Slovenia will begin the knockout round of the EuroBasket tournament against Italy on Sunday. Every single game from here on is now considered do-or-die as only eight teams will remain standing after this weekend.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Slovenia vs. Italy
When: Sep. 7, 8:30 a.m. PT
Where: Xiaomi Arena, Latvia
Watch: Courtside 1891
After concluding group play with an encouraging three-game winning streak, Slovenia snuck their way into third place in Group D, putting them in the same bracket as Italy,
who finished second in Group C thanks to their strong 4-1 record.
Speaking of brackets, here’s how it looks for the rest of the 14 teams:
Germany won its games on day one of the knockout stage, which means they will be waiting for whoever wins between Slovenia and Italy. It’s easy to identify the Slovenians as underdogs in this, but with Luka Dončić on their side — especially this version we’ve seen all tournament that should excite Lakers fans — anything is truly possible.
Yes, Italy may be deeper and more experienced, but in this one, they’re going to have to figure out how to stop Dončić. The good news for them is that they rank number one in defensive rating so far in the tournament as they’ve only allowed 6.4 3-point attempts per game and given up less than five points per game in transition.
But the Lakers superstar is also the reason why Slovenia has the third-best offensive rating and in a do-or-die game, anything can happen. Slovenia’s best bet to win is for Dončić to go all out, which has been their recipe for success throughout the competition.
The key for Slovenia to succeed is to make sure Dončić also stays out of foul trouble. That has happened in their last two games but the Slovenians were able to pull through — which is something they likely won’t be able to do against the Italians. Besides Dončić staying out of foul trouble, he will also need a lot of help from his teammates to remove some pressure off him. Hopefully, this is where Aleksej Nikolić, Rok Radović, Edo Murić and the rest step up even more.
Slovenia will face an Italy team led by Miami Heat guard Simone Fontecchio, who is putting up 15.6 points per game while shooting 37.9% from the 3-point line. Accompanying him are Mouhamet Diouf, veteran Danilo Gallinari and Saliou Niang, all of whom have been big contributors.
This match is going to be a battle between offense and defense, heliocentric versus well-rounded and more importantly, whoever wants it more in a win-or-go-home setting. Let’s see if Slovenia can be the one that comes out on top on Sunday.
Notes and Updates:
- Slovenia has won its last three games against Italy in EuroBasket.
- Dončić became Slovenia’s all-time leading scorer in international competitions after last week’s victory against Israel. The 26-year-old now has 1,100 points, which surpassed Goran Dragić‘s 1,095.
- Doncic is also currently averaging the most points (32.4) and steals (3.2) per game in EuroBasket. Additionally, he ranks number two in assists (8.4).
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
