Eurobasket (Men's European Championships) Preview: Group A

DraftExpress’ European Championships coverage kicks off by breaking down the top players participating at the upcoming Eurobasket tournament in Belgrade beginning September 16th. The teams are analyzed individually from a player perspective, exploring who the leaders and top stars are on each squad, and which intriguing players with NBA upside are lurking on every roster.

Group A consists of Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ukraine, headlined by NBA all-stars Dirk Nowitzki and Andrei Kirilenko.

Group A

Games will be conducted in Vršac, Serbia and Montenegro from September 16th to 18th

Read more about the Eurobasket tournament at the informative official website Eurobasket2005.com

Germany

The Star:

Dirk Nowitzki, 7-0, PF, Dallas Mavericks, 27 years old

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Jonathan Givony

Much to the chagrin of Mark Cuban, Dallas’ star power forward will be here helping out his national team once again despite initially threatening not to participate unless his coach and longtime mentor Holger Geschwindner is released from jail in Germany for accusations of tax evasion.

As the biggest NBA star in this tournament on an otherwise extremely weak team, everything will start and end for Germany with Nowitzki and his ability to take over games. Although the European game is one that is based on team play more than individual matchups, look for most of Germany’s offense to revolve around getting Dirk in position to use his height to get his shot off in the spots he feels comfortable scoring from, while playing off the rotations he forces and the double teams he will surely draw. Dirk will play the power forward position for Germany as he does for the Dallas Mavericks, and will be even more of a mismatch using all of his 7 feet of height, excellent mobility and coordination to put the ball on the floor, receive the ball in the mid-high post and just shoot over the top of his man with his deft touch and high release, or stroke the three pointer when the opportunity presents itself. More than ever, though, he will have to show that he can first and foremost hurt his matchup inside the arc before he steps outside. This is a terrific opportunity for Dirk to show his always improving post up game, as few players anywhere in the world can stop him when he receives the ball with his back to the basket before spotting up for a quick fadeaway jumper. Helping his team out defensively and especially on the glass will be a must for Germany to reach the advanced stages of the tournament. Despite the challenged involved with playing with such an already weak squad that is now reeling from a string of unfortunate injuries to many of its key contributors, Dirk will also have to make his teammates better. No one wins games by themselves in the International game, but Germany and Nowitzki will come about as close as you can get.

The Upside: None