Paulo-Kennedy-Column
05/09/2014
Paulo Kennedy's view from Downunder
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Observations from Gran Canaria

GRAN CANARIA (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - Only five countries have progressed past the group stage of the past four editions of FIBA's flagship event - can you guess who?

I'm sure you'll get three, I'd be impressed if you got the fourth, but I very much doubt you'll pick number five.

They are the USA, Spain, Argentina, Turkey and … New Zealand.

(For those who count Yugoslavia in 2002, Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 and Serbia the past two tournaments as the same country, the number is six)

How a country with just 10 full-time male professional basketball players in total - in total - has managed to achieve that is beyond me.

It has a lot to do with two exceptional coaches - Tab Baldwin and Nenad Vucinic - getting the best out of a group of players who live to show the world their little country from the south will stick it to anyone.

With Australia taking third place in Group D it is also the third straight time that the two Oceania teams have progressed past the group stage of the biggest national team tournament. Only one other continent has had a perfect record in any of those tournaments - Europe in 2006.

Working the group phase
There's been plenty of talk about Australia's decision to rest key players for the game against Angola with qualification for the next round assured and a win not improving their medal chances.

While it's easy to criticise that decision, this is the reality of a system where teams can look ahead and see who they will play in the crossover rounds.

To stop this FIBA need to introduce a blind crossover system of some kind. Until then, teams will do what’s best for them.

Stepping up
Aussie Adam Gibson has stepped up from his almost non-existent role in previous tournaments to so far execute the back-up point guard position to perfection.

Ryan Broekhoff is another man who simply does exactly what the teams needs from him and has become a key part of the Australian team.

New Zealand's Everard Bartlett did his pro contract chances no harm with his quality end to Group C play, while Korea's Kim Sunhyung has stood out for me as a player ready to take FIBA Asia by storm.

His smooth movement is almost reminiscent of Goran Dragic, although he isn't quite at that level! I think his open-court play could be a real key in next year's FIBA Asia Championship, and I hope he gets more than the 16 minutes per game he received in Gran Canaria.

Speaking of tournaments in Asia, after last year's successful continental championship I would love to see the Philippines to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Their on-court performance was very strong in Sevilla, and no country more passionately supports this sport than their hoops-mad population.

It was a great week in Gran Canaria, here are my thoughts on the six teams who did battle in Group D:
Angola: the African champs showed everything they can be in their narrow loss to Slovenia. They used their athletic advantage to pressure, trap, rotate, rebound and run. Their physical pressure had the Slovenians flummoxed, to the point where coach Zdovc benched his starters who were spending more time talking to the refs than playing. If whoever looks after junior Angola is reading this, the first three quarters of that game is the template for future success.

Australia: the Boomers look world class when putting doubt in the ball-handler’s mind defensively, and pushing hard into early on-balls and post feeds. No team has kept up with them when in full swing, with the opening-half demolition of Lithuania something to behold. Their progress depends on how courageous they are in maintaining that style. By international standards, the point guard duo of Matthew Dellavedova and Gibson is somewhat unproven, but their ability to set the tempo at both ends could be the key to this team’s success.

Korea: they remarkably came to the tournament without a game in the previous month, cruelling any chance of defeating Angola on opening night, who were there for the picking. Coach Yoo Jaehak called the tournament a good learning experience, but realistically, if they want to make any noise internationally they need to replicate the Philippines and bring in a centre around their dangerous perimeter players.

LithuaniaLithuania: the Green Machine are a different outfit without Linas Kleiza and Mantas Kalnietis, they really struggle to generate the tempo that has been their trademark. Instead they have become quite a dour half-court team outside the times Jonas Maciulis and Co generate some speed with disruptive defence. The way they ground out a win over Slovenia from 12 points down in the third quarter was very impressive, and this half of the draw is wide open for a top four berth, but they will have their work cut out challenging the big boys in the medal rounds.

Mexico: this team is only two or three quality bench contributors away from genuinely competing with the world's second tier that sits after Spain and the USA. Their coach, Sergio Valdeolmillos, has done an outstanding job in drilling his aggressive team into a disciplined unit who can play at multiple speeds. If they can keep stars like Gustavo Ayon, Hector Hernandez, Francisco Cruz and Jorge Gutierrez together, while improving their fitness and depth, almost anything is possible.

Slovenia: this is a beautiful team to watch, they play some of the tournament's best basketball when they have the game on their fast terms, but once again they have found a way to waste a golden opportunity. The Slovenian starters imploded near the end of the group stage, completely flustered by Angola’s high-pressure approach and having to be benched. Then Goran Dragic and others got publicly involved in the controversy surrounding the Australia-Angola game before completely wasting their match-winning position against Lithuania. Now it will take a stunning upset over the USA to keep their medal hopes alive.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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Paulo Kennedy

Paulo Kennedy

Paulo has joined our team of columnists with a weekly column called 'The View from Downunder', where he looks at pertinent issues in the world of basketball from an Oceania perspective, perhaps different to the predominant points of view from columnists in North America and Europe.