Tag: FIBA World Cup

FIBANews: Rui Hachimura to sit out FIBA World Cup

Staff

Another huge blow for the 2023 FIBA World Cup with Japan’s star Rui Hachimura bowing out of the tournament By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net Focusing on free agency, Rui Hachimura will not play for Japan in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. His home country serving among the hosts delivers an additional blow. “I have made the decision to withdraw from this year’s FIBA World Cup,” said the leading star of the Japan national team via the Japan Basketball Association, “It was a very difficult decision, but after the last season stretching into the Playoffs,…

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FIBA World Cup: Greece’s Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Antetokounmpo to undergo MRIs

Brandon King

In their match up with Serbia, guard Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Antetokounmpo both reported feeling knee discomfort. Although Sloukas was able to remain in the game, Antetokounmpo was not able to continue, having Te exit the game in the first half. Upon the team’s return to Athens from Belgrade, both players will undergo an MRI. Next up for Greece is a Sunday matchup in Athens against Belgium in more World Cup Qualifiers action. The status of Sloukas and Antetokoumpo are both unknown, as is also the case for forward Ioannis…

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FIBA World Cup: Serbia gets by Greece 100-94 in battle of MVPs

Brandon King

Serbia and Greece was a highly-anticipated matchup that featured teams led by the only two winners of the NBA MVP award over the past four years, in Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and neither the current or the former MVPs disappointed and it was the Serbs who managed to claim victory, 100-94 in over time in front of a record crowd of 19,150. In his first official game with his national team since 2019 Giannis did not disappoint, turning in a monster performance I registering an international career-high of 40…

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FIBA World Cup: Markkanen’s 28 leads Finland past Israel

Brandon King

Finland got their second round shouted off on the right foot with a hard-fought 79-73 victory over Israel. Lauri Markkanen was big again, scoring 28 points, but the five he scored in the game’s final two minutes were critical to Finland securing the victory. A pair of free throws and a three-point play extended the Finnish lead from 73-71 to 77-73 with sixty-six seconds remaining in the contest. In losing effects, Roman Sorkin scored 14 and grabbed 8 rebounds, Nimrod Levi put in 13, and Yam Madar chipped in 11.…

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FIBA World Cup: Slovenia beats Estonia, 104-83

Brandon King

It was a night of easy work for the Slovenian national team as they cleaned up Estonia 104-83. In the first ten minutes of the game, Luka Dončić put a game’s worth of production for some players, racking up 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Dončić finished with a near triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Goran Dragić turned in another strong performance with 19 points and Vlatko Cancar added 14 points. In a losing effort, Kerr Kriisa paced Estonia with 14 points. The win lifted…

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FIBA World Cup News: France blows out Czech Republic, 95-60

Brandon King

France tipped off their second stage of 2023 World Cup Qualifiers in resounding fashion by laying a 95-60 smack down on the Czech Republic. Despite being without Tomas Satoransky, Jaromir Bohacik and Vit Krejci, the Czech Republic carried a 42-38 lead into the half, but the French defense choked out the Czech offense in the second half, only allowing 18 points. The Czech Republic were outscored 60-20 in the painted area and shot a frigid 35.5% from the field. The second half was delayed due to an issue with one…

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FIBA World Cup News: Giannis in, Papagiannis and Papapetrou out for Serbia game

Brandon King

The Hellenic Basketball Federation announced their 12-man roster for their 2023 European World Cup Qualifier matchup against Serbia in Belgrade. One of those names listed that should be pleasing to Greek fans, and to a lesser extent Milwaukee Bucks fans, is Giannis Antetokounmpo. Back and knee soreness had limited Antetokounmpo to just two of Greece’s pre-competition friendly matchups, albeit he did show up big in those pair of games, averaging 27.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per contest. However the squad will be without Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Giannis…

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FIBA news: Italian team cuts Amedeo Della Valle

Brandon King

The Italian national team journey for Amedeo Della Valle has ended, as the 29-year-old, 6’4” (193 cm) guard was cut from the squad. Della Valle’s cutting trimmed the roster down to 13, with one-more to come to conform the roster to FIBA regulations. Italian national team coach Gianmarco Pozzecco said this of the latest roster trimming: It’s another difficult choice and that makes me suffer. I thank Amedeo, who is not inferior to anyone as demonstrated by the exceptional season he had this year. In the national team, however, it…

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FIBA World Cup News: Dennis Schröder not going to Sweden for Qualifiers

Brandon King

The German basketball federation announced that team captain Dennis Schröder is undergoing treatment in the nation and will not make the trip to Sweden for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. Schröder, 28, injured his ankle against the Czech Republic in the Hamburg Super Cup Tournament and missed the final against Serbia. It is still up in the air whether Schröder will be available for the second game of the Qualifiers, a home game against Slovenia and Luka Dončić. Schröder is the latest injury to the M.A.S.H. unit that has become…

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FIBA News: Poland gets second exhibition win

Brandon King

Poland closed out its pre-competition exhibitions with a 87-76 win over Georgia. Michal Michalak led Poland, knocking down 6 from downtown en route to a team-high 22 points. Poland will compete in Group D of the 2022 Eurobasket in Prague, along with host nation the Czech Republic, Serbia, Israel, Finland and the Netherlands, all with the goal of securing a berth in the the elimination round in Berlin. Poland will jump into Group E play for Eurbasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers with a home matchup against Croatia and a road game versus…

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