2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball

[judasmartel]

Hello everyone!

Now that the NBA Finals is about to come to an end, basketball fans out there will have something to look forward to, the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball (formerly known as the FIBA World Championships).

The 24 teams that qualified for this event are as follows:

Spoiler for Teams:

Direct Qualification (2):

(WR 1) USA - 2010 FIBA World Champions, 2012 Olympic Gold Medalists
(WR 2) Spain - Host Nation, 2013 FIBA Eurobasket Bronze Medalists

Zone Championships:

Asia (3)

(WR 20) Iran - 2013 FIBA-Asia Gold Medalists
(WR 34) Philippines - 2013 FIBA-Asia Silver Medalists
(WR 31) South Korea - 2013 FIBA-Asia Bronze Medalists

Africa (3)

(WR 15) Angola - 2013 FIBA Afrobasket Gold Medalists
(WR 46) Egypt - 2013 FIBA Afrobasket Silver Medalists
(WR 41) Senegal - 2013 FIBA Afrobasket Bronze Medalists

Americas (4)

(WR 24) Mexico - 2013 FIBA Americas Gold Medalists
(WR 17) Puerto Rico - 2013 FIBA Americas Silver Medalists
(WR 3) Argentina - 2013 FIBA Americas Bronze Medalists
(WR 26) Dominican Republic - 2013 FIBA Americas 4th Placers

Europe (6)

(WR 8) France - 2013 FIBA Eurobasket Gold Medalists
(WR 4) Lithuania - 2013 FIBA Eurobasket Silver Medalists
(WR 16) Croatia - 2013 FIBA Americas 4th Placers
(WR 13) Slovenia - 2013 FIBA Americas 5th Placers
(WR 45) Ukraine - 2013 FIBA Americas 6th Placers
(WR 11) Serbia - 2013 FIBA Americas 7th Placers

Oceania (2)

(WR 9) Australia - 2013 FIBA Oceania Champions
(WR 19) New Zealand - 2013 FIBA Oceania Runner-ups

Wildcards (4)

(WR 5) Greece - 2006 FIBA World Championships Silver Medalists
(WR 7) Turkey
(WR 10) Brazil
(WR 39) Finland

During the group draw held last February, the group results are as follows:

Spoiler for Groups:

Group A
Spain
France
Brazil
Serbia
Iran
Egypt

Group B
Argentina
Greece
Croatia
Puerto Rico
Philippines
Senegal

Group C
USA
Turkey
New Zealand
Dominican Republic
Finland
Ukraine

Group D
Lithuania
Australia
Slovenia
Angola
Mexico
South Korea

Some notes:

Spoiler for notes:

- In case you're looking for some of the more popular teams like Russia, Germany, Italy, and China, well:
-- China got pwned big time by the team from Chinese Taipei (a.k.a. Taiwan) in the quarterfinals. They eventually finished 5th place in the FIBA Asia Championships. If you don't believe me, watch this:

-- Russia and Germany failed to qualify for the playoff round of the Eurobasket. Italy did, but got owned by Croatia, Ukraine, and Serbia along the way.
-- China and Russia have problems with their respective basketball associations, and China has internal conflicts between the coach and the players.
--- So it's either China swallows up their pride and finally get a naturalized player, or elbow Taiwan out of the way to get Jeremy Lin. Although born in the US, he has Taiwanese parents, but China is claiming him because his maternal grandmother is from the province of Zhejiang in mainland China. The problem I have with this is that if Lin was born in China instead of in the US, he would not make it to the big time anyway because he's not a flat-out giant.
-- Germany and Italy can't reach the minimum WC bid of 1 million euros, so they backed out. On the other hand, Finland got into the FIBA World Cup thanks to Angry Birds. (!)
- Some upsets pulled off by the Philippines (vs Korea), Egypt (vs Senegal), and Mexico (vs Argentina). Especially the last one.

So, let's talk about this.

[judasmartel]

Sneak peek of the teams in the 2014 FIBA World Cup here:

http://www.fiba.com/spain2014

Spoiler for Rumors:

- Tony Parker will not be playing for France in this edition of the FIBA World Cup.
- Manu Ginobili and team captain Luis Scola will play for Argentina.

Spoiler for Possible Changes:

- The next FIBA World Cup will be held in 2019, so it will not be held in the same year as the FIFA World Cup (Football).
- From the current 24 teams, the next FIBA World Cup will field in 32 teams and no wildcards: 12 from Europe, 7 from the Americas, 7 from Asia-Oceania, 5 from Africa, and 1 host team.
-- From Wikipedia: The continental championships will no longer belong to the qualification system for the World Cup. Instead, two rounds of continental qualifying tournaments will be held over two years.

The first round of the Americas, Asia / Oceania and Africa qualifiers will feature 16 teams each, whereas Europe will have 32 teams. Division A teams will be split in groups of four, to be held in a home-and-away round-robin. The top three teams in each groups will advance to round two, and last placed teams will play the best Division B teams to qualify for the next season's Division A.

In round two of the World Cup qualifiers, teams will be split in groups of six, totaling four groups in Europe and four in the other qualifiers. Teams will carry over the points from round one, and face another three teams again in a home-and-away round-robin. The best teams in each group will qualify for the World Cup.

There are concerns from national associations that they will not be able to play the qualifiers with National Basketball Association players, which is possible with the continental championships held in mid-year.

[kirikirito334]

Too easy for USA in my opinion :P Hope Philippines can get something out of this.

[Lenneth4]

Rooting for america of course and spain maybe

[judasmartel]

Of course, USA will have the group stage easy. I think it's a matter of who they're going to send to Spain since AFAIK they're trying to build a young solid team.

- Bron, Melo, and CP3 are ruled out for Team USA, but they will probably play in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

- South Korean gunner Kim Min-goo was hospitalized due to a drunk driving accident. This incident really hurt Korea's chances in the FIBA World Cup, since this guy, also known today as the "deadliest shooter in Asia", is a real huge part of his team. Just think "Korean Ray Allen". More news HERE.

- If Brazil has "The Blur" in Leandro Barbosa, the Philippines also has that in Jayson Castro William, currently the "best point guard in Asia". We'll see about that if Brazil and the Philippines will meet in the second round.

Originally Posted by kirikirito334

Too easy for USA in my opinion :P Hope Philippines can get something out of this.

We WILL get something out of this, win or lose. It's a great honor already for the Philippines to play in the World Cup of Basketball. Playing against the best teams in the world is pretty much the only way to improve a national team.

Just in case you're asking, I'm rooting for Iran in Group A, Philippines in Group B, USA in Group C, and South Korea in Group D.

[judasmartel]

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you, our very own, Paul John Dalistan Lee, a.k.a. the Filipino Iceman.

Spoiler for filipino iceman:

[judasmartel]

Team USA Updates:

- Paul George out due to horrible injury.
- Durant withdraws from the team.

Man, if every NBA team refuses to lend their stars to their respective international teams just because of PG24's injury, what would become of international basketball?