Shenzhen Government Online
Group E: USA still the team to beat
From: FIBA
Updated: 2019-08-29 16:08

ONLY one group can feature the defending champion and this is it. In fact, Team USA is the two-time defending title-holder and on the hunt for an unprecedented third straight FIBA Basketball World Cup trophy.

The team that takes the court when its campaign begins will be young with an average age of 25.6 years old, and it will be relatively raw on the international stage with only two players having previous World Cup or Olympic experience. But until someone unseats them, the Americans still have to be respected as favorites.

The competitiveness of the group is enhanced by Turkey, the country that fell to the USA in the Final of the 2010 World Cup. Turkey also gave the USA one of their hardest games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 group phase and eventually reached the quarterfinals.

This will be the first World Cup for the Czech Republic, although Czechoslovakia participated in four editions from 1970 to 1982. It will be the first for Japan since 2006 and fourth overall (1963, 1967, 1998). As for the Akatsuki Five, they will be looking to build some momentum for the Olympics the country will host next year in Tokyo.

Team to beat: USA

Though dominant over the years in the Olympics, the USA has won only 5 of the 17 World Cups they have competed in. One reason for that might be that more games in a longer tournament requires greater focus and determination.

This team, led by NBA All-Stars Kemba Walker and Khris Middleton, will be similar to the 2010 squad that also featured only two current All-Stars in Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant yet had a future two-time MVP in Stephen Curry and a budding star in Russell Westbrook. In his two NBA seasons, current team member Donovan Mitchell has that same kind of promise, averaging 23.8 points per game in the NBA last year.

The 2010 team also featured impact players Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay and Andre Iguodala. Will Jayson Tatum, Myles Turner, Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown be breakout stars for this team?

The senior team experience will come from Mason Plumlee who has the 2014 World Cup trophy on his resume, and Harrison Barnes, who owns a gold medal from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Though they are indeed the two-time defending champions, it is the beginning of a new era for the Americans as they will be led into battle by a new head coach, Gregg Popovich, in a major tournament for the first time since Mike Krzyzewski took the helm at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006. (Krzyzewski had previously coached the 1990 U.S. World Cup team.)

Key matchup:

USA vs. Turkey

The USA-Turkey game Sept. 3 will be a rematch of the 2010 World Cup final, an 81-64 American win, as well as a 2014 first round matchup that the USA won, 98-77.

This could determine which team tops the group. Turkey opens with Japan, which could be a trap game. Japan served notice of this with an 86-83 exhibition win over Germany last weekend, although the side also endured a last-second defeat to Tunisia at home. The Americans will be battle-tested after splitting a pair of games with Australia.

Perhaps key matchup No. 2 will be on Sept. 5 when Turkey and the Czech Republic square off, especially if they go into that game with 1-1 records. It could be a game to determine second place in the group.

Star of the group:

Kemba Walker

Simply put, Kemba Walker is a winner. In the NBA, he blossomed into one of the league’s top players with the Charlotte Hornets, earning three selections to the Eastern Conference All-Star team, and this past season, he was All-NBA Third Team. Walker has joined the Boston Celtics for the upcoming season. In 2011, he lifted all those around him to lead UConn to the NCAA title and was named the Final Four MVP.

In his only previous FIBA competition, Walker led the USA to the silver medal in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2008. Despite finishing second, Walker was still recognized as the tournament MVP.



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