The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the final on 20 September 2009. The competition served as a qualification tournament for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
Spain claimed their first EuroBasket title by routing Serbia 85–63 in the final.[1]Greece captured the bronze medal with a 57–56 victory over Slovenia. The four teams to make the semi-finals, plus France and Croatia claimed the six European qualifying places for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Spain's Pau Gasol was named the tournament MVP.[2]
The tournament was played at seven venues in seven cities throughout Poland.[3] Each one of the total six groups in the preliminary and the qualifying round was hosted by a single arena, while the entire knockout stage was played at Spodek Arena, Katowice.
The draw for the qualifying round took place on 16 February 2008 in Venice, Italy. Poland, as host nation, and the seven top-placed nations in EuroBasket 2007 automatically qualified for the tournament finals. From the qualifying round, the winners of the four groups and the three best second-place teams also advanced to the final round of the event. The ten teams who participated in the qualifying round and did not succeed in going through to the final round had been ranked according to their win–loss records, their win–loss percentages and their goal average coefficients. The first six teams took part in an additional qualifying round, held from 5 to 30 August 2009, the winner of which secured the last ticket for the final tournament.[4]
The draw for the groups of the final tournament took place on 8 November 2008 in Warsaw, Poland. The finalists were divided into four seeding pots, based on the results of the teams in the most recent FIBA Europe official competitions, with the last competition being the most important. Teams from the same group of seeds cannot be drawn against each other.[6][7]
Each nation fielded a roster of twelve players for the tournament. FIBA rules allow one naturalized player per team.[8][9] Nineteen players currently on NBA rosters participated in the tournament. France (Tony Parker, Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw, Ian Mahinmi, and Nicolas Batum) led the way with five NBA players participating on the team.[10]
Mascot
Mieszko
The Polish Basketball Federation and the Local Organising Committee of EuroBasket 2009 announced at a press conference in Warsaw that they have chosen the European Bison as the official mascot of EuroBasket 2009. The European bison
(Polish: Żubr) is the largest wild animal to be found in Poland's forests. It is estimated that almost one fifth of the world's population of bisons is actually living in Poland. The animal is known for its calm attitude, while its posture and horns are associated with strength and dignity. The name chosen for the event's official mascot is Mieszko. The name has historical significance as it is the name of the first documented Polish ruler who united Poland in the 10th century. Mieszko is wearing a white jersey that shows the logo of the tournament and white shorts with a number 9. There is red on the sides of the jersey and shorts. His footwear is white with red laces. He is also holding a basketball that says "EuroBasket 2009".
The final was a rematch of each team's opening game, with the Spaniards attempting to avenge their 66–57 upset loss to the Serbs. Spain raced to a double-digit lead early in the first quarter, en route to an unassailable 52–29 lead at halftime. Serbia didn't catch up to hand Spain their first European Championship. Pau Gasol had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Rudy Fernandez added 13 points and five rebounds. Uroš Tripković and Novica Veličković had 15 points each in a losing effort for the Serbs.[11]
Spain, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, France, and Croatia qualified for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Turkey previously qualified as hosts of the competition. Russia, Germany, and Lithuania were later awarded wild card berths to the tournament.
All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team:[12]
^Players who are citizens by birth of the country they represent, even if they were born outside of that country and have not previously lived there, are not considered "naturalized" under FIBA rules. Two players on the Greece squad, Nick Calathes and Kosta Koufos, were born and raised in the United States, but were also Greek citizens by birth because each had at least one parent who emigrated from Greece.
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