Great Britain have demonstrated heart in each of their three group games, coming back from early deficits to challenge their opposition. But each time, GB have come up short, being unable to get over the hump and claim the lead and ultimately, the win.
The Teams
Latvia
Drawn in a difficult first group, their bottom place position in Group A was confirmed when they lost their final game against the 2011 European Championship winners, Spain. They are, however, the only side in Group G to have recorded a victory in their opening group, beating Belarus 67-64.
Head Coach, Ainars Cukste, will require his side's balanced offense to continue over the coming days, with solid contributions so far from Kristina Bridina, Paila Tomsone and Guna Lagzdina.
Latvia will also need a better effort on the boards if they are to preserve their top flight status which reaches back to 2005. During Group A games, Latvia were out rebounded, 162-125.
Italy
For Italian Head Coach Antonino Molino, the drop down into Group G must be particularly galling, with his side losing games in Group B by an average of 4.6 points per game. In fact, in each of the three defeats, the Italians had victory in sight only to be denied by the opposition's fourth quarter composure.
Point guard, Caterina Dotto, has been the danger woman for the Italians, averaging 15.5 points per game and 6.5 rebounds a contest when playing over 20 minutes a game.
Portugal
Last season's Division B runners-up have found the step up to the top flight difficult with their offense spluttering during their Group C losses.
Scoring a 2012 European Championship low 132 points in Division A, Portugal will need to find their stroke if they are to remain in Division A.
As well as an improvement in their shooting percentages, Portugal will need to continue to look after the ball (they had fewer turnovers in their three games than their opponents) and cross their fingers that they receive a large stroke of luck if they are to stay in the top division.
Standard Life Great Britain
Preparation for the European Championships was, at best, disjointed for GB due to an excess of injuries in the lead up to the competition. The hope will have been that their fortunes would have changed once they arrived in Hungary but that couldn't have been further from what did happen.
A catalogue of injuries and viruses side-lined vital players, leaving Coach Griffioen shorthanded.
Credit Great Britain though, as they have never thrown in the towel, fighting back from being down early in all three games, only to come up short in fourth quarters and suffer a string of defeats.
Statistics show that Great Britain can compete with the best teams in the tournament and over the coming days, they will need to prove that they can reproduce those numbers if they are to spend a third consecutive season in Division A.
