Real Madrid play against Zalgiris Kaunas in the EuroLeague at home on Thursday. The Spanish team's star big man Edy Tavares might not participate in the match. The Cabo Verdean big man was included in his country's national team's final list for the upcoming FIBA World Cup African Qualifiers window where the small country in Western Africa will try to clinch the spot in this year's World Cup.
Italian NT head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco announced a 16-man roster for the last two qualifying matches of the FIBA World Cup 2023. Virtus guard Nico Mannion and Milan's big men duo of Paul Biligha and Giampaolo Ricci were included in the extended list.
The Argentinian national team will receive a huge upgrade in the FIBA World Cup 2023 Qualifiers. Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade's president Nebojsa Covic has announced that Facundo Campazzo will compete for this country's colors in the upcoming international tournament.
After the victories against Great Britain and Turkey in November, Serbia NT have two more qualifying games to play in order to officially seal their pass for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which will be held this summer in Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
After dazzling the basketball world in his first two matches with the French national team in November, Victor Wembanyama will return to the international stage again. The French Basketball Federation has confirmed that the projected no. 1 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft will play for the French national team in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers window in February.
Argentine NT head coach Pablo Prigioni should be able to count on Facundo Campazzo in the upcoming FIBA World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers window, Basquet Plus reports.
In an interview with the Greek local newspaper 'Amarysia', FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis touched on several issues relevant to the competitions and tournaments organized by the world federation.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach Ergin Ataman believes EuroLeague must become a closed competition so that the teams could see an improvement in income. EuroLeague finances and commercial side have been a topic for years, and Ataman says it definitely needs to improve.
Michael Roll's last official game to date was with the Tunisian national team against the Republic of Congo for the 2023 FIBA World Cup African Qualifiers.
Dimitris Itoudis was pleased to hear the numbers that once again proved how basketball is loved in his native country. Over 60% of Greeks were watching the national team games in EuroBasket 2022. That's close to 6 million people. Following the Greek national team's journey, the number of kids entering basketball academies increased by more than 20%.
Dragan Sakota's coaching career spans half a century, as the Serbian-born tactician worked in Croatian clubs, Turkey, Italy, and recently in Spain (Casademont Zaragoza). "I led Zadar and Cibona when we were a single country. Those were big clubs in the old Yugoslavia and it was an honor for me to coach them.
History has been made as Spain is the new number one team in the latest FIBA Ranking, presented by Nike. With the USA holding the number one spot for over 12 years, Spain is only the second team to top the ranking since its introduction in 2010.
Shane Larkin was warming up before a big EuroLeague game again. It was the first time Anadolu Efes fans saw him dribbling the ball and hitting some threes this season. Larkin couldn't join the squad for a vital battle vs. Barcelona yet. But practicing in warmup gear indicates that his return is getting closer.
Even though the situation in European basketball was already complicated, the last week may have seen the culmination of the lack of understanding between the key players. Clubs, players, coaches, and national teams were involved in unprecedented chaos, where in some cases, no one knew for sure what was going to happen.
Some days ago, Gianmarco Pozzecco pointed out the obvious. "I want to see Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo at the World Cup. With these rules, it is not certain that we'll have the stars there," the Italian NT coach said.
Turkey lost a do-or-die game against Serbia in World Cup European Qualifiers and failed to qualify for the main tournament. After the match, Turkey's head coach Ergin Ataman questioned some referees' decisions and the free throws difference between the two national teams.
After Victor Wembanyama made his France senior national team debut against Lithuania in Panevezys, he stepped out once more against Bosnia and Herzegovina in front of a home crowd in Pau where the hosts punched their ticket to FIBA World Cup 2023, 92-56 (17-13, 23-14, 19-17, 33-12). France decided the game's outcome in the second quarter.
Serbia made a huge step forward toward FIBA World Cup 2023 by defeating another European power Turkey at home, 77-76 (24-21, 13-13, 17-20, 23-22). With this win, Serbia is one victory away from qualifying for the next year's World Cup. Meanwhile, Turkey's journey is over. The team will miss the first World Cup since 1998.
Nico Mannion left the court in the 13th minute. Virtus Bologna guard got an unsportsmanlike foul in the first quarter and received a technical foul for flopping at the start of the second quarter. He scored 6 points on two 3-pointers. Despite losing one of their leaders early, Italy won a thriller in Georgia, 85-84 (24-19, 21-19, 18-17, 26-25).
BasketNews’ Donatas Urbonas, Rytis Vysniauskas, and Augustas Suliauskas discuss the scenes around Victor Wembanyama’s French NT debut, another disappointing situation of FIBA windows, and the unexpected change in Crvena Zvezda. Highest paid EuroLeague players: https://basketne.ws/salaries Painful Kevin Pangos and Olimpia Milan's offense: https://basketne.ws/Olimpia
