Eurobasket 2025 Group B teams, players, and analysis

Germany, the reigning world champion, heads into Eurobasket 2025 as one of the favorites , even more so given its draw in one of the tournament's most lenient groups. Finland and Lithuania will be its main rivals in the first round , while Great Britain, Sweden, and Montenegro should battle for the final spot that qualifies for the round of 16.

After Serbia, Germany is the biggest favorite to win this Eurobasket. Led by their two NBA players , point guard Dennis Schröder (Kings) and forward Franz Wagner (Magic) , coach Álex Mumbrú, replacing the successful Gordon Herbert and currently hospitalized with an acute infection, has a team full of top-level players who aspire to achieve another international success and who should have no too much difficulty reaching the round of 16 as group winners.

The Spanish national team, tasked with knocking them out in the 2022 semifinals in front of their home fans in Berlin, already saw what the German side is capable of in the last two preparation friendlies. In the first match played in Madrid, Germany won in overtime (105-106) thanks to a decisive basket from Schröder that Darío Brizuela could not reply to. Meanwhile, in the second match played in Cologne, Mumbrú's team raised their level and won comfortably (95-78) to head into this tournament in very good shape.

Schröder and Wagner are the main stars of a team brimming with talent at every position , with other notable names such as Daniel Theis, the Da Silva brothers, and Maodo Lo. The only weak point is the center forward positions, which have been significantly weakened by the absence of reigning NBA champion Isaiah Hartenstein with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Moritz Wagner, brother of Franz, the Orlando Magic player.

Furthermore, Mumbrú will be without Nick Weiler-Babb, the Euroleague's best defender this season, and David Kramer, Real Madrid's new player, due to injury. All of them should have been important players for the Spanish coach , who, despite this, has good options to replace them and make their absences as minimal as possible.

Heading into this first phase, Germany, continental champions in 1993 and bronze medalists three years ago, will have to be wary of Finland and Lithuania, who appear to be the two teams with the best chances of beating them . Both teams boast strong inside players like their biggest stars (Lauri Markkanen in Finland and Jonas Valanciunas in Lithuania), so they will try to hurt the German team around the rim.

In Finland's case, they'll have the advantage of all their games being played in Tampere, so they'll be playing in front of a home crowd. Furthermore, Lauri Markkanen is coming off a great preparation tour , having scored 48, 42, and 31 points, proving that with his national team, he's a completely different player than the one seen in the NBA with the Utah Jazz.

The 2023 All-Star will be the main offensive reference for a team that lacks many other top-level players and continues to rely on the lively play that earned them a quarterfinal spot three years ago, when they had Spain on the ropes.

Better accompanied is the veteran Jonas Valanciunas in Lithuania , three-time European champion and who has good players at the Euroleague level such as Rokas Jokubaitis or Ignas Brazdeikis, although they will be missing their big star, Domantas Sabonis , a differential player in the Sacramento Kings and son of the legendary Arvydas Sabonis.

Baskonia captain Tadas Sedekerskis and new signing Rokas Giedraitis from La Laguna Tenerife, one of the most represented teams in the Endesa League , will also be present. All of them will play in the opening match of the Eurobasket this Wednesday (12:30 p.m.) against the weakest opponent in the group, Great Britain.

Lithuania's first high-level matchup will come on Matchday 2, when they face Montenegro and center Nikola Vucevic . The Chicago Bulls player continues to demonstrate his quality in the NBA, averaging 18.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season. However, like Markkanen in Finland, he lacks top-level backups .

These four teams should be the heavy favorites to advance to the round of 16, as Sweden and Great Britain have fewer quality players. In Sweden's case, they will rely on the talent of Pelle Larsson , who made his NBA debut this year with the Miami Heat.

Larsson will be joined by four players from the Liga Endesa (Simon Birgander, Ludde Hakanson, Melwin Pantzar, and Wilhelm Falk) who will look to pull off a surprise at this Eurobasket. Meanwhile, for Great Britain, young point guard Quinn Ellis and shooting guard Tarik Phillip will be the standouts .