Group E: USA still the team to beat, looking for a three-peat

SHANGHAI (China) - Only one group can feature the defending champions and this is it. In fact, the United States are the two-time defending title-holders and on the hunt for an unprecedented third straight FIBA Basketball World Cup trophy.

The team that takes the court when its campaign begins will be young with an average age of 25.6 years old, and it will be relatively raw on the international stage with only two players having previous World Cup or Olympic experience. But until someone unseats them, the Americans still have to be respected as favorites.

The competitiveness of the group is enhanced by Turkey, the country that fell to the USA in the Final of the 2010 World Cup. Turkey also gave the USA one of their harder games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 the Group Phase and eventually reached the Quarter-Finals.

This will be the first World Cup for the Czech Republic, although Czechoslovakia participated in four editions from 1970 to 1982. It will be the first for Japan since 2006 and fourth overall (1963, 1967, 1998). As for the Akatsuki Five, they will be looking to build some momentum for the Olympics the country will host next year in Tokyo.

Team to beat: USA

In three letters, the USA.

Though dominant over the years in the Olympics, the USA have won only 5 of the 17 World Cups they have competed in. One reason for that might be that more games in a longer tournament requires greater focus and determination.

This team, led by NBA All Stars Kemba Walker and Khris Middleton, will be similar to the 2010 squad that also featured only two current All Stars in Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant yet had a future two-time MVP in Stephen Curry and a budding star in Russell Westbrook. In his two NBA seasons, current team member Donovan Mitchell has that same kind of promise, averaging 23.8 points per game in the NBA last year.

The 2010 team also featured impact players Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay, and Andre Iguodala. Will Jayson Tatum, Myles Turner, Marcus Smart, or Jaylen Brown be breakout stars from this team?

The senior team experience will come from Mason Plumlee who has the 2014 World Cup trophy on his resume, and Harrison Barnes, who owns a gold medal from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Though they are indeed the two-time defending champions, it is the beginning of a new era for the Americans as they will be led into battle by a new head coach in a major tournament for the first time since Mike Krzyzewski took the helm at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006. (Krzyzewski had previously coached the 1990 U.S. World Cup team.)

A man that many consider to be the best coach in the NBA, Gregg Popovich, is now responsible for keeping the Americans on top.

FIBA World Ranking, presented by NIKE

WORLD RANK	COUNTRY	ZONE RANK	IOC	CURRENT POINTS
1.	USA	1.	USA	793.7
17.	Turkey	11.	TUR	444.1
24.	Czech Republic	15.	CZE	368.0
48.	Japan	7.	JPN	230.6

Key matchup: USA v Turkey

The USA-Turkey game on September 3 will be a rematch of the 2010 World Cup final, an 81-64 American win, as well as a 2014 First Round matchup that the USA won, 98-77.

This could determine which team tops the group. Turkey opens with Japan, which could be a trap game. Japan served notice of this with an 86-83 exhibition win over Germany last weekend, although they also endured a last-second defeat to Tunisia at home. The Americans will be battle-tested after splitting a pair of games with Australia Down Under. 

Perhaps the key matchup No. 2 will be on September 5 when Turkey and the Czech Republic square off, especially if they go into that game with 1-1 records. It could be a game to determine second place in the group.

Star of the group: Kemba Walker

Simply put, Kemba Walker is a winner. In the NBA he blossomed into one of the league's top players with the Charlotte Hornets, earning three selections to the Eastern Conference All Star team and this past season, he was All-NBA Third Team. Walker has joined the Boston Celtics for the upcoming season.  In 2011, he lifted all those around him to lead UConn to the NCAA title and he was named the Final Four MVP.

In his only previous FIBA competition, Walker led the USA to the silver medal in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2008 against hosts Argentina. Despite finishing second, Walker was still recognized as the tournament MVP.

Top prospect: Rui Hachimura

Japan's Rui Hachimura will play his first World Cup before he plays his first NBA game. A consensus All-American at Gonzaga last year, the 6ft 8in (2.03 m) Hachimura was the ninth pick in the NBA draft by the Washington Wizards.

Hachimura averaged a double-double in his three FIBA junior events. He finished third with Japan at the FIBA Asia U16 Championship in 2013, leading the team with 22.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. At the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2014 in Dubai, he averaged 22.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He was equally impressive at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 where he tallied 20.6 points and 11 rebounds per game.

Familiar face: Ersan Ilyasova

It will be the third World Cup for the erstwhile Ersan Ilyasova, 32, who suited up for the 12 Giant Men in 2006 and 2010. An ankle injury during the 2014 NBA season kept him off the World Cup squad that year.

At the 2010 World Cup, the 6ft9in (2.05m) Ilyasova was instrumental in leading Turkey to the championship game in front of an adoring home crowd, averaging 13.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

"We lost in the Final in 2010 but it still remains as one of the best memories I've had in my career," Ilyasova told FIBA. "It's the best team in the world and I've been living in the country (United States) for so long now, so it’s always special to play against the Americans."

Also in his third World Cup is 6ft 11in (2.10m) center Semih Erden, 33, who also missed 2014 after playing the two previous tournaments. And, like Ilyasova, he was also an integral piece of the second-place run, averaging 9.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

FIBA