FIBA World Cup

[BombRaider]

Croatia

Fourth place at EuroBasket 2013, a good, organised outfit, likely to run into trouble at least once in group play but certainly in with a shot at a medal if they get the right draw.



Puerto Rico

Qualified: Silver medal winners at 2013 FIBA Americas championship, a capable outfit and one that will see anything less than the second round a failure.



France

Qualified: Winners of EuroBasket 2013, France finally got over the Gasol shaped hump last autumn.



Iran

Qualified: Winners of the FIBA Asia Championships, Iran will be playing in their second World Cup after going 1-4 in group play in 2010.



Lithuania

Qualified: Silver medal winners at EuroBasket 2013 and they come to Spain having impressed in warm-up games.



Slovenia

Qualified: The EuroBasket hosts took fifth place in front of their fans to book a third consecutive trip to the World Cup.



Greece

Qualified: Wild card recipients after a disappointing 11th place finish in EuroBasket, they travel to Spain weakened by the absence of Vassilis Spanoulis and Kosta Koufos.



Argentina

Qualified: Third place at the 2013 FIBA Americas championship. No Manu Ginobili in this team and while still a threat to make the knockout stages, there are a long shot for medal contention.



Spain

Qualified: As hosts Spain qualified automatically but they also got the third spot at EuroBasket 2013.



Serbia

Qualified: Serbia took the last automatic qualification place at EuroBasket with a 7th place finish, Serbia finished fourth at the 2010 tournament.



Turkey

Qualified: Another wildcard, albeit not with the colourful background of Finland securing the same status. Turkey hosted the last World Cup where they took the silver medal.



Dominican Republic

Qualified: Fourth place at 2013 FIBA Americas, they return to the World Cup for the first time since 1978.

 

[BombRaider]

FIBA World Cup

USA
With the dominating results you expected in an easy group. Team USA actually trailed at halftime against Turkey in its second game and looked a bit sluggish in the finale against Ukraine, but pulled together to win both by over 20 points. There's some injury concern, though, as Kyrie Irving took a hard fall at the end of the victory over Ukraine.

Mexico
By doing what it was supposed to do. Gustavo Ayon's bunch was clearly a cut below the top three teams in Group B, but they handily beat bottom-feeders Angola and Korea by a combined 41 points to get the two wins necessary to finish fourth.

France
By winning the games it should. France lost a tight opener to Brazil, which put it behind the 8 ball for seeding out of Group A from the very beginning, and got demolished by Spain. Otherwise, though, it held on against Serbia, crushed Egypt and survived a spirited Iran effort to advance. It hasn't been the smoothest tournament, as France has played many different players in an attempt to give the new generation experience. Their penalty: a bracket where Spain lurks in the quarterfinals.

Crotia
Strangely. A pre-tournament favorite to win Group B, Croatia instead overcame internal turmoil to do just enough to advance. A closer-than-expected win over the last-place Philippines proved to be a harbinger of things to come. Following a stunning loss to Senegal and a blowout defeat to Greece

 

[Filipower]

 

[yoyo913]

That's a very Yoyo circa 2005 type of post.

 

[Filipower]

That guy was great.

 

[Back Door Skip]

Go Mexico!

Round of 16 or bust!

 

[yoyo913]

Skip you do know the round of 16 is over and Mexico did indeed reach there (and got beat by the US)?

 

[Back Door Skip]

No but I knew that they were facing the US and were inevitably going to lose.

 

[BombRaider]

>.< whatta bomb!

 

[BombRaider]

Cant wait for the Championship match! was expecting spain tho..

*D.Rose fan here*

 

[BombRaider]

So France Got the Bronze.. For me, the best part of the France Basketball Team's Journey is Shaking the effin league after an upset to Spain.. Well deserved win.

SRB vs USA... What you got people!!! Lets go!

 

[BombRaider]

The United States and Serbia will meet Sunday afternoon at the Barclaycard Arena in the FIBA gold medal game.

It&#8217;s no surprise the United States are where they are, as they have yet to lose in the tournament and are led by several big time players who can hurt you. James Harden leads the USA with 13.1 points per game, Anthony Davis isn&#8217;t too far behind with 13 points per game and Kenneth Faried leads the way with 7.5 rebounds. Stephen Curry is shooting 46.3 percent from beyond the arc and Kyrie Irving is shooting 47.1 percent from the three point range. While not exactly dominating every quarter of every game, the Americans have won each contest by at least 21 points and have scored 98 or more points in five of their eight matchups. The United States can hurt a team in a variety of ways and go on these short stretches that can put the game away in a blink of an eye.

Serbia lost to France, Brazil and Spain but tightened up in the elimination rounds and earned its way here by beating up France in the semifinals. While the losing record may not be pretty, Serbia is led by guard Milos Teodosic, who is no slouch whatsoever. Teodosic leads Serbia with 14 points per game and is shooting an incredible 48.9 percent from beyond the arc. Miroslav Raduljica is another player who can fill up the stat sheet in a hurry, while Bogdan Bogdanovic is a dangerous player who has improved by leaps and bounds just a season ago. Serbia is a team that&#8217;s shooting 50.1 percent from the field and just under 40 percent from three point land. With its ability to put the ball in the hoop at a high percentage, Serbia isn&#8217;t a team the USA should take lightly with the gold on the line.

Its hard to say that USA will dominate from 1st quarter but sure that late in the game they will cover the number.

im with USA on this one!

Betting Stats

Asian Handicap

First Half

USA: -11.50 | 1.92
Serbia: +11.50

Full Time

USA: -21.00 | 1.96
Serbia: +21.00 | 1.90