World
Championship History
Introduction
|| Buenos Aires 1950 || Rio de Janeiro
1954 || Santiago 1959 || Rio de Janeiro
1963 || Montevideo 1967 || Ljubljana
1970 || San Juan 1974 || Manila 1978
|| Cali 1982 || Madrid 1986 || Buenos
Aires 1990 || Toronto 1994 || Athens
1998 || Indianapolis 2002 || Saitama
2006
The history of
Basketball World Championship is one of many vicissitudes and problems, from
the lack of intrastructures during the early editions to the political boycotts
in the Cold War period, with even one edition being cancelled (Manila 1962).
Certainly, the competition would have failed to survive had it not being for
the firm wager of FIBA’s founder and Secretary General, William Jones. During
the postwar years, Mr. Jones led the world basketball from his UNESCO office
in Munich, and made efforts for this sport to recover from the horrible sequels
of World War II. The London Olympic Games in 1948 meant the first step towards
the slow recovery of international basketball, and the competition proved
itself a big success: not only was the number of participants very high, but
also the teams’ level was better than expected after a long time of inactivity.
After the success
of the Olympic tournament in London, William Jones decided to regain the international
competition dynamics for basketball, and got involved in the task of organizing
a World Championship, with Argentina being designated as the host country.
His support led to the desired results, and in October 22, 1950, the newly
created World Championship saw its first game at the Luna Park of Buenos Aires.
Peru and Yugoslavia had the honor to play the first game in the history of
the competition. Ten countries joined this first edition in Argentina, and
the host team became the first champion.
The early editions
of the World Cup were handicapped by poor organization and political interference.
In 1950, Yugoslavia refused to play with Spain as a protest against the Franco
Regime. In the second edition, in 1954, the venue was moved from Sao Paulo
to Rio de Janeiro simply because the basketball court was not finished yet,
a similar reason to delay one year the next edition (Santiago de Chile, 1959),
when games were even played outdoors, in football stadiums.
The Cold War tension
between the Soviet Union and the United States decreased in the early 70s,
ridding away most of the political problems between the West and the communist
East. At the same time, the World Cup came of age and also solved the problems
regarding infrastructure. From the Yugoslavia 1970 edition, the competition
returned to the normality of being held over a four year span period, and
was taken most seriously by all the participants (except the USA, interested
in the Olympic Games more than in the World Championship). The 70s were mostly
dominated by Yugoslavia and the USSR.
By the 80s, the
competition was firmly established in the international scene, and even the
political boycotts of the Olympic Games in Moscow (1980) and Los Angeles (1984)
didn’t seem to affect the World Cup. Besides, the United States decided to
take this tournament more seriously than before, and sent their best teams
to the editions of Cali 1982 (where they narrowly fell to the USSR) and Madrid
1986 (where they became champions thanks to some promising young players who
later became NBA stars, like David Robinson, Tyrone Bogues and Charles Smith).
Actually, the edition held in Spain in 1986 was a turning point in the competition,
with excellent courts, a massive audience and worldwide broadcasting of the
games.
The early 90s saw
new changes in the World Championship. On the one hand, FIBA authorized the
participation of NBA players in its competitions. On the other hand, the USSR
(first) and Yugoslavia (later) split into different independent states. This
two circumstances led to the US regaining world hegemony thanks to their “Dream
Teams,” which was most notorious in the Toronto 1994 edition, where the American
team crushed Russia in the final (137-91). It would seem that the future of
the competition was in jeopardy under the US domination. But Yugoslavia proved
that basketball was still a world matter by winning the next two editions:
Athens 1998 and Indianapolis 2002.
1950
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA)
At the FIBA Congress
held in London in 1948 during the Olympic Games, Secretary General William
Jones put forward the idea of a Basketball World Championship, and proposed
Argentina as the host country for the first edition. There were three reasons
why Mr. Jones showed his preferences for this South American country: First,
none of the European nations, still convalescent from World War II, could
meet the economic and human efforts required to successfully host this event,
whereas the United States was more interested in the Olympic Games and their
future NBA League than in the World Cup. Secondly, Argentina was one of the
few founders of FIBA, had a good basketball team and gained economic strength
after its neutrality in World War II. Thirdly, the Argentinean president,
Juan Domingo Perón, was eager to organized a worldwide event that served to
call attention on his country, and at the same time overshadow the Football
World Cup held in Brazil also in 1950. Obviously, the request of General Perón
to organize the basketball World Championship was based on political grounds,
but it was formulated under the disguise of a commemoration act to honor General
José de San Martín, one of the greatest Latin American revolutionaries, in
the centenary of his death. For this reason, the tournament was known as “Primer
Campeonato Mundial de Basquetbol Libertador General San Martín”.
The candidature
of Argentina was accepted at the London Congress, and it was decided that
ten countries would join the first edition. They would be the host team (Argentina),
the best three teams in the current Olympic Games (USA, France, Brazil), the
first three countries in the 1949 South American Championship (Uruguay, Chile,
Peru), the 1949 European Championship winner (Egypt) and the first two countries
after a European Qualifying Tournament to be held in France in January 1950
(Italy, Spain). However, the original list was later modified: Italy dropped
out due to financial reasons and was replaced by the third team in the European
Qualifying Tournament (Yugoslavia), whereas Uruguay withdrew just before the
beginning of the competition because the Argentinean government refused entry
visas to their radio reporters (under the pretence that some Argentinean exiles
attacked Perón’s regime from Montevideo), and was replaced by a late invited
team: Ecuador (whose players arrived to Argentina just hours before the opening
ceremony and their first game against Egypt).
The competition
system for these ten teams was also very complicated. There were two preliminary
rounds, two more repass rounds, a classification round for the last four countries,
and a final round to decide the first six positions of the tournament. The
scores in this first edition of the World Championship were very low: Argentina,
who finished the competition unbeaten, was the only team to score more than
sixty points per game.
1954
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: RIO DE JANEIRO (BRAZIL)
When FIBA designated
in Buenos Aires, during the celebration of the first edition of the World
Championship, the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo as the venue of the second edition
in 1954, few could imagine how many troubles this decision would bring forth.
Actually, most of the complications arose from the ban of the Brazilian government
to the European Communist Block countries, and also from the fact that the
new basketball court to be built in Sao Paulo was not finished on time, so
the competition had to be moved to Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil, still in
shock in the summer of 1950 after losing the football World Cup against Uruguay
in their own country, saw in the organization of the basketball counterpart
the opportunity to redeem themselves. But in 1954 Brazil faced a climate of
popular agitation and political tension that in no way helped the celebration
of the World Championship. The city of Sao Paulo, commemorating the fourth
century of its foundation, could not carry on their commitment to FIBA on
time. The construction of a new basketball court, a priority for the celebration
of the tournament, meant an unsurmountable obstacle in a country with a constant
social uproar. When the time came, the arena where games should be held had
no ceiling yet, and the government presided by João Café Filho decided
in a hurry to move the basketball event to Rio de Janeiro, to a large pavilion
close to Maracana’s stadium. This court, known in Brazil as “Maracanazinho”
(little Maracana), had capacity for 35,000 people, and it was one of the best
basketball courts of the moment.
As for the competition
format, the organizers of Rio de Janeiro 1954 edition decided to increase
the number of participants from ten (in 1950) to twelve, so that the system
would be more reasonable and equal. In a preliminary round, these twelve teams
were divided into four groups of three teams each, with wnners and runners-up
advancing to the final round, played as a league stage. But the rationality
of the competition format was not applied likewise to the selection of participants.
The Brazilian government had no diplomatic relations with the countries of
the Communist Block, and denied entry visas to the Soviet Union (current European
champion), Hungary and Czechoslovakia (second and fourth qualified teams,
respectively, in the European Championship). So emergency entrants had to
be called to participate in the World Cup, such as France, Israel and even
Yugoslavia (communist country that, however, was not banned by Brazil, and
still escaped FIBA sanctions after their withdrawal against Spain in the first
edition of the tournament). On the other hand, seven more berths were reserved
to American teams (a measure based mostly on geographical rather than in sport
criteria): Canada, USA, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and, of course, Brazil
as host. Although the absence of the title holder, Argentina, would seem strange,
this team was broken down due to the accusations of professionalism of their
players (basketball was still an amateur sport in the world). Two more berths
were assigned to Asia: Philippines and Formosa (present Taiwan).
As in the previous
edition, USA (who proved to be light-years ahead of the rest in the Olympic
Basketball Tournament in 1952) sent an inexperienced team to Brazil, made
up of young white players who competed in state championships and never would
reach the NBA. However, this time the American team was competitive enough
to win the World Cup, finishing undefeated ahead of the Brazilian hosts. During
the final stage, both teams made it clear that the title would be decided
in the game between them. So when Brazil and USA finally met in the last day,
17,000 Brazilian fans overcrowded the Maracanazinho celebrating in advance
what they thought would be a victory of their team. However, as in the football
World Cup of 1950, their hopes were finally dampened by the superior play
of the Americans, who based their success on a very strong defense. The final
score (62-41) speaks clearly of the difference between USA and Brazil. This
time, the Brazilian fans faced the outcome with sportsmanship and acceptance,
rather than falling into the desperation they had lived four years ago, when
they lost the football World Cup at home.
1959
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Just like the precedent
two editions, the third World Championship faced organization problems from
the beginning. Once more, FIBA decided that the tournament would be celebrated
in South America, in this case in Chile, based on the promise of the local
authorities to construct a magnificent sport pavilion in Santiago on occasion
of this event. But in 1958, as the scheduled date for the World Championship
approached (in Autumn), it was clear that the new court would not be finished
on time, so FIBA decided to give the organizers additional time to complete
the construction. Therefore, the tournament was moved to January 1959. In
the meantime, the Chilean authorities decided that other cities besides Santiago
would also welcome this basketball event, and proposed the additional venues
of Antofagasta, Concepción and Temuco (for the preliminary round) and Valparaíso
(for the classification round). However, this quickly improvised solution
proved unsatisfactory, since just as the new sport pavilion in the capital
of Chile was not completed as planned, the rest of cities didn’t have an appropriate
basketball court either. Just when the celebration of the World Cup in Chile
was in serious danger of suspension, the organizers offered an alternative
solution to FIBA: the games would be celebrated in the football stadiums of
the host cities. William Jones was forced to accept this emergency solution,
even under the risk of rain or bad weather, because under any circumstance
would he allow the cancellation of a tournament that he so eagerly endorsed
in its previous editions.
The political problems
that handicapped the list of participants in the former editions of the World
Championship were marginal on this occasion. Chile was a country with a long
democratic tradition in Latin America, and the government of Jorge Alessandri
did not ban any country for political reasons. So when the ball was thrown
to the air on January 16, 1959, everything was ready for the competition.
As in previous editions, the United States did not send their best players
to Chile (who were reserved for the Olympic Games of 1960 in Rome), even though
they were the title holders. The second consecutive presence of Formosa (the
nationalist China of Chiang Kai Shek, not recognized by the Communist Block)
would create this time a new political conflict outside of basketball, since
their qualification for the Final Round, together with the Soviet Union and
Bulgaria, would cause the withdrawal of these two communist countries in their
respective games against Formosa (which even showed the name “China” on their
shirts, although it was never referred as such by FIBA). William Jones was
aware of this fact, and scheduled these two games in the last competition
days of the tournament, trying to earn time to think up a solution to this
political problem. However, once the Final Round started, the Soviet Union
and Bulgaria officially announced that they wouldn’t play against Formosa,
and FIBA, as a punishment to all the Communist Block for this unjustified
withdrawal, moved the venue for the 1963 World Championship from the already
selected Prague to Manila.
But things didn’t
go as desired by Mr. Jones, and the competition had a very unexpected and
polemic outcome. And this is because the Soviet Union rolled over the rest
of teams in the Final Round, with convincing victories over Puerto Rico, Brazil,
Chile, Bulgaria and even the United States (the first time a Soviet team defeated
the USA). The USSR seemed to be the clear winners of the World Cup, but once
more politics change the natural course of this basketball event. The scheduled
game between the Soviet Union and Formosa, which would only be symbolic to
crown the new champion, was never celebrated due to the withdrawal of the
Soviet delegation as a way to protest against the nationalist Taiwan of exiled
general Chiang Kai Shek and support the communist China of Mao Ze Dong. No
matter what was at stake, the Soviet team fulfilled their threat, and on January
30th, at 9 p.m., Formosa (with China’s logo shirts) waited in vain for their
rivals. An afflicted William Jones had to address the 30,000 fans in the stadium
to apologize for the non assistance of the USSR, as Formosa received a 2-0
forfeit victory in this game. However, even after this “political” defeat,
the Soviet Union was still champion, because of all their previous victories.
But the sanctions
to the Soviet team were not only the 2-0 forfeit in the last game. After all,
for the sake of sportsmanship, it didn’t seem very logical that the championship
went to a squad that deliberately refused to play one match, causing economic
damage to the organizers and a bad image to FIBA. During the morning of the
closing competition day, the majority of FIBA’s board members proposed an
exemplary sanction for the USSR and also Bulgaria (who had already announced
that they wouldn’t play with Formosa on the afternoon). William Jones tried
his best to stop the very heavy sanctions that would befall the Soviet Union
after this withdrawal, but couldn’t ignore the seriousness of this incident,
so in the end he came up with a proposal that could “please” all the parties:
USSR and Bulgaria would be deprived of all their points and relegated to the
last position of the group, and at the same time all their games would be
scratched from the table, which meant that Chile had still a chance to become
champion if they beat Brazil by twelve points, and the last competition day
would regain all its interest for the local fans. But this didn’t happen,
since the Brazilian team led by Wlamir Marques and Amaury Pasos proved themselves
very superior to Chile. Meanwhile, the Soviet team went back to their country
with the heavy conviction that they were the moral champions of the World
Cup, and were received by thousands of fans in Moscow as the legitimate winners
(the players were even immortalized on a special stamp series with the logo
“Victory of the USSR basketball team in Chile”).
1963
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: RIO DE JANEIRO (BRAZIL)
In the short but
troublesome history of the World Championship, the fourth edition was no exception
to the rule, and also had to face many problems before its celebration. Originally,
the Philippines was chosen as the host country to hold this event in December
1962 (thus restoring the four year period between two consecutive World Cups,
after the “delayed” edition of 1959). The Philippine authorities offered all
kind of guarantees that this time politics would not interfere with this event.
But the same problem arose again with the same protagonists: Three months
before the beginning of the tournament, the Soviet Union and Bulgaria (qualified
for the World Championship) stood firm not to recognize Formosa (the nationalist
China); given that this independent Chinese province was also qualified, the
former communist countries announced that they would not travel to Manila.
This attempted
boycott was considered as an offense by the government of Diosdado Macapagal,
President of the Philippines, who denied entry visas to all the countries
of the Communist Block. But this time William Jones was ready to react, and
called an urgent meeting of the Central Committee of FIBA to discuss this
problem. It was decided in this assembly to disposess Philippines of the organization
of the World Cup, also banning their national team in the next two editions,
and sanction the organizers with a $2,000 compensation fee. The Central Committee
also decided to assign the organization of the World Cup to Brazil, given
the successful experience of Rio de Janeiro in 1954 and the high potential
of the Brazilian team. Besides, to avoid problems with the Soviet Union (an
emerging power in the world), Formosa was not invited as a participant.
Although FIBA gave
less than six months to Brazil to organize the tournament, everything was
ready on May 12, 1963 for the competition to begin. This short time had also
prevented the organizers from making changes in the competition format, which
remained basically the same as in the previous edition in Chile. All the favorites
cruised easily to the Final Round, where the local team showed the world that
their World Cup title in 1959 was well deserved (beyond the disqualification
of the Soviet Union in the last game). After consecutive victories over Puerto
Rico, Italy, Yugoslavia and France, Brazil faced the USSR in a game that would
give them the championship in case of victory. It finally happened (90-79),
and the title holders conquered the World Cup in their own country.
1967
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MONTEVIDEO (URUGUAY)
For the third consecutive
edition, the original plans of FIBA to celebrate the World Cup every four
years, with a two years difference with respect to the Olympic Games, failed.
After Buenos Aires (1950) and Rio de Janeiro (1954), the third edition, Santiago
(1958), was delayed one year due to infrastructure problems, and the fourth
edition, Manila (1962), was moved both in space (Rio de Janeiro) and time
(1963). It was the intention of FIBA to go back to normality in Montevideo
(originally scheduled in December 1966), but once again politics interfered
with the celebration of this tournament. In this case, the Uruguayan organizers
asked for a delay to avoid the coincidence of the World Cup with the general
elections in the country, because they feared the socio-political turbulence
in Uruguay during that period could affect the normal progress of the competition.
Although FIBA agreed
to a delay in the competition to May 1967, Uruguay was by no means ready to
organize a sport tournament of such magnitude as the World Cup. The cities
of Montevideo, Mercedes and Salto were selected as venues for the preliminary
round, the Argentinean city of Córdoba would welcome the classification round,
and the final round would be celebrated in Montevideo (in a bigger court than
in the preliminary stage). The same competition format as in previous editions
was used in Uruguay, and all the favorites qualified to the final stage. However,
in this round, the games were conditioned by an external factor that the organizers
didn’t seem to consider when they asked for a delay: the chilly temperatures
that Uruguay suffered during the Austral winter. The sport pavilion of Montevideo
was an old refurbished store covered by an artistic but ineffective dome,
with no heating system or any kind of isolation. Because the temperature inside
the stadium was close to 0º C during the games, the organizers had to
provide the players and technical staff on the bench with blankets and electric
heaters.
The local team
had no option to medal during the final round, but their last and unexpected
victory over Yugoslavia reduced the options of the Balkans to win the gold
medal. As in previous editions, the favorites (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, USA,
Brazil) fought very intense and thrilling matches, and the championship was
decided in the last game, when the USSR defeated Yugoslavia and secured the
gold.
1970
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: LJUBLJANA (YUGOSLAVIA)
For the first time
in the history of the tournament, the World Cup would leave America and come
to Europe for the sixth edition in 1970. At the FIBA Central Committee’s meeting
held in Montevideo on June 3, 1967, the Yugoslavian city of Ljubljana was
designated as the host for the next World Championship, which could finally
be celebrated on the appointed year, 1970 (and from that moment on, all the
editions of the World Cup would take place in a two-year alternate period
between the Olympic Games, as it was originally intended by FIBA).
During the recent
years, Yugoslavia had become a basketball world power, and this was taken
into consideration by FIBA in time to decide the next venue for the World
Cup. Led by Borislav Stanković, a very influential member within FIBA,
the Yugoslavian Basketball Federation claimed the organization of the tournament
in order to commemorate their 25th Anniversary. Although the same
competition format as in previous editions was kept, the main novelty was
the presence of participants representing all five continents: Oceania (Australia),
Asia (South Korea), Africa (United Arab Republic), America (Brazil, Uruguay,
Cuba, Panama, Canada, USA) and Europe (Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Italy, Czechoslovakia).
As in previous
editions, all the big teams qualified as expected for the final round of the
competition. Yugoslavia, with an Ivo Daneu near to retirement, was unanimously
considered as the favorites to win the World Cup, because of their great potential
and also because they were the hosts. The traditional world powers (Soviet
Union, USA, Brazil) would also fight for the title, together with a newcomer
as Italy, led by Dino Meneghin. The US team, traditionally not very interested
in the World Cup, sent a competitive group of players to Yugoslavia, but took
the risk of resorting to Tal Brody (born in the USA but with Israeli citizenship,
which meant that their matches could be impugned by other teams). In the end,
the title was decided in the second to last competition day, when Yugoslavia
beat USA and secured the first place in the group. The main intererest of
the last day, with the Yugoslavian players still celebrating their first World
Championship, was to decide the teams that would get the silver and gold medals:
they were Brazil (after beating a US team that ended up in fifth position)
and the Soviet Union (who easily won a Yugoslavian squad lacking motivation).
A tragic closing
act was the death, only four days after finishing the World Cup, of the Yugoslavian
center Trajko Rajković, who suffered a heart attack.
1974
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: SAN JUAN (PUERTO RICO)
Puerto Rico’s candidature
to celebrate the 7th World Championship in 1974 was accepted by FIBA, in spite
of all the infrastructure and organization problems that this Caribbean country
would have to face. Although the tournament finally was celebrated without
major incidents, two important drawbacks were mass media logistics and the
suffocating heat during the games.
The competition
format remained basically the same as in past editions, but one important
change was introduced: the particular score between two teams during the preliminary
round is kept in the next stage, so that they don’t have to play again. The
thrill of the competition remained until the last day, although Yugoslavia
had the chance to become champions in the penultimate day, but they lost to
the USA and opened the possibility for three teams (USA, Yugoslavia, Soviet
Union) to get the gold medal. The final game between the Americans and the
Russians, archenemies in international competitions (with the recent precedent
of the historical USSR’s victory in the Olympic Games of Munich in 1972, with
the famous repetition of the final three seconds and the basket by Aleksandr
Belov), was crucial to decide the final top three positions of the tournament.
The Soviet Union, with an unstoppable Aleksandr Sal’nikov (38 points), showed
their greater experience in this kind of games and triumphed over an American
team as talented as unbalanced.
1978
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MANILA (PHILIPPINES)
FIBA had a moral
debt with the Philippines, after the cancellation of the 1962 World Cup edition
in this Pacific island due to the denial of entry visas to the communist countries.
Borislav Stanković, the successor of William Jones as Secretary General
of FIBA, was more lenient than his predecessor, and decided to grant the organization
of the World Championship to the Philippines once the local basketball authorities
gave him all kind of guarantees regarding government support and infrastructures.
The Philippinean
president, Ferdinand Marcos, was eager to give the best image of his country
to the rest of the world, and spared no effort or money to host the World
Cup. All the delegations were accomodated in the most luxurious hotels of
Manila and travelled in expensive cars provided by Toyota. However, the social
reality of the country was quite different, and the sport infrastructures
didn’t meet the expectations of this important event. So, instead of the usual
three venues to hold the games of the preliminary round, all the tournament
matches were played in Manila, in two basketball coliseums (an old one, with
no air conditioning to fight the sticky heat during the games, and a modern
one, in the satellite city of Quezón, which would hold the most important
games).
The same competition
format as in the previous edition was kept, but an important change was introduced:
After the final round, the definitive classification of the teams would be
decided in one-to-one matches, so the first will play with the second (for
gold medal), the third with the fourth (for bronze medal), the fifth with
the sixth, and the seventh with the eighth. This way, a real “final” single
game is first introduced in the history of the World Cup, because so far the
champion of the competition was decided after a league stage. All teams seemed
to like this new system, because in recent years the medals had been decided
on basket average. Another reason was the recent arrival of TV broadcasting
to the World Championship, and these final games would ensure excitement til
the end.
As usual, the United
States sent a very young and inexperienced team to the Philippines, although
the ABAUSA (Amateur Basketball Association of the USA) promised FIBA to select
a very competitive team for the World Championship. The result was a very
disappointing fifth place in the tournament (which didn’t seem to bother much
the US Basketball Federation, still more interested in the Olympic Games than
in the World Cup). Their archenemies, Soviet Union, had undergone some changes.
After the fiasco at the Olympic Tournament in Canada 1976, Aleksandr Gomel’skij
took over again as head coach. A tragic note was the death of center Aleksandr
Belov, the Russian hero in Munich 1972, at the beginning of the World Cup.
The only real enemy for the USSR in the Final Stage of the tournament was
Yugoslavia, their black beast during recent years, and it was clear that the
title would be decided in the final game between these two teams. In spite
of a clear Balkanic victory during the league stage (105-92), the final was
a very intense and tied game (even with an overtime), in which any team could
win. In the end, Yugoslavia prevailed (82-81) and replaced the Soviet Union
as world champions.
One important issue
discussed by FIBA during the Manila World Cup was the professional/amateur
distinction for basketball players. After the refusal to accept the registration
in the tournament of the American point guard Larry Johnson (from University
of Kentucky), on the grounds that he had played several exhibition games with
NBA’s Buffalo Braves during the 1977-78 season, FIBA’s Executive Committee
passed a new statute regulating the legal situation of basketball players.
From that moment on, someone who plays the game because he likes it—but can
still study or work in a different profession as a way of life—will be able
to sign contracts and receive a salary without being considered a “full-time”
professional, therefore opening the gates of FIBA international competitions
to all kind of players (except those from NBA, who will remain the only truly
“professionals”).
1982
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: CALI (COLOMBIA)
Politics, which
seemed to be absent during the recent editions of the World Championship,
threatened to show up again during the 1982 edition in Cali (Colombia). The
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was used as an excuse for some countries, encouraged
by the USA, to boycott the Olympic Games of Moscow in 1980. The feeling was
that the Soviet Union and the rest of communist countries could “counter-boycott”
the basketball World Cup in 1982 with their non-assistance, but they finally
confirmed their participation in the tournament.
One additional
problem for the participants in the Colombian tournament was the altitude
of the host cities (especially Bogotá, 2,630 m over sea level), which made
it difficult to play basketball in normal conditions.
The United States
finally sent a very competitive team to the World Cup, with future NBA players
such as Glenn “Doc” Rivers, Mark West, Jon Sundvold, Joe Kleine and Antoine
Carr. The host team, Colombia, was very inferior to the rest of the participants
in the final round, and it didn’t help them either the lack of support from
their own federation (which made the Colombian players go on strike during
the preliminary round, until the coach’s mediation got them back to training).
The Soviet Union team in the World Cup was one of the most powerful in their
history, with a first line of very tall centers (Aleksandr Belostennyj, Vladimir
Tkachenko, Andrej Lopatov and a very young 2,18 m Lithuanian pivot with the
skills and passing of a guard: Arvydas Sabonis). The Soviet Union and the
USA qualified for the final, ahead of Yugoslavia (undergoing a generational
change in players) and Spain (a very competitive team with players like Corbalán,
Sibilio, Fernando Martín and Epi). The title was decided in the last seconds,
when the Soviets were leading by one point (95-94) and Doc Rivers missed a
corner shot over the horn.
1986
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MADRID (SPAIN)
In the history
of the World Championship, the edition held in Spain (Madrid and sub-venues)
marks an inflection point in the development of the tournament. From this
moment on, the political, economical and logistic troubles which handicapped
the past editions will disappear. TV stations will broadcast the games worldwide
and different sponsors will support the competition, thus ensuring the financial
success of this event. Also, from the competitive point of view, the best
players of the moment will meet in Spain, and even the United States, traditionally
very reluctant about the World Cup, will send their most competitive team
up to date.
For one reason,
the Spanish candidature to hold the World Championship, presented to FIBA
in 1982, was revolutionary in many respects: 24 participants in seven different
venues. It was such a qualitative change with respect to previous editions
that few people could predict a happy ending to this proposal. But the Spanish
Basketball Federation was sure of their success, because there was a rising
basketball fever in the country that started with the fourth place of Spain
in Cali 1982 and reached its peak with the silver medal in the Olympic Games
of Los Angeles 1984. Basketball became an important marketing product, the
ACB League was created, basketball was present more and more on TV and publications…
The conditions couldn’t be better for a great success of “Mundobasket 86”
in Spain.
So FIBA had no
difficulty in assigning the organization of the 10th World Championship to
Spain, and the competition came back to Europe for the second time, after
the edition of 1970 in Yugoslavia. During the preliminary round, both Yugoslavia
and the Soviet Union seemed to meet the expectations that made them look like
favorites to the title. On the other hand, the United States, although they
won all their games, did it very unconvincingly and provided more reasons
to doubt their potential. The host country, Spain, started the competition
in a shaky way, gained more confidence as games progressed, and lost only
their final match against Brazil (which would be crucial in the semifinal
stage to prevent the Spanish squad from fighting for the medals). In the end,
the best four teams of the competition reached the semifinals. In the first
one, USA rolled over Brazil (in spite of Oscar Schmidt’s 43 points) to secure
a place in the final. The second semifinal set a duel between the Soviet Union
and their personal “black beast” during the last years, Yugoslavia. The Balkans,
led by the Petrović brothers (Dražen, 27 points, Aleksandar, 15
points), dominated almost all the game, but their excesive pride prevented
them from reaching the final. With 2’15’’ left, Yugoslavia had a nine point
advantage (81-72). The Soviet players, who had missed a lot of shots during
the game, desperately committed fouls to stop the clock while the Yugoslavs
gave up their free throws and instead kept the ball in motion, with Dražen
Petrović provoking and humiliating his rivals in his usual style. But
the game was still alive. Two successive three-pointers by Sabonis and Tikhonenko
brought the USSR back to only three points behind Yugoslavia. A final ball
lost by an inexperienced Vlade Divac allowed Valters to tie the game over
the buzzer and send it to an overtime, where the Soviet Union gained their
pass to the final.
The final between
the USA and the Soviet Union, their first clash after Cali 1982 (due to the
Russian boycott in Los Angeles 1984), met all the expectations generated around
it. The American defense didn’t allow the experienced Soviet shooters feel
comfortable during the game, and thanks to the rebound domination by David
Robinson, the athletic excellences of Kenny Smith and the rhythm imposed by
Tyrone Bogues, the US team reached a peak difference of eigheen points in
the middle of the second half (78-60). However, a zone defense brought the
Soviet Union back into the game: the Americans got nervous and Sabonis started
to dominate the rebounds. Despite two three-pointers of Chomičius in
the last seconds, this time the miracle didn’t happen, and the USA narrowly
won the final (87-85) and their second gold medal in the World Cup, 32 years
later of their first success in the 1954 edition of Rio de Janeiro.
1990
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA)
The XI edition
of the World Cup in Argentina saw new changes in the competition system: the
high number of participants in the previous edition (24) was reduced to 16,
thus increasing the average quality of the games. Besides, in future editions
of the World Championship FIBA will accept NBA players. From the political
point of view, the problems brewing in the Soviet Union (further dismembership
in different republics), the Balkans (war) and Germany (fall of the Berlin
Wall) would reconfigure the map of participants in the World Championship.
In Argentina, for example, the Soviet Union was very weakened with the absences
of Lithuanian stars Sabonis, Kurtinaitis, Chomičius and Marčiulonis,
who refused to play under the USSR flag.
Although the organization
had some flaws and shortcomings, this didn’t tarnish the games. There were
positive surprises, like Puerto Rico, and negative ones, like Spain and Italy.
The US team, after their disappointing performance at the Olympic Games in
Seoul, sent the best university players to Argentina, but in spite of their
athletic excelences they lacked experience at the international level, and
in the end they fell to the more experienced Yugoslavs in the semifinals.
These two consecutive disappointments of the USA, in the Olympic Games and
the World Cup, motivated their decision to send NBA stars to future events,
with a first version of the “Dream Team” in the Olympic Games of Barcelona
in 1992.
The final between
Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union was very unbalanced: the Balkans, led by Zdovc,
Petrović, Kukoč, Paspalj and Divac, were very superior and gave
no real chance to their rivals. At the end of the game, a symbolic image:
all the players and coaching staff embraced under a big Yugoslavian flag.
The next year, the Balkan War would start and politics would divide the players
of a magic team that won two European Championships and one World Cup between
1989 and 1991.
1994
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: TORONTO (CANADA)
The new FIBA regulation
allowing NBA players to join their tournaments was a significant revolution
in the XII World Cup held in Toronto (Canada). Never before this competition
started with such a feeling that the champion was already predetermined: the
US team, with a potential light years from the rest of participants. If this
wasn’t enough to ensure the American success, their historical rivals (USSR
and Yugoslavia) were also weakened and decimated after the political division
in different territories and even the UN ban on the new Yugoslavia. However,
the triumph of the USA in this tournament was tarnished by the bad manners
and anarchy of a team composed of so many NBA stars.
From the financial
point of view, the success of the Toronto World Championship depended heavily
on television, and this also changed the rules of the game. The American TV
stations in charge of broadcasting this event exerted such a pressure that
FIBA accepted as many as four extra time-outs in each half (in addition to
the two regular ones for every team) in order to comply with the numerous
advertisement contracts.
The only two venues
chosen to host the World Cup were Toronto and Hamilton, two nearby cities
on the banks of Lake Ontario with all the infrastructure needed for this event.
The games were played indistinctly in three magnificent pavilions located
in these cities. The competition format remained unaltered with respect to
the previous edition, with 16 teams playing a preliminary round and later
a classification round and final round in order to decide the final positions.
Early in the championship,
the Croatians were thought to be the team that would contend with the USA
in the final (it was undisputable that the “Dream Team II” not only would
reach the final, but also win the gold medal without many difficulties). But
as the competition went on, a more solid and less anarchic Russian team proved
themselves a better match for the North Americans. The two semifinals were
like night and day: a very unbalanced duel between USA and Greece, on the
one hand, and a hardly fought game between Russia and Croatia, on the other
hand, finally won by the more disciplined Russians. The final was the most
unbalanced one in the history of the championship: the abysmal difference
between the US team and Russia (or any other team who would face them) was
faithfully reflected in the final score (137-91). This time, the NBA players
proved to be way too much for a FIBA team.
1998
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: ATHENS (GREECE)
Due to the NBA
lock-out in the summer of 1998, the best players of the North American professional
league refused to participate in the XIII World Championship in Athens. The
absence of another “Dream Team” was a hard blow for the popular success of
the tournament, and this was notorious as the first game of the USA team gathered
only a few thousand spectators. With the NBA stars missing in the US squad,
new candidates aimed at the gold medal, especially Yugoslavia (which returned
to international competitions after the UN ban on the Balkan country, composed
only by Serbian players).
The competition
format was again modified to allow for an all-or-nothing round of quarterfinals,
thus adding new excitement to the tournament. In the decisive games of semifinals,
the USA was again stopped in their race to the gold medal by Russia, led by
an excellent Sergej Babkov (30 points). In the other semifinal, Yugoslavia
had to overcome a big scare by Greece (overtime included) to qualify for the
final. In
the decisive game, Yugoslavia confirmed their historical dominance in the
competition thanks especially to Željko Rebrača and Dejan Bodiroga
(who was voted MVP of the tournament), clinching their fourth world title.
Apart from basketball,
the test control, which had already been used in past editions of the World
Cup, took its first victim in the figure of Nigerian center Julius Nwosu, who was suspended following
a doping control which proved positive for ephedrine. Furthermore, FIBA also
took the decision to sanction the use of cannabis in all their competitions.
2002
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: INDIANAPOLIS (USA)
For the first time
in history, the World Championship came to the United States, where basketball
was born more than a hundred years ago. Ironically, the US team was not counted
among the heavy favorites to win the gold medal. Indeed, their defeat against
Yugoslavia in 1/4 Finals sent them out of the medals for the first time since
using NBA players.
The
greatest surprise of the championship was New Zealand, who finished fourth
after beating Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals. Argentina, the first champion
in the history of the World Cup, came back to the elite by reaching the final
against Yugoslavia. The Argentinians were close to the glory when Sconochini
(first) and Oberto (later) had in their hands the victory in the last seconds
of the game, but they missed (Argentina claimed that they were clearly fouled)
and the final went into an overtime, where Yugoslavia secured their fifth
World Championship.
Although Indianapolis 2002 raised the game standards in relation to previous World Championships, with more closely-fought games and several technical improvements, the attendances were very disappointing (from a few hundreds to a few thousands, even when the local team played). The general feeling of “emptiness” during the games was emphasized by the large seating capacity of the two chosen arenas in Indianapolis: Conseco Fieldhouse (18,000) and RCA Dome (32,500). The expectations were so great that the daily games were scheduled in these two nearby stadiums at the same time, but that proved to be another miscalculation. To prevent similar scenarios in the future, FIBA decided to retake part of its control on the organization of the World Championship, which in recent editions had delegated entirely to the local federations.
2006
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: SAITAMA (JAPAN)
The 2002 edition
of the World Cup had increased the level of basketball around the world and
the number of competitive teams in relation to previous tournaments. As a
result of it, FIBA decided to expand the 2006 World Championship to 24 teams
(for the first time since 1986) and awarded the organization to Japan, as
a representative of the growing Asian basketball market.
Many basketball
stars joined the Japanese event (incluiding a record number of NBA players),
but in the end Spain proved that team work is always better that individualities.
Although the Spanish squad didn’t have the best players of the tournament,
they proved that they were the best team by far. Even the majestic figure
of Pau Gasol didn’t overshadow the performance of all the Spanish players
as a group. If some doubts were created before the final against Greece, in
which Gasol was missing due to injury, they vanished soon as the men coached
by Pepu Hernández proved that they didn’t need the help of Gasol to defeat
the Greeks, thanks to an outstanding defensive display (Greece was held to
only 47 points) and an incredible team spirit.
As for the rest
of favorites? The USA cruised through the tournament with easy victories,
until the solid defense of Greece stopped then in the semifinal. Argentina
was also defeated in the semifinal by Spain, in a game tremendously balanced
that could go either way (Nocioni missed a last second three-pointer that
could have meant the Argentinean victory). Germany, heavily dependant on an
amazing Dirk Nowitzki, couldn’t overcome the United States. And Greece, who
looked heavy favorites in the final against a Spanish team without Gasol,
tasted their own medicine and succumbed to a defense even better than their
own. Actually, Greece had never a chance in the final against a very motivated
Spanish team. The “ÑBA” (Gasol and co.) won the first gold medal in
the history of the Spanish team and were received like heroes back home.
2010
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: İSTANBUL (TURKEY)
Sixteen
years later, USA regained gold in the World Championship with a new basketball
conception, in which team spirit had replaced individual talent and “one-on-ones”.
The exponential progression of international basketball in recent years had
increased the competition, and now names like Spain, Argentina, Greece or
Serbia were called as favorites to win the 2010 tournament. In fact, the US
team was not even counted among this group, as it was thought that their lack
of international experience and the absence of the best NBA players (such
as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Kevin
Garnett or Deron Williams) was a serious handicap in their possibilities.
The
same competition system with 24 teams used in 2006 was kept for the 2010 edition
of the World Championship. After an uneventful preliminary round, in which
all the top guns qualified for the next stage (with the only exceptions of
Germany and Puerto Rico, who fell behind Angola and China, respectively),
the real competition started in the 1/8 final round. Europe proved again its
dominance in international basketball by sending six representatives into
the quarterfinals (the other two were Argentina and the USA). Defending world
champion and Olympic silver Spain—who had struggled during the tournament
without star power forward Pau Gasol (rested for the NBA season) and a poor
performance by other key players like Rudy Fernández, Ricky Rubio, Jorge Garbajosa
and Marc Gasol—was defeated by Serbia thanks to a distant buzzer beater by
Miloš Teodosić. Argentina, number one in the FIBA international ranking, was
also eliminated with relative ease by Lithuania, whereas USA and hosts Turkey
completed the semifinals chart. The American team, who was by now on a peak
of confidence after a perfect 7-0 record in the competition, made short work
of Lithuania and qualified for the final, where it was joined by Turkey, who
earned their ticket after an epic semifinal with Serbia, with a last-second
layup by point guard Kerem Tunçeri following a terrible defensive mismatch
in the Balkan team.
The
final was a rather unbalanced issue between the USA and hosts Turkey. The
Americans were always in control and profited from the sharpshooting of forward
Kevin Durant (chosen as tournament MVP). Although the local team—constantly
supported by a partisan crowd in Sinan Erdem Dome—held on during the first
quarter and even took a 14-17 advantage thanks to a zone defense, that was
as far as they went: the US team increased their defensive intensity and went
into halftime with the game under control, both physically (42-32) and emotionally
(with the feeling that a depleted Turkish team wouldn’t have the strength
to recover in the second half.
2014
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MADRID (SPAIN)
A very young and talented US team retained their 2010 title after a spectacular display of total basketball in Spain. Coach K’s men rolled over their opponents before making it to the final, where everyone thought they would meet arch-rivals Spain, but it was Serbia instead who contested them, after the hosts (unanimously considered as top favorites to win the title) were shockingly eliminated by France in the last-eight round. The United States, who had lost star guard Paul George due to a gruesome leg injury during a summer scrimmage, made short work of all their rivals thanks not only to their superior physicality (which showed especially during the third quarters) but an excellent defensive-offensive balance, for which Coach K is to be commended. The final against Serbia was a rather unbalanced issue, as the US team gave no option to the Balkans with another superior display.
Never before was a host nation of the World Championship as frustrated and disappointed as Spain at the end of the 2014 edition. The “ÑBA” had all the ingredients for success: a very talented team who had played together for many years and were at the peak of their careers, superior performance in recent international competitions, a general label as top favorites, a whole country backing and supporting them… With its strongest roster ever, as well as home-court advantage and the prospect of squaring off in the final with the youngest team of American pros since 1992, Spain had an undeniably healthy opportunity to finally avenge its narrow losses to Team USA in the Olympic finals of 2008 and 2012. But then the unthinkable happened: After an impeccable tournament, the hosts were suprisingly eliminated in the 1/4 finals by France (whom they had beaten by 24 points in the group stage), following a strange and completely unexpected subpar performance which belied all their previous work. Naturally, the worst scoring of Spain in 44 years (only 52 points!!!) raised many questions: why the team looked like they didn’t prepare well enough this game, why coach Juan Antonio Orenga didn’t find any tactical response to the French defense, why key players like the Gasol brothers had such a low performance in this game (Pau sustained an injury and Marc had lost sleep and training hours over the birth of his son in Barcelona), why the horrible three-point percentage in this game (only 9%!!!) and the rebounding difference (28-50), why the Spanish players had so little reaction capacity…? So, the much anticipated final between Spain and the United States, the two teams who had provided the best basketball moments in recent years, became a one-sided issue.
In addition to the American success and the Spanish failure, the 2014 World Championship was remarkable in other aspects: the points of José Juan Barea for Puerto Rico, the performance of the newly naturalized Andray Blatche for the Philippines, the rebounds of Hamed Haddadi for Iran, the assists of Petteri Koponen for Finland, the coming of age of European champions France without star guard Tony Parker and the revival of a young Serbian team led by the able hand of coach Saša Ðorđević. On the disappointing side, besides Spain, were the Brazilian center Nenê Hilário (the experienced NBA player was unrecognizable in Spain), the American guard Derrick Rose (light-years from his usual shape before the injuries that plagued him) and Argentina (the end of a glorious generation of players).
2019 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: BEIJING (CHINA)
Against all odds, Spain regained the world crown on their talismanic Far East soil. Without key figures such as Pau Gasol, Sergio Rodríguez, Serge Ibaka and José Manuel Calderón, and defying the expert predictions that selected Sergio Scariolo’s team as the greatest disappointment at the World Championship in China―far behind the unanimous favorites to win the trophy (Serbia and USA) and reach the final stages (Australia and France)―, Spain recovered from a shaky start to gain momentum as the competition progressed and finished the tournament on a peak, with an uncontested victory (95-75) over another underdog, Argentine. Quite oppositely, the two greatest disappointments at the end of the Chinese tournament were in fact the two top favorite teams, USA and Serbia, who failed to make it even to the semifinals. The twelve men selected by Gregg Popovich, in spite of the many last-minute withdrawals of NBA stars and their inexperience in international competitions, were still favored to retain their World Cup title, although one of the best Serbian teams in recent years was named as a heavy contestant.
Outside of sport proper, the 2019 World Championship at China was plagued by many problems and issues. As a result of the FIBA-Euroleague feud, the most experienced European referees, siding with Euroleague, were not selected by FIBA, and the tournament offered an unprecedentedly low technical level, with many controversial decisions (with and without instant review technology). As most games were decided on a great margin of points, the irregular referee calls (many of them decided after blowing the whistle without an actual call, then stopping the game for some minutes to check the replay and take a decision) and lack of unified criteria―not to mention the traditional mixture of FIBA-NBA rules and habits regarding body-check, travelling and other aspects of the game―were not a decisive factor. However, a gross mistake in the final seconds of the game France-Lithuania, which actually decided the game in favor of the former and eliminated the Baltic team, prompted the outraged complains of Lithuanian coach, Dainius Adomaitis, and the three referees in that game were sent packing by FIBA (when in fact many more should have followed the same fate).
Another major issue in the Chinese World Cup concerned communications and information. It’s difficult to understand how FIBA can grant the organization of a major international event to a country were free access to Internet is blocked and opinions are censured on a regular basis and in a random way. Many journalists travelling to China experienced first-hand the problems raised by this technological shortcomings (both in their hotels and in the arenas), and also the lack of coordination and communication between FIBA and the local Chinese authorities regarding travelling visas within the country (some journalists were detained by the police in headquarters, as they didn’t seem to have a valid entry visa in their cities coming from another Chinese territory, and were even prevented from reporting the games). Whether FIBA’s decision was based on promotion of basketball in China is also debatable, as most arenas were very poorly attended (with the only exception of games involving the Chinese and US teams) by a dispassionate crowd (and the tournament stewardess in the stands, looking bored or simply playing with their mobile during the games, didn’t help to cheer things up...).
As for the tournament proper, Serbia looked impressive in the preliminary group stage, USA had a shaky start and miraculously avoided defeat against Turkey, host China were eliminated after falling behind Poland and Venezuela, Spain progressed unconvincingly to the second round (were most people believed they would face certain elimination) and Turkey and Germany, with high hopes in the Chinese tournament, had early exits. In the second group stage―created in order to accomodate a whopping 32 participants in the World Championship, most of them not meeting the basic quality standards to participate in the final stage, as evidenced by the huge point differences in some games, becoming of another basketball age―, debutants Poland confirmed their coming of age by eliminating Russia, Spain solved a cagy game against Italy, then produced the biggest shock of the tournament by defeating heavy favorites Serbia on sheer defense, USA seemed to gain momentum for the final rounds and Australia confirmed their great shape.
In the quarterfinals, a shell-shocked Serbia (still under the effects of their unexpected defeat against Spain, which meant they would most likely face the US in the semifinals instead of the final, as expected) fell to Argentina, under the inspiration of lively point guard Facu Campazzo and veteran power forward Luis Scola. On the next day, the US team confirmed their bad vibes in the tournament and was defeated by a more experienced French team. The Americans, who had based their attacking production in the tournament on long-range shots, were forced this time to work their points on the paint, were the terrorizing long arms of Rudy Gobert conditioned every shot. Serbia and USA finally met, as expected by many analysts, but it was in the round for places 5-8 instead of the final, and the Americans continued their decline in the tournament with yet another defeat and the lowest classification of a US team in international competitions (7th). After an epic semifinal against Australia (forcing two overtimes after coming from behind in an impossible game, beliying the three-point shots and rebounds statistics), Spain qualified for the final on a peak, were they would meet Argentina, who produced another major shock by defeating a tired French team. The final at Beijing was dominated by the Spaniards from the start against the Argentines, who never had a chance to actually contest the game, and Sergio Scariolo’s men claimed their second world crown against all odds and criticisms. Ricky Rubio was awarded the MVP of the tournament, although the strength of the Spanish team was on their group spirit and their defensive attitude, not on individual players.
2023 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MANILA (PHILIPPINES)
Germany produced the biggest surprise in the history of the World Championship by claiming the gold medal (its first ever metal in the competition) by defeating Serbia 83-77 in the final at Manila, after a perfect tournament, with eight victories in as many games (including an impressive 113-111 thriller against the much-favored US Team in the semifinals). Much credit is deserved by Gordie Herbert’s men, the only team in the tournament who didn’t have a bad day. Rising stars like Dennis Schröder (MVP of the championship), the Wagner brothers (Franz and Moritz) and Andreas Obst, together with "veterans" like Johannes Voigtmann and Daniel Theis, proved to be the perfect combination in basketball of talent, height, physicallity and absence of egos.
Luka Dončić was one of the biggest disappointments in the tournament. The Slovenian all-round guard, who was received in Okinawa and Manila as an NBA superstar, failed to live up to expectations. Beyond his usual high scoring (27 points per game, just another day in the office for him), Luka couldn’t galvanize his teammates into a collective effort to take Slovenia higher than the seventh place.
Another major disappointment in the 2023 World Championship was the US Team, who impressed against minor rivals but failed once more to live up to expectations against tougher competitors. One thing is that traditionally the American basketball never took this FIBA competition seriously, and another is the clear evidence that, from now on, US Basketball will have to send its best NBA players if they want to dominate world basketball as they used to. Against more disciplined and tactical FIBA teams, the young American talents could only show good long-distance shooting, hard defense (only at spells), athleticism, pick-and-roll, fast breaks and showtime. Coach Steve Kerr tried to justify the three American defeats in the tournament (against Lithuania, Germany and Canada) by claiming that world basketball has progressed much since 1992, but it’s hard to swallow, and difficult to convince the American fans, that teams like Lithuania and Germany have better players (taken one by one) than the NBA superstars. The evidence in the tournament was that the US Team lacked much defensive discipline (113 and 127 points received from Germany and Canada, the worst American record ever!), a serious lack of technical study of their rivals’ game and movements, a B-plan for unexpected situations, good team work and sacrifice spirit when down in the score and, in general, game strategies and resources other than the simple 3-point shooting. However, Mr. Kerr failed to include these aspects in his justifications…
On the other hand, one of the most positive surprises of the tournament was Latvia, who reached an unexpected fifth place thanks to a fantastic team effort, with all players scoring and defending. In the absence of super star Kristaps Porziņģis (or precisely because of it) and with the wise direction of Italian coach Luca Banchi, the Latvian players made the small Baltic country proud. One of the most outstanding players was play guard Artūrs Žagars (incredible he didn’t succeed in Joventut!), who handled 17 assist and didn’t have a single turnover in the impressive 98-63 victory against Lithuania.
Unlike in previous editions of the tournament, current world champion Spain had a bright star, then failed to produce in the decisive games against Latvia and Canada and couldn’t qualify for the quarterfinals. After all, it was the logical outcome for Sergio Scariolo’s men, who showed very good attitude but not enough talent and resilience (their two defeats against Latvia and Canada were almost identical, allowing their rivals’ comeback in the last quarter after dominating by 11 and 12 points, respectively), and missed especially the work of an experienced and scoring play maker such as Ricky Rubio and Lorenzo Brown. If the 2022 success in the Eurobasket came in similar circumstances, much against the odds, in Manila Spain failed to produce another miracle and fell prey to its own limitations. Willy Hernangómez was not enough, and his brother Juancho was very irregular. With only one player in the starting line-up of his club (Joel Parra in Joventut)—and he only played a few minutes in the tournament—, Sergio Scariolo couldn’t produce another miracle for Spain this time. The only good news for La Familia were the good performance of young talents like Juan Núñez and Santi Aldama, who might join young prospects Aday Mara and Izan Almansa in the future in another flourishing generation of Spanish players.
Once more, the referees were the weakest aspect of a World Cup final stage, due to the absence of the best, most experienced Euroleague officials, “banned” by FIBA. The combination of continental referees (officiating mostly in minor leagues) brought about chaotic games, without a regular and standard criteria: the refereeing trio sometimes were very permissive with tough defenses and street rules (allowing all kind of blows and contacts on the brink of illegality), sometimes called for fouls for simple body checks and rising arms without the slightest contact. In the game Spain-Canada, the Spanish center Usman Garuba received a technical foul for an excessive amount of time hanging on the rim after a dunk, but on the next day a couple of Filipino players did exactly the same and no foul was called on them. Although the great majority of teams have just cause to complain about the referees of the World Championship, one of the most damaged teams was Spain, especially in those games with Latin American referees—in particular the Panamanian Julio César Anaya, who always took adverse decisions against Spain in doubtful situations, or even in very clear ones, like ignoring an intentional blow received by Santi Aldama in a rebound with a Canadian player. The only good think to come out of the 2023 World Championship refereeing was the introduction of a new instant replay technology, with live comments and reviews from the officials.
Although the Latvian manager, the Italian Luca Banchi, was selected as the best coach in the tournament, the real sensation (for unknown) was Canada’s Spanish coach Jordi Fernández, who lead the Road Warriors to their greatest success in the World Cup, with a first-ever bronze medal after defeating arch-rivals US in the consolation final. Fernández is to be commended for turning a very talented group of players (including the unavoidable NBA egos of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks) into a solid and disciplined group, both in attack and defense.
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