Full Predictions and Preview of 2013 FIBA EuroBasket Tournament

While the NBA's away, the Euros come out to play.

For two-and-a-half weeks, anyway.

From September 4-22, 24 of Europe's top national squads will take to the hardwood in (where else?) Slovenia, in five different arenas across four cities, to determine a continental champion at FIBA EuroBasket 2013.

The top six teams overall will advance to the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball in Spain, where spots in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics will be up for grabs, while the rest will later be left to duke it out for four wild-card spots in next year's biggest international competition.

This year's tournament will begin with two rounds of group play, starting with a preliminary round, with four groups of six, from which the top three in each group will advance.

The second round, wherein the remaining 12 teams will be reorganized into two more six-team conglomerations, will determine the four teams from each group moving on to the knockout stage. From there, the eight remaining squads will battle through three rounds to do-or-die play on the way to crowning Europe's best.

Hoops diehards won't see the likes of Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Pau Gasol (Spain), Joakim Noah (France), Luol Deng (Great Britain) and Nikola Pekovic (Serbia) suiting up for their respective countries.

Still, between NBA regulars (Marc Gasol, Tony Parker, Ersan Ilyasova), overseas studs (Sergey Karasev, Dario Saric, Luigi Datome) and American ex-pats (Pooh Jeter, Bo McCalebb, Tyrese Rice), the 38th edition of the European Basketball Championship won't be short on star power or excitement by any stretch.

Read on for a full breakdown of participating countries, players to watch, predictions and more!

Belgium

FIBA Ranking: 77

Group: A, with Ukraine, Great Britain, France, Germany, Israel

Seed: 5

Players to Watch: Axel Hervelle, Sam Van Rossom

Style of Play: Guard-oriented, "small ball"

Recent Performance: T-21st at EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: will not advance past the preliminary round

Bosnia and Herzegovina

FIBA Ranking: 50

Group: B, with Lithuania, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Latvia

Seed: 4

Players to Watch: Mirza Teletovic, Nihad Dedovic

Style of Play: All Mirza Teletovic, all the time

Recent Performance: T-17th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the second round

Croatia

FIBA Ranking: 16

Group: C, with Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Georgia

Seed: 3

Players to Watch: Dario Saric, Ante Tomic, Roko Ukic

Style of Play: Slashing, attacking off the wing

Recent Performance: T-13th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the second round

Czech Republic

FIBA Ranking: 61

Group: C, with Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Georgia

Seed: 6

Players to Watch: Jan Vesely, Tomas Satoransky

Style of Play: Post-ups, cuts, ball movement

Recent Performance: T-13th, 2007 EuroBasket

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

F.Y.R. of Macedonia

FIBA Ranking: 34

Pool: B, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia, Latvia

Seed: 1

Players to Watch: Pero Antic, Bo McCalebb

Style of Play: Strong defense, opportunistic offense

Recent Performance: Fourth, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the second round

Finland

FIBA Ranking: 48

Group: D, with Greece, Russia, Italy, Sweden, Turkey

Seed: 4

Players to Watch: Petteri Koponen, Hanno Mottola

Style of Play: Perimeter-oriented, spreading the floor

Recent Performance: T-9th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

France

FIBA Ranking: 8

Group: A, with Ukraine, Great Britain, Germany, Israel, Belgium

Seed: 3

Players to Watch: Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw

Style of Play: Lots of pick-and-roll

Recent Performance: Sixth, 2012 London Olympics

Prediction: Silver

Georgia

FIBA Ranking: 50

Group: C, with Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic

Seed: 5

Players to Watch: Manuchar Markoishvili, Vikto Sanikidze

Style of Play: Lots of passing, with elements of the Princeton offense

Recent Performance: T-11th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

Germany

FIBA Ranking: 13

Group: A, with Ukraine, Great Britain, France, Israel, Belgium

Seed: 3

Players to Watch: Tibor Pleib, Robin Benzing

Style of Play: Heavy on outside shooting, light on defense

Recent Performance: Ninth, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the second round

Great Britain

FIBA Ranking: 23

Group: A, with Ukraine, France, Germany, Israel, Belgium

Seed: 2

Players to Watch: Andrew Lawrence, Devon Van Oostrum

Style of Play: Scrappy (i.e. limited, lacking international experience)

Recent Performance: Ninth, 2012 London Olympics

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

Greece

FIBA Ranking: 4

Group: D, with Finland, Russia, Italy, Sweden, Turkey

Seed: 2

Players to Watch: Vassilis Spanoulis, Kostas Papanikolaou, Georgios Printezis

Style of Play: Shooting, attacking from the wing

Recent Performance: Sixth, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the knockout stage

Israel

FIBA Ranking: 31

Group: A, with Ukraine, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium

Seed: 6

Players to Watch: Omri Casspi, Alex Tyus

Style of Play: Attacking from the wings, toughness on the glass

Recent Performance: T-13th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the second round with Tyus (groin injury) or will not to advance past the preliminary round without Tyus

Italy

FIBA Ranking: 21

Group: D, with Finland, Greece, Russia, Sweden, Turkey

Seed: 3

Players to Watch: Marco Belinelli, Luigi Datome

Style of Play: Drive-and-kick, plenty of shooting

Recent Performance: T-17th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

Latvia

FIBA Ranking: 39

Group: B, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia

Seed: 5

Players to Watch: Janis Blums, Janis Streinieks

Style of Play: Size and shooting

Recent Performance: T-21st, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

Lithuania

FIBA Ranking: 5

Group: B, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Latvia

Seed: 2

Players to Watch: Jonas Valanciunas, Linas Kleiza, Donatas Motiejunas

Style of Play: Tough and productive on the interior

Recent Performance: Eighth, 2012 London Olympics

Prediction: Bronze

Montenegro

FIBA Ranking: 77

Group: B, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Serbia, Latvia

Seed: 3

Players to Watch: Nikola Vucevic, Tyrese Rice, Taylor Rochestie

Style of Play: Inside-out, slashing

Recent Performance: T-21st, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

Poland

FIBA Ranking: 40

Group: C, with Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia

Seed: 4

Players to Watch: Marcin Gortat, Maciej Lampe

Style of Play: Power in the paint

Recent Performance: T-17th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will not advance past preliminary round

Russia

FIBA Ranking: 6

Group: D, with Finland, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Turkey

Seed: 1

Players to Watch: Aleksey Shved, Sergey Karasev, Sergey Monya

Style of Play: Big, physical, skilled

Recent Performance: Bronze, 2012 London Olympics

Prediction: Will exit in the knockout stage

Serbia

FIBA Ranking: 12

Group: B, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Montenegro, Latvia

Seed: 6

Players to Watch: Nenad Krstic, Nemanja Nedovic

Style of Play: Disciplined, experienced, tough on the interior

Recent Performance: T-8th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the second round

Slovenia

FIBA Ranking: 14

Group: C, with Poland, Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia

Seed: 2

Players to Watch: Goran Dragic, Bostjan Nachbar

Style of Play: Guard-oriented, attacking

Recent Performance: Seventh, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the knockout stage

Spain

FIBA Ranking: 2

Group: C, with Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia

Seed: 1

Players to Watch: Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon

Style of Play: Shooting, pushing the pace

Recent Performance: Silver, 2012 London Olympics

Prediction: Gold

Sweden

FIBA Ranking: NR

Group: D, with Finland, Greece, Russia, Italy, Turkey

Seed: 6

Players to Watch: Jonas Jerebko, Jeffery Taylor

Style of Play: Athletic, wing-oriented

Recent Performance: 16th, EuroBasket 2003

Prediction: Will not advance past the preliminary round

Turkey

FIBA Ranking: 7

Group: D, with Finland, Greece, Russia, Italy, Sweden

Seed: 5

Players to Watch: Omer Asik, Ersan Ilyasova, Hedo Turkoglu

Style of Play: Big, versatile

Recent Performance: T-11th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the knockout stage

Ukraine

FIBA Ranking: 50

Group: A, with Great Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Belgium

Seed: 4

Players to Watch: Eugene "Pooh" Jeter, Viacheslav Kravtsov

Style of Play: Inside out, thin at guard

Recent Performance: T-17th, EuroBasket 2011

Prediction: Will exit in the second round 

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