FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
September, World month. Three weeks before the start of the Rugby World Cup, in Japan, basketball begins Saturday in China, with the presence of the French team. This is the first time that the two competitions will be linked at the end of summer. Previously, the World Basketball Championship, which became World Cup in 2014, took place in even years. But to give it more visibility, the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) decided to organize it now in odd years. Five years after their coronation in 2014, the United States put their title at stake.
A ticket for the Olympics at the end
This calendar shift is not the only significant change in the competition. It now includes 32 teams instead of 24 before, for a total of 92 games garagantuesque. But above all, it is now the main gateway to the Olympics, which previously made all the salt of continental competitions, like the Euro.
Seven teams will win their ticket for the Games after the competition: the top two teams from the Americas and Europe, and the best team from Africa, Asia and Oceania. The sixteen "next" teams will play four pre-Olympic tournaments.
Les Bleus as a favorite
The "carrot" Olympic is obviously an important motivation for the team of France, while we will celebrate next year the 20th anniversary of the silver medal won at the Sydney Games, the best result ever won in a intercontinental competition. To shine, as was the case in 2014 - eliminated in the semi-finals by Serbia, France had finished third at the expense of Lithuania after the "small final" - the eternal coach of the Blues, Vincent Collet, in office for ten years, will be able to count on a group of very high level, with several stars coming from the NBA.
Absent at Euro 2017, Nicolas Batum (Charlotte Hornets), now the tailor of this team since the retirement of Tony Parker, is back to business. This will also be the case of Rudy Gobert. With his two titles of best defender of the NBA (2018 and 2019), the pivot of Utah Jazz will be a considerable asset. Another NBA player, Evan Fournier (Orlando Magic) will be in charge of torment the opponents defenses, as Nando de Colo (Fenerbahçe), one of the pillars of the selection for many years.
The former CSKA Moscow player could also help out as leader, where Vincent Collet can only count on two specialists (Andrew Albicy, very good in qualifying, and Frank Ntilikina, who comes out of two complicated seasons at the New York Knicks, in NBA). But with these players, and others (Toupane, Lessort, Labeyrie ...), the team of France still looks very good, and can legitimately aim for a podium.
The program of the Blues during the first round:
Sunday 1st September, 2.30 pm (French time): France -Germany
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2.30 pm (hf): Jordan- France
Thursday 5th September, 2.30 pm (hf): Dominican Republic - France
United States, Team C version
If France, injured by Thomas Heurtel and Adrien Moerman, almost aligns his best team, this is not the case of the United States. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Leonard Kawhi, James Harden, Kyrie Irving ... None of the huge stars of the NBA made the trip to China. Why ? It is linked first to the "mercato" summer of the NBA. Rather than fighting for a gold medal at the World Cup (much less popular than the Olympics), these players preferred to spend their summer adapting to their new team or their new teammates. When their franchise has not braked the four irons to see them shake themselves on the other side of the planet, with always the risk of injury ...
Despite the absences and packages (the latest, Kyle Kuzma, Los Angeles Lakers), this "team USA", the strong Boston color (four players of the Celtics out of twelve) and led by the legendary Gregg Popovich San Antonio Spurs, will still have arguments to make, with including players "All-Star" Kemba Walker (Boston) and Khris Middleton (Milwaukee). The other elements present in China (Smart, Mitchell, Tatum, Turner ...), well known followers of the NBA, are not clumsy either. Nevertheless, this team was beaten by Australia in preparation, last week, the first defeat of a team composed of NBA players since 2006. What to whet the appetite of other nations ...
Spain, Serbia, Greece ... Many suitors
When the United States wavers, it is still the country that is quoted first to steal the spotlight: Spain will be, as always, among the favorites of the event, even if its emblematic player, Pau Gasol, 39 years old, will not be there after having been operated on one foot. But his younger brother, Marc, 34 years old and fresh NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors, will be there, just like the brothers Hernangomez or Ricky Rubio, all residents of the NBA.
Second in three of the last four major competitions (World Cup 2014, Olympic Games 2016 and Euro 2017), Serbia, finalist against the United States in 2014 and winner of France in its last pre-season match, Tuesday (61-56), is also a podium candidate, with star Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets). Another star of the NBA, the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo, the best NBA player last season with the Milwaukee Bucks, is de facto of his team an opponent to watch, especially as Greece could end up on the road of the Blues. Among the underdogs, we can also mention Australia and its leader Patty Mills, scorers of the United States, or Canada coach Nick Nurse, who has just led the Toronto Raptors NBA title. Due to the relative "weakness" of the US, rarely has a World Cup appeared so open.
Two group stages, final on September 15th
The Fiba likes nothing so much as to change the formula of its competitions. After adopting a format identical to that of the World Cup football, with a knockout match in the round of 16, the world basketball officials have returned to the old format, which may seem a little nebulous, with two phases of groups before the quarter-finals. To summarize: the 32 teams are divided into eight groups, the first two of each group are then in four groups of four, then the first two of each group compete in the quarterfinals. Then it's classic, semifinal and final on one match. The all-new world basketball champion will be known on September 15 at LeSports Center in Beijing.