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Pretty sure each and every nation has their own history in FIBA Worlds so the "wishlist" for each will be different with different motivations and reasons.
Say if you're one of the top contenders (not named USA) you'd want to be in a group which will potentially not draw you with Team USA in the KO rounds (hard to predict that at the start but it's logical) or simply be in a lesser group so you won't have to get tired early in the tournament. For some, it's probably about match-ups too because certain teams own other teams historically and maybe teams would want to ride on that momentum as they'll have more confidence. Of course there are the rivalries which we want to see meet early because they might not mee
So which teams (either your own or otherwise) would you want to be grouped with? Or which match-ups do you like to see?
Not speaking for all Filipinos, but for the Filipinos here's my personal wishlist:
#1. Same Group with Puerto Rico - Renaldo Balkman. We're looking at you. He was banned in the PBA because he choked a teammate... And well, because of his attitude problem. If Philippines-Puerto Rico meet, expect fireworks because we know this is one of the weaknesses of PR: we're going to piss him off to death and force him to fold mentally. We play physical (expect cheap shots all around
) and we are going to do that all-game long. Too bad Arwind Santos (the player he choked) will probably not be part of the team, but hey we have 12 other players who know of Balkman's history.
#2 Same Group with U.S.A. - Unlike other teams probably, we want to be grouped with the best team in the world because as a country we are suckers for NBA basketball. Most likely the spread for this game will run between +90/+100 with the Philippines as deep underdogs. And we won't care. We just want to battle with the best team so we know where we stand.
#3 Same Group with New Zealand/Australia - With the changes in the FIBA qualifying format in the future, best to see how we fare against these teams who we might be seeing in future FIBA regional qualifiers.
So which teams/countries do you want to face in Spain?
Say if you're one of the top contenders (not named USA) you'd want to be in a group which will potentially not draw you with Team USA in the KO rounds (hard to predict that at the start but it's logical) or simply be in a lesser group so you won't have to get tired early in the tournament. For some, it's probably about match-ups too because certain teams own other teams historically and maybe teams would want to ride on that momentum as they'll have more confidence. Of course there are the rivalries which we want to see meet early because they might not mee
So which teams (either your own or otherwise) would you want to be grouped with? Or which match-ups do you like to see?
Not speaking for all Filipinos, but for the Filipinos here's my personal wishlist:
#1. Same Group with Puerto Rico - Renaldo Balkman. We're looking at you. He was banned in the PBA because he choked a teammate... And well, because of his attitude problem. If Philippines-Puerto Rico meet, expect fireworks because we know this is one of the weaknesses of PR: we're going to piss him off to death and force him to fold mentally. We play physical (expect cheap shots all around
) and we are going to do that all-game long. Too bad Arwind Santos (the player he choked) will probably not be part of the team, but hey we have 12 other players who know of Balkman's history.#2 Same Group with U.S.A. - Unlike other teams probably, we want to be grouped with the best team in the world because as a country we are suckers for NBA basketball. Most likely the spread for this game will run between +90/+100 with the Philippines as deep underdogs. And we won't care. We just want to battle with the best team so we know where we stand.
#3 Same Group with New Zealand/Australia - With the changes in the FIBA qualifying format in the future, best to see how we fare against these teams who we might be seeing in future FIBA regional qualifiers.
So which teams/countries do you want to face in Spain?
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