🏀 FIBA World Cup Preview

This year's FIBA Basketball World Cup kicks off tomorrow, and features a balance of competition with multiple teams that can almost match USA's firepower. Keep an eye on Canada, Australia, France and Spain to challenge for Gold, as several of these programs enter new eras of international play 💪 (3 min read)

Author

Will Gendron
August 24, 2023

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images

Basketball Is Back

The doldrums of summer are about to be over with football on it’s way back, but this year we also have some international hoops to look forward to with the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup kicking off Friday morning. An Anthony Edwards led USA team wrapped up their exhibition games last Sunday and gave us moments like this 🐜

Since 2014, the US seems to have de-prioritized their FIBA rosters, sending young up-and-coming players into international play, while the biggest stars wait for Olympic play 😏

  • That was on display in 2019, when a Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell (who had only finished their second seasons) were the best players on Team USA

  • Spain wound up winning gold that year, with Argentina and France taking home silver and bronze. USA finished seventh, their lowest placement ever in a major international tournament

Even though this year’s team looks ready to compete for a top-three finish, and comes equipped with a talented enough roster to earn gold, there are a number of other good teams in the mix. Take a look for yourself 👇

Team USA is a decent favorite to bring home gold, but many of the top teams on the odds board feature multiple NBA players and outside of Canada, have the advantage of roster continuity. Take a look 💰

  • USA: -145

  • Canada: +850

  • France: +1000

  • Australia: +1000

  • Spain: +1200

  • Serbia: +1600

  • Germany: +1600

Right now is an ideal time to lay an early bet on a non-US team to go the distance, as I personally think the US is too big of a favorite. Canada at +900 looks particularly appealing, considering they seem to be in the same tier as USA roster wise. And we should never sleep on Spain’s player familiarity, even if they are entering a new era of international play 🇪🇸

The tournament kicks off tomorrow, and due to the thirteen hour time difference between the US and the Philippines, catching some of these games is not for the faint of heart. Here are some first round matchups to look out for 🍿

  • August 25th, 9:30AM EST: Canada vs France

  • August 26th, 8:40AM EST: USA vs New Zealand

  • August 27th, 4:30AM EST: Australia vs Germany

  • August 28th, 8:40AM EST: Greece vs USA

  • August 29th, 9:30AM EST: Canada vs Latvia

The biggest question…will this tournament be the beginning of Ant’s superstardom? That seems to be the main takeaway from the mainstream sports media, and with good reason. Erik Spoelstra certainly agrees 🗣

Trivia Question: The US won the FIBA cup in 1994, but then didn’t win again until what year?

Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

For My Parlay Gurus

Tomorrow morning we have eight games set to tip off, and the two I have my eye on are Australia vs. Finland and Canada vs. France. The Boomers are very experienced in international play, while Finland is making its first FIBA appearance since 2014. Plus, Canada is set up well with wing depth to counter a French team geared towards limiting opponents’ paint points. Peep what I’m going with 👇

  • Australia -10.5 vs. Finland: -104

  • Canada ML vs France: -104

$100 on this bet would win you $285 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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Trivia Answer: After beating Russia by a score of 137-91 back in 1994, the US would not field a FIBA Basketball World Cup winner until 2010, when Kevin Durant led them to a win over Turkey in the finals, dropping 28 points (full list of winners)

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