FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 - Betting and Discussions

[wheelz1200]

Greece even with Giannis wasn't an elite level team, with him out of the picture they are not even remotely good at all. I think USA is lucky because there doesn't seem to be a generational golden team around these days and USA is usually good enough with their players to win in this case. Normally when you have some good nation that is doing great, like remember 10-15 years ago how Spain was insane and all that, then USA has to bring in their best players.

But, right now it looks like they are not even doing all that great and they are still getting that win because there is no other team that is better against even this version of USA. We may end up seeing them win it, and get the title in the end.

It won't be that easy but I think this is the right mix of US players and are better as a unit than they are individually.  You have a lot of hunger younger players that never played for theor country yet.  You can tell by their commitment on defense.  With older teams they tend to lack the defensive intensity (they don't want to get hurt for nba ball).  Will see when they get tested by one of the other top teams in the tournament.

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[LTU_btc]

Lithuania won against Montenegro quite confident and so far everything goes as planned for us. Now we are going to face Greece and USA in next round. No chance against USA while game against Greece will be like a final for us.
As much as I love Latvia, but Canada simply is different level. There was good fight in 1st half, but 2nd left no questions and Canada looks just scary. As expected, Japan didn't made another uspet and Australia goes to next round in confident way.
France were really shameful today, loss against Lebanon would be cherry on top of their performance, but it didn't happened...

These guys are getting paid?
In other countries it’s an honor to play for your national team, there would never be any payment. Of course there would be some sort of bonus if you win a medal or something, as a motivation, and the federation pays for insurance ( as requested for example by the NBA) but other than that there is no money involved.

It’s really sad to see that this is actually happening and I guess some other small basketball nations have a similar approach to motivate their stars to play.

That's not 100% true. Probably more than half teams in this World Cup have naturalized players in their squad. Usually it's Americans who get citizenship of Jordan, Montenegro, Finland and etc. And they're payid very well to play for these national teams. IMO, it's flawed system when country can hire random player who have no relations with that country. Few years ago Slovenia hire Mike Tobey - guy who never been in Slovenia and have no idea where exactly this country is located.

[carlisle1]

The Philippines are facing a tough challenge against Italy. Despite being ranked as the top team in this group, Italy suffered a loss to the Dominican Republic. As a result, they now need a victory to secure their spot in the second round. This situation poses a significant challenge for the Philippines. From what I've gathered, the Philippines must win by at least 13 points to advance to the next round. Given these circumstances, it appears that Italy might have the upper hand and could secure an easy win, what are your thoughts?

Italy was the top order team in the FIBA World Cup.Italy already lost to the Dominican Republic in the previous match was big drawback to them in their group.So to keep them in top order,they need to win the Philippines.Philippines was not the huge target for the Italy.Now it seems Italy going to win the match against Philippines.The Dominican Republic already top the Group A,Italy should beat the Philippines and Angola in the upcoming matches.The score between Italy and Philippines was very close win 90-83.Hope the Philippines also get back from the crash.

The outside shooting of the Italians are the key to their victory. It's just bad to see the host nation getting axed and not qualify for the next round. But still though, as we have said, they love basketball and I remember a question on Reaves on the reception he is getting and the local reporter even says that this is a extension of Laker nation as the country has history of Lakers player visiting more than once like Kobe and Lebron.

Yeah, it's really sad to see that even the host country did try everything to at least win a game inside their groups. Suddenly all the games
fell short.

We have the kind of talents that are competitive enough, but the rotations and the balance inside are something that is still missing,

almost a solid squad and a competitive lineup, just needed to change the coaching style or better to change the actual coach, someone who can really recognize the chemistries of each player that he's going to use inside the court.

[ultrloa]

The Philippines are facing a tough challenge against Italy. Despite being ranked as the top team in this group, Italy suffered a loss to the Dominican Republic. As a result, they now need a victory to secure their spot in the second round. This situation poses a significant challenge for the Philippines. From what I've gathered, the Philippines must win by at least 13 points to advance to the next round. Given these circumstances, it appears that Italy might have the upper hand and could secure an easy win, what are your thoughts?

Italy was the top order team in the FIBA World Cup.Italy already lost to the Dominican Republic in the previous match was big drawback to them in their group.So to keep them in top order,they need to win the Philippines.Philippines was not the huge target for the Italy.Now it seems Italy going to win the match against Philippines.The Dominican Republic already top the Group A,Italy should beat the Philippines and Angola in the upcoming matches.The score between Italy and Philippines was very close win 90-83.Hope the Philippines also get back from the crash.

The outside shooting of the Italians are the key to their victory. It's just bad to see the host nation getting axed and not qualify for the next round. But still though, as we have said, they love basketball and I remember a question on Reaves on the reception he is getting and the local reporter even says that this is a extension of Laker nation as the country has history of Lakers player visiting more than once like Kobe and Lebron.

Yeah, it's really sad to see that even the host country did try everything to at least win a game inside their groups. Suddenly all the games
fell short.

We have the kind of talents that are competitive enough, but the rotations and the balance inside are something that is still missing,

almost a solid squad and a competitive lineup, just needed to change the coaching style or better to change the actual coach, someone who can really recognize the chemistries of each player that he's going to use inside the court.

We see how competitive the line up of Philippines and their opponents didn't take a big lead so there's really a huge chance for this team to win if they are just properly used by their management. But they don't have any good plans nor adjustment made on crucial times that's why they end up short and lose their games. If they could just change their management and use experience foreign coach for sure this current roster will became more scarier next worldcup if they can still go to that level.

[Sithara007]

The Philippines vs Italy match was the only competitive match yesterday, as most of the others were one-sided. I had some hope for Japan, but they went down against Australia by a big margin. And Angola put up a decent performance against Dominican Republic. The biggest mismatch will be played today, between the United States and Jordan. I would love to see the odds for this match, but at the same time I have respect for FIBA for allowing such minor teams to compete in the world cup. They want to expand the sport, and it is a good thing.

[gagux123]

Well, they may not have those star players but these players are still NBA players. Getting into the league is like a lottery because out of the many talented basketball players in the world, they are the chosen few so can be said that it's still a strong team but can be stronger with the stars.

Looking at your comment and analyzing the US basketball team, they're still an excellent team, even not with their star players but with a second unit (2nd team) or even a third unit (3rd team), they are a dangerous team and have chances to be the champions of this world cup... although, there are still other teams that are playing extremely good and that will be a great opponent for the US, mainly Canada!

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Lithuania won against Montenegro quite confident and so far everything goes as planned for us. Now we are going to face Greece and USA in next round. No chance against USA while game against Greece will be like a final for us.
As much as I love Latvia, but Canada simply is different level. There was good fight in 1st half, but 2nd left no questions and Canada looks just scary. As expected, Japan didn't made another uspet and Australia goes to next round in confident way.
France were really shameful today, loss against Lebanon would be cherry on top of their performance, but it didn't happened...

These guys are getting paid?
In other countries it’s an honor to play for your national team, there would never be any payment. Of course there would be some sort of bonus if you win a medal or something, as a motivation, and the federation pays for insurance ( as requested for example by the NBA) but other than that there is no money involved.

It’s really sad to see that this is actually happening and I guess some other small basketball nations have a similar approach to motivate their stars to play.

That's not 100% true. Probably more than half teams in this World Cup have naturalized players in their squad. Usually it's Americans who get citizenship of Jordan, Montenegro, Finland and etc. And they're payid very well to play for these national teams. IMO, it's flawed system when country can hire random player who have no relations with that country. Few years ago Slovenia hire Mike Tobey - guy who never been in Slovenia and have no idea where exactly this country is located.

That's why I wrote "small basketball nations" . It makes some sense for nations that don't have a large variety of strong players to naturalize 1 guy to be able to compete.
If teams with high population counts do this I can't respect that. Do your job and develop you own players instead of hiring some.
Teams like Germany, Italy, France, and so on don't do things like this, especially not with money involved.
In Germany this is not allowed. A player must have at least German roots to be able to change their passport to the German one and compete for our national team.

[danherbias07]

That's why I wrote "small basketball nations" . It makes some sense for nations that don't have a large variety of strong players to naturalize 1 guy to be able to compete.
If teams with high population counts do this I can't respect that. Do your job and develop you own players instead of hiring some.
Teams like Germany, Italy, France, and so on don't do things like this, especially not with money involved.
In Germany this is not allowed. A player must have at least German roots to be able to change their passport to the German one and compete for our national team.

In the Philippines case, the lack of government support is the problem. If you want to be the best, you will need to work hard for it. I mean really work hard and use your own money to support your own sport unless there will be investors who will make it happen.
After they win, that's when the government will come out.
This is why they will need to pay some guys just so they will play for different countries which is an ugly view but if they can somehow prove their citizenship then it works for them.

Anyway, Serbia blew out South Sudan, Georgia also blew out Venezuela, and of course USA also did the same against Jordan.
Nothing really good today. I think I am just going to enjoy watching Luka Doncic play later.

[Maslate]

That's why I wrote "small basketball nations" . It makes some sense for nations that don't have a large variety of strong players to naturalize 1 guy to be able to compete.
If teams with high population counts do this I can't respect that. Do your job and develop you own players instead of hiring some.
Teams like Germany, Italy, France, and so on don't do things like this, especially not with money involved.
In Germany this is not allowed. A player must have at least German roots to be able to change their passport to the German one and compete for our national team.

In the Philippines case, the lack of government support is the problem. If you want to be the best, you will need to work hard for it. I mean really work hard and use your own money to support your own sport unless there will be investors who will make it happen.
After they win, that's when the government will come out.
This is why they will need to pay some guys just so they will play for different countries which is an ugly view but if they can somehow prove their citizenship then it works for them.

I don't think there's still a need for support for the Philippine team; they already have sponsors and billionaire individuals supporting the team. It's just that Asian teams aren't really that good, probably due to our height. As a result, we struggle against bigger opponents because we cannot recruit as many naturalized players as teams like Clarkson, who play at a high level. Let's just accept that in this sport, the Philippines will not excel. Perhaps in boxing or billiards, those are the sports where we excel.

Anyway, Serbia blew out South Sudan, Georgia also blew out Venezuela, and of course USA also did the same against Jordan.
Nothing really good today. I think I am just going to enjoy watching Luka Doncic play later.

Luka never fails to amaze us, regardless of the tournament he is playing in. He can always showcase his special talent.

[Johnyz]

The Philippines vs Italy match was the only competitive match yesterday, as most of the others were one-sided. I had some hope for Japan, but they went down against Australia by a big margin. And Angola put up a decent performance against Dominican Republic. The biggest mismatch will be played today, between the United States and Jordan. I would love to see the odds for this match, but at the same time I have respect for FIBA for allowing such minor teams to compete in the world cup. They want to expand the sport, and it is a good thing.

Too bad for the host country though to be eliminated early in the competition, well it was still a great game and I'd hope that our Gilas team will improve in the coming years and hoping that we can still have the chance to play in FIBA. The game between Dominican and Angolas was also a good one, its just that Dominican are too much for Angola. Going to the next round, I'm sure many teams will play better and will do their best to qualify for next and have a good chance to take the championship title.

[Hypnosis00]

The Philippines vs Italy match was the only competitive match yesterday, as most of the others were one-sided. I had some hope for Japan, but they went down against Australia by a big margin. And Angola put up a decent performance against Dominican Republic. The biggest mismatch will be played today, between the United States and Jordan. I would love to see the odds for this match, but at the same time I have respect for FIBA for allowing such minor teams to compete in the world cup. They want to expand the sport, and it is a good thing.

Too bad for the host country though to be eliminated early in the competition, well it was still a great game and I'd hope that our Gilas team will improve in the coming years and hoping that we can still have the chance to play in FIBA. The game between Dominican and Angolas was also a good one, its just that Dominican are too much for Angola. Going to the next round, I'm sure many teams will play better and will do their best to qualify for next and have a good chance to take the championship title.

Despite the losses, the Philippine team takes pride in their performance as they've shown improvement compared to their previous appearance in the FIBA World Cup. When analyzing all three results, it's evident that the matches were highly competitive, with losses by single-digit margins against Italy and the Dominican Republic. The game against Angola saw a 10-point loss. This progress is promising, and it's the team's hope that in the next FIBA World Cup, if they qualify, they might secure their first victory.

[inthelongrun]

The Philippines vs Italy match was the only competitive match yesterday, as most of the others were one-sided. I had some hope for Japan, but they went down against Australia by a big margin. And Angola put up a decent performance against Dominican Republic. The biggest mismatch will be played today, between the United States and Jordan. I would love to see the odds for this match, but at the same time I have respect for FIBA for allowing such minor teams to compete in the world cup. They want to expand the sport, and it is a good thing.

I lost my bet on the Philippines vs. Italy because I thought Italy would win by a huge landslide but it only won by 7 points which is not enough to cover the spreads. I did not even bother checking the USA vs. Jordan odds because it won't be profitable unless someone is trying to do the spreads which is also very unpredictable knowing the USA is already secured at the top spot even if they don't play seriously for as long they manage to win.

Currently watching Slovenia vs. Cape Verde. Luka Doncic and his team need to win in order to secure the top spot but it seems like they are getting tough opposition by Cape Verde. Luka is only 2 of 11 but I assume that they will start to figure it out here and will take the win.

[Sanitough]

The Philippines vs Italy match was the only competitive match yesterday, as most of the others were one-sided. I had some hope for Japan, but they went down against Australia by a big margin. And Angola put up a decent performance against Dominican Republic. The biggest mismatch will be played today, between the United States and Jordan. I would love to see the odds for this match, but at the same time I have respect for FIBA for allowing such minor teams to compete in the world cup. They want to expand the sport, and it is a good thing.

I lost my bet on the Philippines vs. Italy because I thought Italy would win by a huge landslide but it only won by 7 points which is not enough to cover the spreads. I did not even bother checking the USA vs. Jordan odds because it won't be profitable unless someone is trying to do the spreads which is also very unpredictable knowing the USA is already secured at the top spot even if they don't play seriously for as long they manage to win.

Italy might have been able to cover the spread if not for a significant run by the Philippines in the 4th quarter. It's a challenging decision to bet against a team that enjoys strong support from the crowd, as the crowd's presence can indeed have a significant impact on the outcome of the game. Interestingly, the Philippine team managed to cover the spread in both games where they were listed as underdogs, showcasing their resilience. However, they faced a loss to Angola, a match in which they were considered favorites.

Currently watching Slovenia vs. Cape Verde. Luka Doncic and his team need to win in order to secure the top spot but it seems like they are getting tough opposition by Cape Verde. Luka is only 2 of 11 but I assume that they will start to figure it out here and will take the win.

Slovenia is currently leading by 12 points, and based on their performance so far, it seems likely that they will secure the win.

[Kelvinid]

Currently watching Slovenia vs. Cape Verde. Luka Doncic and his team need to win in order to secure the top spot but it seems like they are getting tough opposition by Cape Verde. Luka is only 2 of 11 but I assume that they will start to figure it out here and will take the win.

Slovenia is currently leading by 12 points, and based on their performance so far, it seems likely that they will secure the win.

They won the game 92-77, with Luka still being the top contributor with 19 points. What was the spread before the game? I missed this game; I could have bet on Slovenia to cover the spread as I believed they were the favorites to win.

Games that are still ongoing now;

China vs Puerto Rico
Iran vs Spain
Greece vs New Zealand

[carlisle1]

Currently watching Slovenia vs. Cape Verde. Luka Doncic and his team need to win in order to secure the top spot but it seems like they are getting tough opposition by Cape Verde. Luka is only 2 of 11 but I assume that they will start to figure it out here and will take the win.

Slovenia is currently leading by 12 points, and based on their performance so far, it seems likely that they will secure the win.

They won the game 92-77, with Luka still being the top contributor with 19 points. What was the spread before the game? I missed this game; I could have bet on Slovenia to cover the spread as I believed they were the favorites to win.

Games that are still ongoing now;

China vs Puerto Rico
Iran vs Spain
Greece vs New Zealand

Luka is still the leading scorer even with the poor start, but that's how star players work. They will figure it out and will not stop
to attack, to continue finding the right touch.

Not sure about the spread, maybe you are right and those who bet for the handicap might secure a nice win a part from taking the ML.

Interesting to see how teams perform and how those NBA stars are trying to help their own national squad
and be competitive during the games.

[stadus]

The Philippines mounted a remarkable comeback, showing their strength in the 4th quarter. However, they couldn't overcome Italy's strong 3-point shooting, and fell slightly short. Personally, I find their effort commendable, especially since I placed a bet on them with a +12 handicap – which worked out well. With their journey now concluded, it's time for the team to relax and embrace an early vacation.

FINAL SCORE  83-90

That's for sure a good handicap and congratulations on that. They should have used that strength on the early quarters but that three point show by Italy was for sure a letdown to them, that was a fantastic show Italy made. Well, looks like it's the end and hope they learn a lot on it, I commend JC for playing in his country.

They were unable to effectively close out on the 3-point shooters due to Italy's well-executed screens. As Italy's shots continued to sink, their confidence grew, and their ball movement clearly demonstrated the implementation of their practiced strategies. They exhibited trust in each other, in contrast to the Philippines, which heavily relied on Clarkson. It appears that the Philippines made a slight adjustment in that game by having Clarkson serve as a passer when he was double-teamed. However, the challenge was that his teammates lacked proficiency in 3-point shooting.

They likely just not prepared, it really lacks chemistry.

It's very evident by the number of turnovers they had every game.

[blockman]

Well, they may not have those star players but these players are still NBA players. Getting into the league is like a lottery because out of the many talented basketball players in the world, they are the chosen few so can be said that it's still a strong team but can be stronger with the stars.

Looking at your comment and analyzing the US basketball team, they're still an excellent team, even not with their star players but with a second unit (2nd team) or even a third unit (3rd team), they are a dangerous team and have chances to be the champions of this world cup...

No doubt that the US has always been a contender in the FIBA world cup regardless of the roster they're sending. I agree that whether they're a major pick or 2nd pick or so, they're still great players. They also have a great coaching staff so that shouldn't be no problem for them as the players just need to play the game and basketball and no need to think about coaches, unlike our national team. 

although, there are still other teams that are playing extremely good and that will be a great opponent for the US, mainly Canada!

Yes, Canada is no doubt another contender.

[goaldigger]

The Philippines mounted a remarkable comeback, showing their strength in the 4th quarter. However, they couldn't overcome Italy's strong 3-point shooting, and fell slightly short. Personally, I find their effort commendable, especially since I placed a bet on them with a +12 handicap – which worked out well. With their journey now concluded, it's time for the team to relax and embrace an early vacation.

FINAL SCORE  83-90

That's for sure a good handicap and congratulations on that. They should have used that strength on the early quarters but that three point show by Italy was for sure a letdown to them, that was a fantastic show Italy made. Well, looks like it's the end and hope they learn a lot on it, I commend JC for playing in his country.

They were unable to effectively close out on the 3-point shooters due to Italy's well-executed screens. As Italy's shots continued to sink, their confidence grew, and their ball movement clearly demonstrated the implementation of their practiced strategies. They exhibited trust in each other, in contrast to the Philippines, which heavily relied on Clarkson. It appears that the Philippines made a slight adjustment in that game by having Clarkson serve as a passer when he was double-teamed. However, the challenge was that his teammates lacked proficiency in 3-point shooting.

They likely just not prepared, it really lacks chemistry.

It's very evident by the number of turnovers they had every game.

Since we have a poor system, we can't really expect a good chemistry with them but at least they tried their best knowing that we are going against the top 10 worlds best basketball team based on the rankings, that was still a good perfomance. As usual, the fans will blame the coaching staff without knowing anything, I believe Chot Reyet is not the only man who decides here so better not to blame him and trust the process, this is not the end for the team Philippines as we are still working to becoming a good team.  Most of the game are close enough to get a win, that was still a great experience for us.

[LTU_btc]

It already looked that New Zeland can make upset against Greece. At one point they had 14 points lead, but when you let your opponent to score 33 points in 4th quarter, there can't be talk about win and spot in next round.
Tomorrow we will have pointless 17-32 placement games, what is waste of time IMO. While fun things and real World Cup will start on Friday.

That's why I wrote "small basketball nations" . It makes some sense for nations that don't have a large variety of strong players to naturalize 1 guy to be able to compete.
If teams with high population counts do this I can't respect that. Do your job and develop you own players instead of hiring some.
Teams like Germany, Italy, France, and so on don't do things like this, especially not with money involved.
In Germany this is not allowed. A player must have at least German roots to be able to change their passport to the German one and compete for our national team.

Looks that some participants of World Cup started raising questions about current system, like Davis Betans from Latvia

I'm extremely proud of our country. We have our values and we want to have every single Latvian on the team; every single one that has the chance to play for the national team. From the 12-man roster, all 12 will always be Latvian as long as I'm playing. I can guarantee you that. And I mean born and raised Latvian, not with a given passport.

https://basketnews.com/news-193932-davis-bertans-reveals-ideal-career-finale-stance-towards-naturalized-players-in-latvia.html
Or Angola coach Pep Claros Canals

We can sign an import like most of the national teams and maybe we're gonna score more 3s," Canals said. "But I don't believe this is correct, and I really think that FIBA must stop this as soon as possible. Otherwise, in some years, there will be no local product. Each country needs to develop their own players. This is what I think. There are players that don't even speak the language of the country that they represent. There are countries which have seven, eight player that were born outside that country.

https://www.espn.com/basketball/story/_/id/38282727/angola-coach-pep-claros-canals-hits-naturalization-costly-fiba-world-cup-loss
Couldn't agree more with them and I have huge respect for countries who use only their own players.

[Sithara007]

As expected, the Americans thrashed Jordan by a big margin. In the opening quarter itself the Americans pulled off with such a big lead (31-12) and the Jordanians never managed to catch up. It is now certain that the United States would finish at the first place in their group (they have won all of their three matches). Greece managed to finish at the second place, and with 5 points they managed to finish ahead of New Zealand. Jordan, as expected has finished at the bottom in Group C. For the second round, United States is placed along with Lithuania and Montenegro in addition to Greece.