MIES (Switzerland) - The Naismith Trophy has been lifted, the medals presented, the champagne bottles emptied.

Germany, for the first time, are champions of the world. Gordie Herbert's team, led by tournament MVP Dennis Schroder, not only survived but thrived in First and Second Round groups of death at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and then edged Latvia, USA and Serbia to win the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

The 19th edition of FIBA's flagship event was among the most competitive ever, one that saw Serbia finish second and Canada third. The Canadians had a top-three finish for the first time in a World Cup or Olympics.

The AutoStats Data Report by Stats Perform is a good indicator of how the leading teams excelled.

Schroder a master-class with ball screens to fuel German scoring

 
Germany averaged 1.448 team points per possession on ball screens when Dennis Schroder was the ball handler, the highest rate in the tournament for players with 65+ on-ball screens. One of the revelations of the World Cup, Latvia's Arturs Zagars, was No. 2 while Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Serbia's Bogdan Bogdanovic were third and fourth, respectively.

Top 5 points per possession on ball screens (min 65 on-ball screens):

Player	Team Points/Possession
Dennis Schroder	1.448
Arturs Zagars	1.434
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	1.425
Bogdan Bogdanovic	1.358
Carlik Jones	1.329

 

Serbia, like a well-oiled machine, had the most efficient offense

The Germany v Serbia Final was a clash of two efficient offenses that play at very different paces. Serbia averaged 1.219 points per possession in the tournament (third best) and Germany averaged 1.218 (fourth best), but 12.8 percent of Serbia’s possessions came in transition (third highest) while Germany was only at 8.3 percent (27th).

Team	Team Points/Possession
Canada	1.273
Latvia	1.227
Serbia	1.219
Germany	1.218
United States	1.212
Lithuania	1.179
Australia	1.15
Slovenia	1.123
Spain	1.121
South Sudan	1.116
Finland	1.101
Puerto Rico	1.089
France	1.082
Brazil	1.081
Greece	1.07
Japan	1.061
Lebanon	1.053
Dominican Republic	1.052
New Zealand	1.047
Italy	1.043
Egypt	1.038
Mexico	1.019
Montenegro	1.015
China	0.992
Ivory Coast	0.974
Philippines	0.972
Angola	0.971
Georgia	0.967
Venezuela	0.962
Cape Verde	0.931
Jordan	0.906
Iran	0.881

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

 "Set me a ball screen, and I'll score"

Runners-up Serbia and Quarter-Finalists Italy relied heavily on Bogdan Bogdanovic and Simone Fontecchio, respectively, which is why the players often had off ball screens set for them. Bogdanovic, who averaged 19.1 points and 4.6 assists,  had 135 off ball screens set for him in the World Cup, by far the highest number in the tournament, while Fontecchio (above) had the second most set. Fontecchio averaged 18.0 points and 1.8 assists.

Off ball Screens set for player:

Player	Screens set
Bogdan Bogdanovic	135
Simone Fontecchio	84
Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi	83

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform 

USA passed on passing yet ranked No. 1 in scoring

 
Making the extra pass is supposed to lead to better shots. But when the USA are concerned, think again! Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves could pass, certainly, but they also have the ability to put the ball on the deck, drive and dunk, or hit pull-up jumpers on fast breaks. The USA averaged only 114.1 passes (including only front-court, non-out-of-bounds passes) per game, the lowest among all teams. Spain averaged a tournament-high 212.4 passes. Yet the USA had the highest-scoring team at the World Cup, averaging 104.5 points, while Spain were tied at No. 11 with New Zealand at 85.8 points per game.

	Average passes per game
Spain	212.4
Italy	202
Iran	186.8
Finland	172.6
Venezuela	167.4
Mexico	162
Dominican Republic	162
Latvia	161.3
Lebanon	155.8
Ivory Coast	155.6
Serbia	155
China	154
France	150.4
Angola	150.4
Greece	150
Lithuania	143.5
Brazil	143.4
Puerto Rico	141.4
Montenegro	141.2
Australia	140.2
New Zealand	136
Jordan	135
Slovenia	134.6
Georgia	134.6
Germany	134.3
Canada	128.5
Japan	125
Cape Verde	124.4
South Sudan	123.4
Egypt	121.8
Philippines	118.4
United States	114.1

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

When Dennis the Menace got downhill, Germany profited

 
Germany averaged 1.625 points per possession on Schroder drives in the tournament, the highest rate among players with 25+ drives. Bogdan Bogdanovic ranked second, at 1.575. Josh Giddey, the winner of the FIBA World Cup Rising Star award, was also prolific with his drives and Australia benefited, as seen below.

Team points per possession on drives:

Player	Team Points/Possession	Rank
Dennis Schroder	1.625	1
Bogdan Bogdanovic	1.575	2
Jean Montero	1.556	3
Carlik Jones	1.547	4
Josh Giddey	1.511	5
Anthony Edwards	1.261	17
Shai Gilgeous Alexander	1.258	21
Luka Doncic	1.247	23

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

Give Luka the ball and watch him go!

Only 49.3 percent of Luka Doncic's ball touches ended with a pass, the lowest percentage among players with 300+ touches. 63.6 percent of touches among all players in the tournament resulted in passes. Of Luka's passes, 29.7 percent resulted in shots, the highest rate in the tournament among players with 100+ passes

Bottom 5 percentage of touches ending with passes (min 300 ball touches):

	Touch ending with Pass %
Luka Doncic	49.30%
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	57.50%
Bogdan Bogdanovic	57.90%
Tremont Waters	59.00%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	59.60%

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

When the opponent knows you're shooting the rock

Opponents knew that leaving Luka Doncic open is never a good idea. That's why a whopping 92.5 percent of of his jumpers were contested at the World Cup - the highest rate at the event among players who attempted at least 20 jumpers. 

Top 10 percentage of jumpers contested (min 20 jumpers):

	Jumpers contested
Luka Doncic	92.50 percent
Carlik Jones	87.50 percent
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	85.10 percent
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	83.30 percent
Ehab Amin	82.00 percent
Shea Ili	81.50 percent
Dennis Schroder	80.00 percent
Jordan Clarkson	79.70 percent
Nikola Ivanovic	78.60 percent
Karl-Anthony Towns	78.40 percent

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

Shai makes 'em pay on the dribble handoff

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged .55 points per touch that originated from a dribble handoff, which was first among players who received at least 30 dribble handoffs. And he looked good doing it, too. Shai was poetry in motion.

Top 5 points per touch originated from dribble handoffs (min 30 dribble handoffs):

	Points/Touch
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	0.55
Luka Doncic	0.37
Thomas Walkup	0.36
Dennis Schroder	0.31
Marko Guduric	0.3

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

Profiting from the Iso

Germany averaged 1.77 points per possession on possessions with a Dennis Schroder iso, the highest rate in the tournament among players with 15+ isos. Individually Schroder averaged .83 points/iso, which ranked seventh. Karl Anthony-Towns (above) of the Dominican Republic was No. 1.

Top 10 player points per Iso (min 15 iso):

	Player Points/Iso	Rank
Karl-Anthony Towns	0.962	1
Bogdan Bogdanovic	0.917	2
Stefano Tonut	0.889	3
Wael Arakji	0.880	4
Jalen Brunson	0.870	5
Anthony Edwards	0.833	5
Dennis Schroder	0.829	6
Luka Doncic	0.701	18
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	0.521	23

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

Top 10 team points per player Iso (min 15 iso):

	Team Points/Possesion	Rank
Dennis Schroder	1.771	1
Austin Reaves	1.733	2
RJ Barrett	1.522	3
Bogdan Bogdanovic	1.5	4
Stefano Tonut	1.5	4
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	1.284	17
Anthony Edwards	1.25	20
Luka Doncic	1.127	25

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

USA guarded the perimeter

 
USA were criticized for not playing great defense after a few World Cup defeats. They gave up 110 points to Lithuania at the end of the Second Round, 113 points to Germany in the Semi-Final and 127 points to Canada in the Third-Place Game (which went to overtime). Yet the Americans were not just standing still with their hands in their pockets. They contested 64.5 percent of the jumpers they faced in the tournament, the highest rate at the World Cup. Serbia, who reached the Final, ranked 24th after contesting just 50.5 percent of the jumpers they faced. 

	Jumpers Contested
United States	64.5 percent
Lithuania	63.9 percent
Germany	62.1 percent
Dominican Republic	61.5 percent
Canada	60.7 percent
France	60.1 percent
Latvia	59.5 percent
Egypt	58.7 percent
Venezuela	58.6 percent
Finland	57.9 percent
Greece	56.4 percent
Australia	55.7 percent
Spain	55.3 percent
Georgia	54.8 percent
Puerto Rico	54.8 percent
Italy	54.5 percent
Brazil	54.2 percent
Montenegro	53.7 percent
New Zealand	52.9 percent
Philippines	52 percent
Mexico	51.9 percent
Angola	51.3 percent
Jordan	51.2 percent
Serbia	50.5 percent
China	49.5 percent
Iran	48.1 percent
Cape Verde	47.3 percent
Slovenia	47.2 percent
Ivory Coast	46.9 percent
Japan	45.8 percent
Lebanon	43.6 percent
South Sudan	38.5 percent

AutoStats data collected by Stats Perform

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