FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019

[wheelz1200]

What has happened in USA basketball? Why does most of the players are withdrawing from playing for FIBA world cup? I think there is something that the public does not know why or is there any conflict between players and the management.

Most of the star players from the NBA that were withdrawing from Team USA were just focusing on the upcoming season, business decision as they say and there is nothing to do with conflict between them and the coaching staff. I think their move would benefit the young and upcoming superstars in the NBA as they can now showcase their talent overseas and will boast their market value.

"Business decision" is the best way to put it.  Most of these players are internationally known already and dont have to build their international brand.  If they get hurt in these international games it can have huge financial implications as well.

Rare are players like Dirk Nowitzki who regularly played for Germany even though he was a star in NBA and great player. European players in general tend to care a lot about national team in every sport.

Best example of that is Nikos Galis,scoring machine and best Greek basketball player of all time and one of the greatest European players of all time. He refused to come back to NBA and play for then best team, Boston Celtics, and play with Bird, Parish, McHale, Walton etc and win few NBA titles just because that would mean he wouldn't be able to play for Greek national team, due stupid Fiba rules. And that meant so much to him.
Something like this is unimaginable nowadays,i hope Giannis will follow his steps.


Looking forward to Serbia vs Greece match tonight. Cold mastixa is ready, just need some gyros

I think for some international players they feel it is their duty, with the US players like harden, the brow, lebron, they can decline to focus on their own personal goals and know the US will still put a good enough team out there to win.

[efialtis]

GRE - SRB starting shortly. The reporter just mentioned its not unlikely that Sloukas will be able to participate when the WC starts. Sold out by the way with more than 18.000 fans in the arena!

[DiggerMan]

GRE - SRB starting shortly. The reporter just mentioned its not unlikely that Sloukas will be able to participate when the WC starts. Sold out by the way with more than 18.000 fans in the arena!

Yep, arena is sold out.

Greece looking good so far, maybe a bit too many 3 pts attempts, but Serbia really missing their best player Jokic, Djordjevic decided to rest him this game.

[spadormie]

What has happened in USA basketball? Why does most of the players are withdrawing from playing for FIBA world cup? I think there is something that the public does not know why or is there any conflict between players and the management.

You know what, this is actually normal in a national basketball team. Even in the Philippines it is occuring. Bobby Ray Parks which is I consider as one of the best national player does not want to represent the nation. I guess that this is just a player's choice in which we should not barge in since it's their choice and we must respect it. In the USA case, it's better for LeBron, Curry, Harden or any other superstars not to play in FIBA since it will be an overkill if they play. Let the whole Celtics team make FIBA their playground lol.

[efialtis]

GRE - SRB starting shortly. The reporter just mentioned its not unlikely that Sloukas will be able to participate when the WC starts. Sold out by the way with more than 18.000 fans in the arena!

Yep, arena is sold out.

Greece looking good so far,but Serbia really missing their best player Jokic, Djordjevic decided to rest him this game.

Yeah and Jokic can really push his team to another level - still, Greece is also missing some players and so far I am really happy with that I am seeing - Thanassis having a great night!

[DiggerMan]

GRE - SRB starting shortly. The reporter just mentioned its not unlikely that Sloukas will be able to participate when the WC starts. Sold out by the way with more than 18.000 fans in the arena!

Yep, arena is sold out.

Greece looking good so far,but Serbia really missing their best player Jokic, Djordjevic decided to rest him this game.

Yeah and Jokic can really push his team to another level - still, Greece is also missing some players and so far I am really happy with that I am seeing - Thanassis having a great night!

Yes, I'm surprised with Thanassis, you can see that he is really eager and full of energy, and playing good. Greece will need him for WC, Giannis is awesome, but he won't be able too do everything by himself.

[efialtis]

SRB just great in the last quarter while Greece wasnt as focused as before - still, SRB even without Jokic from another planet in the last minutes...

[DiggerMan]

Good game tonight, unfortunately Greece lost.

Serbia showed strength even without their best player, i didn't think that they will beat Greece tonight. They will definitely have shot for gold against Americans, Jokic is better than any other player Americans  have on their roster at the moment.

[btc78]

As the saying goes, the ball is round, so anything can happen. The US has been upset in the past so it is doable. However, the US is sending their best players after their last defeat like more than 10 years ago if I'm not mistaken.

So I expect another heavy loaded stars from the USA to continue their tradition as the basketball dominant country.

Its been a while since the Greek miracle when we beat them... with many of them not even knowing what/where Greece actually is... Greece 101 - USA 95

Sending their “Dream Team” and become failure is one of the baddest scenario in their basketball history,no one expects that Greece can beat them on that occasion (though Greek’s are also competitive)in regards basketball

Good game tonight, unfortunately Greece lost.

Serbia showed strength even without their best player, i didn't think that they will beat Greece tonight. They will definitely have shot for gold against Americans, Jokic is better than any other player Americans  have on their roster at the moment.

Yeah I expect more action with this two great team but Serbia dominates the entire game.

[morvillz7z]

Good game tonight, unfortunately Greece lost.

They shouldn't have lost though. Had a pretty comfy lead for the most part, played decent defense, as you pointed out earlier, maybe a little bit too heavy-depended on the 3pt shot. After the 3rd quarter, Greece had more 3pt attempts than 2pt attempts. 
I also felt like your coach had to take a timeout earlier, that 9/11-0 run was too much. By the way, who was the guy with that nasty-looking knee injury, I couldn't catch his name?

[LTU_btc]

Damn what a game. Serbia won after overtime even without Jokic. Everyone is talking about Giannis and how good he is. But I want to talk about Bogdanovic, he is amazing too - 28 points tonight. And Giannis today earned one stupid foul during overtime when Serbian player threw  3-pointer. It was one of key moments during overtime.
And I'm impressed to see performance of Thanasis Antetokounmpo - 17 points and clutch three pointer which led game to the overtime.

By the way, who was the guy with that nasty-looking knee injury, I couldn't catch his name?

Ioannis Athinaiou. ACL injury. He will miss not only World Cup, but also almost all upcoming season...

[morvillz7z]

Ioannis Athinaiou. ACL injury. He will miss not only World Cup, but also almost all upcoming season...

Thanks, so Greece already two guards down, damn that's tough!

Even though I heard Sloukas will be re-evaluated this upcoming week and might be available to join the team for the later stages.

[goinmerry]

Spain and USA played on a scrimmage and the score ended up 90-81 in favor of USA. It was a close match yet I ended up watching only the highlights of the game. There was a player of Spain that is a great shooter. He's like 3-5 feet away from the arc yet he still scores the basket. I forgot the name of the guy was. Well, that's world's  first and second placer guys. What do you think they'll do in the world cup?

The game hasn't been closed all the time if you watch the whole game and not just the highlights.

The biggest run made by Spain that game is 12-2 although still a big lead after that run.

Exhibition match though so both teams didn't give their 100%.

[Ranly123]

Spain and USA played on a scrimmage and the score ended up 90-81 in favor of USA. It was a close match yet I ended up watching only the highlights of the game. There was a player of Spain that is a great shooter. He's like 3-5 feet away from the arc yet he still scores the basket. I forgot the name of the guy was. Well, that's world's  first and second placer guys. What do you think they'll do in the world cup?

The game hasn't been closed all the time if you watch the whole game and not just the highlights.

The biggest run made by Spain that game is 12-2 although still a big lead after that run.

Exhibition match though so both teams didn't give their 100%.

Most of the western teams are putting up fights against the US team. This time's FIBA world cup would be a tough one for the defending champ because their superstars opted out for this tournament.

[rosezionjohn]

Good game tonight, unfortunately Greece lost.
Serbia showed strength even without their best player, i didn't think that they will beat Greece tonight.

It is what it is. Greece just could not drain those outside shots. They probably have to make some few adjustments like more penetrations as they progress.

They will definitely have shot for gold against Americans, Jokic is better than any other player Americans  have on their roster at the moment.

Yes they are. That team is very confident they can take out any team right now.

[bryant.coleman]

Rare are players like Dirk Nowitzki who regularly played for Germany even though he was a star in NBA and great player. European players in general tend to care a lot about national team in every sport.

Best example of that is Nikos Galis,scoring machine and best Greek basketball player of all time and one of the greatest European players of all time. He refused to come back to NBA and play for then best team, Boston Celtics, and play with Bird, Parish, McHale, Walton etc and win few NBA titles just because that would mean he wouldn't be able to play for Greek national team, due stupid Fiba rules. And that meant so much to him.
Something like this is unimaginable nowadays,i hope Giannis will follow his steps.


Looking forward to Serbia vs Greece match tonight. Cold mastixa is ready, just need some gyros

US players can afford to concentrate on NBA rather than the world cup, because the Americans can easily win their matches even without the star players. They are currently on a record 77-match winning streak and no other team has come even close to beating them during the past few months. Their recent victory against Spain was just another proof of their dominance.

The other teams don't have this luxury. They depend on a few players. For example, Greece depends heavily on Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even teams such as Nigeria are dependent on the NBA players, including Al-Farouq Aminu, Chimezie Metu and Josh Okogie. And try to imagine a Spanish team without Marc Gasol and Juancho Hernangomez. Other examples are Nikola Jokic of Serbia, Cedi Osman/Ersan Ilyasova of Turkey, Tomas Satoransky of CzR, Rui Hachimura of Japan, Cristiano Felicio of Brazil and Nikola Vucevic of Montenegro.

[Natalim]

Spain and USA played on a scrimmage and the score ended up 90-81 in favor of USA. It was a close match yet I ended up watching only the highlights of the game. There was a player of Spain that is a great shooter. He's like 3-5 feet away from the arc yet he still scores the basket. I forgot the name of the guy was. Well, that's world's  first and second placer guys. What do you think they'll do in the world cup?

The game hasn't been closed all the time if you watch the whole game and not just the highlights.

The biggest run made by Spain that game is 12-2 although still a big lead after that run.

Exhibition match though so both teams didn't give their 100%.

Most of the western teams are putting up fights against the US team. This time's FIBA world cup would be a tough one for the defending champ because their superstars opted out for this tournament.

This one would be better because it will bring excitement to the tournament, when we can always see that team USA are dominating their opponent, that doesn't give much excitement because we already know who will win.

Team USA are trusting the younger player to still bring the championship and I know these young players will step up.
Maybe if they are not successful in this tournament, they will bring their best players next time, but let's see how this goes.

[DiggerMan]

Rare are players like Dirk Nowitzki who regularly played for Germany even though he was a star in NBA and great player. European players in general tend to care a lot about national team in every sport.

Best example of that is Nikos Galis,scoring machine and best Greek basketball player of all time and one of the greatest European players of all time. He refused to come back to NBA and play for then best team, Boston Celtics, and play with Bird, Parish, McHale, Walton etc and win few NBA titles just because that would mean he wouldn't be able to play for Greek national team, due stupid Fiba rules. And that meant so much to him.
Something like this is unimaginable nowadays,i hope Giannis will follow his steps.


Looking forward to Serbia vs Greece match tonight. Cold mastixa is ready, just need some gyros

US players can afford to concentrate on NBA rather than the world cup, because the Americans can easily win their matches even without the star players. They are currently on a record 77-match winning streak and no other team has come even close to beating them during the past few months. Their recent victory against Spain was just another proof of their dominance.

The other teams don't have this luxury. They depend on a few players. For example, Greece depends heavily on Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even teams such as Nigeria are dependent on the NBA players, including Al-Farouq Aminu, Chimezie Metu and Josh Okogie. And try to imagine a Spanish team without Marc Gasol and Juancho Hernangomez. Other examples are Nikola Jokic of Serbia, Cedi Osman/Ersan Ilyasova of Turkey, Tomas Satoransky of CzR, Rui Hachimura of Japan, Cristiano Felicio of Brazil and Nikola Vucevic of Montenegro.

I can agree on that, Americans have by far the longest bench, and that could really make the difference when for other nations 2nd teams are on the floor, that is opportunity i see for Americans to win this. But we also saw that players like Jokic can play crazy minutes, like he did in last NBA playoffs.

But considering in previous years i would be 100% certain that Americans are getting gold and winning every game with 20-30 pts difference, this time i am not so sure, i think that Serbia is legitimate contender for world title, if they stay healthy and they don't loose anyone else beside Teodosic.

And who knows, maybe even Greece can upset Americans again, none thought that was possible the last time

[slocker]

Rare are players like Dirk Nowitzki who regularly played for Germany even though he was a star in NBA and great player. European players in general tend to care a lot about national team in every sport.

Best example of that is Nikos Galis,scoring machine and best Greek basketball player of all time and one of the greatest European players of all time. He refused to come back to NBA and play for then best team, Boston Celtics, and play with Bird, Parish, McHale, Walton etc and win few NBA titles just because that would mean he wouldn't be able to play for Greek national team, due stupid Fiba rules. And that meant so much to him.
Something like this is unimaginable nowadays,i hope Giannis will follow his steps.


Looking forward to Serbia vs Greece match tonight. Cold mastixa is ready, just need some gyros

US players can afford to concentrate on NBA rather than the world cup, because the Americans can easily win their matches even without the star players. They are currently on a record 77-match winning streak and no other team has come even close to beating them during the past few months. Their recent victory against Spain was just another proof of their dominance.

The other teams don't have this luxury. They depend on a few players. For example, Greece depends heavily on Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even teams such as Nigeria are dependent on the NBA players, including Al-Farouq Aminu, Chimezie Metu and Josh Okogie. And try to imagine a Spanish team without Marc Gasol and Juancho Hernangomez. Other examples are Nikola Jokic of Serbia, Cedi Osman/Ersan Ilyasova of Turkey, Tomas Satoransky of CzR, Rui Hachimura of Japan, Cristiano Felicio of Brazil and Nikola Vucevic of Montenegro.

I can agree on that, Americans have by far the longest bench, and that could really make the difference when for other nations 2nd teams are on the floor, that is opportunity i see for Americans to win this. But we also saw that players like Jokic can play crazy minutes, like he did in last NBA playoffs.

But considering in previous years i would be 100% certain that Americans are getting gold and winning every game with 20-30 pts difference, this time i am not so sure, i think that Serbia is legitimate contender for world title, if they stay healthy and they don't loose anyone else beside Teodosic.

And who knows, maybe even Greece can upset Americans again, none thought that was possible the last time

With so many canceled players for USA from start of preparation I could agree with you that Americans have little less chances to win this time. Many team can be here counted beside Serbia, think that Spain is also good pretender for title. Also this is WC in basketball and many nations have improve in last 5 years and many can do good with American team even win them. I see this as football WC where all team are becoming equal in strength. How with this said I give only 50% to USA team, rest for Serbia and Spain, and even Germany who played well in qualification and always good Lithuania. All starts 31st this month and I hope we will see good matches.

[Naida_BR]

Damn what a game. Serbia won after overtime even without Jokic. Everyone is talking about Giannis and how good he is. But I want to talk about Bogdanovic, he is amazing too - 28 points tonight. And Giannis today earned one stupid foul during overtime when Serbian player threw  3-pointer. It was one of key moments during overtime.
And I'm impressed to see performance of Thanasis Antetokounmpo - 17 points and clutch three pointer which led game to the overtime.

By the way, who was the guy with that nasty-looking knee injury, I couldn't catch his name?

Ioannis Athinaiou. ACL injury. He will miss not only World Cup, but also almost all upcoming season...

The game between Greece and Serbia yesterday was so interesting.
I can bet that both teams are going to reach high in the World Cup championship and challenge USA equally. I hope that Greece or Serbia is going to win the title in the tournament.