With Team USA’s recent losses to France and Serbia, it’s expected that there will be a new champion in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Only four teams remain in the hunt, as Argentina, Australia, France, and Spain will duke it out vying for the much-coveted Naismith Trophy.
Meanwhile, eliminated teams such as Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, and USA are going to fight for classification in the FIBA World Rankings while they try to grab momentum way ahead for the Tokyo Olympics happening next year.
Who will bring home the crown in China? We’ll have to see from ourselves here at SBOBET as all eyes are going to be at the Wukesong Arena in Beijing.
What happened to Team USA?
It’s no secret that Team USA came in as the prohibitive favourites in this tournament, per our FIBA World Cup 2019 odds. When you have a roster loaded with NBA players and a coach like Gregg Popovich manning the sidelines, why wouldn’t you bet on them right?
But compared to before, the current USA roster isn’t as star-studded as it used to be. Several players such as Damian Lillard, James Harden, De’Aaron Fox, and Bradley Beal have all pulled out since their main focus is preparing for the NBA 2020 season.
With that said, younger NBA players took this as a chance not only to represent the flag, but to try and boost their basketball resumes as well. In this iteration of Team USA, we’ve seen the likes of Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Myles Turner, Khris Middleton, and Jaylen Brown show what they got in basketball’s biggest stage.
As expected, they went unbeaten in all of their five games. Most of them were double-digit blowouts except for their match against Turkey where they eked out a one-point win. More than anything, that game showed that the back-to-back World Cup champs have a chink in their armor and that they can be defeated.
Fast forward to the final phase, they went up against a tough, veteran-laden France team also loaded with NBA talent. Evan Fournier, Frank Ntilikina, Nicolas Batum, and Rudy Gobert towed the team to a quarterfinals berth and they have played very well on both ends of the floor.
The game went back and forth for the most part with both teams exchanging leads. But in the fourth period, it was Les Bleus who delivered one clutch play after another while the Americans couldn’t do anything much on offence.
Rudy Gobert stepped up big for the France. The NBA’s reigning defencive player of the year notched 21 points and 16 rebounds as he muscled his way to a thin USA frontcourt. Evan Fournier, Nando De Colo, and Frank Ntilikina provided ample support by scoring with 22, 18, and 11 respectively.
Les Bleus managed to break USA’s long winning streak of 58 straight international games. The Gregg Popovich-mentored club’s last loss was way back in the tournament’s 2006 edition where they lost to Greece in the semifinals.
USA’s woes continued when they lost to Serbia last night, 94-89. In what should’ve been a preview of the FIBA World Cup finals, the Orlovi dominated the star-spangled team early in the first half. The Americans tried to mount a comeback late in the final period, only to come up short in the end.
Bogdan Bogdanovic continued his meteoric rise to stardom with some of his best FIBA World Cup 2019 highlights. He poured in 28 points and six assists while Vladimir Lucic and Vasilije Micic tallied 15 and 10. Nikola Jokic scored nine markers, while fellow NBA players Boban Marjanovic and Nemanja Bjelica scored eight apiece.
While a berth for the Tokyo Olympics is secured, USA’s second straight loss will guarantee their worst finish in the tournament for more than a decade and it will be interesting on how they plan on bouncing back after this.
Who can take advantage and bring home the crown?
In the semifinals bracket, it will be Australia going up against Spain and France facing Argentina. All of them are loaded and for sure pundits will have a hard time on predicting the victors this time.
Argentina and Spain are both seeking for championship glory anew. The Argentineans have won the inaugural edition of the tournament way back in 1950, while the Spaniards hoisted a trophy of their own back in 2006.
Argentina will continue to parade the duo of Facundo Campazzo and the ageless Luis Scola. The Sergio Hernandez-coached club will be the first team in tournament history to make it to the semis without a current NBA player.
Spain, meanwhile, will have the likes of Ricky Rubio, Marc Gasol, and the Hernangomez brothers. All of them are no longer new to the big stage and for sure they will give their opponents a run for their money.
The Boomers and Les Bleus are both seeking for their first title, which is why they are hungry and they are coming.
Patty Mills continues to torch his opponents with his scoring with an average of 22.2 points per game. He will be backstopped by the likes of Joe Ingles, Andrew Bogut, and Aron Baynes.
As for Les Bleus, the wing duo of Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier will take care of their offence while Rudy Gobert is expected to anchor their defence.
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