Official FIBA World Championship Thread (and long preview)

[ahonui06]

Just out of curiosity, why doesn't kobe, wade, lebron, etc... participate in the FIBA world championships?

Because it's not the Olympics.

[Nebula1]

Will coverage of the games be on ESPN?

I believe the exhibitions will be on ESPN affiliates. I would assume the Worlds will be also.

Cool. I hope so. I would assume ESPN3 as well. Thanks for the feedback.

[BarbaGrizz]

Don´t rely your hopes too much in Brazil having a chance against US. In the end, we always have a mediocre, at best, run.

[Nico Kolya]

I'd like to see Rose, Gay, Durant, Odom, Chandler as a unit.

Not nearly enough ball handling imo. Ball movement is very important against a zone, and Gay/Durant are not very good passers. I think we are more likely to see Gay at the 4 than at the 2 if he and Durant play together.

They would be very difficult to score on and pretty much unstoppable in transition.



Will coverage of the games be on ESPN?

all USA games, exhibitions included, will be aired on ESPN 2. A few will be on ESPN. Most will be live, then reaired, some will be live only on ESPN 3. I think every game of the tournament will be on ESPN 3. (Thats assuming you're not talking about British ESPN)

Anyhow, the team USA schedule is on NBA.com.

[Theo Papaloukas]

Don´t rely your hopes too much in Brazil having a chance against US. In the end, we always have a mediocre, at best, run.

This Brazilian team is the best in recent memory and very balanced.

No other team in the tournament except maybe the US has a trio of bigs like Varejao, Nene, and Splitter.

Huertas is a very reliable point guard and was one of the keys to Tau's ACB title.

Barbosa can play with any guard in the world and is a volume scorer and go to guy on the perimeter.

Alex and Marcelinho are very good shooters and space the floor well.

Vinicius a solid defender and good athlete and Guilermhe can also space the floor at times.

[Run_Forest]

Fotsis is always a dangerous player.

I can assure you that if there is a player that's not dangerous that's Fotsis.He is just indifferent.He doesn't care.And it's a shame because he once was the biggest Greek prospects.Now he is not even starting 5 material for his club Panathinaikos.I would prefer him to just retire from the Greek squad as soon as the World Championship is over but i don't see that happening

Fotsis is the starting PF of Panathinaikos, which is an elite Euroleague club, maybe the biggest of all of them. He is also the starting PF of Greece's national team, which is one of the top 3-5 national teams in the world.

It is true that he is a huge failure based on his talent, but he is nonetheless a very good role player for all of his teams. Excellent team defender, lock down man defender, athletic, great dunker, outstanding 3 point shooter, unlimited shooting range, excellent rebounder, especially offensively, very clutch player that hits many big time shots in the crunch time.

For sure he would be considered the toughest PF defender that Durant would have to face.

I will have to insist considering the fact that i get to see every Greek game all year long plus Euroleague games

And you clearly overrating him...not as athletic anymore,outstanding three pointer?more than mediocre without of course an unlimited shooting range and generally the words you use make him look like he is the best European PF out there...Btw in 26 Greek games he started 15 of them(granted though Greek league clubs can't match Panathinaikos or Olympiakos.They re pretty much playing on their own.)

IMO he is going to be the starting PF(unfortunately).But the best PF Greece has is probably Printezis...11.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg in Euroleague.Now that guys has crazy athleticism he can rebound and gives Greece a lot of energy.



PS:FYI since i ve seen it mentioned we call Papaloukas Teo because Theo means uncle in our language(or god depending on how you say it).Plus in our language it sounds better as Teo

[StarsandStripes]

Heres my 12 man roster

Rose/Rondo/Westbrook
Billups/Curry
Durant/Iguodala/Gay
Odom/Love
Lopez/Chandler

Rose gets the start at PG, Rondo and Westbrook crucial players in Coach K's pressing and pressure plans
Billups will start but will play minimal minutes with Curry getting most of the minutes at SG
Odom starts at PF but Durant will get some burn at PF when Iguodala or Gay is at the 3
Down the stretch this team needs to get the ball inside in the big games against the likes of Greece or Spain so Lopez has to be first choice at C

[peja_the_legend]

So according to wiretap Mayo and Wallace are out.Which makes me wonder,how much did that scrimmage mattered to that decision?Wallace was bad but Mayo on a turnover fest had zero tos and a very solid performance overerall.Why cut him then?
Anyway coach K has made up his mind i think,these try outs don't mean much.Guys like Billups or Odom can stink up the court or look way out of shape but will still make the team for their supposed veteran leadership And no way will they take 2 centers,Odom Love and Chandler and that's it,Usa will play a lot small balldon't forget who's the 1st assistant coach after all..

the final roster will be
Rondo/Westbrook/Rose
Billups/Curry
Iguodala/Granger/Gay
Durant/Odom
Chandler/Love

[rockymac52]

Maybe I'm just being a homer and trying to justify McGee somehow making the team, but what's the point in taking so many point guards? Especially ones that can't shoot particularly well (or at all). I can live with going small in general, but when we're playing pass-first point guards at SG, I think it's a waste of a roster spot. And even if we have 4-5 PGs worthy of making the squad, oh well, sucks to be the 5th best out of that crew, better luck next year. I think we'd be better off letting McGee be the 12th man and come in for short spurts to provide an energy boost like he did in the scrimmage, and how he has for the Wizards in the past.

[HoopsGuru25]

Jeff Green should have been cut before Mayo.

[AkeemTheDream]

Teo Papaloukas announced that he wants to play. The coach of Greece Jonas Kazlauskas refused to allow him into the team. So Papaloukas may still play as the Greek Federation is upset that the coach would not let him play.

[AkeemTheDream]

Akeen ,sorry but you are wrong. Felipe ALWAYS was, is and will be a power forward, that´s not even debatable.....BUUUUT He played often the Center in Real Madrid. In the NT He plays the 4, Period.

Reyes plays C in his club team Real Madrid as you even admit. Which shows that poster "Theo Papaloukas" was wrong. Because he claimed that Reyes plays PF for his club team, implying he plays there exclusively even. I know Reyes can play power forward, but the fact is that he is 90% of the time with his club team playing at center.

So thus, he is a center and not a power forward. He is a center that can play at power forward. Not a power forward. If he plays PF in the national team, it just means they are using a two center lineup.

[AkeemTheDream]

I will have to insist considering the fact that i get to see every Greek game all year long plus Euroleague games

And you clearly overrating him...not as athletic anymore,outstanding three pointer?more than mediocre without of course an unlimited shooting range and generally the words you use make him look like he is the best European PF out there...Btw in 26 Greek games he started 15 of them(granted though Greek league clubs can't match Panathinaikos or Olympiakos.They re pretty much playing on their own.)

IMO he is going to be the starting PF(unfortunately).But the best PF Greece has is probably Printezis...11.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg in Euroleague.Now that guys has crazy athleticism he can rebound and gives Greece a lot of energy.



PS:FYI since i ve seen it mentioned we call Papaloukas Teo because Theo means uncle in our language(or god depending on how you say it).Plus in our language it sounds better as Teo

All I am saying is that Fotsis is a very good role player. He is not useless as you seem to be claiming. Printezis is a very good player but his outside shot is too streaky and he also isn't the best size for a PF.

[Sedale Threatt]

Always have and always will love the Brazilian monikers. "Vinicius" -- sounds like a Roman general.

[Theo Papaloukas]

Akeen ,sorry but you are wrong. Felipe ALWAYS was, is and will be a power forward, that´s not even debatable.....BUUUUT He played often the Center in Real Madrid. In the NT He plays the 4, Period.

Reyes plays C in his club team Real Madrid as you even admit. Which shows that poster "Theo Papaloukas" was wrong. Because he claimed that Reyes plays PF for his club team, implying he plays there exclusively even. I know Reyes can play power forward, but the fact is that he is 90% of the time with his club team playing at center.

So thus, he is a center and not a power forward. He is a center that can play at power forward. Not a power forward. If he plays PF in the national team, it just means they are using a two center lineup.

Are you kidding me?

So you're trying to say 6'11, 270 lb Darjus Lavrionvic and 7'2" Ante Tomic play power forward while Reyes plays center?

[cool007]

Jeff Green should have been cut before Mayo.

I agree.

[Theo Papaloukas]

Australia beat China 64-63

Australia: Mills (13), Nielsen (12), Andersen (8)
China: Yi Jianlian (17 and 10), Wang Zhizhi (12 and 9), Liu Wei (11)

Slovenia beat Iran 107-74

Slovenia: Becirovic (23), S. Udrih (19), Dragic (15), Brezec (15)
Iran: Kamrani (22), Kardoust (11)

[brassviews]

Teo Papaloukas announced that he wants to play. The coach of Greece Jonas Kazlauskas refused to allow him into the team. So Papaloukas may still play as the Greek Federation is upset that the coach would not let him play.

He said he didn't want to play originally. If that's the case, then Kazlauskas is right in his decision.

Anyways, Papaloukas is close to done. Let the young players have a chance.

[Run_Forest]

Well the thing is that the rest of the players have been training for the past two weeks.Not to mention that Sofo got with the Greek team as soon as the Vegas Summer League was over and Pappas,Papanikolaou had a tournament earlier.So if Kazlauskas did accept Papaloukas i don't think the players' reaction would be positive at all...It's like telling the players that Papaloukas is above everyone else.

Papaloukas should have been with the team right from the start if he wanted to play.We finished 3rd without him and Diamantidis in the European Championship and with Spanoulis who was our best player but is too turnover-prone being our starting pg.Now with Diamantidis probably the best defender in the PG position in Europe and Calathes(probably)as his backup we are good at the pg position...Diamantidis-Spanoulis will be a great backcourt

Akeem i am just saying that Fotsis plays indiferrently.He plays like he is not commited to what he is doing.He is going to be the starter for us but i just can't stand watching him play anymore...And to think that he could have become great...

[AkeemTheDream]

Fotsis has always been known as a lazy player. However, when the elimination games of Greece's national came, he always showed up. As far as Greece not taking Papaloukas that is strange to me. Diamantidis is not a good defender of opposing point guards as you say. He is excellent at defending shooting guards and small forwards, but not point guards. Actually, that is what Spanoulis always did in their club team and what Spanoulis and Zisis always did in that national team.

Diamantidis is too slow to defend point guards. Calathes is the same type of player as Papaloukas except he's much less athletic (by a lot) and is even a much worse shooter. And he has way less experience. Spanoulis is a great point guard but after him they have just Zisis, and Spanoulis is turnover prone as said. So is Diamantidis whenever he tries to run an offense against high level competition. Diamantidis is a shooting guard or even more of a point forward. Calathes is also turnover prone. Zisis is the only one that is steady and isn't turnover prone, but he's not close to Papaloukas in play making ability.

Zisis can conceivably do everything Papaloukas can (except he's also a lot less athletic) and he's a better shooter than Papaloukas, but he just does not have the play making abilities that Papaloukas has. Neither do Diamantidis and Calathes. Seems like a really odd decision not to take Papaloukas if he was available.

It's nothing the same as Slovenia not taking Beno Udrih, because they already have Sani, Lakovic, Dragic. Three guys that can handle things just fine at PG so they did not even need him. But Greece definitely needed Papaloukas if he was available to them. Now they have to hope that Vassiliadis has a huge tournament to make up for those minutes. He is certainly capable of it though as he is a huge scorer.