The first two games of the Eurobasket TOP8 round are going to happen. Finland is playing against Spain and this should be a good one. Both teams weren't favorites in the previous round but managed to make an upset. Now it's time to decide which team will play in the semifinal. The big question for Spain is how to stop Lauri Markkanen. He was awesome versus Croatia, as he scored 43 points. To be honest, I don't see a player on Spain's roster who could do something against Markkanen.

If we compare shooting stats, the edge goes to Finland. Spain is better from a close distance (57.5% to 52.8%) but Finns are better from the three-point line (39.1% to 32.2%) and free-throw line - 89.2% to 78%. Spain has home big bodies and it could lead to a few more rebounds as on average Spaniards have grabbed five more boards. Especially it could be effective when Finland plays with a smaller lineup when Markkanen plays as a center.

Although Markkanen is the leader of the team with 27.8 points per game, he isn't the only player who carries the load on offense. Sasu Salin and Edon Maxhuni - both are the most important guards and Salin is a threat from beyond the arc, as he has made at least five three-pointers in three games this tournament.

If we are talking about Spain, the big three of Willy Hernangomez, Juancho Hernangomez and Lorenzo Brown are the most important players on the offensive side. It's a big question who from the Finland roster could potentially stop Willy because Markkanen won't be able to do both things - he needs some kind of rest in the defense, so he can be very effective on offense.

The first round proved that everyone gives out the most. That is going to be the case today for sure. Finland is this tournament's surprise in a good way. Markkanen is the king of the North and his performance will decide how close Finland will be to victory. At the same time, I don't think that Spain is a way better team. It's just our brain thing because if we hear "Spain" and "basketball" we think that they are dominant.

Finland has proved all tournament long that they are the real thing and I'm confident that they will cover the handicap.、

欧洲杯的前两八强战的比赛将会进行。芬兰正在与西班牙比赛，这应该是一场不错的比赛。两支球队在上一轮都不是最热门的，但都成功地制造了冷门。现在是决定哪支球队将参加半决赛的时候了。西班牙面临的最大问题是如何阻止劳里·马尔卡宁。他在对阵克罗地亚的比赛中表现出色，得到了 43 分。老实说，我在西班牙的名单上没有看到一个可以对马尔卡宁有所作为的球员。

如果我们比较投篮数据，芬兰是优势。西班牙在近距离上表现更好（57.5% 到 52.8%），但芬兰人在三分线（39.1% 到 32.2%）和罚球线上表现更好——从 89.2% 到 78%。西班牙有主场的大块头，这可能会导致更多的篮板，因为西班牙人平均多抢了五个篮板。尤其是当芬兰队在马尔卡宁担任中锋的情况下使用较小的阵容时，这可能会很有效。

尽管马尔卡宁以场均 27.8 分的成绩领跑全队在比赛中，他并不是唯一一个在进攻端承担重任的球员。 Sasu Salin 和 Edon Maxhuni——他们都是最重要的后卫，Salin 是三分线外的威胁，因为他在本次锦标赛的三场比赛中至少投进了五个三分球。 如果我们谈论西班牙，威利·埃尔南戈麦斯、胡安乔·埃尔南戈麦斯和洛伦佐·布朗这三巨头是进攻端最重要的球员。芬兰阵容中谁能阻止威利是个大问题，因为马尔卡宁不能同时做这两件事——他在防守端需要一些休息，所以他在进攻端可以非常有效。

第一轮证明，每个人都付出最多。今天肯定会是这样。芬兰是本次锦标赛的惊喜。马尔卡宁是北方之王，他的表现将决定芬兰离胜利有多近。同时，我不认为西班牙是一支更好的球队。这只是我们的大脑问题，因为如果我们听到“西班牙”和“篮球”我们认为他们占主导地位。

芬兰长期以来在所有比赛中都证明了他们是真实的，我相信他们会赢下让分。