Group J preview: European firepower testing USA's ambition

MANILA (Philippines) - The Second Round is about to start, and the United States have not missed a beat since day one in the Mall of Asia Arena. while Greece, Lithuania and Montenegro are hoping to advance to the Quarter-Finals, too.

The Favorite: USA

Without any doubt, the United States will be the favorites more often than not in previews like these. Coach Steve Kerr said it's not a problem coaching this generation, because of their selfless approach and the desire to keep diving for loose balls while being up by 40, the problem is picking them up.

Seems like a good problem to have, especially when Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves are playing on their superstar level, when Josh Hart is in the hunt to be the shortest rebounding leader in World Cup history, and Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton are orchestrating this show with perfect pace and rhythm.

 

 

The Underdog: Montenegro

They are already the smallest nation to ever reach the Round of 16, bouncing back after a forgettable 2019 run. But all 600,000 people over there will be tuning in to watch the team face the USA, maybe a different, physical approach gives them a reason to cheer the team on for 40 minutes even from afar.

 

They need a minor miracle to finish ahead of two of Greece, Lithuania and the United States, with Nikola Vucevic at MVP level, they may just pull it off. Can you imagine seeing a country the size of one Manila neighborhood reaching the elite eight status at the World Cup? It would be an amazing story.

The Pivotal Game: Lithuania v Greece

This is the key, right here. Lithuania have carried over a 3-0 record to the Second Round, and know that they could be through if they defeat Greece in their first game in Group J. But at the same time, Greece just reached the Second Round by climbing out of a 15-point hole against New Zealand.

A win like that will give Greece some much needed confidence to take on their long time continental rivals. Even though they play each other at almost every FIBA EuroBasket event, they've met only once in FIBA Basketball World Cup history, back in 2006, when Greece won the game 81-76 in overtime.

That was also the last time Greece reached the Quarter-Finals in this event.

The Open Question: Can Greece be Czech Republic?

Back in 2019, when this format of the FIBA Basketball World Cup was introduced, a lot of question marks were hanging around whether it is possible to advance to the Quarter-Finals having been second in your First Round group, given that you are most probably a win behind the two group leaders.

The answer was Czech Republic, with a bit of help from the United States. USA swept Group E back then, while Czechs advanced at 2-1, similar to USA and Greece now.

Then, in the Second Round, USA defeated Greece and Brazil to go to 5-0. Czech Republic, meanwhile, defeated Brazil and lost to Greece, creating a three-way tie at 3-2. They were +15, better than Greece's +6 and Brazil's -21, meaning Czech Republic found a way through to the Quarter-Finals even as the second seed from the First Round.

Greece saw it happen first hand. Now it's time to be the 2019 Czech Republic - first step is to defeat Lithuania, then wait for a bit of help from the USA and hope for the best.

The Poll

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Don't forget to check the Team Profiles for: USA , Greece, Lithuania and Montenegro.

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