The 2010 FIBA Basketball World Championship Turkey

Sit’s 2010 World Championship Preview

Group A

1. Argentina – Strong enough to top this group... I will give them the benefit of the doubt because I did have Aussies here. Either way, they will meet in the latter stages and Aussies will defeat them then.
2. Serbia – Lucky for them they will have a full squad for the games against the better teams of the group.
3. Australia – Originally had them first… but changed it up before I posted. But I think they could top the group if results fall their way.
4. Germany – Young squad might turn some heads without the leadership of Dirk this time round

Group B

1. USA – Will go undefeated through group stage…
2. Slovenia – A sleeper for the medal matches?
3. Brazil – I’m a fan of Splitter, he will be good for the Spurs.
4. Croatia – Will definitely make next phase ahead of Iran and Tunisia.

Group C

1. Greece – Suspensions of Fotsis and Schorsanitis shouldn’t hurt the team against China or Puerto Rico. These guys will still top the group!
2. Turkey – Home crowd will help these guys for sure.
3. Puerto Rico – I can see these guys taking third place ahead of Russia and China. I believe they are in good form this year.
4. Russia – It was hard for me to pick this one here. I want China to go thoruhg. They have size on their roster and versatility but poor guard play. The deciding factor was no Yao Ming and without Yao, China couldn’t even win the 2009 Asia Championship – they came second. I went with Russia despite their poor form. I think they will scrape through ahead of the Chinese.

Group D

1. Spain – By now everyone knows I am a big fan! Title chances took a big knock with the injury to Calderon though!
2. France – Another sleeper for the latter stages?
3. Lithuania – Traditionally a good national side but have not seen much of them since 08 and the makeup of the squad I believe has changed a lot since then with more young blood.
4. New Zealand – It’s either them or Canada. I’m going with our Trans-Tasman rivals!

Round of 16

Argentina def Croatia
France def Puerto Rico

Greece def New Zealand
Australia def Slovenia

USA def Germany
Turkey def Lithuania

Spain def Russia
Brazil def Serbia

Quarter Final

Argentina def France

Australia def Greece

USA def Turkey

Spain def Brazil

Semi Final

Australia def Argentina

Spain def USA

Bronze Medal Match

USA def Argentina

Gold Medal Match

Spain def Australia

Final Standings

1. Spain
2. Australia
3. USA
4. Argentina

All-Tourney Team

Splitter (Brazil)
Scola (Argentina)
Durant (USA)
Navarro (Spain)
Mills (Australia)

On the bubble: Rose (USA), Spanoulis (Greece), Delfino (Argentina), Turkoglu (Turkey), Fernandez (Spain), Andersen (Australia)

Some Thoughts

Australia have a strong frontcourt and Patty Mills will be a handful for opposition defences. It comes down to our wing players to step up on both ends of the court. I think they are the darkhorse, we’ve been 9-1 so far in exhibition matches. Might not count for much but they are still looking good with wins against some decent competition (Argentina in 3 games, France, Slovenia and Brazil).

I put Brazil through to the quarters but on second thoughts, probably should have Serbia advance. Either way, they ain’t getting past Spain. Brazil is a strong team but injury might derail their tourney. If Splitter is hurt, I don’t have Brazil getting past round of 16 because they will have lost their starting centre. Push Serbia through to get beaten by Spain!

I think that Spain will beat the Americans in the semi-final. They have a squad that has played together for years and even without Pau and Calderon will be a good strong team.

Spain and USA is really a toss-up but I think the lack of size up-front will hurt Team USA a lot. Teams like full-strength Greece, Serbia, Spain will give them a lot of trouble.

I have Turkey advancing far because of being at home. With the crowd behind them and a team that isn’t that bad (in comparison to China in Beijing), I think they can get through to at least the Quarters unless they play a powerhouse like Spain.

After one last look, I think that Argentina will top Group A. I changed it accordingly. Either way, depending on who Aussies play, I think they can make it all the way to the medal stages. We match up well.

I know these final standings are pretty bold but if we get favourable matchups, Aussies are sleepers to medal. No one will expect it coming! It’s going to be a competitive tourney!

I didn't realise Spain met USA in semis. Guess Spain wins gold, US wins bronze, Australia finishes 4th (again) & Greece or Slovenia gets other medal. Or vice versa

Yep, that's what happened last time to Spain in some other tourney. Cant remember... met USA earlier than expected.

It starts today...

Dunno if I saw the final score but New Zealand 57 Lithuania 67.

EDIT: Just about to sleep but found some live scores. China looks like keeping up with the Greeks, Aussies trailing Jordan. Can't wait to see how rest of the games pan out by time I wake up!

Australia leading

Australia barely held down, Jordan could've tipped in for the win. Good win for the Aussies, they made a great comeback.

Just watching Russia-Puerto Rico. First quarter: 14-8 Russia.

USA gametime right now on ESPN3.com

Joel Anthony is doing well, not to mention his teammates. Canada 33-30.

Yeah!We won!
China was playing 40 minutes 2-3 zone!
That's impressing!But it seemed to work in the second half.But we should play better in Defence next game.

USA-Croatia going head to head.

Can't wait Turkey-Cote d'Ivoire match-up.

USA is beating the shit out of Croatia.

Turkey ousted Cote d'Ivoire 86-47. It was an awesome game for Turkey.

Looking from official website, saw that France leads the game 65-59 against Spain.

USA is beating the shit out of Croatia.

Yes. 2nd quarter: 26-6 USA.

Lithuania won 92-79 against New Zealand! It should've been 93-79 though! The officials didn't count one of Mantas Kalnietis' free throws. Check out my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjaPpF0SoAk and see for yourself.

Really starting to think the USA are going to win this. The lack of star power may end up being a very good thing.

Impressive start for Team USA! yeah let's go!

USA is beating the shit out of Croatia.

Yes. 2nd quarter: 26-6 USA.

26-6? what game did you watch man

In the second quarter the U.S. outscored Croatia 26-6.

In the second quarter the U.S. outscored Croatia 26-6.

Oh my bad

Australia barely held down, Jordan could've tipped in for the win. Good win for the Aussies, they made a great comeback.

Good to see that Maric stepped up and really led the team. Sounded like a team effort with the comeback win and barely scraping through. Aussies didn't know much about Jordan so good to see they didn't get upset by a relative unknown!

Yeah!We won!
China was playing 40 minutes 2-3 zone!
That's impressing!But it seemed to work in the second half.But we should play better in Defence next game.

Good win. I was happy to see that your coach was happy for his former team.

China played well to stay in it... Greece must not have played that well! Yi Jianlian scored 26... hope to see solid production from him in this tourney.

Lithuania won 92-79 against New Zealand! It should've been 93-79 though! The officials didn't count one of Mantas Kalnietis' free throws. Check out my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjaPpF0SoAk and see for yourself.

Good effort by Kirk Penney with 37 points.

Turkey ousted Cote d'Ivoire 86-47. It was an awesome game for Turkey.

I think Turkey will go far, as I predicted. All the way to the quarter finals. Maybe semis.

Really starting to think the USA are going to win this. The lack of star power may end up being a very good thing.

Only the group stage. They have some strengths but I want to see them when they play teams that have big men who can rape Odom/Love and then ass rape Chandler when they sub him on. The Americans are quick and a team laden with guards. Spain, Greece, Argentina, Serbia will all match up better with USA. I'm expecting cruising through to quarter finals, that's when the tough games come up. They can win, that's for sure. I'm just worried about their lack of size up front.

Really starting to think the USA are going to win this. The lack of star power may end up being a very good thing.

+1.

Outside of Durant, all are 2nd or 3rd tier stars. They should have no ego problem accepting lessor roles as they always have been anyways. I am thinking this should be a cruise untill the semi finals. No real challenges around.

Argh, Germany lost a close match against Argentina. We have the ball with the game tied up and 30 seconds left on the clock and loose it. Shit!

Sit’s 2010 World Championship Preview



Quarter Final

Argentina def France

Australia def Greece

USA def Turkey

Spain def Brazil

hey, are you kidding? australia def greece? Greece is by far better

Anyway, i want to point out 3 things about the 1st day of the fiba world championship...

1)Suspensions of fotsis and schortsianitis won't be a problem for greece in the first 2 matches... i hope they are ready for the important match against turkey...
2)China has found the next yao ming (yi yanlian)
3)Spain must play a lot better if they want to win the world championship...

I can't think Austraila at Quarter Finals.