In less than a week the FIBA World Basketball Championships will tip-off in Turkey with the top 24 teams competing for the title of World Champion. The United States, Spain, Argentina and Greece are the four favorites for the semifinal spots, with a champion emerging from this group. Spain are the defending World Champions, beating Greece in Japan four years ago. The US have not won this competition since 1994 when the tourney was held in Canada. The competition divides the 24 teams into four groups of six, with the top four teams in each group advancing to the knock-out stages. Over the next couple of days PBP will look at each group and try to provide a concise preview. Let's begin with Group A! Enjoy!
Group A
Angola
FIBA Rank - 12th
Key Player - Joaquim Gomes
Angola are the best basketball team in Africa having won 10 of the last 11 FIBA African Championships with their only blemish being in 1997. However, they have yet to translate their domestic success to the world's stage finishing outside the Top 10 in the last two major tournaments. Angola will rely on the experience of their key players such as Joaquim Gomes, Olimpia Ciprano and Eduardo Mingas. However, there is a significant lack of depth with this version of the squad and they will struggle to finish in the top four of the group.
Argentina
FIBA Rank - 1st
Key Player - Luis Scola
Despite missing Manu Ginobili the Argentina basketball team will heavily rely on Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni. Luis Scola will be the first option for Argentina in the paint. His durability and great moves inside will be the key to scoring a high percentage of their shots and also key to opening up shooters like Delfino and Nocioni. Futhermore, Argentina will apply their trademark airtight defense and multiple motion offense. It is worth noting that although Argentina are the number one ranked team in the FIBA rankings, they qualified for the World Championships by winning the bronze medal at the FIBA Americas Tournament. This will be a transition tournament for the Argentines are they are tying to blend some youth into the squad.
Australia
FIBA Rank - 11th
Key Player - Patrick Mills
Australia are missing two of their key players as they prepare to enter play at the World Championships in Turkey. Both Andrew Bogut and CJ Burton will be missing through injury while a variety of youngsters have entered the squad. There is no doubt the talent is there for new coach, San Antonio Spurs assistant Brett Brown, to produce a team that pushes deep into the tournament. The Boomers will play the traditional aggressive Australian style at both ends, but what remains uncertain is who will be their major focus on offense, and whether Patrick Mills can have the same impact he had in Beijing without Bogut being able to suck in the defense due to his work in the paint. Australia will be a physical team with loads of stamina however they do lack a creative force in the side that will be able to score on a consistent basis.
Germany
FIBA Rank - 7th
Key Player - Jan Jagla
Many have predicted that without Dirk Nowitzki Germany will falter at the World Championships. This could not have been more true at last years EuroBasket when Germany managed to win one game and this year's edition of the squad will contain many younger players so the results should remain the same. Jan Jagla will be asked to carry the line for the Germans and although he is a true 7-footer Jagla prefers to play on the perimeter and is considered a point-center. This could be a long tournament for the Germans. Furthermore, Coach Bauermann will have to develop to a game plan to combat with the loss of Nowitzki while still maintaining strong defensive principles.
Jordan
FIBA Rank - 38th
Key Player - Rasheim Wright
Jordan is set to make its FIBA World Championships debut. This achievement is due in large part to Portuguese coach Mario Palma. However, winning at least one game in the tournament will be a very difficult challenge since a large majority of Jordanian players participated in very few games last season due to the dissolution of their basketball federation a year ago. Not a good sign fellas. Rasheim Wright, a naturalized Jordanian from the US, will be asked to shoulder the scoring load for the Jordanians and he was the leading scorer during the FIBA Asia tourney.
Serbia
FIBA - 5th
Key Player - Milos Teodosic
Dusan Ivkovic relied on a group of promising young players to help bring Serbia back to the top of European basketball and the move paid off with an impressive runners-up place in last year’s EuroBasket in Poland. Now the young Serbs set their sights on conquering the world. Last year, Serbia showed they could win without most of their NBA players. This new generation is not in its prime just yet despite all these players having grown since EuroBasket 2009. Teodosic was named MVP of the Euroleague and Kosta Perovic won the Eurocup with Valencia. The key for the Serbs, as evidenced by their brawl with Greece, is to keep their composure and hope that some of their key players are not suspended for an extended period of time.
Projected Order Of Finish
1st - Argentina
2nd - Serbia
3rd - Australia
4th - Germany
5th - Angola
6th - Jordan
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