On August 25 this year, the FIBA World Championship will begin in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan. Unlike football, the World Cup is not the most prestigious competition in this sport, giving way to the Olympic Basketball Tournament. But still, it has a very large audience interest.
In this article, we will talk about the top five contenders (in our opinion) for the final victory in the tournament. Predicting something right now is quite difficult because not even all the teams have named the final applications. Closer to the start of the tournament, the betting company mosbet will publish a full schedule of all matches, first of the group stage, and then of the playoffs.
So here are our favorites.
5. Slovenia
The main strength of the Slovenian national team is, of course, Luka Doncic. He has experience playing in Europe under FIBA rules, and right now Luka is the most ready NBA star for international games.
Slovenians made a good noise at the last Olympics but frankly failed EuroBasket last year. There, Doncic’s team lost to rather modest Poles in the quarterfinals. Many experts accused the players of lack of proper motivation and underestimation of the opponent. Such mistakes should not be repeated at the world championship.
4. Spain
The Spaniards are approaching the tournament with the status of the current world and European champions. They do not have NBA stars of the first or even second magnitude in their roster. But there is a very experienced coach and a well-functioning team player.
The best, as in all recent tournaments, will be placed on general versatility and team chemistry. To be more talented than Spain on paper is not enough, you still need to go on the floor and beat it, which is rarely possible for anyone lately. Especially if the Spaniards drag the opponent into the clutch.
3. France
The French have been finalists in the last two major tournaments. At the EuroBasket, they lost to the Spaniards, and at the Olympics, they lost to the Americans. It is the squad from Tokyo that will go to the Olympic Games and the next World Cup (with minimal changes). Let’s remember that in the group at the Olympics, the French managed to beat the US team, assembled exclusively from NBA stars.
The main weapon of the team is Rudy Gobert, who is not limited by the NBA rules here. It provides a reliable ring defense, which is the foundation of the whole game.
2. Serbia
Discussing the chances of the Serbian national team, it is immediately worth clarifying one point:
If Nikola Jokic plays in the tournament, then the team is one of the main contenders for victory;
If the current MVP of the NBA Finals does not come to the national team, it will be difficult for the team to reach even the 1/4 finals.
We take into account the ideal alignment and believe in the arrival of Nikola. At the moment, there are only 2-3 players in the world who can create significant problems for the Serbian center (only one of them will come to the World Cup). And no one can completely stop him.
Only the lack of successful performances of Serbia in big tournaments is alarming. Maybe now there will be a breakthrough?
1. USA
The Americans are always considered the main favorites of any tournament in which they take part. Yes, the World Cup is not the Olympics, and stars of the caliber of Curry, Durant or Davis will not be here. But the US squad is still made up of very strong basketball players who are hungry for big wins and will strive to prove themselves.
The potential five Reeves/Edwards/Bankero/Ingram/Jackson looks like something extremely versatile. Therefore, it is not entirely clear how it can be effectively resisted.
The only real problem for the Americans is the lack of a player who can fully contain Jokic. This will be the main task for the coaching staff if such a match takes place.
