[nomisg]

Australia's men's basketball team will face Athens Gold Medallists, Argentina, and Beijing Gold Medallists, the United States, in the opening rounds at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

Australia and Argentina were drawn in Group A along with Serbia, Germany, Angola and Jordan, it was revealed at the Carigan Palace Kempinski Hotel in Istanbul tonight.

The Boomers will meet the US in the non-knockout crossover pool round after America was drawn in Group B alongside Slovenia, Brazil, Croatia, Iran and Tunisia.

Australia’s pool matches, in order, will be against Jordan then Argentina, Germany, Serbia and Angola and if it is one of the top four placed teams from that group after five games it will then cross over against the top three teams in Group B.

The top six nations from each side of the draw then advance to the knockout Quarter Finals, followed by a Semi Final and the medal round.

Basketball Australia Chief Executive Larry Sengstock was pleased with Australia’s positioning in the draw but warned that there would be no easy-beats at the event.

“You look at the 24 nations and all the groups are evenly tough, but you’d have to say the draw has worked out pretty well for us,” Sengstock said.

“There are a few teams on paper that you’d say we could beat but the top four teams in each group are so strong that no matter which group you’re in you could say it is a tough group.

“Argentina is a deserving top seed and Serbia is always tough, going against Dirk Nowitzki and Germany will be interesting, Jordan is a new challenge and I remember losing to Angola in 1986 at the World Championship so they’re not to be taken lightly.

“It’s nice to have the draw in place so we can now get on with the real preparation that we need to do if we’re going to have any success.”

The 2010 FIBA World Championship for men will take place in Turkey from August 28 to September 12 next year and will be played in Ankara, Kayseri, Istanbul and Izmir.

Australia and Group A will play in Kayseri, the US and Group B in Istanbul, the host nation and Group C in Ankara, with Group D in Izmir.

Kayseri, settled since 3000BC, is an industrial city in Central Anatolia with a population of just under 1 million people.

The four groups of six nations were drawn as follows:

Group A: (To be played in Kayseri)
2 Argentina
1 Serbia
3 Australia
5 Germany
6 Angola
4 Jordan

Group B: (to be played in Istanbul)
6 USA
4 Slovenia
2 Brazil
1 Croatia
5 Iran
3 Tunisia

Group C: (To be played in Ankara)
6 Greece
2 Turkey
4 Puerto Rico
3 Russia
1 China
5 Ivory Coast

Group D: (To be played in Izmir)
4 Spain
3 France
5 Canada
1 Lithuania
6 New Zealand
2 Lebanon

Nb. Numbers next to nations are not seedings. Nations were drawn against a number to determine scheduling, after the initial draw.


Prior to the draw, Australia was seeded in ‘Line 3’ alongside Brazil, Puerto Rico and Canada, meaning the Boomers, or any other national team, could not avoid all the top seeded nations (USA, Argentina, Spain and Greece) in pool play at the event.

The draw was carried out according to the following seedings:

Line 1 USA, Argentina, Spain, Greece
Line 2 Serbia, Slovenia, France, Turkey
Line 3 Brazil, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia
Line 4 Croatia, Russia, Lithuania, Germany
Line 5 New Zealand, China, Iran, Angola
Line 6 Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Ivory Coast

The draw was designed to ensure that in each group there is a balanced representation from the five continents. In the case of the draw for the 2010 FIBA World Championship, that resulted in having a maximum of three European teams in any one group and a maximum of two Americas teams in any one group.

Australia’s best placing at a World Championship for men is fifth; achieved in 1982 in Colombia and again in 1994 in Canada.

Source: Bill Baxter for Basketball Australia

[darcyrobinson]

Can Australia beat Serbia or Germany?

[marriard]

darcyrobinson, on 15 December 2009 - 11:39 PM, said:

Can Australia beat Serbia or Germany?

Honestly they should beat both. After Dirk and Chris Kamen if he plays, Germany is not very good. They do play well as a team though so are dangerous. You have to hope Andersen plays for the Boomers because he is the right sort of player to play Dirk tough.

I hate when we play Angola - they always give the Boomers fit for whatever reason. With a full strength team the Boomers should go in expecting to be able to win all their games.

The cross over group is actually pretty easy apart from the USA - perhaps easier than the Group they are in. There is no reason the Boomers shouldn't be able to handle those games.

[South01]

STANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) http://turkey2010.fiba.com/ – With less than six months to go before the tournament gets underway, the schedule for the First Round of the 2010 FIBA World Championship has now been finalized.

The full tournament schedule is available here. http://turkey2010.fi...e/PR_5-2010.pdf

All times are given in local time (CET +1, GMT +2).

Please note that beyond the First Round, the order of the games has not been established and will be finalized after each respective previous round.


28th August 2010
Group A (Kayseri)
Game A 1: 16:30 Australia vs Jordan
Game A 2: 19:00 Angola vs Serbia
Game A 3: 21:30 Germany vs Argentina
Group B (Istanbul, Abdi Ipekci Arena)
Game B 1: 16:30 Tunisia vs Slovenia
Game B 2: 19:00 USA vs Croatia
Game B 3: 21:30 Iran vs Brazil
Group C (Ankara)
Game C 1: 16:00 Greece vs China
Game C 2: 18:30 Russia vs Puerto Rico
Game C 3: 21:00 Ivory Coast vs Turkey
NO 05/2010 DATE: 05.03.2010
Global Partners[u]



Go Aussies Go!

Bogut and Anderson with Mills should be good,the only NBL players most likely will be James Harvey and Adam Gibson.

We have Andrew Ogilvy from Vanderbelt as well,we should have some impact.

Will Jawai play,also Delluva is having a massive season.