Angola v Philippines lol.
The African v Asian rivalry.

Not much to cheer for on day 5. Perhaps cheer for China to be eliminated?

Round 2 effectively begins for all these teams:
- Russia vs Argentina
- Serbia vs Italy

All are into the next round, both are battles to top their respective groups, and both games results will be carried forward to the next round.

Perhaps cheer for China to be eliminated?

Tunisia beat Puerto Rico, ivory Coast beat Poland and Angola beat gilas. Tommorow will be a great dsy for africa trans.

*day for africa teams

Greece must now defeat New Zealand in the last game of Group F to advance to the 2nd round of the World Cup. With an upset win, the Tall Blacks can advance in their place.

If New Zealand lose, Australia will book a place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Nostraballmus agrees with rjd (for once). Those games should be crackers. He likes Italy v Serbia and sees a sneaky on an Azzurri upset paying $8 paying off.

You're predictions are shit. But you're growing on me Bally. Serbia by 15

Your***

Italy vs Serbia is probably the best game.

But plenty for teams to play for.

Ivory Coast-Poland (Poland should win don't watch)

Venezuela-China (advancement to the next round) (China qualifies for the Olympics if they win)

South Korea-Nigeria (both pushing for Olympic qualification as top spot in Asian / African teams are open)

Russia-Argentina(This is 2nd Rd fixture pretty much as the result will cross to 2bd Rd)

Puerto Rico-Tunisia (qualify for 2nd Rd and push for Olympics)

Spain-Iran (Spain will win don't watch)

Angola-Philippines (qualification for Olympics still possible for both teams)

Italy-Serbia(Best game also a 2nd Rd match as result will move across to the next stage)

My predictions
Poland China Nigeria Argentina Tunisia Spain Angola Serbia

Agree except I feel like Philippines will get up over Angola.

No real basis for that, just a feeling

Angola should beat Philippines by around 10-15 points. Serbia too good for Italy. Hoping China get sent to 17-32 classification round.

Why does everyone hate China?

I'm not going to bring global politics into it. Like no one's hating on Turkey, or Iran, or even USA etc in the same way.

And as for unlikable players... not sure I buy that either.

Agreed

Think China is too big inside for Venezuela, and too much on the line too.

They'll win by 12

Yeah if you base your world cup picks on geo politics there's gonna be very few teams worth backing. Maybe New Zealand?

Greggo, want reasons outside of politics and only about the Chinese team?

There is an unfounded arrogance of the Chinese team; several unlikable characters on the team; routinely taking advantage of corrupt refs; an expectation of beneficial treatment, especially playing at home; a history of undue rough and violent outbursts when things don't go their way; handed the easiest 1st round pool in this WC by far, onto a relatively weak round 2 pool with teams weaker than in previous tournaments, all seems near best-case-scenario pre-tournament, almost as if it was setup, which actually becomes a possibility considering China's penchant for corruption.

Does the team deserve to under-achieve? There's some poetic justice if they do, considering their history.

Want reasons about the Chinese basketball fans?

Their 'nmsl' dos attacks of Bogut on Twitter; no Chinese fans calling out the most extreme abusers; and the continuing jeers Bogut receives over a joke that was directed to his own Twitter followers.

Do the Chinese fans deserve to be disappointed? There might be some poetic justice if they do, from an Australian perspective.

Then there is the argument that Venezuela basketball fans have had such a strained last few years due to turmoil in Venezuela, perhaps there might be a good story if they advance instead.

rjd, FIBA is desperate for Chinese money and to take over some of the NBA-driven market, so of course they'll set things up for China to succeed.

If China STILL fail, at least FIBA tried, and will continue to try.

That’s probably why there are so many spots given to Asian teams, to improve China’s odds. Sure, they might package it as trying to develop the game in the weaker regions, but then why aren’t they trying to do that through yearly regional tournaments, for example, to give more experience at the highest levels.

fair point, Hoopie: let's insert favourable treatment by FIBA in there.

Oceania is guaranteed a spot between two countries, but we're calling out China/ asia.

Let's insert "racism" into the argument

Yeah, I assume you are referring to someone else doing so, because I was just about to say that some idiot is bound to come in with a racism claim, despite reading all the arguments mentioned previously. I suppose it's racist for Australians to cheer against Philippines too, because cheering against an objectively thuggish team is racist too, right? Ironically, China is one of, if not the, most ethno-nationalist nation in the tournament.


"Oceania is guaranteed a spot between two countries"

I was referring to advantage within a tournament, not to enter a tournament. If talking about entry, what's more difficult, ranking better than Iran+Japan+Korea or ranking better than New Zealand? But, yes, the whole Olympic qualification system is absurd.
Best placings enter Olympics:
1 - Japan (host)
1 - Asia
1 - Oceania
2 - Europe
2 - Americas
1 - Africa
4 - [qualification tournaments]

Europe is initially screwed over, although they should dominate the qualification tournaments.

I have to give credit to China for their rapid improvement in the game, they seem to be the only nation moving forwards from the Asia and Africa zones.

But at the same time I can't respect them for how they go about their business -- we all know from all the Australian touring teams over the years how they appoint officials to give them home calls.

The best example was from 2007 with the now infamous NBL tour to play their full-strength national team including Yao Ming involving two ridiculous games.

The first with the Bullets getting hosed in the fourth quarter which led them losing their double-digit lead yet still win with CJ Bruton hitting a half-court buzzer beater. Karma at its finest.

Then Goorjian pulled his Kings off the court a week later at the end of a drawn regular time and refused to play overtime due to the same thing happening again by repeated phantom calls.

Basically they tried to orchestrate results because they couldn't hack that an Australian club was stronger than their national team. Yet they still ended up with a loss and a draw despite having three extra men at their disposal.

Over the years there have always been 'calls' in China but something was in the water in 2007 when it got to that extreme. The blatant nature of what they did will never be forgotten.

This is why I have no respect for Asian basketball. They recognize they're not gifted with the height, length, athleticism or talent to compete with the top teams in the world, so they either cheat their way through or they try to injure and fight players to restore their pride. China and the Philippines being prime examples but if you watch how the game is conducted in the national leagues of Korea and across all Asia the ultra-violence and shady refereeing is very commonplace.

"why aren't they trying to do that through yearly regional tournaments"

I think they are. FIBA runs at least four yearly Asian tournaments in the men's game - the regional championships for East, South East and West Asia, plus the Asian Cup. They also run the Asian Champions Cup annually.

That's pretty reasonable compared with the range of regional tournaments it runs for Europe and the Americas. It's probably about all you could fit into the calendar, at the senior level, around domestic seasons and qualifiers for World level events.

ME, your last post was cooked haha.

Back to the games, Philippines Angola starting well. Blatche with 11 in the quarter, currently tied

How bad are Angola if they can't beat the Philippines.

#980 it happens every year, 2007 being the most blatant example. Since our clubs kept beating them now they only accept composite sides like the NBL All-Australian team.

Another OT game.

Thanks, PeterJohn. Good to hear.

If it's the same old teams in each tournament, though, there may be limited value, because the Asian and African teams need practice against different styles of play rather than only against similar.

It was heartwarming to see the Philippines endure the full spectrum of humiliation and disappointment at the world cup. They experience two whoopingly big losses to superior teams to remind them that they're garbage plus one super-close loss to break their spirits. They deserved every second of what they deserved. The basketball gods right the wrongs of FIBA for allowing them to play at the Cup. Smiles all around. Cheers.

Amen.

They will be humiliated further at the next World Cup on home soil as hosts.

I'm really enjoying this.

(the China result so far, not the Filo "commentating" ITA-SRB)

Yeah, if only the Chinese players tried as hard as the refs, they might have won this

China were provided the #1 overall seeding for the tournament draw

Wow, would not want to be the Chinese coach or some of the players.
They'll be off to the Re-education Centre

How is Iran beating Spain. Jeez.

Thought Iran would roll over and die after choking their first match away.

Haddadi is the laziest/most unfit best player in the WC.

Iran hungry for Asia's Olympic spot.

Asia only has one spot.

RUS-ARG going down to the wire.

Wow China played with no heart. Was hard to watch.

Venezuela all heart on the other hand. They'll get destroyed by competent teams though unfortunately. Wouldn't be surprised if Poland do too.

Agreed re: Venezuela & Poland. Group A was composed this way to give China chumps instead they became the chumps.

People acting like China get an unfair advantage need to look at history.

Every host is included as the no1 seed in every world cup

Football and basketball

Okay. They still choked though.