TUR – No clear favorites in Turkey

ISTANBUL (FIBA World Championship) - The last grains of sand are falling to the bottom of the hour glass.

The 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey is about to tip off.

Twenty-four teams have come from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Europe to compete for the biggest prize in international basketball.

Not only will the winners take home the gold medal, but they will also qualify for the London 2012 Olympics.

Several countries are deemed by most to be serious contenders for the throne in 2010, but the teams causing the biggest stir are the ones that battled it out in the 2008 Olympic final, Team USA and Spain, and this year's hosts Turkey.

“I think it’s going to be a very level tournament,” Brazil point guard Marcelo Huertas said, “especially between the European powers.

“The teams that are favorites are Spain, USA, Greece, Argentina and perhaps us.

“But there are many other good teams.”

Remembering how Spain's players celebrated on the court in Japan four years ago after demolishing Greece in the Final, and how that success has served as a launch pad for a magnificent run for ‘Los Chicos De Oro’ which included a gold at last year’s EuroBasket in Poland, the ramifications are indeed huge for the team that captures the world title in Istanbul on September 12.

The winners will fuel even more interest in the sport back home.

"Since 2004, we have progressed to the Quarter-Final stages (at major tournaments) year by year," said Spain Basketball Federation president Jose Luis Saez, whose country last year won the right to host the 2014 FIBA World Championship.

"We already have a certain experience in this sense, but it's clear that there are always dangers when you play a given game.

"We are all accustomed to playing against the best in order to be the best."

Some teams have big-name players missing this year.

For Spain, it is the MVP of 2006 - Pau Gasol - and Jose Manuel Calderon.

Both were starters four years ago.

Gasol took the difficult decision to rest this summer after winning a second straight NBA crown with the Los Angeles Lakers while Calderon picked up a leg injury days before the start of the tournament  in Turkey.

"We have two significant absentees in Calderon and Pau Gasol, but our team is capable of competing for everything," Saez said.

"We are not thinking of any changes in our aims, or of any excuses."

The United States are missing all of their 2008 Olympic heroes but that has only served to create even more excitement with the new generation of American players about to be unveiled to an international audience.

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, Oklahoma City superstar Kevin Durant and Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry are three of the newcomers in the American squad that figure to wear Team USA shirts for the foreseeable future.

Despite the lack of international experience, the USA has hit the ground running with victories in all of their friendly games, including wins over Spain and Greece in their own backyards.

Argentina go into the event as the number on side in the FIBA World Rankings and they look a real threat in Group A where they will go up against Serbia, Australia, Germany, African champions Angola and Jordan.

An ankle injury forced Andres Nocioni to pull out of the Argentina squad on Thursday and when he made the announcement, it reduced the veteran forward to tears.

Nocioni knows his country has a wonderful opportunity to go all the way with the outstanding Luis Scola, Pablo Prigioni, Carlos Delfino and veteran center Fabricio Oberto leading the charge.

Serbia have a very young team but one that has grown by leaps and bounds since their surprise silver-medal run at EuroBasket 2009.

Slovenia, Croatia and the Tiago Splitter-led Brazil are set to challenge in Team USA in Group B with Tunisia and Iran also looking to raise eyebrows.

Iran lost their captain Samad Nikkhah Bahrami to a foot injury only a few days before their opener but point guard Mehdi Kamrani will bring inspiration at point guard, and the Iranians also have the giant center Hamed Haddadi.

Anticipation is building in Ankara where Turkey fans believe they have a real chance of duplicating the feat that saw them reach the gold-medal game of EuroBasket 2001 in Istanbul.

One of the players in that team, Hedo Turkoglu, is a leader of this Turkish team and is surrounded by quality players at every position.

They will compete against Greece, Puerto Rico, Russia, Ivory Coast and a Yi Jianlian-led China.

In Group D, Spain are favorites but it remains to be seen which other teams will progress to the knockout stages with them.

Lebanon have been impressive this summer under new coach Tab Baldwin, but France, New Zealand, Lithuania and Canada are all in the reckoning.

FIBA