Invincible Germany, sensational Latvia and unsuccessful Americans

The nineteenth FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup is history. From August 25 to September 10, basketball fans from all over the world watched the matches on Asian fields, which brought a lot of interesting things. The tournament was rich in excitement and surprises, but it also confirmed some of the patterns of recent years in the orange ball world.

And now at the end of the competition Sport.ua has put together the main moments of the last championship.

Team of the tournament

Many basketball fans believed that the best times in the history of the German national team were the best period of Dirk Nowitzki. And there was nothing reprehensible in this thought. The best basketball player in the history of German basketball helped his team achieve very high results – bronze at the 2002 World Cup and silver at the 2005 EuroBasket. Of course, even before Dirk there was a gold medal at the 1993 EuroBasket. I agree that it was not by chance that they became the champions of the continent, but this result was very different from the general indicators of the Bundestim at that time (12th place in the 1994 World Cup, 10th place in the 1995 EuroBasket, etc.).

After Nowitzki’s well-deserved retirement, many predicted, again quite logically, a decline in the overall level of the German team and the inability to compete for high results in the near future. However, after overcoming several difficult transition years, Germany rose even higher in world basketball with the victory.

The most important step towards this was taken in 2021, when the administrators of local basketball decided to appoint Canadian Gordie Herbert as the head of the Bundesteam. The mentor, who for almost his entire career led not the most respected teams and learned to achieve good results with them, almost for the first time had truly strong players at his disposal. And success didn’t take long to come. The 2023 World Cup, which ended with a bronze medal and victory at EuroBasket 2022, was the best period in German basketball history.

The German team went to Asia as one of the gold medal contenders. But besides the Germans, at least five or six European teams and two strong North American teams also had the same plans. However, the Bundesteam emerged as a true attacking machine, surpassing all its rivals on its way to the World Cup title. The German team achieved an incredible and maximum possible winning streak: 8:0, a clear victory so to speak.

It is worth paying attention, especially in the play-off stage. First, the Germans showed the true German character with the disgusting play of their leader Dennis Schröder and in a tough fight they overcame the resistance of the Latvian national team, which was the troublemaker of the tournament. After that, in the semifinals, the Bundesteam was not afraid to play fast and attacking basketball with the Americans and eliminated the main contender for the gold medal. And then, in the most competitive final, Germany outmaneuvered, outmaneuvered and outmaneuvered the Serbian national team.

Dennis Schröder started the championship well, but failed in the first two matches of the play-offs, but he drew results and became the real locomotive of his team in the decisive match. The Wagner brothers and Daniel Theis showed during the tournament why they are considered valuable personnel in the NBA. Johannes Voigtmann reliably closed the three-second zone in the final against Serbia. Isaac Bonga has finally shown clearly why he was once given huge advances. Andreas Obst shocked the USA with his accurate three-point shots and at the end of the meeting he brilliantly crossed the Haliburton field and became the author of one of the most striking moments of the tournament. Other basketball players also helped a lot. The Germans were definitely the best. And they deservedly became champions.

Worth mentioning: Serbia. The Balkan team was missing many important players before the start of the tournament. But this turned out to be even better. Svetislav Pesic’s team approached each opponent very smartly, trying to hit their weak points and disrupt the game strategy, while also implementing winning plans. The Serbs did not reach gold, but silver in the world championship and a ticket to the Paris Olympics became a good reward for them after a series of unsuccessful tournaments.

tournament disappointment

Of course, before the championship started, the number one favorite was the USA team. The Americans were determined to avoid the embarrassment of the last world championship, where the Stars and Stripes finished in a disastrous seventh place.

However, the founders of basketball stepped on the same rake again. The USA team went to Asia for the second time in a row (the last tournament was held in China), young and hungry for victory, but also far from the strongest team. Not a single major NBA star made it to the World Cup, and only a few players could even be classified as near misses. And it’s downright hard to imagine what characters like Walker Kessler do as part of potentially the most powerful team on the planet.

At the same time, the worldwide level of basketball that Stars and Stripes fully experiences has increased significantly. Steve Kerr’s team lost three of the eight matches played; Only their most ambitious rivals could have predicted this before the tournament started. Moreover, the Americans updated their anti-record for the number of points won in a single match at the World Cup three times: first 110 points from Lithuania, then 113 points from Germany and, as the icing on the cake, 127 points from Canada. even in an overtime match.

The result of the US team was fourth, which perhaps cannot be called a failure, but such a performance should definitely be considered a failure. Stars and Stripes left its second consecutive world forum without a medal. It’s time for the leaders of the American basketball program to finally understand the fact that the fourth or fifth team of the national team is no longer enough to win the World Cup and send much more serious teams to the next tournaments, otherwise similar failures will not be avoided in the future.

Worth mentioning: France. Before the start of the tournament, the tricolors were among the main favorites for the World Cup. However, Canada’s crushing defeat of 65:95 and Latvia’s 86:88 defeat sent the French to the consolation tournament for a place. As a result, the bronze medalists of the last two planetary forums took eighteenth place, which was the worst result in the history of their performances at the world championships.

tournament feeling

Almost every major national team tournament has its own “Cinderella team”, which on the positive side surprises everyone with its play and results. The 2019 World Cup was no exception. Along the way, the Latvian team did the almost impossible and climbed to cosmic heights. The team, led by Italian coach Luca Banchi, started the tournament with the aim of qualifying from the first group. However, he significantly exceeded his plan and finished the race in fifth place. Think about it, with their own hands the Latvians alternately knocked the teams of France (first group stage) and Spain (second group stage) out of medal contention and were three points away from the future champion. quarter final.

It is doubly surprising that the Latvians did this by playing without their main star, Kristaps Porzingis, and without practically the most important player for the team, Dairis Bertans, who was injured in the match against the French (he played less than six minutes). But his brother Davis, Rolands Šmids, Andrejs Gražulis, Arturs Žagars, Kristaps Zorix and others managed to achieve a simply magnificent final result.

In the matches between the 5th and 8th places, Latvia did not seem to be the strongest team, but it seemed to be the most motivated team. This attitude allowed them to finish the World Cup just behind the top four. Defender Arturs Žagars, who came to the tournament with “unclubted” status, broke a new record in the world forums by making seventeen assists in the match against Lithuania. All that remains is to take off our hats to Latvia and their mentor, who has formed a very combative and strong team, consisting of solid but missing stars in the sky team.

Worth mentioning: South Sudan. The debutants at the world forums went to the tournament as a dark horse, but from the very first match (defeat against Puerto Rico in overtime) they showed their best side. The Sudanese finished the tournament with a final positive balance (three wins and two losses) and were the best African team in the tournament, which enabled them to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. We personally highlight Carlik Jones. The naturalized defender integrated into the team as successfully as possible and became the best assistant of the world championship (an average of 10.4 assists per game) and eighth in the list of top scorers of the tournament (20.4 points).

***

The 2023 World Cup was definitely a success. Game battles brought a lot of vivid impressions to fans of the orange ball. According to the results, most of the teams that will participate in the future Olympics were determined and most importantly, we learned the name of the strongest team on the planet. The tournament confirmed the “stardom” of many well-known masters of the game and paved the way for new names, giving fans many great events. The past two and a half weeks have been a real celebration for basketball. Now the holiday is over, but we will remember, analyze and summarize its consequences for a long time.