Seville: Hosts Spain and the rest of the field must believe they finally have a decent shot at knocking off the mighty United States as the 2014 Fiba Basketball World Cup tips off on Saturday.
The US were clearly the better team at the 2012 Olympics when LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and company knocked off Spain in the final in London.
But at the 2014 World Cup, Spain bring back almost their entire team and are dying to get some revenge against an undermanned US team.
None of that Olympic trio is back for the Americans, who have not lost in their runs to the titles at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and the 2010 World Championship.
James and Bryant were not expected to play in Spain but the Oklahoma City superstar Durant pulled out of the team just three weeks before the start, citing exhaustion.
In addition to Paul George — who like Durant was expected to start for the Americans in Spain until the Indiana Pacers star broke his leg — US coach Mike Krzyzewski also has seen stars like Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard all withdraw for a variety of reasons.
While Krzyzewski still has great players like Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, it’s a US team that is much weaker than past squads.
And Spain have a motivated group which includes brothers Pau and Marc Gasol as well as fellow NBA stalwarts Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon and Ricky Rubio, not to mention Euroleague stars Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Sergio Llull and an ageing but still dangerous Juan Carlos Navarro.
Because of the format of the tournament, Spain and the US cannot meet until the final — or the third place game — both of which will take place in Madrid.
The tournament runs from August 30 until September 14.
Spain are drawn into Group A in Granada which also includes 2013 European champions France, Serbia, Brazil, Iran and Egypt — with the teams playing each other in round robin fashion of five games in six days.
The top four teams in each of the four groups advance to the Round of 16.
In the knockout stages in Madrid, Group A’s teams will face the four top sides from Group B, which has Argentina, Croatia, Greece, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Senegal in Sevilla.
Barcelona will host the knockout stages for the teams in Groups C — United States, Dominican Republic, Finland, New Zealand, Turkey and Ukraine in Bilbao — and D — Angola, Australia, South Korea, Lithuania, Mexico and Slovenia in Gran Canaria.
None of the teams from Groups A and B can face nations from Groups C and D until the final or third place game.
In addition to the US and Spain, another contender as of earlier this week was Lithuania. But the 2013 European Championship runners-up saw leading point guard Mantas Kalnietis break his collarbone in the team’s final warm-up game, ruling him out of the full competition.
Among the other challengers will be France, who will be missing 2013 EuroBasket MVP Tony Parker; Croatia, who took fourth last summer in Europe; perennial European powers Greece and Serbia; South Americans Brazil and Argentina; as well as Australia.
The Philippines said Thursday their hopes of winning their first Asian Games basketball medal in 16 years have been put in doubt over the eligibility of their NBA star Andray Blatche.
Incheon Asian Games organisers on Monday demanded proof of citizenship for some of the 149-member Filipino contingent including US-born Blatche, and two other male basketball players, the Philippine Olympic Committee said.
“All these players are eligible as far as we are concerned,” committee spokesman Joey Romasanta said.
Losing Blatche, a 6-foot, 11-inch (2.11-metre) Brooklyn Nets centre, would be a blow for the local basketball federation, which had vowed to bring home the gold medal, Romasanta admitted.
The Philippines are bidding for their first podium finish in basketball since winning the bronze medal at the 1998 Bangkok Games.
Romasanta said it had become more “difficult” for the Filipinos to win a medal since the entry of Middle Eastern countries such as Iran in Asian Games as they field taller teams.
Blatche was granted Filipino citizenship under a special law that was signed and rushed through by President Benigno Aquino in June. He was specifically recruited and naturalised to boost the team, ahead of this year’s Fiba World Cup.
Blatche, who averaged 11.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game for the Nets in the past season, was also named on the Philippines’ 12-man roster for the September 19-October 4 Incheon Games.
Romasanta said the issue was over the interpretation of the Asian Games’ residency requirements for athletes, which was not an issue at the World Cup.
Incheon organisers also asked for documentation on Gabe Norwood and Jared Dillinger, who were also both born in the US and played for US collegiate teams before coming to the Philippines in 2008 to be drafted in the local professional league.
Romasanta said the Philippines did not expect the two to be disqualified, since both have Filipina mothers and under Philippine law and its constitution both can ask to obtain Filipino citizenship.
The Filipino basketball federation replied to the organisers ahead of Thursday’s deadline, but asked to be allowed to name replacements should any of the three be disqualified, he added.
Romasanta said disqualification for any of the three would also throw a shadow into the player rosters of other countries not only in basketball but also in other disciplines.
“Other teams would face a challenge as well,” he added, since the Philippines is not the only country to grant citizenship to foreigners in a bid improve their teams performance.
