Eurobasket has allowed active NBA players to participate since 1991, making it a truly professional level competition
There’s much more on the line than simple bragging rights in Europe. EuroBasket has always doubled as a qualifying tournament for either the Summer Olympic Games or the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Now that EuroBasket has switched from a bi-annual format (every 2 years) to once every 4 years, it will strictly serve as an Olympic qualifier.
The 2017 tournament will be hosted by 4 different countries: Israel, Romania, Finland and Turkey. Only the group stage will be split up across 4 nations, however. Once the tournament reaches the knockout rounds, all games will be contested at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey. With crowd support such a big part of European basketball, the 16,000-seat stadium could provide the Turks with a significant advantage later in the tournament.
Teams are divided into 4 pools, with the top 4 finishers in each advancing to the playoff stage.
Here’s a look at odds for all 24 teams in this year’s tournament, as posted at BetOnline.
• Spain: +150
• Serbia: +400
• France: +500
• Greece: +800
• Lithuania: +1000
• Turkey: +1400
• Croatia: +1600
• Italy: +1800
• Slovenia: +2500
• Latvia: +5000
• Montenegro: +5000
• Russia: +6600
• Germany: +6600
• Israel: +10000
• Czech Republic: +10000
• Finland: +15000
• Poland: +15000
• Belgium: +20000
• Georgia: +20000
• Ukraine: +25000
• Great Britain: +25000
• Iceland: +25000
• Hungary: +33000
• Romania: +50000