If the last date of the 2023 Basketball World Cup came to give away some surprises, the start of the quarterfinals of the contest was compensated with a couple of obvious things. First it was Serbia’s win over Lithuania, who had every chance of being overconfident after their success over the USA, while then came the Dream Team’s own qualification against harmless Italy.
Serbia, the classic protagonist of the defining instances of FIBA basketball, then awaits in the semifinals for the winner of the attractive duel between Luka Doncic’s Slovenia (4-1 in groups) and a Canada full of NBA players (4-1), to be played This Wednesday from 9:30. For its part, the USA will be watching the game between Germany (5-0) and Latvia (4-1) at 5:45.
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The matches will be televised by TyC Sports and DSports, and can be seen by streaming through the FIBA pay channel (Courtside 1891).
Serbia, with mystique and extra motivation
This Tuesday’s action began with the resounding success of Serbia over Lithuania by 87-68. After an even start, the Balkans tightened their defense in the following quarters and defined the story before the last set. The development of the sets was like this: 24-25, 25-13, 24-17 and 14-13.
Lithuania had just given the note with a FIBA basketball exhibition against the United States at the end of the second phase and had an undefeated record of five wins and no losses but the ring was just closed in the “mata-mata”. Quite an irony since her win against the US sent her to play against Serbia instead of Italy, a much more accessible opponent on paper.
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He faced a notable rival, heir to the five-time world champion Yugoslav mystic (1970, 1978, 1990, 1998 and the controversial 2002) and who came with the harsh news of the loss of inmate Borisa Simanic, who received a tremendous elbow in a first round match against South Sudan, he had to undergo surgery twice and ended up losing a kidney. It seemed then that the team turned this into motivation to get past the Lithuanians, dedicating the success to Simanic.
The guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta Hawks) was again the Serbian leader with 21 points (he missed just four of 13 shots) and is having a great World Cup with averages of 18.8 points, 4.8 assists and 37.2% effectiveness in triples (16/43).
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This is the third time of the last four dates that Serbia has reached the semifinals (fourth in 2010 and runner-up in 2014) and this is without the giant Nikola Jokic, figure of the NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
The United States reacted with defense
The defeat against Lithuania triggered strong criticism of the performance of the United States, especially due to the dance they suffered in the first quarter (12-31) but the team led by Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors) showed no signs of weakness on Tuesday against Italy . It was 100 to 63 in favor of the Yankees, who at times showed off their defensive ability and scared them.
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The game was set by halftime – being generous – with the US leading 46-24 and that their top scorer in the tournament, Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) went into halftime with no points. The Dream Team proposed a full-court defense to the regret of the Italians who, despite that and the well-known weak American work in the pick and roll brand, ended up betting everything on the three-point shot. In the first half the long-distance scoresheet for the tanos was two hits in 19 attempts: so there is no economy to hold.
Without suspense, there was not much room for the “morbidity” that encouraged the preview with the presence of Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic), who had shown his commitment to Italy for several years and in the preview of the World Cup he chose to wear the jersey of the “Team USA”. The number one in the 2022 Draft almost went unnoticed (8 points in 8 attempts).
Offensive rebound and Reaves overturn: one of the plays of the game. (FIBA Press)
The scorer of the game was forward Mikal Bridges (Brookyln Nets) with 24 points, very well accompanied by point guard Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers) with 18 points and 5 assists and guard Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers) with 12 points and 3 pass goal. These last two came off the bench and, once again, exposed the weak first unit that Kerr arranged to take the field, especially with the promising insider Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), who finished with 2 points, 2 losses and 3 fouls and has been having a World Cup to forget.
2023-09-06 03:01:00
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