Official FIBA World Championship Thread (and long preview)

[AdamTheGreek]

Off topic, but I found this.
Greece vs. USA H2H since 1990:
1990 World Championships-Round Robin-USA d. Greece 103-95
1994 World Championships-SF-USA d. Greece 97-58
1998 World Championships-Third Place Game-USA d. Greece 84-61
2004 Olympics-Round Robin-USA d. Greece 77-71
2006 World Championships-SF-Greece d. USA 101-95
2008 Olympics-Round Robin-USA d. Greece 92-69
2010 Friendly-USA d. Greece 87-59

Other:
1995 FIBA U-19 World Championships-Round Robin-Greece d. USA 98-78
1999 FIBA U-19 World Championships-Round Robin-USA d. Greece 92-87
2009 FIBA U-19 World Championships-Round Robin-USA d. Greece 85-69
2009 FIBA U-19 World Championships-Final-USA d. Greece 88-80
2010 Summer Youth Olympics-Third Place Game-Greece d. USA 34-25

[sca]

I think Spain is playing possum now after that France loss.
Kleiza is beasting like he was at Olympiacos.

As for my boys losing to Turkey, I'm not too worried. Turks needed that game a lot more than us to keep their fans happy. They'll fold like Poland at EuroBasket when it's all said and done.

Are you comparing Turkey to Poland? I see no similarity besides both having teh homecourt advantage and coming off to a good start.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Surprised to see Spain sucking so much. Props to Lithuania for the upset, it was a well deserved win. But Spain is just playing awful.

That said we have our own problems and don't look all that much better. Let's hope the half-court offense for the US gets cleaned up before the knock-out rounds.

[Ferulci]

Men, Spain is playing horrible. We they did exactly the same thing last year, during Euro Championship.
WHen it mattered, they just killed everyone (blowout by 20+points). Pau is not here anymore, but they're is nothing to laugh about.

[ahonui06]

Spain is 1-2 and according to Vin, they are the best team in the world because they won the 2006 FIBA WC, even though the USA won the 2008 Olympics and is currently undefeated in this tournament.

[richboy]

Surprised to see Spain sucking so much. Props to Lithuania for the upset, it was a well deserved win. But Spain is just playing awful.

That said we have our own problems and don't look all that much better. Let's hope the half-court offense for the US gets cleaned up before the knock-out rounds.

We look a lot better than Spain. Brazil played great and still lost.

[easiestplayfts]

Jumping the gun a bit, aren't you?

YOU TALKIN TO ME.
BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THIS TEAM CAN WIN GOLD...BUT I HOPE THEY CAN!!!

[LithuanianOne]

Great win for Lithuania. All the Hell broke out lose when we won : my facebook and telephone got flooded with messages/greatings etc. Lots of people in major cities were singing, dancing, celebrating etc. Felt like we won the whole championship I'm still a bit sceptical about them going all the way to the medal round, but heck I thought they will lose to Spain so what do I know )

[Calvin Klein]

Can ANYONE give me a good answer on this?!

If i'm not mistaken the lockout is supposed to happen right after this season, correct?

I was reading about team USA rosters and found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Sta ... am_Team_II

1998 World Championship The Dirty Dozen

The World Championship in Athens, Greece was different from the previous teams, as none of its players were current members of NBA teams. The team was nicknamed the "Dirty Dozen" for its work ethic and teamwork. Because of a labor dispute that led to a lockout, no active NBA players were permitted to compete in the tournament. Undrafted free agent Brad Miller was the only member of the team who would go on to have a successful NBA career. Some of the other team members, including Trajan Langdon, Kiwane Garris and Michael Hawkins had brief spells in the NBA. All went on to have careers in Europe, with Langdon being named to the Euroleague's All-Decade Team for the 2000s. This unheralded team, composed largely of players from American colleges, the minor-league Continental Basketball Association or European pro leagues, captured a bronze medal, considered a solid achievement given the team's lack of top-notch talent.

If the lockout happens (most likely) would this mean that there would be no NBA players playing the qualifying tournament for the Olympics?

And does the winner of 2010 World Championship earns a direct spot in the Olympics?

Looks like I was kinda right about this:

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/26/if-t ... mpics-not/

But there could be one big difference next summer if the Americans don't take care of business this summer in Istanbul. An NBA lockout is very possible starting July 1, 2011. If such a lockout lingers, players under contract most likely wouldn't be able to play in international events.

That was the case when the NBA had a lockout in the summer of 1998 and Team USA filled its World Championship roster mostly with minor leaguers and college guys. That gritty outfit, known as the "Dirty Dozen,'' did end up taking a bronze medal in Athens.

If Team USA doesn't win the Worlds this summer and there is a prolonged lockout, stocking the team in that manner could end up again being the case. Marquee NBA free agents might be eligible to play, but don't look for Anthony, if he opts out of his Denver contract next summer to become the top available free agent, going to Argentina for the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in bold letters on his date book.

[Vin20]

Spain is 1-2 and according to Vin, they are the best team in the world because they won the 2006 FIBA WC, even though the USA won the 2008 Olympics and is currently undefeated in this tournament.

You'll never get tired of this, will you?

C'mon, repeat with me!

World Championship - 2006 - Spain wins
Olympic Games - 2008 - USA wins

WORLD Championship, OLYMPIC games.

Spain is the current best team in the world. The USA is the current best olympic team in the world.

And Spain ain't bad, Spain IS PLAYING bad. Did you see the last Eurobasket? I guess you didn't.

[LithuanianOne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXJ63hcaZ6g

Lithuanias point guard tricked Ricky Rubio.

[senfono]

Spain has no chance of medal. The second unit is not at the level it was in the past years. Calderon was playing awful but he would be very important to calm the tempo and score in the bad moments. And the most important concern (and hard to resolve), they have no rebound without Pau and Jimenez

[Franstyle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXJ63hcaZ6g

Lithuanias point guard tricked Ricky Rubio.

Traveling...

[senfono]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXJ63hcaZ6g

Lithuanias point guard tricked Ricky Rubio.

Traveling...

And it's Marc's fault, not Ricky's

[rottenzombie]

Jesus Spain can't hit an open 3 or grab a defensive rebound to sav their lives......And their secound unit doesn't play much defense....

[LithuanianOne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXJ63hcaZ6g

Lithuanias point guard tricked Ricky Rubio.

Traveling...

What ? Look again closely, after the ball hits Rubios back Kalnietis bounces the ball and takes two steps. Maybe I don't see something.
Also the ref was just besides him and didin't see the travel.

[Ced]

I love how Hollinger dismissed all Asian, African and Oceanic teams. New Zealand is now 2-2 (beat CANADA today) and Angola are up on Germany at the moment.

Guy should stick to math.

[Krodis]

I love how Hollinger dismissed all Asian, African and Oceanic teams. New Zealand is now 2-2 (beat CANADA today) and Angola are up on Germany at the moment.

Guy should stick to math.

But Canada is AWFUL.

[ThreeYearPlan]

La Pistola has been pretty bad so far

[G35]

The problem with Spain is that they dont respect their opponents. They think that they can just turn it on and off and win the game just cuz it says Spain on the front of their jersey. They have to realize that the rest of the world is catching up. What I see is a singular lack of team basketball and too much one on one flashy type basketball and thats not going to get it in these games....