2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers - AMERICAs

[Arsonist]

Venezuela Group F Leaders And One Step Away From Classification



Key triumph for Venezuela that allows them to place a foot in the qualifying line for the World Cup in China 2019, this time against their old rival of Canada with whom they have played several important games and from which in almost all these commitments has come out successful the national team of Venezuela.

Venezuela with 8 victories and only one defeat is the absolute leader of group F and thanks to their defense and collectivity have been able to find the victories in this new modality of competition in the windows FIBA for the classification to the world.

It is important for our nation that Venezuela returns to the elite of basketball to face the best in the world and this is only won with work and effort and this is demonstrated by the Vinotinto team, who had already qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2015 also defeating their rival Canada.



Venezuela beat Canada 84-76 in a game that was very close from the beginning, the game of the South Americans was extremely collective, which highlighted: Jose Vargas 15 Pts. 2 Ast. Dwight Lewis 14 Pts. 3 Reb. Gregory Vargas 13 Pts. 6 Reb. Jhornan Zamora 12 Pts. Gregory Echenique 10 Pts. 12 Reb. Nestor Colmenares 10 Pts. 7 Reb.



Excellent performance and victory of Venezuela that leaves them one step away from being in the world of China 2019.

[mojo13]

Key triumph for Venezuela that allows them to place a foot in the qualifying line for the World Cup in China 2019, this time against their old rival of Canada with whom they have played several important games and from which in almost all these commitments has come out successful the national team of Venezuela.

Venezuela with 8 victories and only one defeat is the absolute leader of group F and thanks to their defense and collectivity have been able to find the victories in this new modality of competition in the windows FIBA for the classification to the world.

It is important for our nation that Venezuela returns to the elite of basketball to face the best in the world and this is only won with work and effort and this is demonstrated by the Vinotinto team, who had already qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2015 also defeating their rival Canada.



Venezuela beat Canada 84-76 in a game that was very close from the beginning, the game of the South Americans was extremely collective, which highlighted: Jose Vargas 15 Pts. 2 Ast. Dwight Lewis 14 Pts. 3 Reb. Gregory Vargas 13 Pts. 6 Reb. Jhornan Zamora 12 Pts. Gregory Echenique 10 Pts. 12 Reb. Nestor Colmenares 10 Pts. 7 Reb.



Excellent performance and victory of Venezuela that leaves them one step away from being in the world of China 2019.

I can’t think of a team better advantaged by this awful qualification system than Venezuela. It must be nice to be able to floor the best team possible during these in season windows not to mention to have guys together for weeks of practice that have been playing together for years. Was the entire Venezuela team made up of domestic league players?(except 1 I think). Instead most teams are cobbling together a patchwork of players from all over the world and getting two days of practice together. No Canadian fan expected a road win the other night considering the circumstances. And I would not call this a rivalry. It is more of reminder of the ridiculousness of FIBA to most.

Anyways - congratulations and good luck in the World Cup and I hope Venezuela represents the America’s well for once. Let’s see if Venezuela can stay within 30 points of any half decent basketball nation fielding anything close to their “A” team. Hopefully it is not another awful embarrassing showing like the Olympics.

[Dtown]

USA wins 78-70, way more of a headache than it needed to be, but USA qualified for China.

US were lucky, Uruguay was dynamite from 3 but shit inside the perimeter.

Now to sit back and let other people/teams/countries stress out.

[JGX]

Took everything that Uruguay and FIBA rules and regulations had to throw at us and somehow transformed into a different team in the final five minutes and won anyway.

RIP Panama

[Dtown]

Took everything that Uruguay and FIBA rules and regulations had to throw at us and somehow transformed into a different team in the final five minutes and won anyway.

RIP Panama

Actually did not realize this till your post, but yes Panama is eliminated. They were WAY WAY WAY more competitive then I thought they'd be, just 2 points away until they could have made it till the last window. Honestly I though they might be the group punching bag, but they've actually out performed Mexico.

Edit: RIP Mexico

[Federoy]

Took everything that Uruguay and FIBA rules and regulations had to throw at us and somehow transformed into a different team in the final five minutes and won anyway.

RIP Panama

The NBA, Euroleague, and other top flight leagues are happy with this process. Most of the top tier talent gets four years off while the grunts do all the work, which has the unintended consequence of good ball playing countries like Latvia, Slovenia and Croatia being left out since their stars were ineligible to play during most windows. It's a sham. FIBA is actually undermining the sport's growth and development by adopting a FIFA style approach to qualifying. It doesn't work for basketball, and unless FIBA tweaks the system, it'll only be a matter of time before a big name federation like Spain, Lithuania or Russia gets left out because they couldn't field competitive teams...then the shit will really hit the fan.

[Federoy]

USA wins 78-70, way more of a headache than it needed to be, but USA qualified for China.

US were lucky, Uruguay was dynamite from 3 but shit inside the perimeter.

Now to sit back and let other people/teams/countries stress out.

I didn't see the game, but I was definitely worried a bit because we were trailing for most of it, and judging by the score, it doesn't appear we were playing at our tempo. The point you made about playing in Latin America on the road is solid. Their gyms appear to be smaller with no buffer between the players and crowd; like a HS gym, they're right on top of you. I'm sure it's extremely loud and intimidating, so I give our players credit for entering that arena and coming out with a victory.

[Arsonist]

I can’t think of a team better advantaged by this awful qualification system than Venezuela. It must be nice to be able to floor the best team possible during these in season windows not to mention to have guys together for weeks of practice that have been playing together for years. Was the entire Venezuela team made up of domestic league players?(except 1 I think). Instead most teams are cobbling together a patchwork of players from all over the world and getting two days of practice together. No Canadian fan expected a road win the other night considering the circumstances. And I would not call this a rivalry. It is more of reminder of the ridiculousness of FIBA to most.

Anyways - congratulations and good luck in the World Cup and I hope Venezuela represents the America’s well for once. Let’s see if Venezuela can stay within 30 points of any half decent basketball nation fielding anything close to their “A” team. Hopefully it is not another awful embarrassing showing like the Olympics.

The truth is I don't agree at all with you, when you think without knowing what happens these things happen, because Venezuela has been favored more than the other teams? And for you to understand better you have no idea of the problems that exist in Venezuela in fact half of the national team was not playing in any league because there was a problem for them to play in South American league and remain active, and in the country in these monents has not started the professional league and that's another story, all half of the team was training on its own without playing time and that is necessary to face this type of tournaments.

The other half of the Venezuelan team if I was playing in South American leagues and only one was playing in Spain, however Canada in this window did not have the NBA but if they had players who are seeing action in the best leagues in Europe, which have a lot of level, then I do not understand why you say Venezuela has been favored?

Also the players only had a week in Venezuela to meet because they were waiting for those who came from outside to practice as a team, the truth is I do not understand which is the advantage you mean?

Remember that Venezuela was champion of FIBA Americas 2015 making a very intelligent game and with a great defense against Canada with all its NBA, in the decisive game that gave the qualification to Venezuela for the Rio Olympics, some Canadians also speculate on whether it was a foul in the last play of that game and I have the proof here, was a very obvious foul, although many want to do the crazy, here is the proof:



What happened with Venezuela in Rio has a logical explanation the selection of Venezuela had a long time without being at the elite level, but by own merits I arrive and when you see and these again in this type of high-level competition, is more like learning because you are facing the best teams in the world and is not easy task, so it is important to always be competing at this level to grow and develop better the game of a national team.

I remember also in the tournament in the preolimpico of Portland in 1992 Venezuela played Vs Canada the semifinal and also beat them to face in the final to the only and original Dream Team of USA, so it has not been once if not several victories of Venezuela over Canada, we also beat them in the preolimpico of Mar de Plata in Argentina, but that time was for the 5th place in the tournament.

I think that in order to speak and give an opinion, you have to have a base and knowledge and not say things just to say them.

Venezuela has classified because they are workers and they have known how to play the matches so they have a record of 8 - 1.

In fact, if there weren't so many problems in Venezuela we would have a much higher level in basketball, we would have won much more, so the potential is intact to develop.

[mojo13]

And Canada qualifying with a semi-surprising blowout of Brazil in Sao Paulo. 94-67. Kyle Wiltjer and the Scrubb brothers leading the way.
Surprising as it has proved to be quite difficult to win on the road and Brazil seemed decent playing against us in the summer in Canada where we had 4-5 NBA players.

Turns out we had a major flight delay getting to Venezuela and the guys didn't even get in until hours before the game with little to no sleep. No wonder they looked so much better today.....

[Dtown]

3 spots left, 4 teams left

Brazil : 7-3 : +99 : @Virgin Islands, @Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic: 6-4 : +61 : Venezuela, Brazil

Puerto Rico: 6-4 : +24: Argentina, Uruguay

Uruguay: 6-4 : -70 : @Mexico, @Puerto Rico

[JGX]

Unbelievable finish in the USVI-Venezuela game. USVI playing a real home game for the first time in the tournament, up 76-71 with less than 10 seconds left, Venezuela scores and gets the and one, steals the inbounds pass, scores again and gets fouled again, hits the free throw and wins 77-76. Six points in 1.2 seconds.

[Federoy]

3 spots left, 4 teams left

Brazil : 7-3 : +99 : @Virgin Islands, @Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic: 6-4 : +61 : Venezuela, Brazil

Puerto Rico: 6-4 : +24: Argentina, Uruguay

Uruguay: 6-4 : -70 : @Mexico, @Puerto Rico

That loss to the US in a very winnable game for them will ultimately cost them the third and final spot. They can only hope that Mexico, having already been eliminated, plays a passionless game and Puerto Rico will have qualified by virtue of beating Argentina (and the Dominicans losing to Venezuela) and care nothing of their final contest. However improbable, they have a chance.

[Arsonist]

Unbelievable finish in the USVI-Venezuela game. USVI playing a real home game for the first time in the tournament, up 76-71 with less than 10 seconds left, Venezuela scores and gets the and one, steals the inbounds pass, scores again and gets fouled again, hits the free throw and wins 77-76. Six points in 1.2 seconds.

If really incredible for that reason I like this sport is extremely unpredictable, the islanders were already cooling the drinks and placing Reggae to celebrate they won, but Venezuela told them that no, with that great play, could not lose, here I leave the video of the play:

https://vimeo.com/304356871

[mojo13]

If really incredible for that reason I like this sport is extremely unpredictable, the islanders were already cooling the drinks and placing Reggae to celebrate they won, but Venezuela told them that no, with that great play, could not lose, here I leave the video of the play:

https://vimeo.com/304356871

Canadian Roster for the Final Window Announced:

https://www.basketball.ca/en/news-article/roster-announced-for-sixth-window-of-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2

Joel Anthony
Centre
6'10"
Montreal, QC
San Lorenzo Basket (Argentina)


Aaron Best
Guard
6'4"
Scarborough, ON
Riesen Ludwigsburg (Germany)


Melvin Ejim
Forward
6’7”
Toronto, ON


Unics Kazan (Russia)
Brady Heslip
Guard
6'2"
Burlington, ON
Istanbul BBSK (Turkey)

Kaza Kajami-Keane
Guard
6'2"
Ajax, ON
Landstede Zwolle (Netherlands)


Kyle Landry
Centre
6'10"
Calgary, AB
Buducnost (Montenegro)


Conor Morgan
Forward
6’9”
Victoria, BC
Divina Seguros Joventut (Spain)


Mychal Mulder
Guard
6'4"
Windsor, ON
Windy City Bulls (G League)


Adika Peter-McNeilly
Guard
6’3”
Toronto, ON
Mitteldeutscher BC (Germany)


Phil Scrubb
Guard
6’4”
Richmond, BC
Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia)


Thomas Scrubb
Forward
6’7”
Richmond, BC
Openjobmetis Varese (Italy)


Kyle Wiltjer
Forward
6’10”
Portland, OR
Unicaja Malaga (Spain)


A fairly similar roster to the December window. Melvin Ejim is the big addition here and is likely the best player on the roster. Mychal Mulder (G-League) is a first time add but probably not a difference maker. And Adika Peter McNeilly (German BBL) is new from December but played in earlier windows. Again, not really a difference maker.

Top players are Melvin Ejim, Phil Scrubb, Tommy Scrubb, Brady Heslip and Kyle Wiltjer....all who have a decent shot at making the summer WC roster. Although we have 13 odd NBA players....I really only expect 6-8 of them to play this summer.

I'd think roster rested and playing at home should be favored over Venezuela. The trip to Venezuela in December was a travel disaster and had to have some influence on their lethargic play.


Arsonist - Let me know your thoughts on the Venezuela roster and how it compare to our match-up last December. I'm curious if VEN is fielding a full squad or giving some younger guys a chance to prove themselves (seems to be the case we a few teams that have already qualified).

[Dtown]

Brazil officially qualifies, joining the United States as the only countries to play in every World Championship/Cup

Dominican Republic gets a big win over over Venezuela, a win over Brazil on Monday will get them in.