France in Berlin (7.30pm BST)?

This will be a rematch of the EuroBasket 2011 final when Spain beat France 98-85; overall, this will be the 22nd match-up between Spain and France at the EuroBasket, the most played fixture in the competition, with Spain leading the series 17-4. Neither team have arrived at the final unbeaten with Spain losing to Belgium in the group stages and France to both Germany and Slovenia.

Spain will play their 10th final at the EuroBasket, third- best tally behind the Soviet Union (13) and Yugoslavia (12); this will be Spain’s 6th final in the 21st century, no other team has reached that stage more than three times in that span. 

Spain have won their last three EuroBasket finals (2009, 2011 & 2015) after losing each of their previous six; their three wins in finals came by margins of 13 points or more. 

Spain have won each of their last 19 games in the knockout stage of the EuroBasket when they managed to score 75+ points; the last time they scored 75+ points in a knockout stage game and lost it was in the 2003 final against Lithuania (93-84). 

Favourites France will play their 3rd final at the EuroBasket, after 2011 (lost 98-85 v Spain) and 2013 (won 80-66 v Lithuania); they are assured to get their 10th medal in the competition, the 6th team to reach that tally (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Spain, Czechoslovakia & Italy). 

France have won 13 of their last 16 games in the knockout stage of the EuroBasket, however, three of their last four defeats in such games came against Spain. 

France have scored 90+ points in each of their last two EuroBasket games but have not scored that many points in more games in a row in a single edition of the competition since 1983 (3 in a row). 

Spain have scored 41.8 points per game in the paint in the EuroBasket 2022, the most of any teams; however, only Serbia (23.3) have conceded fewer points in the paint per game than France (28.5). 

France have made 10+ 3-pointers in consecutive EuroBasket games (13 v Italy & 15 v Poland) for the first time since 2007, against Germany (10) and Lithuania (11), but never had three such games in a row since 1995; they averaged seven 3-pointers per game in their previous two finals in the competition. 

Lorenzo Brown (123pts, 57ast) has become the first Spanish player with 100+ points and 50+ assists in a single EuroBasket tournament since 1995; he also became the first player making more than 20 points and more than 5 assists in multiple EuroBasket games with Spain since 1995, achieving that in two of his three games in the knockout stage this year. 

Rudy Fernandez could play his 5th EuroBasket final, a joint-high in the competition alongside Pau Gasol, Felipe Reyes, Vladimir Tkachenko, Sergei Belov, Gennadi Volnov and Kresimir Cosic; in case of a win against France, Fernandez would become the only Spanish player to have taken part in each of Spain’s four victorious campaigns at the EuroBasket. 

Thomas Heurtel has made 54 assists when coming from the bench in this EuroBasket, only Sergio Rodriguez in 2017 (61) has made more assists coming from the bench in a EuroBasket tournament since 1995; Heurtel is the only player of the current French squad to have taken part in a EuroBasket final, in France’s triumph in 2013 against Lithuania, and therefore, could become the only French player to win two EuroBasket trophies. 

Rudy Gobert has grabbed 82 rebounds in this EuroBasket 2022, a record for a French player in a single edition of the tournament over the last 25 years; he has grabbed 13+ rebounds in each of his four EuroBasket games where he played 30+ minutes, all during knockout stages. 

 

 

Germany face Poland in the bronze medal game (4.30pm BST).

Germany and Poland will face each other for the 7th time at the EuroBasket, the latter winning four of their previous six matchups, but their last meeting was in 1997 (86-76 for Poland); it will be the first time those teams face each other in the knockout stage, however. 

Germany will play their second 3rd place game at the EuroBasket, losing against Spain 99-90 in 2001, the highest scoring medal game in the 21st century; Germany will attempt to get their third medal at the EuroBasket, after the gold in 1993 and the silver in 2005. 

Germany lost 96-91 against Spain in the semi-finals, but have not lost consecutive EuroBasket games since a run of five defeats in the preliminary round in 2015; they have conceded 90+ points in each of their last two games but never had three games in a row with as many points conceded in the competition. 

Poland will play their 6th bronze medal game at the EuroBasket, winning two of their previous five appearances at that stage (1965 & 1967). Only two other teams have played more 3rd place games in the competition (France, 9 & Spain, 8). 

Poland have lost their last game (54-95 v France) but are yet to lose consecutive games in the EuroBasket 2022; they have conceded more than 85 points in each of their last four games but had a longer such run in the EuroBasket only once before, six games in a row in 1985. 

Germany have scored 93.3 points per game in the EuroBasket 2022, the most of any team; they have already scored 103 3-pointers in this year’s tournament, the most of any team in a single EuroBasket edition. 

Poland have allowed their opponent to grab 7.9 offensive rebounds per game, the fewest of any team in the EuroBasket 2022 – they have conceded just 6 points per game off second chance situations, the fewest of any team that made it out of the preliminary round. 

Only five players have scored 20+ shots from behind the arc in the EuroBasket 2022, and three of them will be playing in this game: Germany’s Andreas Obst (23) and Maodo Lo (22) and Poland’s A. J. Slaughter (22). 

Germany’s Dennis Schroder has combined for 20+ points and 8+ assists in four of his last five games in the EuroBasket; he has had a total of seven games with those numbers, while no other player has done it in more than two EuroBasket games since 1995. 

Mateusz Ponitka (Poland) has made 112 points, 46 rebounds and 50 assists – he is four rebounds away from becoming only the second player with 100+ points, 50+ rebounds and 50+ assists in a EuroBasket tournament since 1995 (Mantas Kalnietis did it in 2013). 

Data: Opta Stats. Images: FIBA