Let’s go ahead and call Group D in EuroBasket 2013 the group of premature death. Take a look at the results from Saturday’s action in Koper, Slovenia.
2013 FIBA EuroBasket scores and schedule: Turkey, Russia falter in Group D
Strange things are afoot in Group D. Meanwhile, Spain recovered from a loss to Slovenia with a 21-point win.
Christof Koepsel
Greece 84, Turkey 61
The painful loss dropped Turkey to 0-3 and eliminated them from contention. This happened on September 7. The tournament began September 4. Turkey, you'll remember, won silver in the 2010 World Cup. Barring a wild card berth, they will not be competing in the 2014 World Cup. Just an unmitigated disaster for the Turks. Ioannis Bourousis led the undefeated Greeks with 21.
Sweden 81, Russia 62
At least Turkey lost to a team with a rich basketball history. Russia dropped to 0-3 with a 19-point loss to previously winless Sweden. The Bobcats' Jeff Taylor had 25 points and four assists for the Swedes. Russia is not officially eliminated just yet, but it needs to beat Finland on Sunday and get some help from Greece on Monday to survive this round.
Italy 62, Finland 44
The Italians -- who are usually in the spot Russia and Turkey are right now -- handed Finland its first loss and stayed undefeated. Luigi Datome, who recently joined the Detroit Pistons, was Italty's leading scorer at 10 in a truly balanced effort. He also had eight rebounds.
Group C was also in action.
Spain 60, Czech Republic 39
Spain moved to 2-1 in the tournament and padded its scoring margin. Rudy Fernandez led the way with 14, and Marc Gasol added 10 rebounds. Jan Vesely had seven points and 14 rebounds for the Czechs. With a win over Poland and a Czech Republic win over Georgia on Sunday, Spain can clinch a spot in the next round.
Croatia 74, Poland 70
The Croats survived a scare from winless Poland to stay above the line in group play. Nets prospect Bojan Bogdanovic had a strong game with 23 points. Croatia's in good position to move on.
Slovenia 72, Georgia 68
Host country Slovenia, however, remains the class of Group C, staying unbeaten with a tight win over Georgia. Domen Lorbek led Slovenia with 18. A win Sunday over Croatia clinches the No. 1 seed in Group C for Slovenia.
Here’s the full schedule for Sunday’s action.
GROUP A
Great Britain vs. Germany, 8:30 a.m. ET
Ukraine vs. France, 11:45 a.m. ET
Israel vs. Belgium, 3 p.m. ET
GROUP B
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. Macedonia, 8:30 a.m. ET
Serbia vs. Latvia, 11:45 a.m. ET
Lithuania vs. Montenegro, 3 p.m. ET
GROUP C
Poland vs. Spain, 8:30 a.m. ET
Czech Republic vs. Georgia, 11:45 a.m. ET
Slovenia vs. Croatia, 3 p.m. ET
GROUP D
Finland vs. Russia, 8:30 a.m. ET
Greece vs. Italy, 11:45 a.m. ET
Sweden vs. Turkey, 3 p.m. ET
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