EUROBASKET 2011

Georgia gave their fans a treat by hosting a friendly in Tbilisi on Tuesday night against Israel and winning, 97-91.

Israel had no answers for Atlanta Hawks center Zaza Pachulia, who dominated in the low post with 18 points.

"The main thing is that we won," said Georgia point guard George Tsintsadze. "In the end, it was an equal fight and the game was a good lesson for us.

Szymon Szewczyk's return is good news for Poland

"At the EuroBasket, games will be decided in the last quarter and once again, we saw that we can win these sorts of games."

Leading by just three points going into the last quarter, Georgia held their nerve.

Israel are returning home to continue their workouts.

"We had moments of good basketball against an excellent team with a great NBA player," Israel coach Arik Shivek said.

"We definitely felt the absence of players (Yotam Halperin and Omri Casspi) who were not with us but Georgia is a strong team and had an athlete playing with a lot of power."

Poles Energized

Few will be giving Poland much of a chance to survive Group A at the EuroBasket without Maciej Lampe and Marcin Gortat, but coach Ales Pipan hasn't given up on his national team as they look to make it into the Second Round.

In Lithuania, the Poles will face the hosts, Spain, Turkey, Great Britain and a side that makes it through the Additional Qualifying Round.

Over the weekend, they lost to Greece and Italy in a friendly tournament in Rimini but signed off with a victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"For us it was a good tournament, where we saw what our game looks like," Pipan said. "In the first two games, we had big problems with our offensive game but in the third, it looked much better.

"Certainly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, we played our best game on defense this summer."

Also encouraging for Poland was the arrival of Szymon Szewczyk.

"I am delighted that Szymon Szewczyk quickly returned to being useful as he will be a very important player for us," Pipan said.

"(Shooting guard) Thomas Kelati needs some time, but certainly at the EuroBasket, he will be 100% ready.

"It is very important to us that we have two more good players in the rotation. Additional preparation is proceeding according to plan. We have little time to improve our game, but we have to do it."

Robert Archibald says Spain are a no-brainer for the title

Szewczyk says that crucially for Poland, all of the players are bonding as team.

"It's really cool atmosphere, cool group of people and that makes it a lot easier," he said.

"After a week of training, I do not yet know all the plays but everything comes easier with each workout."

Archibald Likes Spain

Great Britain center Robert Archibald has established for himself a nice career in Spain and will this season play for CAI Zaragoza after a long stint with Unicaja Malaga.

Having often competed against many of Spain's top players, he believes they will be the best side at the EuroBasket.

"Without a doubt, Spain is the favorite in their games," Archibald said.

"It's the best team in the tournament, but two years ago we nearly beat them."

Indeed, in their group encounter, the Brits almost surprise Spain in Warsaw but some late heroics by Pau Gasol lifted the European giants to victory and they eventually won the gold medal.

Great Britain will play at next year's Olympics as the host nation.

They are the only side to have a place guaranteed along with world champions Team USA.

"We do not need to qualify so we can play (at the EuroBasket) without pressure," Archibald said.

"The EuroBasket in Lithuania will help us to see how we can play against the best before they reach the Olympics."

Bulgaria Takes Their Lumps

The Bulgarians didn't travel to Guadalajara, Spain, expecting to win against the defending EuroBasket champions on Tuesday night.

They did want to play well, however, and that's extremely hard to do when a team is loaded with star quality the way Spain is.

Spain thrashed the Bulgarians 96-59 with Juan Carlos Navarro's 19 points leading a balanced attack.

Sergio Llull contributed 17 points and Pau Gasol 15.

One bright spot for Bulgaria was the play of captain Filip Videnov, who had a team-high 15 points.