FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Power Rankings: Volume II, who has been impressive?

MIES (Switzerland) - The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 is approaching quickly and it's time for an update of our Power Rankings, in its second edition of the summer. You can read the first part here.

The Power Rankings are in no way an official ranking system but do represent the assessment from the author for each team of finishing high or low at the summit in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. The World Cup tips off on August 25.

This second volume of the Rankings should be considered as an overview with updated rosters and first preparation games behind us.

#32 Cote d'Ivoire (-5)

Number of World Cup appearances: 5th appearance
Best result: 13th in 1982 and 1986
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 42nd

The summer was off to a good start with wins over Portugal and the Czech Republic, but their defeat to Jordan showed worrying signs, which were only amplified in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they suffered a pair of tough defeats to BIH, by 18 and 28 points in a matter of days.

The physicality and size of BIH really bothered Cote d'Ivoire, and that's concerning because they will see a lot of physicality and size when they go up against Spain and Brazil in Jakarta. 

#31 Cape Verde (+1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 1st appearance
Best result: 1st appearance
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 64th

Good news? Ivan Almeida looked in fine form, getting to 20 points against both China and Turkey at the Trentino Cup in Italy. Bad news? It was only enough for a 20-point defeat against the Asian juggernauts, and a 90-63 loss to Turkey in the battle for third at the same tournament.

We are pretty confident that Edy Tavares will be ready when the real thing is going to start.

#30 Iran (+1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 4th appearance
Best result: 19th in 2010
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 22nd

It's impossible to give Iran a fair assessment of their strength or weakness since they've only played a single official game so far, losing to Lebanon by seven points.

We'll all be a bit smarter after this week, they've got games up against Montenegro, Georgia, and Jordan, before moving to China for their final tuneup. Maybe they get to the top 15 after next week, maybe they drop to 32 - but at least we'll finally get some answers.

#29 Lebanon (-3)

Number of World Cup appearances: 4th appearance
Best result: 16th in 2002
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 43rd

A huge boost arrived as Lebanon entered the August part of their training camp. Omari Spellman joined the team and will be ready to remind everybody of his Villanova championship-winning days that eventually got him NBA contracts with the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors.

He spent the last two seasons in Korea, averaging 20 points per game for Anyang, with a special 34-point performance in a victorious Game 7 of the Korean Basketball League to win the title. A lot of confidence in him, for sure.

#28 Angola (+1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 9th appearance
Best result: 9th in 2006
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 41st

They went 1-3 in their first four games, and it seems they will have a lot of issues on the offensive part of the floor, breaking the 70-point mark just once in those four, and in a defeat, too.

Hard to see them advancing to the Second Round if they stay in the 60s when they face Italy, Dominican Republic, and the hosts Philippines in Group A.

#27 Jordan (+1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 3rd appearance
Best result: 23rd in 2010
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 33rd

A total of 13 games in the preparation period for Jordan makes them the team with the most tuneup matchups ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. It seems that Ahmad Al Dwairi is enjoying himself as the focal point of Jordan's offense, he's a regular in the top performers part of our Preparation Games tracker, with a 22-point, 18-rebound outing against Mexico.

#26 Egypt (+4)

Number of World Cup appearances: 7th appearance
Best result: 5th in 1950
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 55th

It's going to be an all-around-the-world kind of experience for Egypt as they prepare for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. They started back home, then went to Slovenia and Italy before moving on to Dubai for the final part of their training camp.

There are some interesting names on that roster, with the experience of Assem Marei and Anas Mahmoud, the excitement of newcomers in Patrick Gardner - who has Egyptian roots from his mother's side of the family, and Karim Elgizawy, the U19 star of the nation.

All of that with Roy Rana calling the plays, Egypt could be a feel-good story...but that group with Lithuania, Montenegro, and Mexico looks tough. Really tough.

#25 South Sudan (-1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 1st appearance
Best result: 1st appearance
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 62nd

The biggest mystery of the pre-event coverage, South Sudan are yet to play a game. Hence, we can only keep them here, at 25, as a reference to their dominant Qualifiers' run.

However, they have revealed their roster for the upcoming main event and it is an exciting one. The stars of the Qualifiers like Nuni Omot and Kuany Kuany are there, but they will also be lining up players like Wenyen Gabriel, who comes in with experience playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, and Carlik Jones.

#24 Venezuela (-6)

Number of World Cup appearances: 5th appearance
Best result: 11th in 1990
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 17th

We shouldn't be worried about their 0-4 record in the tuneup games, right? We shouldn't be worried about the fact they haven't scored more than 67 in any of those four games, right?

We shouldn't be worried about them being up against Luka Doncic and Slovenia to start the FIBA Basketball World Cup, right? Right?? Right.

#23 Georgia (=)

Number of World Cup appearances: 1st appearance
Best result: 1st appearance
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 32nd

It's not looking good, considering the results for the rookies. But at the same time, you're looking at a team that can score 100+ against Lithuania, that can get 30+ from Tornike Shengelia on any given day.

We'll know more about their looks next week when they travel to Japan and take on Australia in their final preparation game - get to 100+ over there and we'll send you to Top 15 here, easily.

#22 Japan (-8)

Number of World Cup appearances: 6th appearance
Best result: 11th in 1967
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 36th

From #14 to #22, that's the effect of not being able to have one of your biggest stars. Without Rui Hachimura, Japan are still a team that demands respect, especially with Tom Hovasse at the helm, but there's a big difference between demanding respect and being a solid contender for the Quarter-Finals.  

#21 Montenegro (+4)

Number of World Cup appearances: 2nd appearance
Best result: 25th in 2019
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 18th

If you're Montenegro, do you look at the last-minute defeat to Slovenia as a "YAY! We scored 100 against them in Ljubljana!" or do you go "ahh, we allowed 104, Luka Doncic had a triple-double in the third quarter already" or is it somewhere in between?

Montenegro are big, tough, and will need a scoring option from the outside to help the twin towers of Nikola Vucevic and Bojan Dubljevic inside. Vladimir Mihailovic and Dino Radoncic could be those scorers, they combined for 47 against Slovenia.  

#20 Philippines (+2)

Number of World Cup appearances: 7th appearance
Best result: 3rd in 1954
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 40th

Three wins, one defeat in four games against Iran and Senegal, the hosts must be feeling alright ahead of the World Cup. Oh, yeah, and there's that thing of Jordan Clarkson arriving in Manila on Wednesday, getting a crowd of fans and media around him already, even before he suited up for the national team.

He already knows what to expect from the team, he played in the Qualifiers a year ago and made a whole lot of difference on the court. And off the court, too. He's a star, you know it!

#19 China (+2)

Number of World Cup appearances: 10th appearance
Best result: 8th in 1994
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 27th

There were some rock-solid games by China in Slovenia and Italy this summer, but the biggest hype wasn't about the games, it was about the names. Because Li Kaier scored his first points as a Chinese national team player. And he may be familiar to you when you see him on the floor, because it's none other than Kyle Anderson, an NBA veteran with over 600 games played there in the Regular Season and the Playoffs.

Anderson's got Chinese-Jamaican roots from his mother's side of the family and even met his distant family in Shenzhen back in 2018.

 

#18 Puerto Rico (+2)

Number of World Cup appearances: 15th appearance
Best result: 4th in 1990
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 20th

Okay, beating Dominican Republic at home was impressive, and losing to USA in Las Vegas was expected. But once the final stage of their camp begins, we'll have a clear picture of how good these guys really are, with games against European powerhouses Italy, Serbia, Lithuania, and Latvia coming up all over the world.

Let's wait for those to see if they get pushed to the top 10 or dropped outside of the top 20.

#17 New Zealand (-1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 7th appearance
Best result: 4th in 2002
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 26th

Let's focus on Finn Delany for a minute. The power forward is one of the best players on this team, and he's coming of a crazy season in which he won the Basketball Champions League with Telekom Baskets Bonn, and also played in the Finals of the German Bundesliga. He signed a two-year deal to come back home to the New Zealand Breakers, but we're focusing on him for non-basketball reasons.

Look at this. Finn's an artist, too! Give him a follow, send him a DM, maybe you can own a Delany masterpiece yourself.

 

#16 Latvia (+3)

Number of World Cup appearances: 1st appearance
Best result: 1st appearance
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 29th

So... in order to get to the Second Round, Latvia need to be better than two of these three: France, Canada, and Lebanon. Then, in order to get to the Quarter-Finals, Latvia need to be better than two teams advancing from their neighboring group, which means they also have to put Spain or Brazil or Cote d'Ivoire, or Iran behind them.

If they manage to pull it off and get to the QFs while eliminating France or Canada or Spain as three medal contenders, it would go down as one of the most impressive World Cup debuts of all time.  

#15 Mexico (+2)

Number of World Cup appearances: 6th appearance
Best result: 8th in 1967
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 31st

Hey now. These guys are getting to the summit in style, winning all but one of their tuneup games, sweeping Colombia and Argentina across five games in the Gira Nacional, dropping only their last game against Jordan.

Expect them to shoot and hit a lot of threes, Paul Stoll, Pako Cruz, Josh Ibarra, Gabriel Giron - all of them can hit multiple shots from deep.

#14 Greece (-5)

Number of World Cup appearances: 9th appearance
Best result: 2nd in 2006
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 9th

Sure, Thomas Walkup looks good for Greece, sure, they are still a tough-as-nails team, but it's going to be an uphill battle for them now that it's official. Giannis Antetokounmpo will not play in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. 

 

#13 Brazil (-3)

Number of World Cup appearances: 19th appearance
Best result: winners in 1959 and 1963
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 13th

This could be the year for them. Yago Santos and Bruno Caboclo had impressive seasons in Germany, winning the German Bundesliga with ratiopharm Ulm, Gui Santos, Didi Louzada and Felipe Dos Anjos bring a lot of youthful excitement to the mix, while guys like Marcelinho Huertas, Raul Neto, Leo Meindl and Cristiano Felicio provide all the experience needed to make Brazil a solid threat.

Why are you reading this generic info? Because Brazil just arrived in Australia and are yet to play a friendly game this summer, so we're still on paper, with no eye test. But hey, their IG profile looks crazy good, movie-like quality over there!

 

 

#12 Lithuania (+3)

Number of World Cup appearances: 6th appearance
Best result: 3rd in 2010
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 8th

Staying busy is an understatement when it comes to Lithuania. They've got a total of 11 tuneup games ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and judging by the first dozen, it's gonna be pedal to the metal from tip-off to the final buzzer for these guys. They love to push the tempo, they've scored 107, 93, 101, 100, 104 and 79 in those first six, with 79 being the lowest number - quick, scroll up, go check how many teams we had struggling to reach the 70s in these Power Rankings.

Then they lost a couple of games against France's strong defense.

The goal should be to get to the Second Round at 3-0 against Mexico, Montenegro, and Egypet, before a potential matchup with USA in the battle for the Quarter-Finals.

#11 Finland (=)

Number of World Cup appearances: 2nd appearance
Best result: 22nd in 2014
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 24th

A Finnish power forward scored at the buzzer to win the game and send the packed stands into a frenzy, but it wasn't Lauri Markkanen! It was Mikael Jantunen, another rock-solid performer on a European level for coach Lassi Tuovi, winning the game against Lithuania in front of a record crowd of over 13,000.

Finnish basketball is on the rise, they've got a challenging group with Australia, Japan and Germany waiting for them, but they aren't afraid one bit of anything that's going on there. That's because you can expect a few thousand of their fans to make the trip to the World Cup.

Also, Lauri Markkanen as an early bird top scorer of the World Cup candidate? Lauri Markkanen as an early bird top scorer of the World Cup candidate!

 

 

#10 Dominican Republic (+2)

Number of World Cup appearances: 4th appearance
Best result: 12th in 1978
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 23rd

Don't look now, but with Karl-Anthony Towns in, and their formidable core which eliminated a full-strength 2019 runners-up Argentina in the Qualifiers, this Dominican Republic could be the feel-good story of the World Cup.

They will love their chances going up against Italy, Philippines, and Angola, trying to sneak into the Second Round as they did back in 2019, and if it happens, they will fancy their chances against Group B teams Serbia, South Sudan, China, and Puerto Rico. That's right. KAT is coming!

 

#9 Serbia (-1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 7th appearance
Best result: winners in 1998, 2002 (as FR Yugoslavia)
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 6th

Nikola Jokic is not available this summer, and any other team would go from top 10 to bottom 10 without the best player in the game right now, but not Serbia. Because they still have a certain Bogdan Bogdanovic ready to take over, as he did in his first game back, with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in a win over Greece, in Greece.

Nikola Milutinov is also in there, Marko Guduric can torch anybody with 20+, and they've got a lot of depth, with a lot of guys looking forward to a bigger role in Jokic's and Vasilije Micic's absence this summer. To say they are group favorites is an understatement, but they will keep the memory of 2019 and 2022 in the back of their heads, where their good group stage performances did not translate to good basketball in the do-or-die games. 

#8 Italy (+5)

Number of World Cup appearances: 10th appearance
Best result: 4th in 1970 and 1978
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 10th

Let's not talk about the fullcourt three-pointer they allowed against Turkey, but focus on the fact that Italy won back-to-back games at the Trentino Cup to win the event and get their prodigy Matteo Spagnolo the MVP award in the process.

If they get through their group, we could be in for another Italy v Serbia matchup in the Second Round, and if that happens, Italy are suddenly becoming a Top 8 team here, because you know they love nothing more than upsetting Serbia in a do-or-die game - they beat them once again at the Acropolis Cup in Greece, once again in a nail-biting game, so this is becoming a habit now for the Azzurri.

#7 Canada (-1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 15th appearance
Best result: 6th in 1978 and 1982
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 15th

Best Canadian team ever? Looks that way! Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and RJ Barrett are set to lead this loaded roster, which also has names such as Dillon Brooks and Luguentz Dort for defensive purposes, Dwight Powell to play above the rim, which is also what the 2.24m (7'4'') tall Zach Edey does.

Jamal Murray with Canada in 2015

Need experience? Fine, take Kelly Olynyk. Need international experience? Here, take Kevin Pangos, Melvin Ejim and the Scrubb brothers. Looks like there's no weak link for Canada this time around - and expect them a bit higher once Murray joins the tuneup games.

#6 Spain (-4)

Number of World Cup appearances: 13th appearance
Best result: winners in 2006 and 2019
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 1st

The only reason for the drop in the Power Rankings is the fact that the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 MVP is no longer with the team. But hey, who cares about some Power Rankings in a moment like this!? Ricky Rubio has put his career on hold to focus on mental health, and we wish him all the best, all the time, because he is truly one of the greatest players in any kind of FIBA competition, ever.

Google him, Ricky is a beast who put up 38 points on Kevin Durant and USA at the Olympics just two summers ago, Ricky is a beast who has been on this elite level since he was 13. Take your time, we'll welcome you back with open arms, MVP!

And by the way, even without him, Spain beat Slovenia at home on August 11th. So this ranking might just be too low for the best team in the FIBA World Ranking.

#5 Germany (+2)

Number of World Cup appearances: 7th appearance
Best result: 3rd in 2002
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 11th

The only reason why they aren't higher in the Top 5 team is the fact that there are some question marks surrounding Dennis Schroder and his Achilles tendon. He remains confident that he'll get to Okinawa at 100 percent, but it's becoming a nagging problem that's been there all summer long.

Even if he's not at 100 percent basketball-wise, coach Gordon Herbert knows Dennis' off-court presence is at 200 percent, that's how much the point guard means to this team. Looking good, feeling good, podium hunt could be an option with a healthy Schroder. They made a statement beating Canada in Germany on August 9th, 86-81.

#4 Slovenia (+1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 4th appearance
Best result: 7th in 2014
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 7th

Luka Doncic had a triple-double against Greece, then scored 18 points in just 13 minutes against Greece again, and followed it up with a 34-point triple-double against Montenegro.

Those were his first three games as team captain for Slovenia. This is our way of saying we should be prepared with the record books at the FIBA Basketball World Cup because Luka certainly is on pace to break a few of those.  

#3 Australia (+1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 13th appearance
Best result: 4th in 2019
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 3rd

Speaking of no weak links, take a look at Australia! The Boomers are led by Patty Mills once again, with Joe Ingles right next to him, it's hard to imagine an Australian team without those two. There's a lot of hype around the youngsters, Josh Giddey especially, while Dante Exum arrives with a whole lot of confidence after a memorable club season with Partizan in Belgrade.

 

Jock Landale is still battling an ankle injury, but should be good to go as the World Cup tips off. Think of it this way - Australia is so loaded, Matthew Dellavedova, three-time Olympian, two-time World Cup representative, and Qualifiers campaign captain, did not make the cut to 13!

#2 France (+1)

Number of World Cup appearances: 9th appearance
Best result: 3rd in 2014 and 2019
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 5th

Yeah, yeah, we saw it, Rudy Gobert is shooting threes now, but that's just a good distraction move by the French team. We see through it. You want the world to focus on Splash Brother Rudy, so nobody notices how mighty of a team you really are!

 

One thing to keep in mind - Evan Fournier is playing with even more motivation than ever before, ready to cement his place among the all-time greats in FIBA events. He's already got silver and bronze from FIBA EuroBasket, two bronze medals from FIBA Basketball World Cup, and an Olympic silver medal. You know what's missing in that collection? That's right, the brightest one. He's gonna get there, sooner or later.

#1 USA  (=)

Number of World Cup appearances: 19th appearance
Best result: winners in 1954, 1986, 1994, 2010, and 2014
FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE: 2nd

If the first game against Puerto Rico is anything to go by, we're in for a fun summer with this USA squad. Steve Kerr is letting Jalen Brunson run the show and the New York Knicks guard has already shown leadership skills in FIBA basketball - he was the U19 World Cup MVP back in 2015. He's 26 now, one of the more experienced guys on the roster, and the entire team looked impressive in their first game together.

Bigger tests are coming from August 12 to 20, as they face Slovenia, Spain, Greece and Germany before the trip to the Philippines. Stay tuned to see if they protect the #1 spot here...or bounce back to be #1 when it matters most, on September 10.

 

*The power rankings are entirely subjective and are in no way a true and accurate ranking system. All comments are purely those of the author.

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