The Orlando Magic are to be well represented in the Far East this summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
Unfortunately, for U.K. Magic fans Great Britain fell at the initial group stage of qualification, losing out to Greece and Turkey. Therefore with no home nation to cheer on it is time to support our guys from the Orlando Magic (like we wouldn’t have been doing that anyway!).
Here we take a look at the players, groups and make up of this premier competition.
The When And Where
The tournament is being hosted in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia from 25 August to 10 September 2023. It will be the second World Cup to feature 32 teams. It is the first time in the events history that it will be hosted by multiple nations.
The tournament also serves as qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The top two teams from the Americas and Europe, plus the top team from each of Africa, Asia and Oceania, will qualify. France as the 2024 host have automatically qualified for the Olympic tournament.
Spain are the World Cup’s defending champions, beating Argentina in the 2019 final. In somewhat of a surprise Argentina failed to reach this summer’s event.
What’s The Format?
Teams in each group play each other once. The top two teams from each group automatically advance to the second round where they will play the top two teams of another group. The bottom two teams of each group are relegated to the classification round and will play the bottom two teams of another group.
The top eight teams of the second round advance to the knockout quarterfinals, where the winners advance to the semifinals and then to the championship game. The bottom eight will play a series of knockout games to determine the 9th to 16th placers.
As for the classification round, teams will also play a series of knockout games to determine the 17th to 32nd placers. In case of ties, point differential will be used.
Full groupings can be found here.
FIBA World Cup 2023 groups
| Group | Teams |
|---|---|
| Group A | Angola, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Italy |
| Group B | South Sudan, Serbia, People’s Republic of China, Puerto Rico |
| Group C | United States, Jordan, Greece, New Zealand |
| Group D | Egypt, Mexico, Montenegro, Lithuania |
| Group E | Germany, Finland, Australia, Japan |
| Group F | Slovenia, Cape Verde, Georgia, Venezuela |
| Group G | Islamic Republic of Iran, Spain, Cote d’Ivoire, Brazil |
| Group H | Canada, Latvia, Lebanon, France |
Team USA At The FIBA Basketball World Cup
The red hot favourites for the title feature our very own Paolo Banchero. The USA team coach; Steve Kerr is playing Paolo at both forward and centre. Kerr has said that in playing Banchero at centre he likes his ability to push the ball in transition. From a Magic perspective seeing him play this role could open up new possibilities and rotations for us come the new season. He certainly has the strength and intelligence to play the position, whilst being a touch undersized.
The squad is comprised entirely from the NBA.
| PF | 8 | Paolo Banchero | Orlando Magic |
| G/F | 5 | Mikal Bridges | Brooklyn Nets |
| PG | 11 | Jalen Brunson | New York Knicks |
| SG | 10 | Anthony Edwards | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| G | 4 | Tyrese Haliburton | Indiana Pacers |
| G/F | 12 | Josh Hart | New York Knicks |
| SF | 7 | Brandon Ingram | New Orleans Pelicans |
| F/C | 13 | Jaren Jackson Jr. | Memphis Grizzlies |
| F | 6 | Cameron Johnson | Brooklyn Nets |
| C | 14 | Walker Kessler | Utah Jazz |
| PF | 9 | Bobby Portis | Milwaukee Bucks |
| SG | 15 | Austin Reaves | Los Angeles Lakers |
The United States will play in Group C with Greece, Jordan and New Zealand. Their games will be played at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila. The top two finishers advance to the second round, where they will compete against the top two finishers from Group D.
TEAM USA FIXTURES
All times are U.K.
12:40pm August 26th – USA vs NEW ZEALAND
12:40pm August 28th – USA vs GREECE
08:40am August 30th – USA vs JORDAN
Greece will be without double MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, though brother and fellow Milwaukee Buck Thanasis plays.
Group E
The Orlando Magic have three representatives in this pool in the shape of Joe Ingles, Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner. Again the top two finishers advance to the second round, where face the top two teams from Group F (Georgia’s group but more of them to come later).
The games are all to be played in the 8500 capacity Okinawa Arena in Japan.
Germany
Franz Wagner and elder brother Moritz Wagner are part of a strong German team. Germany had an outstanding Eurobasket tournament in 2022 and maintain that team. They took the bronze medal home from that tournament, having lost in the semi-final to eventual champions Spain.
The team leaders for Germany are Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner. Aside from that pairing and Moritz Wagner they have NBA experience in the form of Daniel Theis and Isaac Bonga (now with Bayern Munich). They have lost Maxi Kleber (Dallas) after Schroder made some comments about him in an interview. Kleber stated that he would not be part of the team due to some “unfortunate and inappropriate public statements” that were made about him.
Among the standouts of the German team last summer are Andreas Obst, Johannes Voigtmann and Johannes Thiemann.
TEAM GERMANY FIXTURES
12:10pm August 25th – GERMANY vs JAPAN
08:30am August 27th – GERMANY vs AUSTRALIA
07:30am August 29th – GERMANY vs FINLAND
Australia
The Magic’s free agent signing, Australian Joe Ingles could also be part of a team making a deep run in this tournament. In the 2019 tournament they finished 4th, losing in the semi-finals to the eventual champions Spain. At the 2020 Olympics they finished with the Bronze medal, having fallen in the semi-final to the Gold medal winning Team USA
They have NBA quality and experience throughout the team. Matisse Thybulle, Patty Mills, Josh Giddey, Dante Exum, Josh Green, Jock Landale, Dyson Daniels and Xavier Cooks are all currently in the NBA. With veterans Matthew Dellavadova and Thon Maker they each have that NBA experience.
TEAM AUSTRALIA FIXTURES
08:00am August 25th – AUSTRALIA vs FINLAND
08:30am August 27th – AUSTRALIA vs GERMANY
11:10am August 29th – AUSTRALIA vs JAPAN
Georgia
Goga Bitadze ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 has been winning plaudits for his performances in Georgia’s warm up games. Georgia play in Group F, being situated in Okinawa, Japan.
With their pool they could easily progress from this group to the next round. Truthfully, it is hard to see them progress beyond that stage where they would likely face Australia or Germany.
TEAM GEORGIA FIXTURES
08:00am August 26th – GEORGIA vs CAPE VERDE
11:30am August 28th – GEORGIA vs SLOVENIA
08:00am August 30th – GEORGIA vs VENEZUELA
Others Worth A Watch At The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023
Spain
The perennial successful European team and No. 1 team in the world rankings. Spain are the defending champions of the FIBA World Cup title. They are also the holders of the European title, having defeated France in September 2022 Final 88-76.
With a veteran squad powering the team to the 2019 title, Spain now has a talented group of young players in this year’s tournament. They went 9-1 in the qualifying round.
This team consists of eight players with NBA experience including Santi Aldama, Usman Garuba, Rudy Fernandez, Alex Abrines and the Hernangomez brothers; Willie and Juancho. The loss of Ricky Rubio will hurt though.
It is entirely possible that this squad could capture a third FIBA World Cup and reinforce the country’s place at the top of the world rankings.
France
The Magic’s former shooting guard Evan Fournier will again be a large part of the French squad. Additional experience comes in the form of NBA veterans Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum. The NBA’s number 1 Draft pick Victor Wembanyama has withdrawn from the team.
Canada
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell all feature in this strong looking Canadian team. Further NBA experience comes from one time Miami Heat member Kyle Alexander, who now plays in Europe.
Cory Joseph and Jamahl Murray are absent. The Denver Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray has recently withdrawn, citing a need for more recovery time following the run to the NBA title in June.
Serbia
A nation of basketball fanatics they have the NBA experience of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Jovic. They are unfortunately without Finals MVP Nikola Jokic who is prioritising rest after leading the Denver Nuggets to the NBA title.
Others You May Know
Lithuania feature Jonas Valunciunis and also have ex Magic forward Ignas Brazdeikis in the squad. Magic legend Nikola Vucevic is part of the Montenegro team.
Lauri Markkanen (Finland), Jordan Clarkson (Philippines), Raul Neto (Brazil), Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic), Kyle Anderson (China), Yuta Watanabe (Japan), Davis Bertans (Latvia), Janis Timma (Latvia and a previous Orlando Magic hopeful) and ALeem Ford (Puerto Rico and previously of both the Orlando and Lakeland Magic) will all be involved also.
Finally, for Slovenia comes Luka Doncic with assistance of Zoran Dragic (ex Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat player, who is the younger brother of Goran). Slovenia are no slouches and will compete, having finished in fourth at last year’s Eurobasket competition.
How To Watch
The FIBA Basketball World Cup will be shown through the NBA App and NBA.com. There is however a cost to purchase the FIBA World Cup Pass, which is via FIBA’s digital platform, Courtside 1891. For purchase at £21.99 it allows fans to watch all of the games from the competition. The pass also includes extended highlights and top plays, as well as being able to watch matches back on-demand. It will only be available for the duration of the World Cup.
We will be using the Courtside 1891 app to watch rather than through the NBA.
It promises to be an exciting competition, and hopefully an injury free one for our Magic representatives!
