FIBA WORLD CUP 2019 | SPAIN are new WORLD CHAMPIONS

[Hroz]

If France & Czech lose then Serbia will still be playing for qualification to the Olympics.

[jinxed]

Serbia still has games to play to figure out the 5-8 seed. It's not out of the realm of possibility they will still get to play the US, if US loses tomorrow.'

[a-French-Fan]

Imo, the #1 problem why this Serbia team failed is that, from top to bottom, they just didn't know what they wanted to do out there. They had no blueprint on how they wanted to play basketball. One of the biggest questions was how to use Jokic. First he's starting games, next thing you know, the game after that, he's coming on 5 minutes after the tip, he plays the C for three minutes but then he's sliding into the 4 position, with Milutinov at the 5. While all this is happening, they are trying to figure out how much does Jokic facilitate the offense compared to their actual PG's. So they try and go with Jokic, but he doesn't quite have the space, movement, familiarity he gets with the Nuggets, so they go back to the PG's, but they both kinda suck, well, here's Bogdan lighting it up from everywhere, so why not just give him the ball and let him score. Wait, we brought Boban too. Throw him in randomly every couple of minutes and see if it does anything. Well, Bjelica is an NBA player too, give him the ball and see if he can do anything... It was just a complete mess. And even then, their offense had enough talent that it wasn't bad, but defensively they just dropped the ball.

I always tell people. It's harder to fit talent into one team and be successful than most folks think. A lot of players are simply not going to be comfortable in different roles. This is especially true for a team like the USA, who have multiple players that are use to having the ball in their hands for every other night for 80-100 games in a season. It's hard to make that adjustment in a couple of weeks, especially if you are coming from the NBA which can be a completely different basketball game than under FIBA rules.

Completely agree. USA would be better bringing top NBA rosters altogether with non-US players replaced by best alternatives. Systems will be collaudated and roles clearer.

Thing is, with this rotation, it worked on Olympic 2016 and on Eurobasket and World cup before that. It's just, it turns out that Teodosic and Kalinic were missed badly on this cup. (especially Teo)(even Milosavljevic who injured knee ligaments in friendly before world c, we were lacking guard players). And other thing is, media in Serbia and around the world put Serbia as 2nd favorite and that pressure backfired to us. We always archive big things when we are underdogs and underachieve when we are favorites. (It's not even that we crack under pressure, looks like we relax too much when we are favorites). It didn't helped that we beat in friendlys Greece and Lithuania (two times) which relaxed them even more.

It's nice experience anyway, today at 13:00h local time, whole Serbia stopped to watch a game. Literally jobs and bussines stoped cause of a game. Everyone were watching it. It's not case for bigger countries probably, especially USA.

Congrats to lot of people here who cheered more to Serbia lose then to their nation wins. We are on to next adventures.

And if USA beats France, and if Australia Beats Czech Republic, the next adventure is the end of this week for Olympics qualifiyng!

Actually, except if Czech Republic make the surprise tomorrow, After this fabulous game by Argentina I thought as a french fan: "ok, no pressure for USA. We win (and that may happen, their roster doesn't seem better than french roster), we go to Olympics and maybe we could be World champions. If USA wins, this a first OQT with Serbia, Poland and Czech Republic".

In a way, maybe Baynes had saved Serbia's WC ...

[a-French-Fan]

Serbia still has games to play to figure out the 5-8 seed. It's not out of the realm of possibility they will still get to play the US, if US loses tomorrow.'

And if US wins tomorrow, (and Australia wins too) the 5 seed gonna be a seed for Tokyo!

Maybe you think US will lose tomorrow, and I thanks you for this

[limbo]

I don't think Teodosic would help them much. Sure he brings leadership and playmaking ability, but he can't guard a traffic cone, and the defense was already struggling more than expected. In addition, that's another player who would demand a huge role offensively, on top of Jokic, Bogdan and Bjelica. These guys would all have to sacrifice for Teodosic to be used optimally. They'll be back stronger for the Olympics.

Also, the US will never put as much stock in the World Cup as the rest of the world, this is just the fact of reality. This isn't Europe where every country engaged in a phallus measuring competition with each other. Is not that these players aren't prideful for their country, they just don't get anything out of beating scrubs at the World Cup. Firstly, you don't get paid, secondly, you don't do it to satisfy your competitive drive, because NBA has a much higher level of basketball, thirdly, you just finished a grueling 9-month basketball season, your body needs rest, and now you're going to go sacrifice your summer you could be spending rehabing and with your family to go play teams like Angola and South Korea... for what? You don't gain anything... you don't get money, don't get competition, you are expected to dominate, if you do, you get a pat on the back, if you slip up, the whole world gets to laugh at you and finally, it doesn't do anything for your career, it actually puts extra strain on your body and you might risk a Paul George type scenario. Luckily, PG was able to come back from that, but most players don't.

[UcanUwill]

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[Pipp33]

Well if you think this is surprise wait for tommorow when Australia goes home.

As an Australian, I am not confident at all on winning this game.

The Czech team plays very good basketball and after our 2 good wins against Lithuania and France, we have a tendency to stroll into games we think we "should" win. We really get up to play against bigger names than us, but have previously looked really sluggish in games we should be very competitive in.

If we turn up and play with great defensive intensity and keep out turnovers down, which were a big problem against Senegal and Canada, we will be right in it and can get the win, but if we are not firing at 100% , we will be in BIG trouble

[TheBonzaiEffect]

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Barely recognized Scola without the long locks!

[KqWIN]

We need the Aussie's to be as cocky as the Serbian fans were. It's not as fun when every team is happy to be here

[freethedevil]

-_-

Weren't serbia the biggest threats to usa?

WTF happened.

(And yes, I'm american, don't @ me)

[TheBallsDeeper]

-_-

Weren't serbia the biggest threats to usa?

WTF happened.

(And yes, I'm american, don't @ me)

Their supposedly best player who was going to win them the world cup then pick up the NBA MVP in the coming season was exposed on both ends.

Jokic was a turnstile on defense, he looked slow, unfit and disinterested. And like the playoff game that he got eliminated in, had to be benched in the last few minutes of the game because he was being targeted by the opposition. The Serbian defense looked much better without him when they played smaller and could try and match the Argentinians high energy.

On offense was either standing around on the three-point line trying to be a slow point guard, or was turning over the ball as he was double-teamed in the post as he tried again to make assists rather than play like a true big. There was no cohesion in the team with a slow seven foot player trying to play point guard, vs a group playing team basketball at a high pace.

It was hard for Jokic to shine in a team not build around him, but he showed some major weaknesses in his game. I've been critical of him for some time, and I think I was proven correct in this competition. After such a poor world cup it will be interesting to see how NBA teams play him now, I think that he is in for a tough year.

[Pipp33]

-_-

Weren't serbia the biggest threats to usa?

WTF happened.

(And yes, I'm american, don't @ me)

Their supposedly best player who was going to win them the world cup then pick up the NBA MVP in the coming season was exposed on both ends.

Jokic was a turnstile on defense, he looked slow, unfit and disinterested. And like the playoff game that he got eliminated in, had to be benched in the last few minutes of the game because he was being targeted by the opposition. The Serbian defense looked much better without him when they played smaller and could try and match the Argentinians high energy.

On offense was either standing around on the three-point line trying to be a slow point guard, or was turning over the ball as he was double-teamed in the post as he tried again to make assists rather than play like a true big. There was no cohesion in the team with a slow seven foot player trying to play point guard, vs a group playing team basketball at a high pace.

It was hard for Jokic to shine in a team not build around him, but he showed some major weaknesses in his game. I've been critical of him for some time, and I think I was proven correct in this competition. After such a poor world cup it will be interesting to see how NBA teams play him now, I think that he is in for a tough year.

Agree 100% He's a huge talent on the offensive end with great vision and passing, BUT he's not fit enough to make the most of his skills.
He's never been a good defender, but should be at least solid on defense if he got his body and mindset right.

[Catchall]

Serbia still has games to play to figure out the 5-8 seed. It's not out of the realm of possibility they will still get to play the US, if US loses tomorrow.'

Don't jinx it.

[Catchall]

The key to stopping France is face-guarding Fournier. Look for Mitchell, Smart and Brown to be on his case all game.

[KqWIN]

From what I've seen, France just doesn't play great basketball. I don't think they're optimizing their talent. It's kind of interesting to see the three top players in the tournament (Giannis, Jokic, and Gobert) be neutered.

I think USA is getting stronger as the competition goes on. There's less awkwardness in the roles. I do have a little concern that Tatum might disrupt things because he hasn't had the time to grow with the team. Brown and Barnes especially have started to settle in, but mixing in Tatum might bring about a need for more adjustments. Mitchell is settling into a glue guy role which he is excelling at. He was the number one usage player on this team in the NBA, but he's just 8th right now but adapting well. Getting Smart in there for more minutes is also making things run more smoothly. You've just got to have players that make it easier for everyone else, especially with this type of roster composition. The small ball lineups are also looking very good.

Kemba is the guy right now, and that's good, but it's still unclear who's up next. FRA is going to give Kemba pull up jumpers, I'm sure of that. But if he has an off shooting night, things could get interesting.

[CodeBreaker]

Well if you think this is surprise wait for tommorow when Australia goes home.

Or when USA goes home

[Simmons25]

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I have to be honest I saw this last night and thought what is wrong with my TV. Which team was this... I don't think I could take a coach seriously that sounded like he had sucked helium before the timeout

[Catchall]

From what I've seen, France just doesn't play great basketball. I don't think they're optimizing their talent. It's kind of interesting to see the three top players in the tournament (Giannis, Jokic, and Gobert) be neutered.

I think USA is getting stronger as the competition goes on. There's less awkwardness in the roles. I do have a little concern that Tatum might disrupt things because he hasn't had the time to grow with the team. Brown and Barnes especially have started to settle in, but mixing in Tatum might bring about a need for more adjustments. Mitchell is settling into a glue guy role which he is excelling at. He was the number one usage player on this team in the NBA, but he's just 8th right now but adapting well. Getting Smart in there for more minutes is also making things run more smoothly. You've just got to have players that make it easier for everyone else, especially with this type of roster composition. The small ball lineups are also looking very good.

Kemba is the guy right now, and that's good, but it's still unclear who's up next. FRA is going to give Kemba pull up jumpers, I'm sure of that. But if he has an off shooting night, things could get interesting.

USA will focus on defense. They'll find ways to score. Fournier is great offensively, but defensively he just gets lost. Mitchell and Brown can get where they want with him defending. De Colo isn't likely to stay in front of Kemba either. They'll use Mitchell and Kemba to drive and kick like they have been. Mitchell and Kemba should also be able to force Gobert to step over and guard them, leaving some space for one of our bigs to go to the rim. But watch how they turn the defense up on France's guards to choke their offense, while Turner and Lopez contest Gobert.

I've been pleasantly surprised by both Barnes and Brown. Kemba, Mitchell, Barnes and Turner have become a pretty cohesive starting unit. It would be great if Middleton has a good shooting game. This would also be a chance for one of our stretchy bigs to try to force Gobert to come away from the rim.

[LordCovington33]

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I have to be honest I saw this last night and thought what is wrong with my TV. Which team was this... I don't think I could take a coach seriously that sounded like he had sucked helium before the timeout

A man sounding like a chipmunk. And a player called Slaughter in the foreground.

[LordCovington33]

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I have to be honest I saw this last night and thought what is wrong with my TV. Which team was this... I don't think I could take a coach seriously that sounded like he had sucked helium before the timeout

Deadpool’s classic line seems so appropriate. “Sounds like he’s had mouthsex with a can of helium.”