By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
It has been nearly 13 years since Team USA lost a game in a major international tournament.
On September 1st, 2006, Greece handed the USA what was a 101 – 95 defeat in the World Cup semifinal. This devastating result for the then-favorite to win the tournament American team served as a lesson that led to spotless records and gold medals in the World Cup and Olympic tournaments that followed.
Team USA had been considered unbeatable without even stepping on the court. Not this year though.
For the first time in 13 years, the USA feels and looks vulnerable. The numerous absences (among them All-Stars such as Anthony Davis, James Harden, Damian Lillard, and CJ McCollum) have stolen USA from some of what would have been a mountain unmatched quality. And there are a couple of teams that are ready to take advantage of this and potentially defeat them in a knockout game.
Serbia
Following USA’s defeat to Australia in an exhibition game that took place in Melbourne, Serbia is the only team that marches to the World Cup with an undefeated streak in preparation matches. FIBA has already placed them at the top spot in two straight World Cup rankings twice, and they are widely considered to be the No. 1 threat that the USA faces en route to making the World Cup three-peat.
And why not? Despite the injury and expected absence of captain Milos Teodosic, Serbia is a squad that combines an abundance of quality, experience, talent, and knowledge of how to compete in this kind of tournaments. And win medals.
All-Star center Nikola Jokic, one of the most phenomenal basketball players of our age from any way you look at it, is back with the “Orlovi” for the first time since the 2006 Olympics. There’s NBAers Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nemanja Bjelica, Boban Marjanovic and newly acquired Memphis Grizzlies guard Marko Guduric. Vasilije Micic, who is coming from an All-EuroLeague Team breakout season, will carry out playmaking duties, together with Stefan Jovic.
Serbia should be one of the most dangerous shooting teams in the tournament. There are six players (Bogdanovic, Bjelica, Guduric, Micic, Jokic, and Marko Simonovic) in the squad who can shoot, let’s say, 5/5 3-pointers in any given night, and a couple of more (Jovic, Vladimir Lucic, Stefan Bircevic) able to punish an opposing defense when left wide open.
Recent history is not on Serbia’s side since USA prevailed easily in both the 2014 World Cup Final and the 2016 Olympic Games Final. Here’s another reason that Sasha Djordjevic’s players will want to stop this run and grab the opportunity to finish at the top this time.
Spain
The Spanish team had been more than competitive when facing even a star-laden USA squad in previous summer tournaments. If the two teams meet each other this year, we won’t see an “Avengers” kind of battle like the one of the 2008 Olympic Games Final but it will definitely be a fun thing to watch.
A combination of seasoned veterans, up-and-coming, next-generation leaders and players eager to prove themselves at the higher stage of a World Cup tournament, compiles the 12-man squad that head coach Sergio Scariolo picked. Pau Gasol won’t be there due to an injury (he would “kill” to play according to Scariolo) but his brother Marc, fresh out of winning his first NBA title, will be present to provide leadership on both ends.
Willy and Juancho Hernangomez, the unofficial “successors” of the Gasols, will have a prominent role with this Spanish team. The World Cup is their chance to shine not as complementary players but as protagonists. Ricky Rubio will serve as a playmaking beacon, while Rudy Fernandez shall provide a flair of experience and know-how from winning in international tournaments.
He and Marc are the only players in the 2019 World Cup roster who were also members of the 2006 championship squad.
Oh, and there’s also Sergio Llull.