What friendly games Turkey, Group A teams will play before EuroBasket? / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPREESS.COM-Scanpix, FIBA Credit ZUMAPREESS.COM-Scanpix, FIBA

With less than one month left before the EuroBasket 2022, the new Tbilisi arena is ready to welcome its first big sporting event. Georgia will host the Group A of the tournament, which features Montenegro, Georgia, Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium, and Turkey.

Unlike groups C and D, which start on September 2, groups A and B begin on September 1, when Spain faces Bulgaria to open the tournament. The four best teams from each group advance to the final stage in Berlin.

You can also check other groups' friendly games schedule and preliminary rosters:

Group B Group C Group D

Montenegro

Montenegro recently had a crucial win over France in the World Cup Qualifiers window. However, the biggest Montenegro star Nikola Vucevic is not included in the preliminary roster.

However, Montenegro has the chance to climb out of Group A even without its biggest star.

The highest EuroBasket finish ever for the Montenegro national team was 13th place in 2017, so topping that is an achievable goal this year.

Before Montenegro travels to Tbilisi, they will have a full month of preparation and friendly games. The team's training camp kicked off on July 28.

After Nikola Vucevic's decision not to play in the upcoming EuroBasket, Montenegro's head coach Bosko Radovic has 23 players left at his disposal.

Training Camp:Started on July 28 in Bar, Montenegro.

Full squad:

Vasilije Bacovic Filip Barovic Luka Bogavac Igor Drobnjak Bojan Dubljevic Andrija Grbovic Emir Hadzibegovic Aleksa Ilic Nikola Ivanovic Dordije Jovanovic Jovan Klijajic Vladimir Mihailovic Zoran Nikolic Nikola Pavlicevic Petar Popovic Jona Radebo Dino Radoncic Nemanja Radovic Marko Simonovic Radosav Spasojevic Marko Todorovic Vladimir Tomasevic Fedor Zugic

Here's the complete schedule of the Montenegrin national team's scrimmages and official games in August:

August 5, 20:15 CET: Montenegro 76:67 Netherlands (Friendly game in Celje, Slovenia) August 6, 20:15 CET: Slovenia 70:52Montenegro (Friendly game in Celje, Slovenia) August 13: Serbia 82:73 Montenegro (Friendly game behind closed doors in Belgrade) August 16: Montenegro 89:53 North Macedonia (Friendly game in Podgorica, Montenegro) August 24, 19:30 CET: Montenegro vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers) August 27, 20:00 CET: Lithuania vs. Montenegro (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers)

Georgia

The group hosts will not be easy opponents for anyone, and not only because of the home crowd.

The modern new arena in Tbilisi will provide great Group A action, and Georgia has already experienced the winning feeling after beating Spain last month. Both teams will meet again on the same court during the EuroBasket.

Full squad:

Rati Andronikashvili Givi Bakradze Beka Bekauri Mikheil Berishvili Goga Bitadze Merab Bokolishvili Beka Burjanadze Kakhaber Dzhincharadze Giorgi Korsantia Ilia Londaridze Sandro Mamukelashvili Luka Maziashvili Thad McFadden Aleksandre Pevadze Duda Sanadze Toko Shengelia Giorgi Shermadini Giorgi Tsintsadze

Here's the complete schedule of the Georgian national team's scrimmages and official games in August:

August 5, 18:00 CEST: Hungary89:88Georgia (Friendly game in Kecskemet, Hungary) August 6, 16:00 CEST: Hungary78:75 (80:81)Georgia (Friendly game in Kecskemet, Hungary) August 12, 17:00 CET: Georgia 96:104 Israel (Friendly game in Tbilisi, Georgia) August 13, 17:00 CET: Georgia 68:81 Israel (Friendly game in Tbilisi, Georgia) August 17, 17:00 CET: Georgia 88:101 Turkey (Friendly tournament in Athens, Greece) August 18, 20:00 CET: Greece 86:70 Georgia (Friendly tournament in Athens, Greece) August 19, 17:00 CET: Georgia vs. Poland (Friendly tournament in Athens, Greece) August 24, 17:00 CET: Georgia vs. Netherlands (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers) August 27, 20:30 CET: Italy vs. Georgia (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers)

Spain

Underestimating the Spanish national team is never a good idea. It has not finished outside of the top four at EuroBasket since 1997 - with nine medals in the last 10 editions.

However, the team has neither Pau nor Marc Gasol and is also without FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 MVP Ricky Rubio. However, there are enough intriguing names.

After the Spanish national team gathered at the training camp in Madrid, head coach Sergio Scariolo said that the generational change in the team is going to be a challenge.

"We know the difficulty of the moment. The generational change in which we find ourselves is a great challenge. We are very clear that the values ​​of the National Team do not vary, but the level of talent does," said Scariolo just before the national team's gathering for the training camp.

Training Camp: Spain started preparing for EuroBasket on August 1 in Madrid.

Full squad:

Alberto Abalde Hector Alderete Jonathan Barreiro Dario Brizuela Lorenzo Brown Quino Colom Alberto Diaz Jaime Fernandez Rudy Fernandez Usman Garuba Fran Guerra Juancho Hernangomez Willy Hernangomez Sergio Llull Xabi Lopez-Arostegui Juan Nunez Joel Parra Jaime Pradilla Sebas Saiz Miquel Salvo Yankuba Sima Santi Yusta

The team will play a total of six games: four friendly matches and two contests for the FIBA 2023 World Cup European Qualifiers.

Here's the complete schedule of the Spanish national team's scrimmages and official games in August:

August 9, 18:00 CET: Greece86:70Spain (Friendly game in Athens, Greece) August 11, 19:30 CET: Spain 87:80 Greece (Friendly game in Madrid, Spain) August 16, 19:30 CET: Spain 77:82 Lithuania (Friendly game in Gran Canaria, Spain) August 18, 18:30 CET: Lithuania 78:76 Spain (Friendly game in Vilnius, Lithuania) August 24, 21:00 CET: Spain vs. Iceland (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers) August 27, 19:00 CET: Netherlands vs. Spain (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers)

Bulgaria

Bulgaria has had some disappointing results lately as the team did not qualify for the 2023 World Cup, winning just once in the Qualifiers.

An overtime victory over Italy was the highlight of their EuroBasket qualifiers campaign as they made it back to EuroBasket for the first time in over a decade. Bulgaria beat North Macedonia for the final spot.

Full squad:

Ivan Alipiev Vasil Bachev Dee Bost Dimitar Dimitrov Andrey Ivanov Pavlin Ivanov Deyan Karmfilov Konstantin Kostadinov Chavdar Kostov David Kravish Stanimir Marinov Yordan Minchev Alex Simeonov Emil Stoilov Alexander Vezenkov Alexander Yanev

Bulgaria national team's schedule:

August 12, 17:30 CET: Czech Republic 93:60 Bulgaria (Friendly game in Pardubice, Czech Republic) August 13, 17:30 CET: Bulgaria 68:98 Croatia (Friendly game in Pardubice, Czech Republic) August 25, 18:00 CET: Bulgaria vs. Cyprus (EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers) August 28, 18:00 CET: Bulgaria vs. Romania (EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers)

Belgium

Belgium will take plenty of momentum into the back end of the summer and will feel they are a more experienced and well-rounded unit, having only managed a solitary win at the last EuroBasket as they failed to advance.

Retin Obasohan and Ismael Bako continue to grow as players, which might elevate Belgium to a higher level as well.

Training Camp:Belgium started their preparation training camp in Hasselt on August 10.

Full squad:

Ismael Bako Vrenz Bleijenbergh Haris Bratanovic Maxime De Zeeuw Pierre-Antoine Gillet Archange Izaw Bolavie Manu Lecomte Alexandre Libert Jean-Marc Mwema Marshall Nelson Retin Obasohan Roby Rogiers Jean Salumu Loïc Schwartz Quentin Serron Jonathan Tabu Kevin Tumba Hans Vanwijn

Here's the complete schedule of the Belgian national team's scrimmages and official games in August:

August 4, 18:30 CET: Finland 71:75 Belgium (Friendly game in Tampere, Finland) August 6, 18:30 CET: Finland 80:71 Belgium (Friendly game in Tampere, Finland) August 10, 20:30 CET: Belgium 83:87 Germany (Friendly game in Hasselt, Belgium) August 12, 18:00 CET: Estonia 79:66 Belgium (Friendly game in Tartu, Estonia) August 13, 17:00 CET: Bosnia and Herzegovina 74:68 Belgium (Friendly game in Tartu, Estonia) August 18, 20:30 CET: France 90:71 Belgium (Friendly game in Montpellier, France) August 25, 20:30 CET: Belgium vs. Great Britain (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers) August 28, 19:00 CET: Greece vs. Belgium (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers)

Turkey

Turkey has some serious individual talents at their disposal, but the important factor for the Turkish NT will be bringing it all together at a major tournament.

Cedi Osman, Furkan Korkmaz, and Shane Larkin should lead the charge, as Omer Yurtseven will not be present at the competition. Such a roster can beat any team on a given night, but can Turkey manage to put it all together and be a successful team throughout the tournament?

Full squad:

Furkan Haltali Shane Larkin Sertac Sanli Sehmus Hazer Melih Mahmutoglu Yigitcan Saybir Muhsin Yasar Metecan Birsen Sadik Emir Kabaca Cedi Osman Alperen Sengun Onuralp Bitim Dogus Ozdemiroglu Bugrahan Tuncer Furkan Korkmaz Ercan Osmani

Here's the complete schedule of the Turkish national team's scrimmages and official games in August:

August 11, 19:00 CET: Turkey 96:70 Ukraine (Friendly tournament in Istanbul, Turkey) August 12, 19:00 CET: Turkey 103:104 Slovenia (Friendly tournament in Istanbul, Turkey) August 14, 18:00 CET: Turkey 94:78 Poland (Friendly tournament in Istanbul, Turkey) August 17, 17:00 CET: Georgia 88:101 Turkey (Friendly tournament in Athens, Greece) August 18, 17:00 CET: Turkey 86:87Poland (Friendly tournament in Athens, Greece) August 19, 20:00 CET: Greece vs. Turkey (Friendly tournament in Athens, Greece) August 25, 18:30 CET: Latvia vs. Turkey (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers) August 28, 19:00 CET: Turkey vs. Serbia (2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers). Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.