Fresh in almost everyone’s memory is 11 July 2010, when Spain’s national soccer (football) team won the FIFA 2010 World Cup, played in South Africa.
Spain - World Champions 2010 (soccer)
Perhaps not as easily or quickly remembered is 3 September 2006 when Spain’s national basketball team won the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Championships in Japan.
What does the NBA have in common with soccer’s FIFA World Cup taking place this year in South Africa?
Your guess is as good as ours, but SLAMOnline has ventured to find the link between the two – “South Africa is certainly gonna be “where amazing happens”“.
In their article, “Cup Comparisons”, they compare the NBA teams to the different countries taking part in the World Cup, noting the favourites for the tournament to be Brazil, Spain, England, Italy and Germany.
In some very bizarre conference semi-finals series, three of four series have been swept by their respective winners. The only teams holding out, the Celtics and the Cavaliers, are looking to make up for it by setting up a monstrously exciting battle. The Celtics will be looking to take the series heading into game 6 on their home court, so could this be the year that LeBron has had enough of losing? It will need a Jordan-esque effort to ensure that the Cavs aren’t just spectators for the rest of the 2010 Playoffs.
The series’ as they currently stand, courtesy of nba.com:
Western Conference (conference final matchup: Suns vs Lakers)
Regal FC Barcelona is the 2010 Euroleague champion!
2010 Euroleague Champions - Regal FC Barcelona
Barca downed Olympiacos 86-68 in the final before a packed house at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in the French capital to win its second Euroleague crown.
Juan Carlos Navarro, the only remaining player from Barcelona’s 2003 Euroleague-winning squad, was named Final Four MVP after leading the charge with 21 points. Pete Mickeal added 14 and Fran Vazquez set a title game record with 4 blocked shots as the Barcelona defense limited the top scoring team in the Euroleague this season to 68 points, matching its season low.
With the 2010 World Championships of Basketball coming up later this year, we thought some information about the participating teams would be useful. If you have something to share regarding the teams or the tournament, please let us know.
The Cote d’Ivoire team, ranked 40th in the FIBA rankings, could possibly make a surprise impact at the Championships.
The team twice won the the FIBA Africa Championships during the 1980′s, and after a long dry spell, finally managed to get a podium finish last year, winning a silver medal.
With the 2010 World Championships of Basketball coming up later this year, we thought some information about the participating teams would be useful. If you have something to share regarding the teams or the tournament, please let us know.
The Tunisia men’s team is currently ranked 42nd in the world, heading up to the World Championships.
Although they are one of Africa’s most experienced teams, having appeared at the FIBA Africa Championships 18 times, this will be Tunisia’s first appearance at the World Championships. And unlike their fellow African compatriots heading to the big show (Angola and Cote d’Ivoire), Tunisia has never won gold at the FIBA Africa Championships.
The Angolan national team has come a long way since being the first team to face the invincible “Dream Team” at the 1992 Olympic Games. Although Angola finished those games with their best ever Olympic finish (10th place), their performance in FIBA and African championships has steadily improved as time has passed.
As the current African champions, they have won 10 of the last 11 Africa Championships, dating all the way back to 1987 (they finished 3rd in 1997 when Senegal won). They also have had the last five tournament MVP titles come their way (currently held by Joaquim Gomes).
The team has been a bit less successful in the FIBA Championships, placing a team-best 10th at the last tournament in 2006 out of 24 teams. However, this is on the back of tremendous growth in the European level of play and highly supportive basketball structures and resources. Continue reading »
The FIBA World Championships are coming!
Held every four years, the tournament last took place in Japan in 2006, when Spain surprised the world by taking the gold medal while the USA shocked everyone, but mostly themselves, with a third-place bronze medal finish.
The global level of basketball play has increased strongly since that fateful day in 1992 when the USA’s Dream Team showed the world how much better they really were and made a mockery of almost every opponent it faced. But since then, it’s as if the rest of the world fed off their energy and ability, and took the international game to new heights. Now, with many international players playing in the NBA, and similarly many US-born players playing in foreign leagues, the title is certainly up for grabs this year. I certainly wouldn’t put my money on a favourite.
