Preview: Can Serbia get the job done in Group I?
MUNICH (Germany) - There is one ticket to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 left from Group I of the European Qualifiers. Serbia seem positioned perfectly to advance, but can Belgium defy the odds?
MUNICH (Germany) - There is one ticket to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 left from Group I of the European Qualifiers and while Serbia seem positioned perfectly to advance Belgium still hope they can defy the odds.
The math going into the final window in Group I is simple: Serbia need to win just one of their two games, or Belgium lose one of their qualifiers, and the Serbs will be heading to Indonesia, Japan and Philippines this summer. Meanwhile, Belgium would need to get two wins and hope Serbia drop both of their games to qualify.
Group I
12/18 games played
All First Round results carry over to Second Round
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Latvia(*) | 8 | 7 | 1 | 87.5 | 657 | 576 | 81 | 82.1 | 72 | 15 |
| 2 | Serbia | 8 | 5 | 3 | 62.5 | 632 | 623 | 9 | 79 | 77.9 | 13 |
| 3 | Greece(*) | 8 | 5 | 3 | 62.5 | 621 | 605 | 16 | 77.6 | 75.6 | 13 |
| 4 | Turkey | 8 | 3 | 5 | 37.5 | 626 | 605 | 21 | 78.2 | 75.6 | 11 |
| 5 | Belgium | 8 | 3 | 5 | 37.5 | 537 | 576 | -39 | 67.1 | 72 | 11 |
| 6 | Great Britain | 8 | 1 | 7 | 12.5 | 555 | 643 | -88 | 69.4 | 80.4 | 9 |
Friday February 24, 2023
Greece v Serbia - 18:00 CET - Athens, Greece
Turkey v Latvia - 18:00 CET - Bursa, Turkey
Great Britain v Belgium - 20:30 CET - Newcastle upon Tyne, Great Britain
Can Serbia lock up their World Cup ticket with one Game day to spare? Svetislav Pesic's men will face a tough test as they travel to Athens to face Greece. Belgium hope to do their part to keep the dream alive with a win in Great Britain.
Monday February 27, 2023
Latvia v Greece - 18:30 CET - Riga, Latvia
Serbia v Great Britain - 20:00 CET - Belgrade, Serbia
Belgium v Turkey - 20:30 CET - Mons, Belgium
The pressure could still be on Serbia if they cannot knock off Greece, though they will be playing the last-placed team from Great Britain in their final game. First place in the group could still be up for grabs - if Latvia lose in Turkey and Greece beat Latvia. The Latvians hold a major advantage as they beat Greece by 20 points in the November 2022 window.
Players of note
Berke Buyuktuncel, Arturs Zagars, Nikola Djurisic
Berke Buyuktuncel would be making his senior national team debut as the 18-year-old forward has excelled at times this season for Tofas Bursa both in the Turkish league and the Basketball Champions League. With Turkey already eliminated, it would make a lot of sense to let the versatile talent get his experience on the international level.
Arturs Zagars has only played one European Qualifiers game - at the end of the First Round at Slovakia in July 2022. The 22-year-old guard is playing in Lithuania for Nevezis and averaing 16.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals, including a 31-point outburst against Gargzdai in late December.
Nikola Djurisic may not get much playing time in Serbia's big opening game of the window at Greece, but the top prospect, who will turn 19 on February 23, could see big minutes in the final game against Great Britain if Serbia have locked up a spot in the World Cup. Djurisic played in both of the Slovakia games in the First Round.
Here's where Group I teams are ranked in the FIBA World Rankings, as well as in Europe:
| World rank |
Country | Europe rank |
Current points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | Serbia | 3. | 710.9 |
| 9. | Greece | 6. | 665.9 |
| 16. | Turkey | 11. | 533.9 |
| 29. | Latvia | 16. | 397.0 |
| 30. | Belgium | 17. | 385.5 |
| 47. | Great Britain | 24. | 276.1 |