Not a lot of exciting matchups today. Hope Serbia get up by 150-ish.

32 teams is too many. 24 would be about right and would make for much better competition with fewer blowouts.

It was 24 teams but FIBA expanded the WC to 32 teams for this tournament.

Hopefully they take a look at that again before the next WC.

I think long term it might pay off by giving more teams' experience on this stage, but short term it's only marginally better than the cricket world cup in terms of haves and have-nots at this stage of the tourney.

Nostraballmus says u have no idea ! Hours of international ball every nite ! Nostraballmus says bring it on ! Go watch Survivor series 20000 instead peeps go on

Could only watch 1 minute of the Iran vs. Tunisia game. Had to turn it off it was hurting my eyes.

Was thinking of putting money on the TAB special with Jokic scoring 18+ and Serbia winning by 40+. Paying $3.80 here. Not worried on the margin; but Jokic may have limited minutes in a game like this so could easily see him scoring less than 18. Didn't put it on in the end, we will see.

European teams have always been screwed at the WC (and even more so at the Olympics where there are only 12 teams allowed) due to FIBA wanting a truly 'global' spread of teams which has seen too much emphasis placed on the Asia region and even the Oceania region in the past.

Just want to see Phillipines get absolutely destroyed.

The Filo commentator was so pumped when PHI were up early 9-7 just a moment ago as if it was some sort of achievement.

On second thoughts I guess it is for them.

So great seeing PHI getting done over slowly.

Hope Serbia put the foot down in the 2nd half though its more likely they'll put the cue in the rack and cruise home

Do points carry over to the next group round for games against teams that don't qualify for the next stage? If not, it might give Serbia a reason to be relaxed in this game.

FT 126-67.

Lovely stuff by Serbia.

Now for the other delusion artists called China to lose.

A Shona Thorburn reference was just made in the CHN-POL telecast. LOL

Is that another Canadian commentator in the China-Poland game?

Canadian ref in the China v Poland game is great!

Yes it is, he loves mentioning that the ref is from Edmonton.

If you thought Philippines were bad imagine Indonesia who will participate in 2023!

The creative calls are starting to go China's way.

I take back what I said about Canadian ref!

BS call to gift China free throws.

That is corruption.

What a game though!

Talk about icing the free throw shooter.

Terrible reffing at the end in the China Poland game. The wrong foul call and then not awarding the 3 shots. Hoping Poland can steal it now after this delay.

Very sad that even at a World Cup China get dodgy calls their way.

Overtime. Poland missed a slow of free throws in the fourth quarter including that last one. Costly.

slew*

Same. They obviously permeate FIBA. Useless governing body who can't even find a ladder as they are too busy giving China calls.

Foul on the last layup in regular time would have been USF in NBL for unduly rough

OT CHN 76-79 POL

Rated Euro teams missed out for this trash.

Next World Cup is going to be worse since it is being hosted by Philippines with Indonesia and Japan. So Asia will have three auto qualifiers due to being hosts plus their usual allocation? Yes you heard me right - Indonesia.

Asia are full of wannabes who aren't anywhere near the elite level. They should have two places max or combining with Oceania four. That way FIBA don't miss out on the Chinese market plus one other token team would be enough.

Some suspicious calls in the advantage of China, only for China to blow it. Satisfying.

Some suspicious calls in the advantage of China, only for China to blow it. Satisfying.

All I can do is face palm when I see the Gilas play. It's just embarrassing :P

I like the concept of the early rounds of the FIBA World Cup being played in multiple countries. But it kind of ruins the qualification process. And it can ruin the balance of the strength of each group. Just look how easy China's path is, given they were designated by design to be in the same pot as USA, Spain and France, which means they were effectively rated as a top 4 team and they got the advantage of being in a group with weaker teams. Australia should've sought hosting the group stages for whichever group they were placed in. We are in a similar timezone to Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.

The only time minnows have their chance to test themselves against the top teams is in this first round of the World Cup. No other time will they play the best countries in the world.

The minnows will have their opportunity against competition closer to their level in the classification rounds.

This first round will have some blowouts; the next group stage will be far more even. The 32 team system increases interest in the World Cup qualification windows. The classification round maintains interest in placings, which can still be significant for the countries that are developing in the basketball world.

I think this is something FIBA have done right. Philippines can cheer if they don't finish last. ;-)

Tall Blacks Vs Montenegro will be live on Maori TV, they may have it streamed on their website as well?

I dont mind the 32 teams. But perhaps the last 10 spots should be open for a wildcard qualification process or something which isn't region locked.

6 Asia
6 Europe
6 Americas
6 Africa
10 Wildcard

You're just now figuring out that Perthworld is a loser??

It seems even massive losses wont shut the Philo fans up on Facebook from popping up everywhere and saying they're going to beat teams they have no business even competing against. Only thing that will truly satisfy me is if they rank absolute dead last in the cup.

Phillipines D looked lazy and sloppy on the highlights. Serbia looked like they were training against an Under 16 team.

Senegal look pretty terrible, Aussies will win by 30 if they go easy, or 50 like Lithuania if they play well.

It's silly that great teams like Slovenia and Croatia aren't even competing but minnows get a run.

I don't mind a few qualifiers to build the sport internationally, but I think they have too many. Too many good Euro teams missing out, even with a 32 team cup.

FWIW I thought the China Poland game was reffed perfectly. Literally one of the best reffed games I've seen.

What an absolute choke job by China though. I've rarely seen the 'intentional foul when you're in the lead' thing actually work, and I've seen teams blow it a lot.

Up 3, 20 seconds left. Even if Poland hit a huge shot, you have the last shot with the scores tied. Wrong decision

Anyone else find the Kayo mini highlights for these leaves a lot to be desired? Often you'll see half of the next play before they cut to the next highlight. Other times you get a "highlight" of 2-3 poor possessions before a layup

Who would have thought a basketball fan would be into the Basketball World Cup!

The excuses I've seen from the Phillipines fans has been hilarious:

- FIBA has screwed us over by not allowing Jordan Clarkson to play as well (even know the rules for every team clearly state that only one naturalised player can play - which Blatche takes up);

- The reffing has screwed us; literally the coach said after the game "I just realized there are worse refs than PBA referees"

- We are at a disadvantage because our country is naturally shorter than countries like Serbia - and its unfair. I've seen some serious fans from the Philippines suggest the tournament in future should limit the heights of players to make for an even playing field LMAO.

- This is the C or D team and politics has taken away their ability to put the best team on the floor (ah maybe the PBA just isn't actually anywhere near as good as what you think)

Greggo I thought the same about the officiating until the end of the fourth quarter when help-the-host started. There were two clear decisions made poorly to advantage China: the foul made by a Chinese player that was inexplicably called on a Pole and then the non-awarding of three free throws. Also I've never seen a free throw shooter iced that long before... and twice!

The Tallblacks will have to pull a rabbit out of hat to win tonight but it's not impossible.

I dont mind the 32 teams. But perhaps the last 10 spots should be open for a wildcard qualification process or something which isn't region locked.

6 Asia
6 Europe
6 Americas
6 Africa
10 Wildcard