2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup

[Big Ewis]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIBA_Basketball_World_Cup

Anybody eager for this thing ?
Been watching France in the preparation games. Disappointing, but promising. Of course, a number of missing players, no TP, so quite different from last summer's team that won the Euro Cup.

U.S. looking good. No clue how Chicago are allowing Derrick Rose to play, they're seriously fkng insane and out of their minds, like, at the same time.

 

[Darwin]

It appears there is a lot of interest in this...... :unsure:

I will follow NZ in the tournament, but I don't have high hopes. Our only quality big men are either injured (Alex Pledger) or unavailable (Steve Adams) so we will be playing 'small ball' all tournament. We will basically be relying entirely on 3 point shooting to win matches. We have good enough shooters to pull off a couple of victories with this style, but will struggle to get much past the pool stage (which - baring 2002 - is usually the case anyway).

 

[Big Ewis]

well it IS a Rugby forum, I just post this in case somebody's interested, only takes me 60 seconds. So the "Tall Blacks" are playing in this aye, they're in a tough pool. France too, we meet our European arch enemies we beat last year on the way to winning the Euro Cup, Spain...2nd best team in the world. France are missing Tony Parker though, and a few other NBA-bound or good players, but hopefully we can make a nice run...
This is going to be pretty fkng awesome.

 

[Darwin]

well it IS a Rugby forum, I just post this in case somebody's interested, only takes me 60 seconds. So the "Tall Blacks" are playing in this aye, they're in a tough pool. France too, we meet our European arch enemies we beat last year on the way to winning the Euro Cup, Spain...2nd best team in the world. France are missing Tony Parker though, and a few other NBA-bound or good players, but hopefully we can make a nice run...
This is going to be pretty fkng awesome.

This is a rugby forum? That's news to me

Looking through the USA roster I'm not sure whether they will be as strong as they usually are, but perhaps that is simply due to the fact I haven't followed the NBA that closely for the last couple of years. There is no Kevin Durant, no LeBron James, no Carmelo Anthony, no Kevin Love. They were the 4 leading scorers in the last NBA season and were all involved in the last major tournament for the USA (the 2012 Olympics). Obviously they still have plenty of talent and will clearly start as firm favourites, but I do think they look a bit more vulnerable than normal.

I will probably put a few dollars on Spain to win this actually. They have a very experienced (and talented) roster - the Gasol brothers, Calderon, Ibaka, Navarro, Fernandez, Rubio etc - and they always seem to perform at these tournaments.

Calling the New Zealand side the 'Tall Blacks' is a bit of misnomer to be honest. We are one of the shorter teams going around at the best of times, and it looks like we will be especially short this tournament. Perhaps they should be called the 'Taller than average people, but shorter than average basketball sides blacks" Overall we have been pretty competitive in our warm-up matches with narrow losses to Lituania and Slovenia, but we did get hammered by 30 points by Greece overnight.

 

[Big Ewis]

This is a rugby forum? That's news to me

Looking through the USA roster I'm not sure whether they will be as strong as they usually are, but perhaps that is simply due to the fact I haven't followed the NBA that closely for the last couple of years. There is no Kevin Durant, no LeBron James, no Carmelo Anthony, no Kevin Love. They were the 4 leading scorers in the last NBA season and were all involved in the last major tournament for the USA (the 2012 Olympics). Obviously they still have plenty of talent and will clearly start as firm favourites, but I do think they look a bit more vulnerable than normal.

I will probably put a few dollars on Spain to win this actually. They have a very experienced (and talented) roster - the Gasol brothers, Calderon, Ibaka, Navarro, Fernandez, Rubio etc - and they always seem to perform at these tournaments.

Calling the New Zealand side the 'Tall Blacks' is a bit of misnomer to be honest. We are one of the shorter teams going around at the best of times, and it looks like we will be especially short this tournament. Perhaps they should be called the 'Taller than average people, but shorter than average basketball sides blacks" Overall we have been pretty competitive in our warm-up matches with narrow losses to Lituania and Slovenia, but we did get hammered by 30 points by Greece overnight.

news to a lot of us sometimes...
anyways yeh U.S.A. never put out their best team...you understand why. Haven't paid much attention to their roster tbh honest, they're favorites anyhow. That's just a rule that's yet to be broken. Of course they don't always win, remember when Lebron James got called "LeBRONZE" for a few months ?? heh...

Greece are good, man. They're higher ranked than France, they're world 5th atm.
Would love to see France beat Spain again, apparently all their players on the roster and Navarro in particular have sworn they'll avenge their loss to us in that last Euro. We could be in for a severe beating, just missing too many guys atm...a shame, too bad.

 

[Darwin]

news to a lot of us sometimes...
anyways yeh U.S.A. never put out their best team...you understand why. Haven't paid much attention to their roster tbh honest, they're favorites anyhow. That's just a rule that's yet to be broken. Of course they don't always win, remember when Lebron James got called "LeBRONZE" for a few months ?? heh...

Greece are good, man. They're higher ranked than France, they're world 5th atm.
Would love to see France beat Spain again, apparently all their players on the roster and Navarro in particular have sworn they'll avenge their loss to us in that last Euro. We could be in for a severe beating, just missing too many guys atm...a shame, too bad.

I've always quite liked Greece. They never seem to have any stars but generally have plenty of height, play good team basketball, and have plenty of depth - all 12 players on their roster seem to be of a similar standard.

 

[Big Ewis]

I've always quite liked Greece. They never seem to have any stars but generally have plenty of height, play good team basketball, and have plenty of depth - all 12 players on their roster seem to be of a similar standard.

true dat, well put. Historically, it's also very surprisingly they would become so good at...basketball. Of all sports...it's interesting because that area of the globe, a number of entirely different nations culturally play good basketball - Slavic East-European nations are all good, Greece, Turkey.

Many people into bball down there in the Oceanic region ? I know there's a lot of fans in Aussieland, kiwis like it too ? Is it a Maori/Pac. Islander thing too or more European-descendants really ?

 

[Darwin]

true dat, well put. Historically, it's also very surprisingly they would become so good at...basketball. Of all sports...it's interesting because that area of the globe, a number of entirely different nations culturally play good basketball - Slavic East-European nations are all good, Greece, Turkey.

Many people into bball down there in the Oceanic region ? I know there's a lot of fans in Aussieland, kiwis like it too ? Is it a Maori/Pac. Islander thing too or more European-descendants really ?

Basketball isn't big in NZ. There are a few people who watch the NBA, but there would be far fewer still that follow the NZ league. We do have a side in the Australian league (the Breakers) which is a good start though (as this is a far higher quality league).

Unfourtunately basketball hasn't really been embraced by Pacific Islanders in NZ. It is mainly dominated by players of European origin, though there have been a number of notable Maori players (Pero Cameron etc). Our current captain (Mika Vukona) is Fijian though, and Steven Adams is half Tongan - hopefully these players influence young Pacific Islanders to embrace the sport more.

 

[Big Ewis]

Unfourtunately basketball hasn't really been embraced by Pacific Islanders in NZ. It is mainly dominated by players of European origin, though there have been a number of notable Maori players (Pero Cameron etc). Our current captain (Mika Vukona) is Fijian though, and Steven Adams is half Tongan - hopefully these players influence young Pacific Islanders to embrace the sport more.

do you mean it's so not fortunate it's times four ?!!

Steve Adams definitely looks mixed, and him having Tongan in him makes perfect sense. I guess the various different Islanders have simply picked up on what the settlers brought. I was talking to this Hawaiian guy once back in Qatar, and asked him if they played any Rugby back there and he told me it was more American Football there rather. Which immediately made sense, but my first immediate thought was "oh they're Islanders, they probably play Rugby". And yet, Hawaii isn't all that far away from, say, Samoa.
Tim Duncan is from the Virgin Islands, which counts as U.S. anyways, but obviously they've been heavily influenced by the Americans.

Then there's just physiological adequacy, simply. Tongans, Fijians, Samoans just make for such fantastic Rugby specimens, backs or forwards, it's been discussed extensively on this forum. They make much better Rugby players than bball, they don't seem to have anything special to offer in bball.
As delicate and politically touchy as this is, basically Islanders are to Rugby what black people are to basketball.

Thx for your post, always much better to get info from actual ppl than coldly reading online stories.

 

[Darwin]

do you mean it's so not fortunate it's times four ?!!

Steve Adams definitely looks mixed, and him having Tongan in him makes perfect sense. I guess the various different Islanders have simply picked up on what the settlers brought. I was talking to this Hawaiian guy once back in Qatar, and asked him if they played any Rugby back there and he told me it was more American Football there rather. Which immediately made sense, but my first immediate thought was "oh they're Islanders, they probably play Rugby". And yet, Hawaii isn't all that far away from, say, Samoa.
Tim Duncan is from the Virgin Islands, which counts as U.S. anyways, but obviously they've been heavily influenced by the Americans.

Then there's just physiological adequacy, simply. Tongans, Fijians, Samoans just make for such fantastic Rugby specimens, backs or forwards, it's been discussed extensively on this forum. They make much better Rugby players than bball, they don't seem to have anything special to offer in bball.
As delicate and politically touchy as this is, basically Islanders are to Rugby what black people are to basketball.

Thx for your post, always much better to get info from actual ppl than coldly reading online stories.

No, that is not what I meant. I obviously referring to the fact that Pacific Islands would be ideal for the "4" (power forward) position in basketball, hence it was unfourtunate that they haven't really embraced the sport

 

[Big Ewis]

No, that is not what I meant. I obviously referring to the fact that Pacific Islands would be ideal for the "4" (power forward) position in basketball, hence it was unfourtunate that they haven't really embraced the sport

you know Darwin, as much as I try, I may not be as wise as I'd wish...how could I have not seen you were so subtly referring to the power fourward position there...I blame myself, I...I do.

 

[Jaguares]

Why the FIBA WC draws crowds so small? The stadiums are very small, a NBA's stadium on average accommodates 20,000 and FIBA WC stadiums are even smaller. And yet, they can't get a full stadium.

What is the reason? The basketball is dying around the world?

 

[Big Ewis]

I don't know about basketball dying around the world, or even around my armpits, but the Conrad, tell me, do you like the sport ? Argentitinans know their shiit, now, they ain't nobodys. Is Gino even getting released by the Spurs, because Spurs sure ain't releasin TP, and they're probably right although I'd love to have seen TP back again.
There was a time, like during the 2000's decade, Argentinians really had some impact on the NBA, produced a number of interesting prospects, Gino one of them...I can practically see them jumping around, throwing stuff in the air just a mess wuuuuuu !! there were quite a few of em...and...that has slowed down now.

Soooo, amigo, Argentina baloncesto bien, o muy bien, o catastrofica, ay ay ay !!

EDIT: Official I am Big Ewis and wasn't sober tag.

 

[Darwin]

The (not so) Tall Blacks have finished their preparation with a 102-96 win over Serbia (who are pretty handy). I'm quietly confident that we will progress from our pool (but probably no further). We are very unlikely to beat Turkey and will certainly be hammered by the USA, but we should back ourselves to beat the Dominican Republic, Ukraine, and Finland (2 wins / 3 will probably be enough for us to make the next round).

 

[Big Ewis]

yeah we beat Finland yesterday, but we lost to Serbia I believe. We had a typical French preparation series: excellence, dreadfulness, and inconsistency in general.
Real games start soon !

 

[Darwin]

Here's a list of all of the warm matches played so far:
http://www.fiba.com/basketballworldcup/2014/powerladder

Obviously we shouldn't read too much into the warm-up matches, but it is interesting that they are all recorded on the official FIBA site.

 

[Big Ewis]

ah yeh, it was Serbia. But our worst loss is against Ukraine...anyways, very happy we lost a few, just the wakeup call we needed before the real games. France always, always needs a spanking. They just won't play as well as they can if not. They just won't.
I see Spain's won all their matches, but not necessarily smashing the opponent. I know they're saving their best for us in the Pools though...fkkk.......again, I'd rather we lose that badly and then play really well in the elimination stages than pull off a "miracle" win over Spain again only to lose in the very 1/4F...

 

[Darwin]

First round completed. A disappointing loss for New Zealand. Not because we didn't play well, but rather because we did play really well, and were very close to pulling off a big upset over Turkey before blowing it in the last few minutes. Despite bring undersized we absolutely hammered Turkey in the rebounding stakes - we got 21 offensive rebounds! Turnovers and weak interior defense were our biggest downfall.

Most of the other matches in the 1st round seemed to have gone to script, apart from Brazil upsetting France....

 

[Big Ewis]

yeah, that sucks...two point loss. Couldn't watch it. I remember how we started with a loss also last Euro-Cup against Germany, and then won every single match and went on to crush Lithuana in the final. Not saying this'll happen here, but France will have a roller coaster ride...
Yeah too bad for NZ, almost got Turkey.
Looking at the results for this first day, I reckon we'll have us another US Spain final this year..

 

[Big Ewis]

Nobody on this forum following this ?!!...how shiitty, football world cup is up and the whole forum forgets about Rugby and tunes into it, basketball world cup and there's a couple of Beavis n Buttheads running the show.
Anyways: not too bad for the Tall Blacks, but I saw the 3rd qtr and the U.S. weren't being too serious.







Tomorrow, France plays Spain...in Spain.