International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

EuroBasket Quarterfinals Set After Greece Beats Israel

September 7th, 2025 at 5:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Led by Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who dominated with 37 points (on 18-of-23 shooting) and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes, Greece was the final team to advance to the quarterfinals of EuroBasket 2025 on Sunday after defeating Israel.

Although the game was close through most of the first three quarters and the final margin of victory was only five points, the Greek national team never trailed and was ahead for 39:13 of the 40-minute contest, according to FIBA. Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija scored a team-high 22 points for Israel in the loss.

Greece will now face Lithuania, which eliminated host nation Latvia in the round of 16.

In a press release, FIBA announced the dates and tip-off times for each single-elimination quarterfinal matchup, which will continue to be held in Riga, Latvia. They are as follows:

Tuesday, September 9:

Turkey vs. Poland – 9:00am CT / 5:00pm EEST
Lithuania vs. Greece – 1:00pm CT / 9:00pm EEST

Wednesday, September 10:

Finland vs. Georgia – 9:00am CT / 5:00pm EEST
Germany vs. Slovenia – 1:00pm CT / 9:00pm EEST

Turkey and Germany are the only two undefeated teams (6-0) in the tournament, with both advancing to the quarterfinals on Saturday following victories over Sweden and Portugal, respectively. Turkey faces Poland, which went 3-2 in the group phase and knocked off Bosnia and Herzegovina for a spot in the quarterfinals, while Germany will take on Slovenia, which ousted Italy.

Serbia and France, which both went 4-1 during the group phase and were among the favorites to medal, both lost in the round of 16. Finland and Georgia pulled off those upsets, and will now meet for a spot in the semifinals.

The teams that were eliminated in the round of 16 have been officially classified as well. Group position was the primary criterion, followed by group phase record and point differential.

France
Serbia
Italy
Latvia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Israel
Portugal
Sweden

Doncic, Slovenia Advance In EuroBasket With Win Over Italy

September 7th, 2025 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Despite a mild injury scare during the first half of Sunday’s game, Lakers star Luka Doncic led the Slovenian national team to an 84-77 victory over Italy at EuroBasket 2025, securing the country’s spot in the quarterfinals.

After pouring in 22 points in the first quarter, Doncic left the court to get his quad muscle stretched out in the Slovenian locker room, a league source tells Dan Woike of The Athletic. However, he returned to the floor a few minutes later and finished the first half with 30 points, en route to a 42-point, 10-rebound performance.

It was the first time in the tournament that Doncic has scored at least 40 points in a game, but he got close a couple times during the group stage and is now averaging 34.0 points per contest, making him this year’s leading scorer at EuroBasket by a considerable margin. He’s just the third player in the past 30 years to have at least 40 points and 10 rebounds in a EuroBasket game, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops, joining Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki (2001) and Spain’s Pau Gasol (2015).

Shooting guard Klemen Prepelic (11 points on 3-of-10 shooting) was the only other Slovenian player to score in double-digits.

Heat forward Simone Fontecchio led the way for the Italians with 22 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Italy was a +11 when Fontecchio was on the court, but was outscored by 18 points during his time on the bench.

Sunday’s game may be longtime NBA forward Danilo Gallinari‘s last for Italy, as he has suggested he plans to retire from the national team after EuroBasket. He had 10 points and three rebounds in 12 minutes of action.

Italy’s head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco also confirmed after Sunday’s loss to Slovenia that he plans to step down from his role with the national team, as Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews.com relays.

“It’s my last game with Italy,” Pozzecco told reporters. “I want to thank my president, Giovanni Petrucci, for giving me this honor to become coach of the national team. From deep of my heart, it’s like… Maybe, for sure, the best moment of my life. It was a real honor to have this role in Italian basketball.”

Three of the EuroBasket quarterfinals have now been set. Turkey will face Poland on Tuesday, while Slovenia matches up with Germany and Finland plays Georgia on Wednesday. Lithuania, which will play on Tuesday, awaits the winner of today’s showdown between Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s Greek team and Deni Avdija‘s Israeli squad.

Georgia Surprises France, Poland Ousts Bosnia At EuroBasket

September 7th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Sunday produced another shocking upset at EuroBasket, as Georgia defeated France to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time ever, writes Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops.

Kamar Baldwin and Tornike Shengelia each scored 24 points and Shengelia added eight rebounds in the 80-70 victory. Orlando center Goga Bitadze also chipped in eight points. The French team got 14 points from Sylvain Francisco and 12 from Guerschon Yabusele.

“We said from the pregame meeting that we are playing to win,” Shengelia said. “We are happy to be here, but we are not satisfied.”

Next up for Georgia is a meeting on Wednesday with Finland, who took down Serbia on Saturday. Loaded with NBA talent, the French and Serbian teams were expected to be top contenders for the gold medal.

“We missed sometimes some easy shots,” French coach Frederic Fauthoux said after watching his team shoot 35% from the field, “so this is basketball.”

France was undersized with Vincent Poirier having to withdraw just before the start of the tournament due to right knee issues and Victor Wembanyama, Mathias Lessort and Rudy Gobert also unavailable. However, Georgia’s Sandro Mamukelashvili told reporters after the game that it wouldn’t have mattered if France was at full strength, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews.

“I wish them nothing but the best, but right now I can text Victor Wembanyama and tell him we just beat France,” the former Spurs center said, “and it’s too bad he was not here because we would beat them with him too.”

Poland kicked off Sunday’s elimination games with a 90-82 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milanti adds in a separate story. Former NBA guard Jordan Loyd led the way with 28 points, and Mateusz Ponitka contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Poland will face unbeaten Turkey on Tuesday in a quarterfinals matchup.

EuroBasket Notes: Wagner, Doncic, Larkin, Serbia

September 6th, 2025 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Germany advanced to the EuroBasket quarterfinals earlier today by beating Portugal, but the experience is somewhat bittersweet for Franz Wagner because his brother isn’t involved, writes Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. Moritz Wagner, normally a regular part of the German national team, is still recovering from an ACL tear in his left knee that he suffered in December.

“He’s now doing some media stuff, I think, for German television as well,” Franz said. “So he’s watching all the games for sure. And obviously, we talk to him a bunch, so I know that he would love to be here.”

Moritz has been representing Germany for more than a decade, dating back to under-18 tournaments. He was part of the 2023 squad that went undefeated while capturing the gold medal at the World Cup, and he earned MVP honors in the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Franz, who led the team with 16 points in the win over Portugal, said his brother has been offering encouraging words from the sidelines.

“Just have fun, go out there and enjoy the game,” he said. “Obviously, there’s pressure and all this stuff involved, but at the end of the day, we’re playing the game.”

There’s more from EuroBasket:

After posting a triple-double last Sunday against Belgium, Luka Doncic narrowly missed another one in Thursday’s win over Israel, according to Eurohoops. The Slovenian star, who finished with 37 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, said he and his teammates are confident about their medal chances. “We’re hoping for the medal. We think we can win a medal,” he said. “I know a lot of others don’t, but we believe in us. Everybody that’s here, we all believe, everyone in everyone.”
Shane Larkin, who became a star in Turkey after a brief NBA career, wants to pay back the country by winning a medal, per Samih Tuna of Eurohoops. “If I’m part of the team that went out there and did something special, bring a medal back home to Turkiye, it would mean everything to me,” Larkin said.
Serbian head coach Svetislav Pesic blamed a lack of physicality for today’s upset loss to Finland, BasketNews relays. Finland collected 20 offensive rebounds, resulting in numerous second-chance points. “We can look for excuses, but the reality is that you need to be in better physical shape at a tournament like this,” Pesic said. “We weren’t. Several players played through injuries. We also had a virus in the team — an illness. Nikola Jovic didn’t practice. Those things are not excuses, but when you play against a team like this, at a tournament like this, you need to be physically stronger. You can’t say the players didn’t give what they could — you can always give more, but it just didn’t happen.”

Finland Shocks Serbia; Lithuania Also Reaches EuroBasket Quarterfinals

September 6th, 2025 at 5:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Finland pulled off one of the biggest international upsets in recent years, surprising Serbia on Saturday in a EuroBasket elimination game, writes Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen led the way for the Finnish team with 29 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in the 92-86 victory.

“Unreal,” Markkanen said. “Great performance by the team. We needed every single one of them tonight — everybody in the stands, the staff, the players. Big credit to them. We’re not done yet, but we’re gonna enjoy this. Obviously, that’s a heck of a team we just beat, and now we move forward.”

Led by perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and with six other current and former NBA players on its roster, Serbia was considered among the favorites for the EuroBasket title when the tournament began. But its prospects took a major hit when Bogdan Bogdanovic suffered a ruptured hamstring muscle last week that forced him out of the competition.

Serbia cruised to victories in its first four games behind dominant performances from Jokic. However, they dropped to second in Group A after Wednesday’s loss to Turkey and didn’t respond well in the knockout round.

Jokic delivered 33 points and eight rebounds on Saturday, but Serbia didn’t offer much other scoring punch outside of Nikola Jovic‘s 20 points. Despite his many career accomplishments, Jokic has never medaled at EuroBasket.

Up next for Finland will be the winner of Sunday’s game between France and Georgia.

Lithuania also advanced to the quarterfinals on Saturday with an 88-79 victory over Latvia, joining Turkey and Germany, who won earlier in the day.

With Rokas Jokubaitis sidelined by a serious knee injury, Arnas Velicka starred for the Lithuanians with 21 points, 12 assists and five rebounds, while Azuolas Tubelis contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds and Deividas Sirvydis added 18 points.

Latvia was eliminated despite a stellar performance from Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 34 points and 19 rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Porzingis told reporters that he has mostly recovered from the illness that sapped his strength last season with Boston, according to BasketNews.

“It’s true that there were still some days when I wasn’t feeling perfect, and I’m still working my way back to having my gas tank full,” he said. “But as the tournament went on, I started to feel really good physically, and I knew I could push my body, I could push myself to go. Today was an example of that. It’s just up from now. Overall, a great summer with my Latvian teammates, being back home, enjoying time with family. And yeah, I would have liked to finish on a more beautiful note.”

Lithuania’s quarterfinals opponent will be the winner of Sunday’s Greece-Israel matchup.

Turkey, Germany Advance To EuroBasket Quarterfinals

September 6th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Rory Maher

After trailing by a slim margin for the majority of the game, Turkey eventually defeated Sweden, 85-79, to advance to the quarterfinals of EuroBasket 2025, writes Semih Tuna of Eurohoops. The game was surprisingly competitive, considering Sweden went just 1-4 during the group phase while Turkey was 5-0, including Wednesday’s victory over Serbia.

Rockets big man Alperen Sengun was once again the standout performer for the Turkish national team, recording game highs of 24 points and 16 rebounds to go along with six assists and two blocks. Heat wing Pelle Larsson finished with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal in Sweden’s loss.

Head coach Ergin Ataman complained both before and after the game about Turkey having to compete at noon local time despite being the top seed from Group A, as Tuna relays in another story for Eurohoops.

“We didn’t wake up for the beginning of the game. After we understood we were in a difficult situation, in the third quarter, and came back in the game with very good defense, but we gave back this confidence to Sweden,” Ataman said. “Finally, we found a way to win. Now, we will think about the quarterfinal, which I think we will play in regular time, if they don’t want to change again and play in the morning at 11 o’clock.”

Turkey will face the winner of tomorrow’s matchup between Poland and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Germany, which won the 2023 World Cup, was the only other undefeated team during the group phase and is the top seed from Group B. The Germans struggled mightily from three-point range on Saturday against Portugal, starting out just 1-of-24 before finishing 10-of-36, and only had a one-point lead entering the final period, according to Tuna.

However, Germany dominated the final frame, 33-7, to emerge with a 27-point victory.

“Obviously, you can improve in every game. I saw the first game with Sweden; they gave a great fight to Turkey, like Portugal gave a great fight to us,” said AS Monaco center Daniel Theis. “It’s the knockout stage. There are no easy games anymore.”

The German national team had five players — including Dennis Schröder, Franz Wagner, Tristan Da Silva and Isaac Bonga — finish with double-digit points. Portugal was led by Celtics center Neemias Queta, who finished with game highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes.

Germany will face the winner of Sunday’s matchup between Italy and Slovenia on Wednesday.

Mason Jones To Sign With Perth Wildcats

September 5th, 2025 at 7:19am CST by Luke Adams

After finishing the 2024/25 season on a two-way contract with Sacramento, free agent guard Mason Jones is in the process of finalizing a deal with the Perth Wildcats of Australia’s National Basketball League, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN.

A 6’4″ shooting guard who went undrafted out of Arkansas in 2020, Jones has spent most of his professional career bouncing back and forth between the NBA and the G League, having seen action in 51 total regular season games for the Rockets, Sixers, Lakers, and Kings. He has played sparingly at the NBA level, averaging 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 9.0 minutes per contest, with a .427/.329/.663 shooting line.

Jones, who also had a brief stint overseas with Darussafaka in Turkey in 2023, signed a two-year, two-way contract with Sacramento in February 2024 and played out that deal, which expired this summer. The 27-year-old had a big year for the Stockton Kings in 2024/25, averaging 23.6 PPG, 7.9 APG, and 5.1 RPG on .492/.447/.790 shooting in 27 outings.

Jones earned a spot on the All-NBAGL second team and was named the Most Valuable Player of the G League Finals after Stockton captured the league’s 2025 title.

Uluc had reported earlier this week that Perth was considering a number of NBA veterans for its final import spot, with Kobi Simmons and Yuri Collins among the other free agents who had recently received some interest. The Wildcats are coming off an 18-11 season in which they were eliminated from the NBL playoffs in the semifinals by Melbourne United.

And-Ones: Carmelo, Howard, 2026 Draft, Raveling, Armani

September 4th, 2025 at 8:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of Carmelo Anthony‘s induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend, Dave McMenamin of ESPN revisits the forward’s impressive career at the college, NBA, and international levels, laying out why he was a “no-brainer” choice to make the Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Zach Kram makes a similar case for another of this weekend’s inductees, detailing why center Dwight Howard, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, is a worthy first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. In Kram’s view, Howard has actually become somewhat underrated, since his drop-off in production during his 30s made it easy to forgot how high his peaks were in his prime.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

With the start of the 2025/26 college basketball season around the corner, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his 2026 NBA mock draft, running through all 60 hypothetical picks, from Kansas guard Darryn Peterson at No. 1 to Connecticut big man Tarris Reed Jr. at No. 60.
After longtime college basketball coach and Nike sports marketing director George Raveling died on Monday at age 88, NBA commissioner Adam Silver put out a statement lauding Raveling for his “influence on the game of basketball at every level” and sending condolences to his family and friends (Twitter link).
Giorgio Armani passed away on Thursday at the age of 91, as Eurohoops relays. While he’s more known for his role in the fashion world than for his contributions to basketball, Armani had owned the EuroLeague club Olimpia Milano since 2008. In a statement issued on Thursday, the EuroLeague credited the Italian fashion designer for “ushering in a new golden era” for Olimpia Milano during his tenure as owner, which included six Italian League championships and the team’s first EuroLeague Final Four appearances in nearly three decades.

Free Agent Notes: Giddey, Lyles, Bacot, Gallinari

September 4th, 2025 at 7:23pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls‘ have increased their offer to restricted free agent guard Josh Giddey since they reportedly proposed a four-year deal worth $20MM annually the start of free agency, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (YouTube link). However, it remains well below the price that Giddey and his camp are reportedly seeking.

“He was offered four years, $80 million when free agency started,” Marks said. “That number has gone up to four years, $88MM.”

As Marks points out, that $22MM-per-year figure would be at the low end of the spectrum for starting point guards. Giddey’s representatives have reportedly been seeking $30MM annually since they discussed a potential rookie scale extension with the Bulls last fall. While Giddey may not ultimately get that sort of commitment from Chicago, Marks believes the team should be willing to further increase its offer if it views the 22-year-old as an important long-term building block.

“If you think that he’s your point guard of the future, then you sign him to what point guard money is,” Marks said. “And I’m not saying you sign him to Immanuel Quickley money at $32.5MM (per year) or five years, $160MM. But you sign him in that $26-28MM (per year range) and you do it for three years or four years. And if it’s four years, $100MM or four years, $110MM, it’s still good value going forward.”

Some sort of resolution is expected within the next few weeks for Giddey and the Bulls, since training camps open by the end of the month and October 1 is the deadline for a restricted free agent to accept his qualifying offer.

Here are a few more notes on free agents from around the basketball world:

While the exact terms are unclear, veteran forward Trey Lyles has an NBA out clause in his new deal with Real Madrid that “ensures he retains flexibility should an opportunity arise to return during the 2025/26 season,” Grant Afseth writes for RG.org. Before agreeing to sign a one-year contract reportedly worth $3MM with the Spanish club, Lyles drew interest from the Heat, Kings, and other EuroLeague teams, including Fenerbahce, sources tell Afseth.
Speaking of Fenerbahce, the Turkish club has signed former North Carolina standout Armando Bacot to a one-year contract, according to a press release. Bacot, who inked an Exhibit 10 contract with the Grizzlies and then played for the Memphis Hustle last season after going undrafted out of UNC, will be paid more than $1MM on his deal with Fenerbahce, per Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 (Twitter link).
Although Danilo Gallinari has stated his intention to retire from the Italian national team after this year’s EuroBasket tournament, the longtime NBA forward is leaving his options open when it comes to extending his professional career beyond this summer, as Michalis Gioulenoglou of Eurohoops relays. “I said anything is possible,” Gallinari replied when asked about the possibility of playing in the EuroLeague again. “I’m not thinking about anything. I didn’t think about anything yet. I didn’t make any plans, so we’ll see.” The 37-year-old, who has made 777 career regular season appearances, recently expressed some interest in the idea of joining an NBA team as a veteran leader.

Knockout Round Set For EuroBasket; Spain Fails To Qualify

September 4th, 2025 at 4:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Led by a double-double from Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (15 points, 12 rebounds), Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Georgia by a score of 84-76 on Thursday morning to become the 15th team to qualify for the EuroBasket knockout round, as Michalis Gioulenoglou of Eurohoops writes.

Raptors big man Sandro Mamukelashvili finished with a game-high 20 points for Georgia.

Despite the loss, Georgia became the 16th and final team to qualify for the round of 16 later in the day after Spain fell to Greece, FIBA announced (via Twitter). Led by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had a team-high 25 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, Greece eked out a 90-86 victory to claim the top spot in Group C.

Spain and Georgia finished with identical 2-3 records in Group C and Spain had a far better point differential (+43 vs. -19), but the Georgians defeated the Spaniards in their head-to-head matchup, earning the tiebreaker.

It’s a disappointing exit for the defending champions — the Spanish national team has been a perennial powerhouse in both European and international competitions, having won four of the previous six EuroBasket tournaments, including the most recent one in 2022. According to Armando Caporaso of Sportando (Twitter link), it has been nearly 50 years since Spain failed to advance past the first stage of the tournament (1977).

The matchups and the full bracket for the EuroBasket’s single-elimination round of 16 have now been set. The breakdown is as follows:

First quarter of bracket:
- Lithuania (B2) vs. Latvia (A3)
- Greece (C1) vs. Israel (D4)
Second quarter:
- Turkey (A1) vs. Sweden (B4)
- Poland (D2) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (C3)
Third quarter:
- Germany (B1) vs. Portugal (A4)
- Italy (C2) vs. Slovenia (D3)
Fourth quarter:
- Serbia (A2) vs. Finland (B3)
- France (D1) vs. Georgia (C4)

The win-or-go-home games involving teams from Groups A and B will take place on Saturday, while the teams in Groups C and D will square off on Sunday. The full schedule for the weekend, including tip-off times, can be viewed here.

The quarterfinals in the top half of the bracket will be played next Tuesday, followed by the quarterfinals from the bottom half of the bracket on Wednesday. The teams that come out of the first and second quarters will face one another in one of the semifinals next Friday, while the winners of the third and fourth quarters will face off in the other semifinal on the same day. The final will be played on Sunday, September 14.

FIBA has also confirmed the final placement of the teams eliminated prior to the round of 16. Those teams, who were classified based on their group position, overall record, and point differential, were ranked as follows:

Spain (2-3 record, +43 point differential)
Belgium (2-3, -40)
Estonia (1-4, -45)
Montenegro (1-4, -77)
Great Britain (1-4, -130)
Iceland (0-5, -76)
Czechia (0-5, -96)
Cyprus (0-5, -165)

While Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama (Spain), Bulls center Nikola Vucevic (Montenegro), and Hawks guard Vit Krejci (Czechia) have been eliminated from the tournament and Wizards center Alex Sarr (France) and Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) have been ruled out due to injuries, the remaining 23 active NBA players in the tournament should all be in action this weekend.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.