The Wizards will probably have no representation unless Xavier Cooks makes the Final Cut. But this is the only major men’s basketball tournament around before NBA training camp.
The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be from Aug. 25 to Sept 10 in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. 32 men’s national basketball teams including two of the hosts, Japan and the Philippines will compete for the world championship.
Spain will look to defend its 2019 World Cup championship and win its third title overall. In addition, Spain will also look to further solidify its place as the top ranked country in men’s basketball. They are just 1.1 points ahead of the United States, the defending Olympic champions for that spot.
Which countries are in the groups?
There are 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. Here are the groups:
Group A (Philippines): No. 41 Angola, No. 23 Dominican Republic, No. 40 Philippines, No. 10 Italy
Group B (Philippines): No. 62 South Sudan, No. 6 Serbia, No. 27 China, No. 20 Puerto Rico
Group C (Philippines): No. 2 United States, No. 33 Jordan, No. 9 Greece, No. 26 New Zealand
Group D (Philippines): No. 55 Egypt, No. 31 Mexico, No. 18 Montenegro, No. 8 Lithuania
Group E (Japan): No. 11 Germany, No. 24 Finland, No. 3 Australia, No. 36 Japan
Group F (Japan): No. 7 Slovenia, No. 64 Cape Verde, No. 32 Georgia, No. 17 Venezuela
Group G (Indonesia): No. 22 Iran, No. 1 Spain, No. 42 Cote d’Ivoire, No. 13 Brazil
Group H (Indonesia): No. 15 Canada, No. 29 Latvia, No. 43 Lebanon, No. 5 France
What is the format?
The first round is from Aug. 25-30. Each team will play a single round robin against the other teams in the group. For the Australian Boomers and Wizards forward Xavier Cooks, if he makes the final cut, they will play Germany, Finland and Japan in Group E.
The second round is from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. The top two teams in each group will move on into new groups and play two more games against the teams that were not in their group. For the Boomers, if they are first or second in Group E, they will be placed into Group K to play the first and second place teams in Group F. Records from the first round carry over into the second round.
The elimination round is from Sept. 5 to Sept. 10. The quarterfinals are on Sept. 5 and 6, the semifinals are on Sept. 8 and the medal games are on Sept. 10.
The classification round is from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 for the 17th-32nd place teams.
The third and fourth place teams from each group are re-assigned to Groups M to P. Their records are carried over from the first round like the second round and teams play the third and fourth place teams in their groups. Using Australia as our example one more time, if the Boomers are third of fourth place in Group E, they will be placed in Group O. In Group O, the Boomers would play the third and fourth place teams in Group F.
The classification games have a purpose for all the teams here, so let’s get to that below.
What is at stake besides rankings?
The tournament isn’t just the world championship. It’s also one of two FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournaments for the 2024 games in France. I’ll get to the second tournament later.
France is the Olympic host, so they are in it solely for the world championship and maintaining their place as one of the world’s best basketball powers. As for everyone else, the teams will not just try to advance as far as possible, they are also trying to finish among the highest in their FIBA continental zone. So for Cooks and the Boomers, Australia is competing in FIBA Oceania. For the United States, they are in FIBA Americas.
There are a total of seven Olympic spots up for grabs by continental zone.
- The top two finishers in FIBA Europe and FIBA Americas will earn an Olympic berth. If France is one of the top two finishers then the third place FIBA Europe team will earn an Olympic berth.
- The top finisher in FIBA Asia, FIBA Africa and FIBA Oceania will earn an Olympic berth.
If a team does not win an Olympic berth, the team may be eligible to play in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in 2024. There will be a total of 24 teams, 19 of which are teams that participated in the World Cup but didn’t place high enough within the continent for an Olympic berth. The remaining five teams won a spot from the winners of five different FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments. This is the tournament that the Wizards didn’t allow Deni Avdija to play in for Israel.
The FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament will be for the four remaining spots for the 12-team 2024 Olympic men’s basketball field.
What do the odds say on which team will win the FIBA World Cup?
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the United States is the favorite to win the World Cup at -100, followed by Canada at +400. Slovenia and Australia are tied for third place at +900.
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