AROUND the NBA:

[SleepingHero]

Huge surprise by Finland. Serbia suffered a tough blow with Bogdanovic injury, as he seemed to be the heart and soul of the team. Serbia still had a great team with arguably best player in the world and great supporting cast, which should be on paper much better than Markannens supporting cast. 

Tomorrow is Slovenia vs Italy. Slovenia had somewhat surprisingly second best offense in the first five games, just behind Germany. Italy had best defense in the tournament so far. Unlucky for Slovenia - even if we manage to win against Italy (far from given, it will likely be a very interesting match), we play Germany in the quarterfinals. Arguably best team in the tournament. As little hope as I had for Slovenia, they seem to be playing better and better, of course lead by monster Luka performances. Despite realistically low level of quality, I have to admit the confidence of our guys is sky high. They trully believe they can beat anyone.

Italy vs. Slovenia was a masterclass performance from Luka.

40 points in Eurobasket is basically the equivalent of 60+ in the NBA. He's on a tear and truthfully buried Italy in the first quarter. They came back with some good defense and Slovenia stalling out but Luka and the crew managed to put them away.

What a game. Like you said it's unfortunate that they will play Germany. But given that Serbia and now France have both been knocked out in stunners, who is to say that Slovenia can't give Germany a wake up call??

I believe in Slovenia!