Official FIBA World Championship Thread (and long preview)

[Theo Papaloukas]

Team USA



Amar'e is out due to insurance issues dealing a big hit to our roster. This is
the roster that Chris Sheridan projects.

Rose/Westbrook/Curry
Billups/Evans
Durant/Wallace/Gay
Odom/Love
Lopez/Lee

The pool of players that will be participating in the USA mini camp are:
Centers: JaVale McGee, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, and Tyson Chandler
Forwards: Kevin Durant, Jeff Green,David Lee, Kevin Love, Odom, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala and Gerald Wallace
Guards: Chauncey Billups, Tyreke Evans, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon and O.J. Mayo.

I'd like to see:
Rose/Billups/Curry
Durant/Evans
Granger/Gay/Wallace
Odom/Love
B. Lopez/Lee

I think Durant at the 2 could create a ton of mismatches and I like Granger at the 3 to space the floor. David Lee should see significant minutes and be a consistent 3 pt threat from the international 3 pt line. Curry and Billups will be the zone busters and Evans will be instant offense off the bench. Odom and Love will be facilitators from the high post and Odom can also play point forward at times. Gerald Wallace is in there for defensive purposes and Rudy Gay is another scorer off the bench.


How we stack up against other significant teams:

Spain



Calderon/Rubio
Navarro/Llull
Fernandez/Mumbru/San Emeterio
Reyes/Claver/Garbajose
M. Gasol/Vasquez
Other guys that may make the roster: Carlos Suarez, Rafa Martinez, and Pablo Aguilar

Greece



Diamantidis/Zisis/Calathes
Spanoulis/Vasiliadis
Perperoglou/Kaimakaglou
Fotsis/Printezis
Bourousis/Schortsanitis/Vougioukas

Turkey



Tunçeri/Arslan/Atsür
Onan/Güler
Turkoglu/Preldzic
Ilyasova/Gönlüm
Asik/Erden/Savas

Brazil



Huertas/Neto
Barbosa/Alex/(?)
Marcelinho/Vinicius/(?)
Nene/Guilherme
Splitter/Varejao


Slovenia
B. Udrih/Lakovic/S. Udrih
G. Dragic/Klobucar
Nachbar/Jagodnik
Slokar/Zupan
Brezec/Rizvic/Vidmar

Serbia
Teodosic/Vujanic/Markovic
Tepic/Rasic
Bjelica / Keselj
Macvan/Velickovic
Krstic/Perovic/Radulijca

France
Beaubois/Bokolo/Jackson
Batum/De Colo
F. Pietrus/Gelabale
Diaw/Traore
Noah/Mahinmi/Ajinça

Puerto Rico
Barea/Rivera
Arroyo/Ayuso/Dalmau
Lee/Diaz
Balkman/Reyes/Sanches
Ramos/Santiago

Germany
Schaffartzik/Hamann
Greene/Staiger
Benzing/Harris/Wysocki
Jagla/Schultze
Pleiss/Ohlbrecht/Femerling

Australia
Mills/Bruton/(Markovic?)
Newley/Barlow
Ingles/Worthington/(Redhage)
Andersen
Nielsen/Jawai/Ogilvy


Other key players for other teams:
Hamed Haddaddi (Iran), Luis Scola (Argentina), Zoran Planinic, Roko Ukic and Anti Tomic (Croatia), Timofey Mozgov and Sasha Kaun (Russia), Carl English and Joel Anthony (Canada), Donatas Motiejunas, Linas Kleiza, and Robertas Javtokas (Lithuania).

[Theo Papaloukas]

Spain - They've been considered our stiffest competition as of late and showed that in Beijing

Calderon can't stay in front of any our PGs and Rubio is too weak to contain guys like Evans, Rose, and Westbrook on their way to the rim. US has the clear advantage here.

Navarro and Fernandez are a formidable scoring duo at the wings but they'll be going up against the NBA scoring champ Kevin Durant and likely an explosive athlete in Gerald Wallace, Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala or a perimeter threat in Granger, Curry, or Billups. Since Navarro is pretty undersized, Team USA can afford to play two point guards at the same time as well. Victor Claver is an explosive athlete, San Emeterio, and Alex Mumbru bring experience but aren't really concerns on offense.

Inside is where Spain may get the best of the US. With Amar'e Stoudemire out, the US is left with Brook Lopez, David Lee, Kevin Love, and possible McGee, Tyson Chandler or Robin Lopez (all 3 provide little to no offense).
Spain boasts one of the better centers in the NBA in Marc Gasol, one of the best and most athletic big men in Europe in Fran Vazquez, and the best power forward in the ACB - Felipe Reyes (last year's MVP).

If Spain beats us - it'll most likely be because of our big men.


Greece is the next best team after Spain. Spanoulis is their best scorer and sometimes playmaker, Diamantidis is their lock down defender and point guard, and Bourousis and Schortsanitis are their low post options. Vasiliadis is their best shooter and zone buster. Fotsis is a face up big man and a streaky player that could be an ex-factor. Kaimakaglou will be suiting up for Panathinaikos next year and is a threat from beyond the arc and can play the 3 and 4. Perperoglou is a glue guy that can hit the open three and is a decent finisher. Printezis is an athletic combo forward who can defend both positions effectively and knock down the open 3. Hellas is always dangerous and play with great cohesiveness, however they've historically had trouble with full court press and can let their emotions get the best of them.

Turkey has the home crowd going for them and have 4 NBA players on their team - Turkoglu, Asik, Erden, and Ilyasova. They're solid in the front court with the talented point forward Emir Preldzic recently getting Turkish citizenship and also have the experienced Gonlum. Their guards are decent bu nothing to write home about and will have a ton of trouble against the likes of Rose, Westbrook, and Curry. Enes Kanter really deserved a selection here, he could have made a big impact for this team.

- Serbia is loaded with young players and is always primed to make a deep run (as evidenced by their run to the final of Eurobasket 2009)
- Slovenia will be tough with Udrih, Dragic, and Lakovic - however the absences of Erazem Lorbek will be huge
- Brazil's big man rotation has the potential to outplay the US and Spain (Splitter, Varejao, and Nene) and they've got reliable Huertas and lightning quick Barbosa in the backcourt. This team is my dark horse.
- Puerto Rico always plays with a lot of heart and they've got some talent to back it up this year. Undersized in the back court with Arroyo, Barea, and Ayuso - their 3 guard attack can shoot the lights out. Renaldo Balkman provides rebounding and defense at the 4/3 and PJ Ramos is a 7'3" presence that has a nice touch for a guy that size.
- France has a team that might be as athletic as the US with guys like Beaubois, Noah, Batum, Bokolo, and Florent Pietrus. Watch out for Ali Traore, I've always liked this guy as a reliable 4.
- Germany will showcase a lineup of young guns - put Kaman and Dirk on this squad and they could have been contenders

[Dobber-16]

Excellent Post!

USA will not even make it to the semi-finals.

[Hassassin]

Andy Rautins is going to be suiting up for Canada. There is also a good chance that Bonner shows up in a Team Canada uniform.

[xxRoyalexx]

How popular would you guys estimate the FIBA Worlds are? Obviously not on FIFA World Cup Level but I imagine it gets it's fair share of publicity, considering the fact that Basketball is the 3rd most popular sport in the world (Soccer and Cricket 1st and 2nd.)

[That Nicka]

Excellent Post!

USA will not even make it to the semi-finals.

[That Nicka]

France has a squad

[rocketsballin]

billups is on the roster? i thought he'd pass since he's old? it'll be interesting to see how well this team does

[Blackification]

billups is on the roster? i thought he'd pass since he's old? it'll be interesting to see how well this team does

They might bring him along as a leader to help out the young guys like they did with jason kidd.

[xxRoyalexx]

France has a squad

He only listed the teams that look like real contenders.

[rocketsballin]

billups is on the roster? i thought he'd pass since he's old? it'll be interesting to see how well this team does

They might bring him along as a leader to help out the young guys like they did with jason kidd.

they should use his 3pt shooting too, since they barely have any, and most of the superstars arent there

[peja_the_legend]

After Amare dropping out a possible Lee injury would be a huge blow to the Usa.I hope he pulls a Kobe and play even with a jammed finger(i guess Warriors wouldn't be that happy in that case though).

Granger,Gay or Durant can indeed play at pf but Usa needs someone to finish inside.The way things are goin Chandler could grab a place on the final roster.Who would have thought.

[ahonui06]

How popular would you guys estimate the FIBA Worlds are? Obviously not on FIFA World Cup Level but I imagine it gets it's fair share of publicity, considering the fact that Basketball is the 3rd most popular sport in the world (Soccer and Cricket 1st and 2nd.)

I think basketball is more of an international sport than cricket. Cricket does have a large international following, but I think basketball has now surpassed it as the 2nd international sport only behind soccer.

[Chuck Diesel]

I think Gerald Wallace is going to be end up being one of the most important players for Team USA in Turkey. We can't underestimate how physical it's going to be over there.

[Sedale Threatt]

Damn, that is a weak-ass team if that's what we end up sending. Our biggest advantage could be the fact that so many other teams will also be missing their big guns.

[xxRoyalexx]

How popular would you guys estimate the FIBA Worlds are? Obviously not on FIFA World Cup Level but I imagine it gets it's fair share of publicity, considering the fact that Basketball is the 3rd most popular sport in the world (Soccer and Cricket 1st and 2nd.)

I think basketball is more of an international sport than cricket. Cricket does have a large international following, but I think basketball has now surpassed it as the 2nd international sport only behind soccer.

If that's the case then that's definitely good news.

[alucryts]

great thread Theo Papaloukas.

[SpeedyG]

Gonna be a tough ride. But that's good. Let these guys learn to battle in the international stage. Should only make these guys better.

[Sedale Threatt]

Who plays cricket? England, India and the Caribbean?

[xxRoyalexx]

lmfao Dirk and Kaman dropped out for Germany.