FIBA World Cup 2023 (FIRST thread)

[UcanUwill]

Group H is actually going to be quite difficult, but if Canada can advance out of that and the second round and get into playoff rounds it could get interesting. USA is obviously still the strongest favourite, but in single elimination games with SGA and Jamal Murray, it would be hard to count out Canada ending up on a podium.

Then again, Canada has had a bad stretch of flopping at these tournaments at the senior level in the past decade, so anything can happen.

Canada is all potential so far, not looking like their talent generation is here to stop, but if somehow it does, this will be the most wasted generation ever. they did not flop in these tournaments, they usually flopped to even make it. Can't expect front court of literal NBA players to stop Ondřej Balvín I guess... This is the time to finally prove something.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Group H is actually going to be quite difficult, but if Canada can advance out of that and the second round and get into playoff rounds it could get interesting. USA is obviously still the strongest favourite, but in single elimination games with SGA and Jamal Murray, it would be hard to count out Canada ending up on a podium.

Then again, Canada has had a bad stretch of flopping at these tournaments at the senior level in the past decade, so anything can happen.

Canada is all potential so far, not looking like their talent generation is here to stop, but if somehow it does, this will be the most wasted generation ever. they did not flop in these tournaments, they usually flopped to even make it. Can't expect front court of literal NBA players to stop Ondřej Balvín I guess... This is the time to finally prove something.

Yeah, when I said "these tournaments" I didn't specifically mean the World Cup, but any of the senior level big tournaments. There have been a number of extremely disappointing results, given their talent level, the most egregious probably being the semi-final loss by 1 point to Venezuela in the 2015 FIBA Americas tournament that meant they didn't qualify for the 2016 Olympics.

You're right, they definitely have a lot to prove. First step is seeing who actually shows up for the team this summer.

[LuDux1]

Good news everyone, Lithuanian NT won't face a pressure to win this summer

[Johnny Tomala]

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Nice roster so far. Four players from my top 5 of each position. Better roster than in 2019. USA will win gold this time.

[steadysoul]

Bobby? Really?

28th of August,Monday,USA vs Greece.

Giannis vs Bobby,who'll be the best PF?

(That's assuming Giannis plays,which i'm starting to highly doubt after this years disastrous Bucks playoffs.)

Honestly I hope he doesn't
It just breaks my hear to see him banging his head on that brick wall every second summer, and most importantly I feel sorry for myself having to watch Kalathes again LOL
This generation of Greek basketball just sucks, we may as well admit it and move on

What the hell happened to Greece? It felt like they were next up in 2006 and then....nothing.

[steadysoul]

Group H is actually going to be quite difficult, but if Canada can advance out of that and the second round and get into playoff rounds it could get interesting. USA is obviously still the strongest favourite, but in single elimination games with SGA and Jamal Murray, it would be hard to count out Canada ending up on a podium.

Then again, Canada has had a bad stretch of flopping at these tournaments at the senior level in the past decade, so anything can happen.

Canada seems focused so much on the Olympics that it slips up on the things before it. They've had multiple opportunities that were theirs to lose. I don't know if they make it out of group play and that sucks for them because other Americas teams got better Draws. Lowkey Indonesia screwed them.

[dakomish23]

Is Murray playing for CAN? B/C that is one helluva backcourt w/ him & SGA

[Pachinko_]

What the hell happened to Greece? It felt like they were next up in 2006 and then....nothing.

Dunno TBH. I recall one of the NT coaches said there's just less kids playing the game these days.

[Genjuro]

What the hell happened to Greece? It felt like they were next up in 2006 and then....nothing.

The best players aged. Talent is often a generational thing.

[WillyJakkz]

28th of August,Monday,USA vs Greece.

Giannis vs Bobby,who'll be the best PF?

(That's assuming Giannis plays,which i'm starting to highly doubt after this years disastrous Bucks playoffs.)

Honestly I hope he doesn't
It just breaks my hear to see him banging his head on that brick wall every second summer, and most importantly I feel sorry for myself having to watch Kalathes again LOL
This generation of Greek basketball just sucks, we may as well admit it and move on

What the hell happened to Greece? It felt like they were next up in 2006 and then....nothing.

Yep I remember that.

Back when they had Greek Shaq lol that's been a long time. Great question.

[UcanUwill]

What the hell happened to Greece? It felt like they were next up in 2006 and then....nothing.

The best players aged. Talent is often a generational thing.

Nothing really happned, they still have good players, just not as good as previous generation, and most of their best players can't really shoot, so it is just a bad fit all around. Still tho, if Greece wins medal, no one would be shocked, not like they are completely washed, they still have Giannis, Sloukas, Papanikoloau, Papagiannis, Papapetrou, Larenzakis and other decent players.

[lambchop]

What the hell happened to Greece? It felt like they were next up in 2006 and then....nothing.

The best players aged. Talent is often a generational thing.

Dunno TBH. I recall one of the NT coaches said there's just less kids playing the game these days.

Yea I think it's these 2 things. That Greek generation peaked around 2006 and maybe would have had a shot at the olympics in 2008, had the US not taken that tournament so seriously. It reminds of Argentina who had a generation of legit NBA players and Euroleague key players all on the same roster. It seems as though they won't have anything close to that in the next 5 years. Anything can happen in 10 years, of course.

And as for the kids playing, yes, I have at least noticed that Greece is now just an average team in the Euro youth championships too. They are comparable to Belgium / Portugal / Czech Republic at this point. Germany is actually also notoriously bad at those tournaments, but they have a different way of developing players anyway.

[Slim Tubby]

Giannis, Sloukas, Papanikoloau, Papagiannis, Papapetrou, Larenzakis and other decent players.[/quote]

Playing the Greek version of Wheel of Fortune must be quite difficult if you don't buy the vowels.

[Pachinko_]

Giannis, Sloukas, Papanikoloau, Papagiannis, Papapetrou, Larenzakis and other decent players.

Playing the Greek version of Wheel of Fortune must be quite difficult if you don't but the vowels.

When I order coffee (in Australia) and they ask for my name these days I just say Jim. Fk it. had enough LOL
sometimes I say Bob

PS Sometimes they even get Jim wrong
"Did you say Jin?"

[UcanUwill]

Giannis, Sloukas, Papanikoloau, Papagiannis, Papapetrou, Larenzakis and other decent players.

Playing the Greek version of Wheel of Fortune must be quite difficult if you don't but the vowels.

When I order coffee (in Australia) and they ask for my name these days I just say Jim. Fk it. had enough LOL
sometimes I say Bob

PS Sometimes they even get Jim wrong
"Did you say Jin?"

You dont want to know my name, I will just say it has 20 letters total, first and last name. Greek names are easy, like Apu Nahasapeemapetilon once said - I don't get what is so hard about it, it is spelled the same way its pronounced.

You just need to know any Euro language other than English, all other languages, latin and cyrilic or Grek even, uses pretty much original latin pronounciation system, thats why you can tell me your name is Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk or Egidijus Mockevicius or Predrag Stojakovic, and I will spell it without mistake, where English speakers will just stare at you in disbelief haha

[Mirotic12]

What the hell happened to Greece? It felt like they were next up in 2006 and then....nothing.

This is 100% what the hell happened:

Hellenic Basketball Federation Presidents:

Vladimiros Vallas: 1975–1977
Zacharias Alexandrou: 1977–1998
George Vassilakopoulos: 1998–2002
Petros Kapagerov: 2002
Andreas Miaoulis: 2003–2010
George Vassilakopoulos: 2010–2021
Vangelis Liolios: 2021–Present

The bolded eras are "the dark times" of Greece's national team. During those two "dark times", it was hands down the worst run basketball federation in the world, and possibly the worst run sports federation in the world. It could literally take days to list the problems that federation caused.

The first tournament under the new federation was EuroBasket 2022.

[Greek]

Giannis, Sloukas, Papanikoloau, Papagiannis, Papapetrou, Larenzakis and other decent players.

Playing the Greek version of Wheel of Fortune must be quite difficult if you don't but the vowels.

When I order coffee (in Australia) and they ask for my name these days I just say Jim. Fk it. had enough LOL
sometimes I say Bob

PS Sometimes they even get Jim wrong
"Did you say Jin?"

I work for an Italian company, my 1st name it's easy for them Yiannis, but my surname it's another story lol, so like Giannis they just call me like that

Sent from my SM-G996B using RealGM mobile app

[ShootersShoot]

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Nice roster so far. Four players from my top 5 of each position. Better roster than in 2019. USA will win gold this time.

The main difference to me is the point guard position. Hali and brunson are big time upgrades over kemba, Smart, and white.

Also JJJ > HB and Reaves > Joe Harris

I wouldn't mind them bringing back a guy like Myles Turner. He had a career year last season and has a skillset perfect for international play. I also kind of want someone from the 2019 WC team on this year's squad for their experience and for redemption. Turner would be the perfect vet and he was only 23 during the last FIBA WC.

[Mickey8]

Team USA is about to fail again at World Championship.

[Mirotic12]

Team USA is about to fail again at World Championship.

Yeah, it's amazing how positive American fans are about that roster so far. That's the exact type of roster that finished 6th in 2002 (2002 roster was actually better) and 7th in 2019. Even if it might possibly be better than the 2019 roster, that same roster would have not medaled in 2019. It's very fortunate for Team USA that thanks to this new stupid FIBA schedule, a lot of players for other teams will probably skip the tournament. But the same thing happened in 2019, and USA still finished 7th.

I definitely think Kerr is a much better fit for USA as a coach though. His offensive style suits FIBA a lot more than Popovich's.