A new name but the game stays the same at 2014 FIBA World Cup

Jay Asser 08:05 28/08/2014
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  • The men to beat: The USA’s Anthony Davis (l), assistant coach Monty Williams and Kyrie Irving (r).

    The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup hits Spain with a field of 24 teams competing in the rebranded version of the sport’s flagship inter­national event.

    Gone is the “World Champion­ship”, now replaced with “World Cup” in an effort to bring more attention along the lines of its foot­ball counterpart.

    All eyes will once again be on the United States, who earned an auto­matic bid by winning the gold med­al in Turkey in 2010 to end a 16-year drought. They’ve established them­selves as the top basketball nation and carry a reputation which makes them the team to beat.

    What the USA always have work­ing in their favour is that they’re the most talented team, as no other country features 12 NBA players. The Americans also benefited from an advantageous draw which places them in Group C where their big­gest competition will be Turkey.

    The No7 FIBA-ranked nation won all eight of their games in 2010 before falling short to the US in the finals. This time, however, Turkey were fortunate to receive a wild card entry after a disastrous effort in qualifying at EuroBasket 2013, where they finished tied for 17th.

    Rounding out the group are new­comers Finland and Ukraine who are cultivating basketball domes­tically, as well as the Dominican Republic and New Zealand.

    Even advancing into the knock­out stage, the US won’t come across a legitimate threat until a likely semi-final rematch with No4 ranked Lithuania.

    The Group D favourites are always contenders on the inter­national scene and captured the bronze in 2010, but like Turkey, their lone loss came to the Ameri­cans in the semi-final.

    A well-rounded, deep squad should propel Lithuania at least that far again, though they’ll receive resistance in their group from guard-led teams Australia with Dante Exum and Slovenia with Goran Dragic. The remainder of Group C is filled with Korea and top-finishers in qualifying Angola (first at AfroBasket) and Mexico (first at FIBA Americas).

    The nation arguably the most equipped to dethrone the US is hosts Spain.

    The basketball powerhouse struggled in 2010 as they failed to advance past the quarter-finals, but this year’s team will be far stronger with the addition of Serge Ibaka and the reuniting of brothers Marc and Pau to form a devastating frontline.

    Ranked behind only the Ameri­cans, Spain posses the experience, skill, team chemistry and versatility to give any team trouble.

    They’re also in Group A, the strongest collection in the field, which will test them early but also prepare them for the knockout stage. They’ll take on No8 ranked France, No10 Brazil and No11 Ser­bia, along with Middle East nations Iran and Egypt.

    Both Brazil or France’s rosters are full of NBA talent. The South American squad’s core – Leandro Barbosa, Nene Hilario, Tiago Split­ter and Anderson Varejao – is back after missing qualifying with vari­ous injuries. France may be without stalwart point guard Tony Parker, but will have Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw to take the reins.

    Group B is headlined by No3 ranked Argentina and No5 Greece as both look to amend disappoint­ing results in qualifying. Argentina finished third in FIBA Americas after reaching the finals five of the past six years, while Greece fell flat in 11th at EuroBasket and required a wild card entry. Both nations won’t be without competition with No16 Croatia and No17 Puerto Rico also in the group, as well as under­dogs Philippines and Senegal.

    The World Cup is sure to have its share of upsets and surprises, but the spotlight will shine brightest on a select few of basketball’s giants. 

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