The 2023 FIBA World Cup begins on August 25th and will run through September 10th. It is the 19th edition of the men’s tournament, and is the second one to feature 32 teams. For the first time ever multiple countries are hosting: The Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.
There are 8 groups with 4 teams each. The tournament will serve as a large pat of the qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. 7 of the 11 Olympic berths will be determined (France automatically qualifies as the 12th team due to being the host country.). The top two teams each in the Americas and Europe, as well as the top team in each of Africa, Asia, and Oceania is the tournament will qualify for the 2024 Olympics. So with both Olympic qualifying and World Cup glory on the line, there is a lot at stake in the coming weeks in southeast Asia.
There were some surprises in the qualifiers, with 2019 silver medalist and world #4 Argentina missing out, as well as world #12 Czech Republic. A lot of the top teams in Africa, such as Nigeria, Tunisia, and Senegal, also missed out. However, four different countries will be making their FIBA World Cup debuts. World powerhouses France, Australia, the USA, and defending champion Spain will be looked at the most. But there is no clear-cut favorite. This tournament should be a lot of fun and should be filled with a lot of great basketball. Here is my 2023 FIBA World Cup Preview.
FIBA World Cup Preview & Predictions
Group A
Italy (10), Dominican Republic (23), Philippines (40), Angola (41)
The core of Italy’s team has been playing together for a long time. And they have been playing very well lately, having a 6-0 record in tune-up games at the time of writing. In the European qualifiers no other nation averaged more points scored or averaged more assists per game than the Italians. Simone Fontecchio was only able to play in three of those games, but was great in all three. Nico Mannion was their best regular player in the qualifiers, and point guard Marco Spissu also played really well. Nicolo Melli was the team’s second leading scorer and their leading rebounder in the qualifiers, and was also their most efficient player.
The Dominican Republic has a really underrated roster. The country surprised when they advanced in 2019, and this year’s team is better and deeper than that one. Karl-Anthony Towns will be playing for the team for the first time in a decade. There was so much excitement in the country when he announced his decision back in July. He adds to a squad that already did very well without him in the Americas qualifiers. Víctor Liz is a longtime team veteran and was their leading scorer in the qualifiers. Angel Delgado averaged more rebounds than any other player in the qualifiers. Lester Quiñones and L.J. Figueroa are also on the roster.
The Philippines is led by 2021 NBA Sixth Man Of The Year Jordan Clarkson. Due to the NBA season, he was only able to play in two of the qualifying games, but he dominated both of them. Justin Brownlee also only played in two of the qualifiers, but he dropped 41 points and 12 rebounds against Jordan. He has won championships in three different leagues around the world. Kai Sotto, a 7 foot 3 inch 21 year old, played well too in four qualifying games.
Carlos Morais has been the star for Angola for a while. But he is out as of right now. With that the team is going through a period of transition. They did do a solid job in the Africa qualifiers. Childe Dundao led the team in both points and assists, and was their second most efficient player. The Atlanta Hawks’ Bruno Fernando played very well in the qualifiers in limited action, and will be counted on as one of the team’s leaders in this tournament.
Prediction
Italy & the Dominican Republic move on.
Group B
Serbia (6), Puerto Rico (20), China (27), South Sudan (62)
Serbia is one of the best teams in the world. Even without Nikola Jokić, who is arguably the best player in the world right now, the team is still full of talent. Bogdan Bogdanović, Aleksej Pokuševski, Nikola Jović, and Filip Petrušev are the four NBA players on the team. They will be trying to bounce back after getting upset by Italy and not qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. It is worth noting though that even though they are one of the favorites, Serbia did struggle a bit in the European Qualifiers.
Tremont Waters has been a star for Puerto Rico since he began playing for their national team. The 2019 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and 2020 NBA G League Rookie of the Year. He averaged over 17 points per game across six games in the Americas qualifiers, including dropping 29 against world #13 Brazil. Unfortunately Jose Alvarado will not suit up for the team due to a delay in his recovery from a leg injury, which is a huge loss for the team.
China’s World Cup team this year is headlined by Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson. Zhou Qi was the 4th window MVP of the Asia qualifiers for this tournament, averaging the fifth most points and third most rebounds in the qualifiers (Enough for a double-double average.), and has won multiple awards playing in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The team will be looking to get back on track after a disappointing last four years. They hosted the 2019 World Cup yet didn’t make it out of the first round after two shocking upsets, then for the first time in the country’s history they did not qualify for the Olympics.
South Sudan is making their first ever FIBA World Cup appearance in their first ever try. It is the youngest country in the world. While the Bright Stars may look like a bit of a pushover on paper due to their low world ranking, they went a combined 17-1 in both rounds of the African qualifiers, better than any other nation. The team has some recognizable names, including Wenyen Gabriel and Carlik Jones (Last season’s G League MVP.). Reigning Basketball Africa League MVP Nuni Omot headlines the roster. Their general manager is former NBA All-Star Luol Deng and they are coached by Rockets assistant Royal Ivey.
Prediction
Serbia wins the group easily. South Sudan surprises and advances too.
Group C
United States (2), Greece (9), New Zealand (26), Jordan (33)
The United States ended up with one of the most favorable draws of any team in this year’s tournament after Giannis Antetokounmpo announced earlier this month that he will not be playing for Greece in the World Cup. It is a good thing are they are looking to rebound from their disappointing 7th place finish at the last World Cup in 2019, their worst ever finish in the event. Warriors coach Steve Kerr takes over for Gregg Popovich. The team is very young, and doesn’t have any of the top tiers players in the NBA, with Brandon Ingram and Jalen Brunson probably being the best players on the team. But it is still a good squad. They wen undefeated in their warm-up games, which included a win of world #1 Spain and a huge comeback against Germany in the final game.
Even with Giannis announcing that he won’t be playing due to his continued recovery from knee surgery, Greece still has a pretty good team. There is a reason they are currently the ninth-ranked team in the world. They still have his two talented brothers, older brother Thanasis and younger brother Kostas. Thomas Walkup starred in College at Stephen F. Austin, winning Southland Conference Player of the Year in back-to-back years. He has been great the last few years in the Greek Basket League (GBL). Georgios Papagiannis was the 13th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, and has been really good in the GBL.
New Zealand went 12-2 in the Asia qualifiers. They won bronze in the Asia Cup last year in just their second ever appearance in that tournament. The Tall Blacks look like they are going to be without longtime team member Corey Webster, as well as his brother Tai Webster. Tohi Smith-Milner will be relied upon to lead the team and to keep the momentum from their recent international tournament performances going into the World Cup.
Speaking of the bronze medal game from last year’s Asia Cup, Jordan was the team that lost in that game. Former NBA player Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is the most recognizable player on the team, but he’s also one of the team’s newest members. Two players to watch are Freddy Ibrahim (10.2 PPG & 7.3 APG in qualifiers) and Ahmad Al Dwairi (12.8 PPG & 9.8 APG in qualifiers). Jordanian star Dar Tucker will not be playing.
Prediction
The US & Greece advance.
Group D
Lithuania (8), Montenegro (18), Mexico (31), Egypt (55)
Lithuania is looking to bounce back from a tough time at EuroBasket 2022. Granted it’s not their fault they got stuck in an incredibly tough group and got an equally tough match-up in the Round Of 16 against Spain. The team compiled a 14-4 record at the European qualifiers. As always Jonas Valančiūnas will be manning the post and leading the team. Donatas Motiejūnas, a former first round pick, will be on the team. Another former NBA player Ignas Brazdeikis is on the team. They unfortunately will be without Domantas Sabonis, who is recovering from an injury. But this team is ranked #8 in the world for a reason.
Montenegro is led, as usual, by Nikola Vučević. The Chicago Bulls star will look to lead this team to success in their second World Cup since the restoration of their independence in 2006. Vladimir Mihailovic was the leading scorer among regulars in the qualifiers. Point guard Kendrick Perry averaged 13.8 points and 4 assists per game, both second among regulars. The team did a solid job at EuroBasket last year, suffering a close loss to eventual bronze medalist Germany in the Round Of 16.
Mexico is led by two players that were on the roster that made it to the Round Of 16 in the 2014 FIBA World Cup that took place in Spain. One of those players is Francisco “Pako” Cruz. He led the team in scoring in the Americas qualifiers with 17 points per game. He also was second on the team with 3.9 assists per game. The other one is Paul Stoll. He led the team in assists in the qualifiers, and was their most efficient player. This could be the last go round for the two backcourt-mates. They will not have NBA champion Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Egypt was another one of the surprises to come out of the Africa qualifiers. Assem Marei played very well for the team. His 12.6 points per game were second on the team. He led the team in rebounding and efficiency, and was third overall in both categories. Ehab Saleh led the team in scoring in the qualifiers with 14.5 points per game. Patrick Gardner is on the squad too. He was good in college at Marist, then played for the Miami Heat in the Summer League before signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Brooklyn Nets.
Prediction
Lithuania & Montenegro move on.
Group E – My Group Of Death
Australia (3), Germany (11), Finland (24), Japan (36)
Australia suffered a big loss recently as Jock Landale will not play in the World Cup due to an ankle injury. He sustained the injury during pregame warm-ups before the Boomers’ tune-up game against South Sudan. His absence leaves a big hole at the center position. But this team is still chock full of talent. National team veterans Patty Mills and Joe Ingles are still the leaders on this squad. There is a ton of hype around Josh Giddey‘s first appearance in a senior major tournament. Despite this being an extremely tough group, Australia is still the favorite to not only win the group but win the whole tournament. They killed pretty much everyone in the Asia qualifiers. The Aussies are coming off a gold at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup and bronze at the last Olympics.
Germany is coming off a bronze medal performance at EuroBasket. They dominated at the European qualifiers, going 15-2 overall, the best record of any country. The team is very well rounded. Led by Toronto Raptors point guard and captain of the German national team Dennis Schröder, the team looks ready for this tournament. He has been dominating in the lead up to this World Cup. The two brothers Moritz and Franz Wagner has both been playing really well. Daniel Theis is on the roster too and has also been playing really well. This team seems to be ranked a little low, and that’s probably due to their not-so-great performance in the Olympics two summers ago. But they are way better than their #11 ranking.
Finland is a very interesting team. They are led by Lauri Markkanen. Fresh off winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award and making his first All-Star team, as well as dominating in EuroBasket last year, The Finnisher has a real chance to lead this team to some upsets. College basketball fans will recognize two familiar names in Olivier Nkamhoua and Jacob Grandison. Both players will be making their world cup debuts. The team has improved a lot in the past two years, and gave eventual champion Spain a run for their money in the EuroBasket quarterfinals last year.
Japan has been up-and-down, both in the recent warm-up games and during the Asia qualifiers. The qualifiers were rocky, but they finished it off by annihilating Iran, which is the top ranked Asian team (Unless you count Australia.). In a recent exhibition, they did play well early against France. Keisei Tominaga led all scorers in that game with 20 points. Yuta Watanabe is the team’s headliner with Rui Hachimura choosing not to play. Watanabe recently suffered an ankle injury in an exhibition game against Angola, but their coach says that he will be fine.
Prediction
Australia wins the group. Germany beats out the other two to advance.
Group F
Slovenia (7), Venezuela (17), Georgia (32), Cape Verde (64)
Slovenia is of course led by one of the best players in the world in Luka Dončić. Even without Goran Dragić aka “The Dragon” running the point anymore, this well-balanced team is still one of the best in the world. His younger brother Zoran Dragić remains on the squad. Klemen Prepelič averaged 16.8 points per game in the European qualifiers. Mike Tobey was one of the team’s most efficient players as well as being one of their best rebounders. So many different players contribute for this team which is what makes them so good and is why they are one of the favorites in this World Cup . Slovenia took home the bronze medal at the last Olympics. They are looking to rebound from a disappointing finish at EuroBasket last year.
Venezuela got a tiebreaker over world #4 Argentina to qualify for this World Cup. Nestor Colmenares has been a staple for Venezuela for a long time. In the Americas qualifiers he was their third leading scorer and their leading rebounder. Michael Carrera was the other key player they had throughout the qualifiers. Garly Sojo is a rising star in Venezuela, who should be a big part of the future of this team.
Georgia (The country, not the US state.) qualified for this tournament on a tiebreaker with Iceland. They do have two NBA players on their squad in the forms of Goga Bitadze and Sandro Mamukelashvili. In the European qualifiers the team had the third, fourth, and seventh highest scorers. Those players were Tornike Shangelia (19.5 PPG), Thaddus McFadden (18.8 PPG), and Giorgi Shermadini (16.3 PPG). Shermadini and Shangelia were also the team’s two leading rebounders, and the former was the second most efficient player in the tournament.
For those that don’t know, Cape Verde is an archipelago 320-460 nautical miles west of Senegal. It consists of ten volcanic islands, and has a combined landmass of 4,033 square kilometers (1,557 square miles). It is the smallest country to ever qualify for the FIBA World Cup. The team is led by Walter “Edy” Tavares, who is one of the best players in Europe. The 7 foot 3 inch giant averaged 14.7 points (fourth most overall) and 11.7 rebounds (the most) in the qualifiers. The brothers Joel Almeida and Ivan Almeida are two important pieces of the team, with Ivan being one of their best players.
Prediction
Slovenia & Georgia advance.
Group G
Spain (1), Brazil (13), Iran (22), Ivory Coast (42)
Spain is ranked as the best team in the world right now. Even without Ricky Rubio, who is taking some time off from basketball to focus on his mental health, the team is still one of the favorites heading into the World Cup. They are the defending World Cup champions (Their second title.) and have won four of the last six EuroBasket titles. They went 13-3 in the European qualifiers, but have lost twice recently in their warm-up games. The team has a bunch of current and former NBA players on the roster. Usman Garuba, as well as the Hernangómez brothers Juancho and Willy (Who was the MVP of EuroBasket last year.) are on it. As always, legendary Spaniard Rudy Fernández leads the team in what could possibly be his final World Cup.
Brazil didn’t do as well as some thought they would in the Americas qualifiers, but it was still a good performance. As usual this team has multiple current and former NBA players. Bruno Caboclo was great in the qualifiers, averaging 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, as well as being the second most efficient player in the tournament. Former Chicago Bull Cristiano Felicio won silver with the national team last year year in the AmeriCup. They will have Raul Neto to run the point. Brazil will look to build off their silver medal performance in last year’s FIBA AmeriCup, coming just two points shy of beating world #4 Argentina.
Iran is the highest ranked team from Asia right now at #22 overall. However, they did not play very well in the Asia qualifiers. They barely qualified for the World Cup, finishing only one point better than Kazakhstan. There are some positives though. Behnam Yakhchali averaged 19.1 points per game in the qualifiers, which was the third most of any player. Mohammad Jamshidi, who averaged 16.2 PPG (which was the sixth most) in the qualifiers, was left off the team though.
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d’Ivoire, played well in the Africa qualifiers, winning both of their groups (including an undefeated performance in round one), and compiled a combined 14-2 record. Souleyman “Solo” Diabate was third in assists per game with 6.4 to go along with 8.6 points per game. Maxence Dadiet was top 15 in scoring, averaging 12.1 PPG. Patrick Tape, who played college ball at Columbia and San Fran with a brief stint at Duke in between, is on the roster too.
Prediction
Spain & Brazil advance easily.
Group H – The Other Group Of Death
France (5), Canada (15), Latvia (29), Lebanon (43)
France is one of the best, most talented squads in the world, as evidenced by their world #5 ranking. They won silver at last year’s EuroBasket and at the last Olympics, and won bronze at the last World Cup in 2019. Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, and Nicolas Batum leading a squad that is loaded with talent, with multiple current and former NBA players. They went 15-3 in the qualifiers, and that was without most of their top players. Les Bleus are coming off a silver medal performance at the Olympics two years ago, which was also in Japan. They only lost one of their seven tune-up games, and that was only a four point loss to Australia.
Canada’s team took a big hit recently when Jamal Murray announced that he will not be playing in the World Cup due to needing more rest after helping to lead his Denver Nuggets to a championship. The Canadians have been really impressive in their warm-ups. They notched a comeback win over Germany and then got a big upset win over the defending World Cup champions and world #1 Spain. RJ Barrett, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and company are 3-1 in those exhibition games and have a lot of momentum, even without Murray.
Latvia’s team also took a big hit recently when Kristaps Porziņģis announced that he will be sitting out of this year’s World Cup due to a lingering bout with plantar fasciitis. But they still have the “Latvian Laser” Dāvis Bertāns. Former NBA player Rodions Kurucs, who was once traded for James Harden, is also on the team. Rihards Lomažs averaged 15.6 points per game in the qualifiers, tenth most in the tournament, including scoring 33 points against world #6 Serbia.
Lebanon had a solid showing in the Asia qualifiers. They are coming off a second place finish in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup. It was an exceptional performance from The Cedars, getting to the title game before losing a close two point game to Australia, one of the best teams in the world. Wael Arakji is an 8-time Lebanese league champion. He won MVP in last year’s Asia cup after averaging more than 26 points per game, more than anyone else. Veteran center Ali Haidar played really well in the qualifiers, and will be one of the leaders of the team in the World Cup.
Prediction
France wins the group. Canada edges out Latvia to advance.
Gold Meal Winner Prediction
There is no clear-cut favorite in this tournament. However, I was all-in on Australia until now. But with the Boomers losing Jock Landale I have have been forced to reconsider things. I will give France the edge. Rudy Gobert aka “The Stifle Tower” wins tournament MVP. Les Bleus take home their first FIBA World Cup gold medal.
