To basketball fans across Europe, the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day meant that the countdown to the Continent's most important competition had started. 2011, as any basketball fan will tell you, is EuroBasket year.
In the run-up to the EuroBasket 2011 draw that will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania on 30 January, FIBA Europe announced on Wednesday the seeds for the draw.
Seed 1: Spain, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia.
Seed 2: France, Croatia, Russia, Turkey.
Seed 3: Germany, Lithuania, Montenegro, Belgium.
Seed 4 Great Britain, F.Y.R of Macedonia, Israel, Georgia
Seed 5: Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Seed 6: Ukraine, Latvia, Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2.
According to FIBA Europe Regulations, the ten European nations that participated in the FIBA World Championship
These ten teams are ranked according to the EuroBasket 2009 results and so reigning European Champions Spain are ranked first, silver medallists Serbia second and bronze medallists Greece third.
The following 12 teams are ranked according to their results in the Qualifying Round that was held last summer. Wherever the win/loss percentage was identical, the goal average was used as the next criteria, so for example Montenegro are seeded 11th because their goal average coefficient was better than that of Belgium and Great Britain, who also finished with the same record (6-2) in the Qualifying Round.
The 23rd and 24th seed are reserved for the two countries (from Finland, Hungary, Portugal) that will qualify for EuroBasket 2011 through the Additional Qualifying Round, which will be concluded on 24th August.