LC
Years ago
World Champs: Day 6 Recap
Day 6 saw the conclusion of the round-robin games, and yet again there were some massive results! Russia has controversially defeated Greece amid claims Greece have thrown the game to avoid the USA for as long as possible, New Zealand stunned France, Serbia defeated Argentina, and the Ivory Coast upset Puerto Rico.
Group A
- Australia defeated Angola, 76-55
AUS: Mills 11
ANG: Lutonda 9
After a slow start, Australia managed to easily overcome Angola with a scoring spread.
- Serbia defeated Argentina, 84-82
SRB: Savanovic 19, Krstic 18, Teodosic 16, Rasic 10
ARG: Scola 32, Delfino & Prigioni 13, Quinteros 10
Despite a 4th straight 30 point game from Scola, Serbia made the big plays and shots down the stretch to defeated the world number 1 ranked team.
- Germany defeated Jordan, 91-73
GER: Pleiss 23, Staiger 16, Jagla 14, McNaughton 12
JOR: Daghles 22, Wright 14, Soobzokov & Al-Khas 12, Abbaas 10
Germany were just too good for a winless Jordan team at their 1st ever World Champs.
1. Serbia (4-1)*
2. Argentina (4-1)
3. Australia (3-2)
4. Angola (2-3)
5. Germany (2-3)
6. Jordan(0-5)
* Serbia 1st on head to head
Group B
- USA defeated Tunisia, 92-57
USA: Gordon 21, Durant & Westbrook 14, Curry 13
TUN: Kechrid 15, Ben Romdhane 11
A plucky Tunisian team kept pace with the American up until half time, but then they just couldn't keep up with a far more talented team.
- Slovenia defeated Iran, 65-60.
SLO: Dragic 18, Zupan 15, Becirovic & Nachbar 10
IRN: Haddadi 15, Kazemi 13
Slovenia were made to work hard against an Iranian team that refused to give up, yet were still able to get the win despite playing the bench for good portions of the game.
- Brazil defeated Croatia, 92-74
BRA: Machado 18, Barbosa 17, Garcia 15, Giovannoni 12
CRO: Popovic 15, Loncar 12, Andric 11, Bogdanovic 10
Brazil controlled the game from the first quarter and were never in trouble, and would be pleased with the continued improvement from Varejao following hsi return from injury.
1. USA (5-0)
2. Slovenia (4-1)
3. Brazil (3-2)
4. Crotaia (2-3)
5. Iran (1-5)
6. Tunisia (0-5)
Group C
- Cote d'Ivoire defeated Puerto Rico, 88-79
CIV: Abouo 19, Lamizana & Kone 17, Konate 11, Edi 10
PUR: Barea 19, Huertas 18, Peavy 14, Vassallo 11
The Ivory Coast stunned Puerto Rico virtually leading allt he way, but falling just 3 points shy of claiming a final 8 berth after needing to win by 12 to make the top 4 in their group.
- Russia defeated Greece, 73-69
RUS: Mozgov 18, Vorontsevich 10
GRE: Schortsanitis 16, Zisis 11
In a see-sawing game, Russia's third quarter paved the way for the win as they held off Greece's last quarter rush to win by just 4. Plenty of talk on some online forums claiming Greece may have thrown this game on purpose to try and avoid USA until the final.
- Turkey defeated China, 87-40
TUR: Savas 20, Erden 18, Asik 17
CHN: Sun 15
Turkey put on a clinic at both ends of the court in dismantling a very disappointing Chinese team.
1. Turkey (5-0)
2. Russia (4-1)
3. Greece (3-2)
4. China (1-4)*
5. Cote d'Ivoire (1-4)*
6. Puerto Rico (1-4)*
* China finish higher on points spread between 3 tied teams, followed by Cote d'Ivoire
Group D
- Spain defeated Canada, 89-67
ESP: Fernandez & Vazquez 19
CAN: Olynyk 14, Shepherd 12
Behind a 28-12 first quarter, Spain were always in control and were just far too good for the Canadians.
- Lithuania defeated Lebanon, 84-66
LTU: Seibutis 17, Gecevicius 16, Delininkaitis 11, Kleiza 10
LEB: Fahed 19, Vroman 15, Fakhreddine 11
After a tight first quarter, Lithuania continued to slowly pull away from a plucky Lebanese team.
- New Zealand defeated France, 82-70
NZL: Penney 25, Vukona 15
FRA: Bokolo 13, Gelabale 12, De Colo 10
The Kiwi's 22-5 2nd quarter did all the damage, and Pero Cameron scored 5 crucial points down the stretch to hold off a fast finishing France.
1. Lithuania (5-0)
2. Spain (3-2)*
3. New Zealand (3-2)*
4. France (3-2)*
5. Lebanon (1-4)
6. Canada (0-5)
* Spain finish higher on points spread between 3 tied teams, followed by New Zealand
So the cross-over final 8 games look like this:
Saturday
- Serbia vs Croatia
- Spain vs Greece
Sunday
- Slovenia vs Australia
- Turkey vs France
Monday
- USA vs Angola
- Russia vs New Zealand
Tuesday
- Lithuania vs China
- Argentina vs Brazil
IMO, both Australia and New Zealand have scored winnable games and both have a very good chance at making the top 8 at this year's world champs!
