Stevy
Years ago

FIBA World Cup 2023 Qualifiers First Window Preview

In 4 days, the rest of the world will start their first window for the WC qualifiers. 



PS: New ball looks really good!

For a brief recap, these will be the berths up for grabs.

FIBA World cup 2023 allocated berths:

Africa: 5

Americas: 7

Asia/Oceania: 8 (if Indonesia qualifies, there will be 5 berths up for grabs)

Europe 12

Total: 32 spots.

80 countries will be competing for 30 or 29 spots!

There are too many games to review for all regions, so I would just highlight games that should be a must watch for me.

Africa:

November 26 2021 (17:00 GMT+1)

Ivory Coast (46) vs Angola (33)





Angola, the African powerhouse and 11-time gold medal winner, will face the surprise silver medalist of the 2021 Afrobasket, Ivory Coast. Angola will try to redeem itself from their fifth-place finish in the last Afrobasket, while Ivory Coast will look to cement their position as a top-three African team.

Angola has Morais and Bango. Morais seemed like he had not aged since the last Afrobasket (performed well), while Bango was a young and steady presence down low.

Ivory Coast will not be able to field their NP, Matt Costello, who is currently playing for Canaria in Liga ACB. Nisre Zouzoua will be available, who is a guard in the second division of the French League. 

Without Costello, I predict that their big rotation will be too thin for the Angolans. I am going with the Angolans in competitive match against Ivory Coast, their lead will be about 8 at least.

Americas:

November 28 2021 (19:00 GMT-7)

Mexico (24) vs Puerto Rico (19)





These are two teams that are fresh from the OQT. Both teams looked really good in the OQT and they had a genuine chance to advance. Mexico could have beaten Germany, but they just did not finish well in the 4th quarter, while Puerto Rico lost by 7 against the Italians. 

It will be hard to predict this one. Both teams will essentially have the same rosters from the OQT and their rosters gave (Italy and Germany) tough games. The only difference this time will be the inclusion of JJ Barea for the Puerto Ricans, but even with him, it does not make them clear favorites. 

I predict a hard, competitive game that will go to the wire. The team that makes the fewest blunders will win. 

Asia/Oceania:

November 27 2021 (12:05 GMT+9) & November 28 2021 (18:35 GMT+9)

Japan (35) vs China (28)



China will be going to Japan in a bubble setup for the first window. They had already faced each other in the ACQ, where China got the better of them without Yuta, Rui, and Baba. Japan went on to prepare for the Olympics, where they beat France in a tune-up and lost to Spain competitively. China went to the OQT in hopes of qualifying, but they sent a team of youngsters like the Philippines against Greece and Canada, where they were outmatched. 

Things will look different this time around. China will field a more competitive team than they did in the previous World Cup, where they essentially qualified. Expect to see the likes of Guo Ailun and Wang Zhelin back. Japan also has a new head coach (Tom Havasse) who last led the women's team to a silver medal in the Olympics. Plenty of new variables to look around for with different players and etc.

I predict that either China will take these two games or Japan will split them. Japan is basically qualified, but they will try their best to put out a competitive roster and play as if they are not qualified. 

Europe:

There are so many games in this region and plenty of quality games, but of course, since the Euro league is still running and most of the top division leagues in Europe are running, don't expect the marquee players of these teams to play. 

Because of this, it gives mediocre European teams a chance to steal wins against the traditional powerhouses. Expect a few surprise defeats. Personally, I feel like Bosnia could steal a win against the Czechs. 

Since there are many quality games, just choose a game that will interest you below:

https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers/games

Topic #49458 | Report this topic


Anonymous  
Years ago

Italy are rapidly on the rise, they have 4 nba draftees for 2022.
Germany, Serbia and France also have an enormous amount of talent coming through.
Canada with a full squad will be a problem too. 22+ nba guys.

Reply #877176 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Horvasse will turn Japan into a very good side imo. Small but fast with lots of ball movement..

Reply #877177 | Report this post


Stevy  
Years ago

@176

Canada has the USA problem, which would be preparation, but talent-wise, they are in the top 5 currently in my opinion. The CzechRepublic beating them last OQT was hard to watch, especially with the plethora of NBA players on that squad. Italy always brings quality squads. It would be nice to see a dominant Italy team again like in the 90s. Serbia seems to never run out of talent or prospects, (Nikola Jovic, 6'10 PG) they already have a successor to Teodosic/Jovic. 

In the 2024 Olympics, I think France will have the best frontcourt (Gobert, Wembanyama).

@177

The best part about him is that he can speak Japanese. I think Japan has found the right man for the job. Well deserved promotion for him after the Olympics. Hopefully, things will translate better for them.

Reply #877179 | Report this post


Aussiebballer  
Years ago

Canada has the talent on paper but they never get a full squad to compete and build chemistry.
They should be a top 4 team in the World.
Let's see if it even eventuates.

Reply #877182 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Even if Aus add Simmons, Giddey, Daniels and another big, winning a medal is still unlikely Imo.

USA should bring better players
Canada, Serbia, France full strength
Italy, Germany, Lithuania go up another step from olympics with players that were not involved and new prospects,
Other nations like croatia, nigeria, Czech, Turkey also get stronger.

Spain the only big nation that should be worse.

A full strength nz would be good too, if they can get Adams.

Reply #877184 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Croatia won't be that good, Spain will still be strong. Lithuania are not going to well at present, France, Italy will be strong, Germany not as much.

Reply #877192 | Report this post


NBLTigers  
Years ago

Canada needs to understand they don't need a team full of NBA players. They’re only available in the NBA offseason. They have heaps of talent and they should be focusing on team chemistry rather then NBA talent. Many Canadians playing in the Europe and there’s 2 in the NBL.

Reply #877197 | Report this post


Stevy  
Years ago

@Aussiebballer @Victoria Titans

That's the double-edged sword of Canada's talent. Most of their players are in the NBA or NCAA. They have to find a way to balance things out between their talent and preparation. Canada has always been raved about as a top 5 team on paper since 2016 with Wiggins, Tristan Thompson, Ennis, Joel Anthony, Bennet, etc. They always have these rosters that most teams can't compete with on paper, but their preparations always make them underperform. Just look at what happened in the last OQT. 

@184 @192

From what I have read and seen, Lithuania has a squad of studs that could potentially cement them as a top 5 team in Europe in 5 years. Plus, they still have guys like Sabonis.

PF - Azoulas Tubelis 6'9 (19)
SF - Matas Buzelis 6'8 (16)
PG - Rokas Jokubaitis 6'3 (21)
SG - Liutauras Lelevicius 6'7 (18)

I believe Spain will always be an elite European team, as they have a great system in place that should produce players capable of keeping them in the top five. Their talent at the last U19 was still pretty solid. Dominguez and Godspower looked good. They still have Garuba and, importantly, a winning culture that has been built on many years of success. 

For me, though, I think the best team in Europe come 2023/2024 would be either France or Serbia, just strictly on the talent and players that I have seen.

Reply #877199 | Report this post


KET  
Years ago

What does an all NBL side look like for qualifiers?

Humphries, Reath, Magnay, S Froling bigs?

Cooks, Creek, Broekhoff in that SF position?

McCarron, Sobey, Goulding, Delly guard options?

Reply #877202 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Top 20 in asia region, camp list?
Should all be available next window.

Delly-Mccarron-Sobey-Norton
Cotton-Goulding-Glover-Vasljevic
Creek-Broekhoff-Dech-Drmic
Kay-Cooks-White-Mcveigh
Reath-Magnay-Humphries-Hunter


Note..
Johnson never chosen
Acuil? Boomers? Or Sudan?

Reply #877203 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Spain will struggle over next 2-3 years Imo and pick up again after

Reply #877204 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Atm, Germany best is

Schroeder-Lo
Obst-Saibeu-Bonga
Wagner-Zipser
Kleber-Wagner-Voightman
Theis-Haretenstein

About 3-4 young guys but maybe too inexperienced to come in just yet.

Reply #877205 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Italy will be top 4 team in 5 years Imo.
Adding banchero, procida, spagnolo, Pajola, canka who are all 21 under with Mannion, fontecchio etc + younger prospects like diouff, Grant, casarin

Reply #877207 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

12 team in Women's World Cup v 32 in the Men's World Cup.

what is quite amusing is that basketball women in power don't see anything wrong with that.

If every there was a worthy cause that if supported could actually achieve an outcome this would be it. The only benefit is really the Opals get to finish top 10.

They actually have 16 teams in the mix now, and are going to reduce that down to 12 by playing another series of game, what an unnecessary expense that is. Meanwhile teams like Spain and New Zealand miss out.

At least the mens tournament gets nearly all the best teams in the World



Reply #877208 | Report this post


KET  
Years ago

"Top 20 in asia region, camp list?
Should all be available next window.

Delly-Mccarron-Sobey-Norton
Cotton-Goulding-Glover-Vasljevic
Creek-Broekhoff-Dech-Drmic
Kay-Cooks-White-Mcveigh
Reath-Magnay-Humphries-Hunter"

Cotton shouldn't be considered until we know he’s Aussie, otherwise we just disappoint ourselves like Simmons playing for Boomers!

Vasiljevic I think is injured for a substantial amount of time?

Kay would be great but wouldn’t assume availability/intention to play.

It’s very possible we see Humphries, Reath, Magnay, Cooks join Landale and Kay in making up the big contingent in the final 12 side for Paris 2024, so it’d be nice to see those guys work together as much as possible and play as many Boomers games as they can.

Reply #877209 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

White n Vasljevic are back in jan sometime I believe.

Reply #877213 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

This seems like the team for February.

Delly-Mccarron
Goulding-Sobey-Dech
Creek-Broekhoff
Kay-Cooks
Reath-Magnay-Humphries


Reserves
Norton
Glover
Drmic or Travers
Mcveigh
Hunter or Froling


Too early for white and dj back from injury and as stated no cotton just yet.
Also don't know where acuils allegiances are

Reply #877214 | Report this post


Stevy  
Years ago

@204

Spain will "struggle" in the sense that they will not be as successful as in previous years. I still believe that they will be a top 5 European team, but no longer a top 5 world team in 3-5 years. I still see them as a top 5 European team because I have yet to see Spain's program fall hard. I think the next batch of talents is enough to keep their place as a top 5 team in Europe. 

@205

It really shows how competitive Europe is. Before, they had a super player like Dirk to lead them, but now their talent is more spread out, but they don't have a player that will put them in the same tier as France, Serbia, Italy, and etc. But still, they can beat any team if they are not careful. I will put them on a tier below, along with Lithuania. 

@207

Yep, they have that chance. They have the players in place. Italy just needs to secure that culture and environment to cultivate medals. Italy in the past was pretty unstable, but things seem to be better these days. Hopefully, no more BS from them.

Tier 1 Europe teams in 3-5 years

1. Serbia/France
3. Italy
4. Luka Slovenia (without luka, a tier below. Re: Failure to qualify 2019 world cup)
5. Spain

Tier 2 Europe teams that can beat tier 1 teams
Germany
Lithuania
Greece

Top 5 world teams in 3-5 years (includes what they did in previous competitions plus roster)

1. USA
2. France/Serbia
4. Australia/Italy

Canada has yet to show its potential. I got burned many times by them. They should be with France and Serbia if they can prove themselves. 

Reply #877225 | Report this post


KET  
Years ago

^ I think that's a fair summary tbh

Reply #877226 | Report this post


RobT  
Years ago

@ Anonymous;

This seems like the team for February.

Delly-Mccarron
Goulding-Sobey-Dech
Creek-Broekhoff
Kay-Cooks
Reath-Magnay-Humphries


Reserves
Norton
Glover
Drmic or Travers
Mcveigh
Hunter or Froling

Delly & Macca ok, but not much scoring from the 1 spot. Macca can but chooses not to, Delly struggles as a scorer. Adman, who NEVER gets a mention (a la DJ), would change that.

Unfortunately, Dech misses out. Adman is a better scorer and if he is on-court as the 1 or the 2, Delly or Macca can cover the loss of Dech's defence.

And, as Cotton has been left out due to availability(?), are we sure of Kay? Count on Sam Froling.

If Kay is there, then Broekhoff or Creek may miss out and Cook goes to the back-up 3. Sounds unthinkable that Creek may miss out but IMO, he and Sobey are a bit too similar.

Delly-Mccarron-Adman
Goulding-Sobey
Creek-Cooks
Kay-Froling
Reath-Magnay-Humphries







Reply #877227 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Froling, no...

Reply #877228 | Report this post


Stevy  
Years ago

@RobT

No worries, Kay will be available. The B league has a 2-3 week break per FIBA window, which will allow Kay to rejoin the boomers. Same thing for this window. The B league is on a break to give way for the WC Qualifiers. No B league until the first week of December. I don't think quarantine will be a factor by February.

Reply #877229 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Rob t
wtf are u on


Reply #877230 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Creek and Sobey similar lol


Dech should be the defensive specialist in the guard spot,
Adnam is just another scorer/facilitator

Reply #877231 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Froling only gets a look because goorj

Reply #877232 | Report this post


RobT  
Years ago

An Anonymous:

"Creek and Sobey similar lol"
LOL all you want, I said, "a bit too similar", meaning a bit alike. They are both multi-position players who are both dynamite at run-and-gun, same size(ish), both fast and strong. Sobey a better scorer, so went with him.

"Dech should be the defensive specialist in the guard spot,"
My point exactly. What's Dech's role going to be? Rest a defensive player? Yeah, right! Shut down the opposition gun? We have defence everywhere. Delly, Macca, Sobey/Creek.

"Adnam is just another scorer/facilitator."
My point exactly(again). Neither Delly (can't) or Macca (won't) are renowned for their scoring. Facilitating, defence and IQ, yes, but they are just not scoring PG's. That's what Adnam is, a scoring PG. And that's what I think we need more than another defensive specialist.

(Another) Anonymous:
"Froling only gets a look because goorj."
You think that doesn't apply to the whole roster? Gurujian picks the team!

Reply #877241 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Cooks is not a sf and you had him at the 3 over broekhoff
Froling is not a pf, Reath plays the 4 when together
Sobey and creek are not similar in anyway..
One plays the 2 or 1 and the other 4 or 3

You listed Sobey as a defender, do you even watch basketball...

Reply #877244 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I could see Moller playing a Thybulle type roll, defence, boards, a few points and total team first roll.

Reply #877247 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Moller sucks

Reply #877250 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Good player though. ^^^

Reply #877252 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Is averaging 5 n 4 in Germany as a bench pf.

Reply #877253 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Started every game bar one, you don't get lots shots once the US imports keep jacking them up. Been best player in last two eurobaskets stats. As above, he plays team first. German bbl allows six imports. You probably could check your stats as well.

Reply #877256 | Report this post




You need to be a registered user to post from this location. Register here.



Close ads
Little Streaks - The fun and interactive good-habits app designed especially for kids.
Serio: Tourism photography and videography

Advertise on Hoops to a very focused, local and sports-keen audience. Email for rates and options.

Recent Posts



.


An Australian basketball forum covering NBL, WNBL, ABL, Juniors plus NBA, WNBA, NZ, Europe, etc | Forum time is: 11:24 pm, Thu 28 Mar 2024 | Posts: 968,026 | Last 7 days: 754