Jeff-Taylor-Column
31/08/2014
Jeff Taylor's Eurovision
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Twenty-four reasons to watch FIBA Basketball World Cup

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - The Philippines nearly pulled off a monumental upset on the opening day of the FIBA Basketball World Cup but lost in overtime to Croatia in Seville, 81-78.

I had tweeted not long before that game that Croatia could capture the bronze medal. That prediction doesn’t look so good right now.

There has been some doom and gloom around the Argentina camp this summer, with injuries keeping Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino out of the line-up. They nevertheless whipped Puerto Rico in their first game on Saturday, 98-75.

In Bilbao, where I'm watching Group C, Turkey overcame plenty of adversity and twice hit back from 12-point deficits to stun New Zealand, 76-73.

Remember 2006 when Turkey also needed a wild card to play in the FIBA World Championship? They went on a surprising run to the Quarter-Finals.

Maybe their win over the Tall Blacks will serve as a launchpad for a strong World Cup.

Even before this tournament, there were a lot of reasons that made me want to watch this tournament.

Here are 24 of them.
1. The United States, four times champions of this great event, are trying to win back-to-back world titles for the first time in their history. I wonder if they'll do it? Only Brazil (1959, 1963) and Yugoslavia (1998, 2002) have had successful title defenses.
2. Ukraine coach Mike Fratello has included a precocious 17-year-old talent, Kansas Jayhawks freshman Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, in his squad. Mykhailiuk didn't play in the opening day win over the Dominican Republic, but Fratello says he is definitely going to get some minutes. I can’t wait for that to happen.
3. U20 European Championship MVP Cedi Osman of Turkey is one of the many youngsters starting to emerge in the national team. He made his bow against the New Zealanders and it's going to be interesting to see how his role develops.
4. Why watch Spain? Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro are almost certain to be featuring in this tournament for the last time in their incredible careers.
5. Slovenia hero Jure Zdovc is back as coach. I rate him highly, although he needs to spend some time with his players on breaking the press because Australia very nearly used their full-court pressure to overhaul a big deficit late in the opener. Slovenia won their Group D meeting, 90-80.
6. It's always an adventure watching the enigmatic Milos Teodosic. The point guard of Serbia, who missed EuroBasket 2013 with an injury, led Serbia with 15 points in their 85-64 rout of Egypt.
7. You must want to see Senegal's new enforcer Gorgui Dieng. The Senegalese were blown out by Greece in their Group B opener in Seville but he had quite a debut with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
8. Puerto Rico coach Paco Olmos is trying to make the Boricuas play solid defense for 40 minutes a game. Well, that plan went out the window on Saturday night in their drubbing by Argentina. The Puerto Ricans let Argentina shooting 62 percent inside the arc and forced just 10 turnovers. Olmos must be feeling the pressure.
9. Andray Blatche is now the center for the Philippines national team and has made them a contender for a top-four finish in Group B. The NBA player had 28 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's loss to Croatia.
10. New Zealand will do the Haka before each and every contest. They did so against Turkey on Saturday and when the Turks walked to the bench during the pre-game war chant, the Tall Blacks players turned and followed them and didn't stop the Haka.
11. Gustavo Ayon has beaten the odds and battled back from shoulder surgery to make Mexico's squad.
12. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Remember that when you dismiss Lithuania's chances after their loss of point guard Mantas Kalnietis to a dislocated shoulder just days before the start of the tournament. They opened their tournament with a win over Mexico.
13. Moon Taejong (also known as Jarod Stevenson), 39, has gone from not being named in Korea's preliminary squad to vital component.
14. Iran, looking to put Asian basketball on the map in a big international competition, will attempt to beat Egypt and surprise France, Brazil or Serbia to advance to the Round of 16. They fell 90-60 in their opener to Spain.
15. Remember 2006? I want to see some more Greek drama.
16. Shot-swatter Rudy Gobert plays for France and I want to see him in action. He had a couple of blocks in France's narrow defeat to Brazil.
17. Finland's three-point shooting and passing is something to be admired. We didn't see much from them against the United States but better times are ahead in this tournament for them.
18. It's always fun to root for the underdog, which is what Egypt most assuredly are in Group A judging from their opening day hammering by Serbia.
19. Orlando Sanchez was a tremendous talent at St John's and he was electric against Ukraine on his debut. I want to see more dazzling reverse lay-ups and dunks from this exciting talent.
20. I want to see how Damjan Rudez plays.The Indiana Pacers signing needs to have a big tournament for the Croatians to do well. He missed all four of his three-pointers against the Philippines and played just 14 minutes.
21. It's always fun watching Marcelinho Huertas make important plays for Brazil.
22. It's going to be interesting to see if Australia can win big games without Pat Mills.
23. To see Luis Scola carry Argentina on his back again.
24. Angola's dunks.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor, a North Carolina native and UNC Chapel Hill graduate, has been a journalist since 1990. He started covering international basketball after moving to Europe in 1996. Jeff provides insight and opinion every week about players and teams on the old continent that are causing a buzz.