The FIBA World Basketball Championships kicked off this weekend from Turkey and as with Group A and B, PBP will preview each of the four groups, so let's move ahead with Group C.
Group C
China
Key Player - Yi Jianlin
FIBA Rank - 9th
China is missing Yao Ming for this edition of the tournament and will be relying on the offensive firepower from Yi Jianlin and Yue Sun. Chairman Yi might not be able to post up a chair in this tournament but at least he will not have to contend with NBA defenses and he should be China's leading scorer. Furthermore, China is in an era of transition as it is probably that Yao will never play for the national team again and new era of Chinese basketball must be ushered in. With millions of Chinese playing basketball, this tournament should be a foundation for future Chinese success.
Greece
Key Player - Nikos Zisis
FIBA Rank - 4th
Greece enter the FIBA championships as the only team without any major injuries and any major players sitting out the tournament. However, two of their key players, Antonis Fotsis and 'Sofo' are suspended for the first two games due to their involvement in the brawl with Serbia. The Greek team is ready for this new challenge. Coach Kazlauskas who managed to lead the team to a third place finish at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland continues to infuse more youth into the roster to blend with an experienced core. Last year it was ex-Gators guard Nick Calathes and Utah Jazz’s center Kostas Koufos while, this time Ian Vougioukas, Kostas Kaimakoglou, Kostis Vasiliadis and the youngsters Kostas Papanikolaou and Nickos Pappas were brought in alongside the more experienced core of Dimitris Diamantidis, Vassilis Spanoulis, Antonios Fotsis, Nikos Zisis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Ioannis Bourousis, Schortsianitis and talented Georgios Printezis, Efstratios Perperoglou, Panayotis Vassilopoulos and Loukas Mavrokefalidis. In Turkey this summer, Greece will be setting their sights high, ranking among a select few nations who can realistically be aiming for gold.
Ivory Coast
FIBA Rank - 41st
Key Player - Pape-Phillipe Amagou
1986 was the last time that Ivory Coast took part in World Basketball’s biggest event and after being the surprise package of last year’s FIBA Africa Championship, the Elephants will once again be looking to play on their status as massive underdogs. While the Ivory Coast players deserve much credit for their recent improvement, so does the management and the federation. Indeed, in order to strengthen their squad, Coach Dessarzin and the Ivorian Federation quickly considered suggesting some experimented players to make their debuts for the team. This will be a long tournament for the Ivory Coast and they will struggle to win a game.
Puerto Rico
FIBA Rank - 10th
Key Player - Jose Juan Barea
Puerto Rico was eliminated in the first round of the 2006 FIBA World Championship and missed the 2008 Olympics, but they are determined to have a great performance at the 2010 FIBA World Championship thanks to a mix of young and veteran players. Puerto Rico has the blessing of having their two NBA point guards Jose Juan Barea and Carlos Arroyo – two players who entered the best league in the world by working hard after going undrafted. Barea is a key component in the Dallas Mavericks team while Carlos Arroyo was a key player off the bench and even started for the Miami Heat. Both playmakers have had successful international careers with the national team but will play together for the first time in the FIBA World Championship. Puerto Rico also have Filiberto Rivera who is a pure point guard and combo players such as Guillermo Diaz and…Christian Dalmau. Puerto Rico have a strong team with great guard play, however, they will struggle with defensive teams that will not allow them to run and push tempo. However, they should qualify for the knock-out stage.
Russia
FIBA Rank - 17th
Key Player - Victor Khryapa
Three years after their EuroBasket glory days, Russia are a hard team to figure out. Sub-par performances at the Beijing Olympics and EuroBasket 2009 have made some wonder if their triumph in Spain was perhaps just down to luck. Andrei Kirilenko is still the only true international star on the team and in fact the only player not with a Russian club. Unfortunately, the Russians will not be able to count on him after he pulled out through injury. With the Utah Jazz forward, Russia at times looked like a one-man show in the way of China and Germany of recent years. With him out, it will be interesting to see who of the supporting cast that played a big part in bringing home the gold just three years ago will step up and lead by example. Look for J.R. Holden to lead from the point guard position, and the American-born guard might struggle without a satisfactory back-up and he could log heavy minutes.
Turkey
FIBA Rank - 18th
Key Player - Hedo Turkoglu
Turkey has been preparing for this tournament since 2004. For six years everything has been done with a focus on the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Nine years ago, the country hosted Eurobasket 2001 and went on to take the silver medal. Turkey hope that the home court advantage will rejuvenate the players to a point where they will banish memories of the 2009-10 season. The frontcourt is loaded but it has its own problems too. Mehmet Okur of the Utah Jazz will not play after tearing his Achilles tendon while Kerem Gönlüm has served a doping suspension, but last played a competitive basketball game in June 2009. Rising star Ömer Aşık broke his collarbone and then had a contract dispute with his team and has not played since December of last year. Actually, among the outside players, the only 'point-producer' is Hedo Turkoglu who had a dismal season with the Toronto Raptors.
Projected Order Of Finish
1st - Greece
2nd - Turkey
3rd - Russia
4th - Puerto Rico
5th - China
6th - Ivory Coast
great write-up bud :)
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