By Dionysis Aravantinos / @AravantinosDA
BEIJING – After two weeks of extremely competitive basketball, and a lot of memorable moments, the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was finished with Spain capturing the gold medal. Many great players participated in the event, including 55 NBAers. Eurohoops presents the ten players who shined in the competition, starting from number ten.
#10: Donovan Mitchell / Team USA
Stats: 13.1 PPG (46.6 FG%), 5.0 APG, 4.3 RPG
Team’s position: 7th
Team USA’s run in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China ended quickly with a quarter-final loss to France in Dongguan. That loss was followed by yet another loss to Serbia in the 5-8 ranked games. Eventually, Gregg Popovich’s team was ranked seventh in the World Cup, after finishing the tournament with a win over Poland. Donovan Mitchell was Team USA’s best player, and leader on and off the court. The 23-year old guard was the team’s second-leading scorer with 13.1 points per game, while he also handed out 5.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
His best game even came against France in the quarter-finals, where he exploded for 29 points and six rebounds. Unfortunately for the Americans, none of his teammates helped him down the stretch, and eventually they got knocked out by Rudy Gobert and France. Finally, he ended his first World Cup appearance with a double-double (16 points / 10 assists) in USA’s final game vs. Poland.
#9: Tomas Satoransky / Czech Republic
Stats: 15.5 PPG (45.7 FG%), 8.5 APG, 5.6 RPG
Team’s position: 6th
The Chicago Bulls hit the lottery with the free agency signing of Tomas Satoransky. The leader of the Czech Republic national team had an amazing World Cup tournament, both individually and on a team level. The ‘Cinderella’ story of the FIBA World Cup belonged to the Czechs, and Satoransky was a big reason why. In their first-ever World Cup appearance, they were placed in the sixth position.
Satoransky, 27 even led the tournament in assists with 8.5 per game. Besides that, he was the team’s leading scorer with 15.5 points on 45.7% shooting from the field and added 5.6 rebounds. In two games, Satoransky flirted with the first-ever triple-double. Against Greece, in the second round he finished the game with 13 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds, while against Australia in the quarter-finals, he missed it by one rebound.
#8: Rudy Gobert / France
Stats: 10.1 PPG (62.8 %FG), 9.1 RPG, 1.8 APG
Team’s position: 3rd
Rudy Gobert’s FIBA World Cup had its ups and downs. Up until the semi-finals, Gobert was dominating all centers around the competition. Against the States in the quarter-finals, he was France’s best player with 21 points and 16 huge rebounds. In the semi-final, however, he was up against Luis Scola and Argentina. The Defensive Player of the Year managed to only score three points, while Scola exploded for 28.
Despite his bad performance in the semi-final, Gobert led the tournament in rebounds per game (9.1), while he also scored in double-digits (10.1) with very high shooting percentages (62.8% FG). Eventually, the tournament was a success for Gobert, as France captured back-to-back bronze medals.