USA coach Popovich: ''Many national teams have a shot at winning World Cup''

SAN ANTONIO (United States of America) - USA Basketball and national team coach Gregg Popovich have a better idea of the challenge that awaits the country when it goes after a FIBA Basketball World Cup three-peat this summer in China.

On Saturday in Shenzhen, the USA were drawn in a competitive Group E with Turkey, Czech Republic and Japan.

"It's exciting to learn the makeup of our preliminary round pool and to know we will be playing our first three World Cup games in Shanghai," Popovich said. "I think all of the pools are well balanced and I know very well there are many national teams who have a legitimate shot of winning the 2019 World Cup.

"Our group, Group E, features Czech Republic, Japan and Turkey, so we'll face three well coached teams and a variety of playing styles. Selecting and preparing the USA team in a short amount of time will be a challenge and repeating as gold medalists for a third straight FIBA World Cup is something everyone associated with the USA team will embrace."

Since their 101-95 defeat to Greece in the Semi-Finals of the 2006 World Cup, the USA have not lost in the competition en route to titles in Turkey (2010) and Spain (2014). Adding to that success the three straight gold medal achievements at the Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016) Olympic Games and the Americans have been on quite a roll.

"OUR GROUP, GROUP E, FEATURES CZECH REPUBLIC, JAPAN AND TURKEY, SO WE'LL FACE THREE WELL COACHED TEAMS AND A VARIETY OF PLAYING STYLES."- Popovich

While the tournament tips off on August 31, the USA's first game won't be until September 1 when they take on the Czech Republic in Shanghai. At the same venue, the Americans will go up against Turkey on September 3 and Japan on September 5.

The USA won't be announcing their squad for some time but James Harden, a star in the 2014 title-winning team, has already stated that he wants to play in China.

The United States, coached by Jeff Van Gundy, won 10 of their 12 games in the Americas Qualifiers to book a spot in this year's 32-team World Cup.

FIBA