2019 FIBA World Cup Thread

[JasonEvans]

Myles Turner turnover with 9 seconds left, USA down 1... Turkey headed to the line.

[JasonEvans]

Myles Turner turnover with 9 seconds left, USA down 1... Turkey headed to the line.

Wow... he missed them both, Tatum led the charge down court and Middleton got fouled. 2 seconds left, Middleton shotting FTs for the win.

[Billy Dat]

Wow... he missed them both, Tatum led the charge down court and Middleton got fouled. 2 seconds left, Middleton shotting FTs for the win.

Never say never!!!! This is crazy!!! I hope Tatum's injury isn't bad.

[Eternal Outlaw]

Turkey choked 4 straight free throws, really didn't look good on any

[Natty_B]

Wow... he missed them both, Tatum led the charge down court and Middleton got fouled. 2 seconds left, Middleton shotting FTs for the win.

According to twitter (I'm not paying ESPN for anymore than the 4 channels I already pay for) Turkey missed 4 free throws in the final 10 seconds.

[JasonEvans]

2 seconds left, Middleton shotting FTs for the win.

Middleton may have been shotting his pants but he made both. 2 seconds left, Turkey ball with the US leading by 1... and they miss. USA wins in OT 93-92.

-Jason "sorry about that somewhat foul mouthed post " Evans

[Billy Dat]

Usa! Usa! Usa!

[nmduke2001]

Tatum hurt on the last offensive play for the U.S. Turkey misses a desperation three and U.S. SURVIVES.

[richmclean]

Usa! Usa! Usa!

Whew. Not pretty. Survive and advance.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Survive and advance? Following the play by play online, it looked like a pretty clunky game by the USofA...

[ChillinDuke]

Totally insane.

Turkey's 4 missed free throws looked horrendous. Total case of the nerves. I guess those two guys aren't used to pressure like that?

- Chillin

[Billy Dat]

Turkey choked 4 straight free throws, really didn't look good on any

The kid Balbay who came in and made the huge steal that should have sealed the game took the first two and barely hit the rim. Turkey kept the ball because Harris committed an off ball foul which is an intentional. Osman, who killed us, then stepped up and gakked them both and Middleton came down and hit 2 to give us the lead. Ilyasova had a good look from 3 for the win but missed.

Turkey has a bunch of NBA players and know how to play the physical, ugly FIBA game. Good team.

[nmduke2001]

Saw the fourth quarter and OT. FIBA officiating is crazy. They let those guys beat the you know what out of each other. Tatum was fouled multiple times on drives to the basket without a whistle. However, intentional fouls are called for the smallest contact if a play for the ball is not clearly made.

Again, I only saw the fourth and OT but I don't know why Lopez wasn't playing more. Turkey was zoning the U.S. and daring anyone but Walker to shoot. Lopez was a three-point machine last year in the NBA. You'd think he would be a good zone buster.

[robed deity]

Am I right to assume the group E winner plays the F second place? If so, that's looking like the Fighting Giannis'. No walk in the park.

[Truth&Justise]

For those not watching, he made the first, missed the second, then made the 3rd. Not quite Doug Collins but not bad considering the circumstances.

He very nearly pulled a Darius Washington, but had the composure to hit the third. Wow.

This game was just bananas. How do you miss 4 straight free throws in the final 10 seconds of OT?

[Truth&Justise]

Am I right to assume the group E winner plays the F second place? If so, that's looking like the Fighting Giannis'. No walk in the park.

Not exactly. The top two teams from Group E and the top two teams in Group F will advance to play each other in a round robin format (called Group K). After each team has played each other once (but no replays against teams that have already played in this tournament), the top two teams advance to the knock out round.

USA is assured of a top-2 finish in Group E, so it will advance to Group K and play both the Group F winner (Brazil) and the Group F second place (the winner of the Greece-New Zealand match). Either Turkey or the Czech Republic will be the fourth team, and the USA will get credit for having already beaten that team. In other words, USA is already 1-0 in Group K. So USA basically needs to beat either Brazil OR Greece/New Zealand to advance to the knockout rounds.

[Billy Dat]

@WindhorstESPN
Official update on Jayson Tatum: sprained left ankle, will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Saw the fourth quarter and OT. FIBA officiating is crazy. They let those guys beat the you know what out of each other. Tatum was fouled multiple times on drives to the basket without a whistle. However, intentional fouls are called for the smallest contact if a play for the ball is not clearly made.

Might this have something to do with so many players dropping out of Team USA try outs?

[robed deity]

Not exactly. The top two teams from Group E and the top two teams in Group F will advance to play each other in a round robin format (called Group K). After each team has played each other once (but no replays against teams that have already played in this tournament), the top two teams advance to the knock out round.

USA is assured of a top-2 finish in Group E, so it will advance to Group K and play both the Group F winner (Brazil) and the Group F second place (the winner of the Greece-New Zealand match). Either Turkey or the Czech Republic will be the fourth team, and the USA will get credit for having already beaten that team. In other words, USA is already 1-0 in Group K. So USA basically needs to beat either Brazil OR Greece/New Zealand to advance to the knockout rounds.

Ah thanks. I searched and couldn't find the info. Weird format.

[Truth&Justise]

Ah thanks. I searched and couldn't find the info. Weird format.

Yeah, it's a bit strange. One consequence of this format is that Team USA's next game against Japan has zero impact on the tournament. We should win easily, but even if we don't, there are no consequences in the tournament.

Assuming we advance out of Group K (again, all we'd need is one win from our games against Brazil and Greece/New Zealand), we'll play a team from Group L in the quarterfinals. Group L is in turn made up of the top teams of Groups G & H. That is looking like it will be one of the following: France, Australia or Lithuania. At that point no more margin for error--it's a single-elimination tournament starting at the Elite 8. And I'm not fully confident we'll win that match (or the semis or finals if we get there).

FIBA's website is a bit of a mess, so I've just been using the wikipedia article for the tournament, which has been fairly good about keeping things updated.