Gobert's shot, quote steal the show in action-packed first week of August tuneup games

MIES (Switzerland) - We're a few days into August meaning that we're now officially in the month of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023!

As it’s nearly 20 days to go before the start of the main event in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia, participating teams are accelerating their preparations. The past week has been filled with action from around the world - and it will only get more exciting through the weekend.

 

In case you missed anything, here's a recap.

Quote of the Week

France tipped off their "Summer Tour" on July 31 with a resounding win over Tunisia. They followed that up with another victory over a Nikola Vucevic-led Montenegro in Montpellier on August 2.

While those are two impressive victories for Les Bleus, fans are more likely to talk about Rudy Gobert's highlight of sinking a three-pointer in the second quarter against Montenegro.

 
France's star center had been teasing this new aspect of his game, knocking down four straight three-balls in a shoot-around session.

This still caught many off guard and understandably so. The 31-year-old only has 14 three-point attempts in his NBA career, with no makes.

Gobert had also never attempted a three-pointer in a FIBA competition until EuroBasket 2022, where he missed three in total. One of those attempts was a full-court, one-handed heave before the half-time buzzer, and another was a last-second runner just past half-court. Only one of those attempts was in half-court action, coincidentally just a few inches away from where he ended up making it in the highlight play.

What made the shot more memorable was Gobert's post-game comment.

"Tonight I feel like I've lost my virginity,” he said in French, as reported by Federation Francaise De Basketball.

 

Walkup's Greece debut spoils Luka's return

Another featured exhibition game during the week was between Slovenia and Greece, also on August 2.

The game marked the return of Luka Doncic in a Slovenia national team jersey for the first time since EuroBasket 2022 and was situated at Stozice Hall in Ljubljana. Doncic had a triple-double. He finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists, and a highlight play that went viral.

However, Thomas Walkup ended up stealing the show - and the game - for the visitors.

The Greek national team debutant scored seven straight points in the last three minutes and had 15 overall to lead Greece to victory.

 

Lithuania remain undefeated

All teams heading to the World Cup have exciting preparation plans, but Lithuania's schedule is among one of the most intense. There are 11 tuneup games for coach Kazys Maksvytis to utilize in preparing his team.

So far, Lithuania have won five of those games with the latest on August 1 a nail-biter against Georgia.

The visiting team and World Cup debutants Georgia trailed for most of the entire game, but made it a tight contest down the stretch with 37 points in the final quarter. Lithuania only won after Tomas Dimsa tapped in a miss by Ignas Bradzdeikis just as time ran out.

Star big man Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points (eight of 11 shooting), eight rebounds and six assists, which was enough to offset a 30-point performance from Tornike Shengelia.

World Cup co-hosts win in warmups

The Philippines and Japan also collected early August wins.

While Gilas will be enjoying the comfort of their home for this World Cup, they’ve spent most of their preparation time away. In the past month, the Philippines toured and trained through Europe and are now participating in the WUS International Basketball Tournament in Heyuan, China. Their first game on August 3 came against an Iran select team, which they will be playing twice in the competition.

With 11 points from Jaime Malonzo and nine points and nine rebounds from AJ Edu, the Philippines won, 76-65.

Japan, meanwhile, have stayed a bit closer to home for their preparations and won the first of two games against New Zealand, 79-72, in Ota. This was the fourth win in five games for Akatsuki Japan, who played against Chinese Taipei and Korea in July.

Young floor general Yuki Kawamura continues to impress for Japan. He had seven points, five rebounds and seven assists in the win over the Tall Blacks. The B. League MVP will be an exciting player to watch for Japan in his World Cup debut later this month.

Other notable action:

Mexico wrapped up “Gira Nacional” schedule undefeated.
Jordan went through Lithuania, Portugal before heading home for the King’s Cup.
China put up fight against Slovenia and beat Egypt.
Venezuela started their Spanish Tour in competitive tuneup games.

Upcoming

The first weekend of August (all the way through to Monday) will be filled with tuneup game action.

One of the main highlights is the Trentino Cup in Trento, Italy which includes games between Italy, China, Cape Verde, and Turkey from August 4-5.

A potential star-studded clash between Lauri Markkanen and Jonas Valanciunas is also in the mix, when Finland host Lithuania in Tampere.

Meanwhile, Latvia and Georgia will cross paths in Riga on August 5, where Kristaps Porzingis can potentially make his first national team appearance of the summer against the likes of Sandro Mamukelashvili.

USA, who recently tipped off their training camp, will play their first exhibition game on August 7 against Puerto Rico in Las Vegas.

Fans can catch the games of these events listed above on Courtside 1891 with the Max Pass or World Cup Bundle (subject to geographical restrictions).

Make sure to stay updated on all of the preparation plans for all teams with this handy tracker.

 
FIBA