Germany crowned a movie tournament and, after eliminating the American Dream Team in the semis, surprised another giant like Serbia in the final of the 2023 Basketball World Cup to reach the top for the first time in its history.
It was 83 to 77 in this Sunday’s grand final played in Manila, Philippines, thanks to a defensive display in the second half and an intensity of play that was maintained throughout the entire match.
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The story was tied at 47 at halftime, after 20 minutes that responded to the law of stick by stick, as Osvaldo Príncipi would say. Serbia showed off its passing and screen game during that period, with star Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta Hawks) as an individual figure, with 15 points. Germany suffered on several occasions from the Balkan defensive doubles, with which they had just destroyed Canada in the semis, but they held on in the game thanks to the great effectiveness of their NBA stars, Dennis Schröder (Toronto Raptors) and Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic) .
But everything changed in the third quarter. Germany exhausted the Serbian energy bar with a tremendous defense and hitting at the right moments in attack. With a 12-point lead entering the final quarter, Serbia depended on a miracle. To make matters worse, Bagdanovic seemed completely off, not only not taking shots but almost not touching the ball. His coach, the historic Svetislav Pesic (74 years old; world champion with Serbia and Montenegro in Indianapolis 2022), had no choice but to take him out for the closing.
That’s when point guard Aleksa Avramovic (Partizan) disguised himself as a patriot with 14 points in the final quarter (21 in total). The left-hander managed to put Serbia within just three points, against all odds and an apparently nervous Germany, losing key balls. But while Avramovic was trying to be a hero, his compatriot Marko Guduric (Fenerbahce) had the bad luck to dress as a villain: he missed the tying triple, missed an incredible layup and threw a pass directly outside, all in a burst of unusual prominence in the last minute. Horror.
If Bogdanovic disappeared for the Serbians (two points in the second half), it was quite the opposite for the German figure, Schröder: 28 total points and defining history with free throws and a spectacular one-on-one goal against Avramovic. The point guard of Gambian descent scored in Germany’s last five and as it could not be otherwise, he was chosen as the Best Player of the Tournament, with averages of 17.9 points and 6.7 assists for the 29-year-old point guard, one of the many international stars almost ignored in the NBA.
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The Wagner brothers, Franz (19 points and awarded Player of the Match by none other than Luis Scola, FIBA ambassador) and Moritz (Orlando Magic) also excelled for Germany. Another key player tailor-made for FIBA was the giant Johanness Voigtmann: 2.11 meters tall with almost no athleticism but with an extraordinary ability to defend, rebound, shoot and pass when necessary. He finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Thus, Germany, led by Canadian Gordie Herbert, joins the list of world basketball champions, a list led by the United States and Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro (5), Soviet Union (3), Brazil and Spain (2), and Argentina (1).
United States, not even on the podium
The United States Dream Team earlier lost to Canada 127-118 in the third-place match and missed the world podium for the second consecutive edition, marking its worst streak in the history of the competition.
The Canadians took the bronze medal at the Mall of Asia in the city of Manila with a victory in overtime, after the score was tied at 111 at the end of the fourth quarter thanks to an incredible triple by Miykal Bridges (Brookyln Nets).
Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets), known for his rough and unloved player qualities, changed his usual nickname of “villain” for the “hero” with a spectacular performance: 39 points, 7 triples (on 8 attempts), 4 rebounds, 5 assists and two blocks.
Both the USA and Canada, with a majority of NBA figures on their squads, were the favorites to compete in the World Cup final but had to settle for being supporting actors. In any case, they got their tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Qualification for Paris 2024
The World Cup in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan was the great way to qualify for the Olympics and the four best in the tournament will be there: Germany, Serbia, Canada and the United States. They are joined by the best oceanic, Australia (finished 10th); the best African, South Sudan (17th); and the best Asian, Japan (19th).
As France is classified as host, the four remaining places will be defined in next year’s Pre-Olympics: four tournaments of six teams each with a ticket at stake. The majority of the World Cup winners (19) will be playing there, while the other five are the winners of the Pre-Olympic Qualifiers, such as the one recently played in Santiago del Estero, won by the Bahamas and leaving Argentina out.
2023-09-10 15:57:26
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