What's Coming Up? August 19: GROUP A

Venezuela v Lebanon

SENDAI CITY (FIBA World Championship) - Venezuela are looking no further than this game and have called it the one that will decide their fate in this group.

Nestor Salazar's men have had to say the least a tough preparation over the last two months, which included a run of 11 defeats in a row in the lead-up to the FIBA World Championship.

Venezuela captain Victor Diaz has called tomorrow's opening game a "life or death" situation, a notion backed by Salazar.

"We are so focused on the first game that we haven't looked at our second game against Nigeria yet. But they will play tomorrow after we do so I can study them then," Salazar said.

Venezuela were dealt another blow with the news that influential players Hector Romero and Diego Guevara will miss the tournament through injury.

Meanwhile Lebanon come into the competition still trying to get their mind focused on basketball and putting the conflict back home in the back of their heads - however tough that may be.

An official with the team said the players were in good shape and had successfully completed a run of eight warm-up games - including a win over Venezuela - before arriving in Japan late on Thursday night.

Lebanon held their first training session earlier today and had no major injuries to report.


Serbia & Montenegro v Nigeria

SENDAI CITY (FIBA World Championship) - The reigning champions will open their title defense against Nigeria in the second group game of the day with a greatly diminished roster and representing a nation that has ceased to exist, giving a true impression of the changing times for the Eastern Europeans' basketball legacy.

Serbia & Montenegro are no longer the team boasting the most NBA players on their national team and this tournament represents the last opportunity for the players to represent the once-united brotherly nations following Montenegro's vote for independence in a highly contested referendum in May.

Head coach Dragan Sakota took over the team earlier this year and has vowed to do his best with the players made available to him. He will look to his captain, Igor Rakocevic, to provide some much-needed leadership and will give Darko Milicic a greater role.

Sakota's counterpart, Sam Vincent, has been studying Nigeria's Group A opponents and hopes his men can cause some upsets.

Vincent has stuck to a core group of players who led Nigeria to a third place finish in last year's FIBA Africa Championship - to qualify for this event - and believes they could be the surprise team in this group.

"We are in the middle of a redevelopment of the national team and even though Serbia & Montenegro has experience of big events in its favour, maybe their lack of familiarity with the way we play could work well for us," Vincent said.

Serbia & Montenegro have looked impressive in their warm-up games this summer, winning eight out of eleven, including wins over Italy and 2005 FIBA European Championship winners Greece.


Argentina v France

SENDAI CITY (FIBA World Championship) - The highly anticipated battle between San Antonio Spurs teammates Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker will not materialize as Parker was forced to pull out of the tournament after suffering a broken finger.

France have to figure out very quickly how to play without their star playmaker and will face a tough test against the Olympic champions.

X-rays taken on Thursday night revealed that Parker had a broken bone in the index finger of his shooting hand, an injury he sustained when he got his hand caught in an opponent's jersey during France's friendly against Brazil earlier this week.

Les Bleus may also be without veteran Laurent Foirest, who sprained his left ankle against Brazil and did not take part in full training yesterday.

Parker had not ruled out playing hurt, but France head coach Claude Bergeaud refused the idea of risking him further aggravating the injury.
"Tony has a broken finger and he won't be able to play for us in the tournament," Bergeaud said. "It's in his best interest to get it treated now and avoid making it worse. He wanted to try and play through it but I wasn't comfortable with that thought."

Meanwhile, the mood in Argentina's camp is not one of high confidence and invincibility as they appeared very sluggish and inconsistent in their warm-up games losing three of their final four games, including losses to Spain and Serbia & Montenegro.

But head coach Sergio Hernandez believes his men can turn things around.
"I hope this team can keep up with the high hopes and expectations. If we can come out with the same mental toughness and will that we played with in the World Championships in Indianapolis and the Olympic Games, we will be fine," he said.

There is a lot of uncertainty for both sides ahead of this game but this may play a part in making it all the more unpredictable and thrilling.

Simon Wilkinson
FIBA