International basketball and NBA players were not limited to the Beijing Olympics this summer.

European nations have just ended an intense three weeks of group play that determined places for the European finals of Eurobasket, which takes place in Poland in September 2009.

With eight nations -- participants from Beijing, plus host Poland -- already guaranteed places, 17 countries played for seven spots, with one place available next summer in a last-chance play-in.

And, while Beijing's basketball tournament might ultimately have been fairly predictable (U.S. won the gold, reigning world champion Spain won silver), the same could not be said of Eurobasket qualifying.

Luol Deng's Great Britain, a national team formed in only 2006 following London's successful 2012 Olympic bid, was the first team through after clinching Group D on Wednesday.

Latvia, featuring Andris Biedrins, was among a number of unlikely countries to advance, including Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Meanwhile, traditional Euro powerhouses France and Italy surprisingly missed out on automatic qualification and must get through next summer's play-in tournament to advance, with one certain to miss out.

And, in the new global basketball marketplace, every group thrust forward story lines with NBA significance.

GROUP A

The one group containing five teams was always likely to contain more twists and turns than the other, four-team groups.

But nobody saw Italy's spectacular collapse coming even if the Azzurri were without their NBA contingent (Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli) and recently drafted Danilo Gallinari.

As expected, Serbia dominated, and Italy's slump opened the door for another unexpected qualifier, Bulgaria, and saw newly promoted Finland advance to next summer's play-in event.

STAR MAN

Nenad Krstic, Serbia: Krstic suffered through a 2007-08 season to forget with injuries and a loss in confidence and form, forcing him to admit in his own blog that he had let down his employers, the New Jersey Nets.

The consolation for the 7-footer came when he signed a two-year, $18 million contract with wealthy Russian club Triumph Lyubertsy this summer. His resurgence continued as he led the Serbs to Eurobasket.

On a balanced roster (the Serbs used 14 players, 10 of whom logged at least 100 minutes over the eight games), Krstic led the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounds (5.7 rpg).

SLEEPER

Petteri Koponen, Finland: During the past two years, the 2007 NBA draft pick (traded from the 76ers to the Trail Blazers) has been the key component in Finland's promotion to the A Division in Europe and fourth-place finish in Group A.

The Finnisher impressed the Blazers in the NBA summer league and carried that form into Eurobasket, to the tune of 12.8 points and 2.9 assists a game. The 20-year-old point guard, who plays for Virtus Bologna in Italy, is another exciting young prospect for the Blazers' fans to look forward to.

DRAFT WATCH

Milenko Tepic, Serbia: A 6-foot-8 shooting guard, the 21-year-old Tepic continues to mature and feature in mock drafts for next summer.

Tepic led the Serbs' deep roster in minutes (23.8), shooting 60 percent (15-for-25) from the field and 40 percent (6-for-15) from 3-point range.

On a team with such a well-oiled, effective system in place, it is difficult for young individuals to stand out, but Tepic did and remains an exciting prospect with a solid jumper and decent defense.

GROUP B

Latvia and Macedonia might not feature high, or often, in discussions about world basketball powers, but the pair were comfortable, and often impressive, qualifiers.

NBA big man Andris Biedrins made a compelling case for the tournament's MVP, averaging 65.3 percent from the field and shooting 36-for-56 from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, the Macedonians showed the incredible depth in talent that exists in the former Yugoslavian corner of Europe with five of their players averaging double figures.

STAR MAN

Andris Biedrins, Latvia: Golden State Warriors center Biedrins is known for his rebounding in the NBA, averaging 9.8 a game last season, but is he a scoring machine too?

The 6-foot-11 Latvian certainly was this summer, averaging 22.3 points a game, a stark contrast to his four-year NBA career numbers of 7.6 ppg.

That offensive production didn't shortchange Biedrins' rebounding prowess, as he grabbed 13.6 a game for Latvia. Admittedly, international centers might lack some of the bulk and height commonplace in the NBA, but Biedrins' summer was still impressive.

SLEEPER

Predrag Samardziski, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: He's not exactly a Eurobasket "sleeper," as the 22-year-old, 7-foot-1 center has declared for every NBA draft since 2004 only to withdraw from the first three and go unselected in 2008.

The youngster remains raw at the international level and was limited to 3.5 points and 3.7 boards in 11.5 minutes a game, seeing limited time even in blowouts.

DRAFT WATCH

Ernests Kalve, Latvia: In a pool containing two of Division A's traditionally weaker nations, Portugal and Estonia, Group B was hardly packed with draft prospects.

Kalve, a 21-year-old guard, has been a long-shot draft prospect for some time. This is probably because he spent time with the renowned Benetton Treviso academy in Italy. Currently with Riga in the modest Latvian league, Kalve played for a total of only 12 minutes in three games.

GROUP C

France collapsed at Eurobasket 2007, missing out on the 2008 Olympics in the process and sending the national team into a tailspin.

Tony Parker committed late to the team and led the tournament in scoring (26.8 ppg), pouring in an international career-high 37 points at home to Turkey on Saturday. Unfortunately, that was in an 80-78 losing effort, and coupled with a big win from Israel, left France as the group's runner-up.

Head coach Michel Gomez likely will pay for his team's failure to advance with a roster that included NBA players Ronny Turiaf and Yakhouba Diawara, as well as Parker.

But France's situation is also noteworthy for the list of NBA players or draftees who did not play for the team this summer, for a wide variety of reasons: Boris Diaw, Mickael Pietrus, Johan Petro, Joakim Noah, Ian Mahinmi, Mickael Gelabale, Nicolas Batum and Alexis Ajinca.

STAR MAN

Hedo Turkoglu, Turkey: Turkey was the only one of the 17 teams to go through group play undefeated, and Turkoglu was a major reason.

His averages of 12.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 26.2 minutes a game do not reflect the steadying influence and experience that the 29-year-old Orlando Magic...