Original Title: Basketball World Cup｜Prospects: International Basketball Teams Compete for the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team to Survive Against Adversity
The 2023 Basketball World Cup will kick off in Manila, Okinawa and Jakarta on the 25th. Like the previous Basketball World Cup held in China, there will still be 32 teams participating in this World Cup, and a total of 92 games will be played.
In 2019, the Chinese men’s basketball team, which was fighting at home, failed to achieve the goal of qualifying for the group, and also missed its place in the Tokyo Olympics. In this World Cup, the Chinese team has made some adjustments in the lineup. The opponents in the same group are all strong and distinctive.
“Non-seed” Chinese men’s basketball team needs to fight every game
In the last Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men’s basketball team, as the host, automatically obtained the status of a “seed team”. The top team in the region. However, in this away game, the Chinese men’s basketball team can only participate as a “non-seeded” team. The Serbia team in the same group is the favorite to win the championship. The Puerto Rico team is a traditional strong team in international basketball. The gathering of masters should not be underestimated. Therefore, compared with four years ago, it may be more difficult for the Chinese men’s basketball team to qualify from the group.
From the point of view of the lineup, the Chinese men’s basketball team has made relatively large adjustments, retaining Zhou Qi, Wang Zhelin, Zhao Jiwei, and Zhao Rui from the last World Cup lineup, and introducing Li Kaier, a scorer who played for the NBA. At the same time, young players such as Zhang Zhenlin, Cui Yongxi and Zhu Junlong were entrusted with important tasks. Veterans such as Yi Jianlian and Guo Ailun did not appear in the Chinese team’s lineup.
Judging from the results of the warm-up match, the Chinese men’s basketball team suffered disastrous defeats against strong European teams such as Germany, Italy, and Serbia, which reflects the strength gap between the Chinese men’s basketball team and the top teams. However, victories against New Zealand, Cape Verde, Egypt and other teams may add some confidence to the team.
The first game of the Chinese team is scheduled on the 26th against the Serbian team. The two sides had previously faced each other in a warm-up match in Shenzhen, and the Chinese team lost 64:87.
On August 20, in the International Solidarity Cup basketball match between the Chinese team and the Serbian team held in Shenzhen, Chinese team player Li Kaier (left) made a breakthrough moment.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mao Siqian
USA Basketball aims to return to the top
Due to various reasons, many NBA players choose not to participate in the Basketball World Cup, which not only weakens the “starlight” of each team, but also objectively narrows the strength gap between the teams.
Judging from the situation before the game, the US team is still the biggest favorite to win the championship. Starting from August 7th, the US team played a total of 5 warm-up matches against strong European and American teams, and achieved a complete victory record, especially against the World Cup defending champion Spain and last year’s European Championship third-placed German team. Full of gold. The current lineup of the US team is dominated by players in their prime, with Edwards and Brunson at the core of scoring. In the 5 warm-up games, Edwards became the team’s scoring leader in 4 games. In the tough battle against the German team, Edwards even scored 34 points, showing a fiery state. Brunson also scored 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting against the Spanish team.
However, the challenges facing the US team are not small. Four years ago, the US team’s performance in the World Cup was unsatisfactory. Surrounded by strong enemies, the US team lost in the quarter-finals and failed to enter the semi-finals. This time the U.S. team is in the same group as the traditional strong Greek team. In the second stage of the group stage, they may encounter new forces such as Lithuania and Montenegro. Therefore, the U.S. team’s road to return to the top should not be so smooth.
Although the warm-up match lost to the US team, but the background of the defending champion Spain is still there. In this lineup of the Spanish team, there are not only veterans like Uy and Rudy Fernandez in charge, but also a new force like the Hernangomez brothers in charge of attacking the fortress, which can be described as a strong force. The Spanish team has always had the habit of slowing down in major competitions, and they often perform amazingly inadvertently. Also strong are the French team that gathered Gobert, Batum, Fournier, and De Colo, the Slovenian team led by Doncic, the German team led by Schroeder, and the Serbian team that has maintained a high level all the year round. Lithuania and more.
It is foreseeable that fans of this World Cup will see many strong duels with similar strengths.
FIBA expands further
In recent years, FIBA has been making a lot of moves in reforming the competition system. From the increase in the number of teams participating in the World Cup to the reform of competitions on all continents, changes have been happening.
This World Cup is the first time in the history of the Basketball World Cup to be jointly hosted by multiple countries, and it is also the second consecutive time that this top international basketball event will be held in Asia. In 2027, the Basketball World Cup will be held in Qatar, and the World Cup will be held in Asia for the third consecutive time.
For many years, FIBA has been working hard for the diversification and enrichment of basketball programs. Holding multiple consecutive tournaments in Asia, where the overall strength of basketball is not strong, is one of the specific attempts. At the same time, the increase of teams participating in the World Cup has also brought more teams the opportunity to show their skills on the stage of the World Series. In this tournament, South Sudan, Georgia, Cape Verde, Latvia and other teams will complete the goal. This is also the important achievement of FIBA’s continuous popularization of basketball.
There are expectations and regrets. Argentina, the runner-up of the last World Cup, failed to break through the encirclement in the Americas, and unfortunately missed this tournament. In addition, strong teams such as Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Poland also failed to appear in the list of entries for this World Cup.
FIBA Secretary General Zagris is also very excited about the trend of expanding the scope of participating teams and increasing the number of competitive teams. He said: “We have been committed to promoting basketball around the world. We have expanded the World Cup. The scope of the qualifiers, now that decision has borne fruit and the game of basketball has better depth at the competitive level.”
In this World Cup, which World Cup debut teams can spoil the situation, and which potential new stars can stand out, these suspense will be revealed one by one during the game. (Reporters Lin Deren, Wang Jingyu, Yang Yunqi)
(Editors in charge: Yang Yuboluo, Li Nanhua)
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2023-08-24 00:21:00
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