The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Robert Andaya
There will be no gold medal game for five-time champion United States and first-time semifinalist Canada in the FIBA World Cup 2023.
Instead, Germany – the only unbeaten team left in the tournament at 7-0 – and Serbia – the losing finalist in the 2014 edition in Spain – will dispute the championship in the world’s biggest basketball competition next only to the Olympics.
Germany shocked the United States, 113-111, in a heart-stopping contest, while Serbia outsteadied Canada, 95-86, even without its biggest star to set the stage for one more epic battle at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Germans, led by Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroder and the Serbians, bannered by Atlanta Hawks mainstay Bogdan Bogdanovic, will clash for the championship in this 19th edition of the FIBA World Cup, previously known as the World Basketball Championships.
The Americans, who are parading an all-NBA team of young players, and the Canadians, who are bolstered by seven NBA players now playing for different teams, will collide for the bronze medal.
The Germans actually won their seventh straight game, with Andreas Obst finishing with 24 points, and NBA veterans Franz Wagner adding 22 points, Daniel Theis contributing 21 points, and Dennis Schröder adding 17 points, nine assists.
Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards topscored for the Americans with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, followed by Austin Reaves with 21 points, Mikal Bridges with 17 points and Jalen Brunson with 15 points .
The Americans, however, played minus Brandon Ingram due to an upper respiratory illness.,
Overall, the 113 points scored by Germany were the most points allowed by the United States in any Olympics or World Cup game,
The Germany-United States game turned out to be the highest scoring semifinal in the history of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, according to the official FIBA social media page.
The combined 224 points scored by Germany and the United States were clearly much higher than the combined 130-point production of Russia and Croatia back in 1994.
“The way we play together, we stuck together in different times when things got tough, and we had players who made some huge plays. One more to go. Enjoy this a little bit tonight and get ready for Sunday. We talked about it in the locker room after the game, it’s a great win, but we’re not where we want to be yet. This group of players wants to win gold,” said Germany head coach Gordie Herbert,
His counterpart, Steve Kerr, was clearly impressed by the German’s style of play.
“That was the main point of the loss, we weren’t ever able to make them feel us defensively. We also made some mistakes. It sounds crazy, but the first offensive rebound on the game, you gotta box out. Right from the beginning, you gotta set the tone. And then Obst hit a three of that offensive rebound, and the game opened up for him. He was the key in the game,” said Kerr.
“I give Dennis Schroder a ton of credit, he’s a really tough guard to handle, he’s quick, he can get the ball and penetrate constantly and that compromises your defense,” added Kerr.
In Friday’s other semifinal game, the Bogdan Bogdanovic-led Serbia played hard enough to roll back Canada and make it back to the final for the first time since 2014.
And Bogdanovic was clearly the hero of the night.
A mainstay of the Atlanta Hawks, the 6-5 Bogdanovic finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting as he outdueled fellow NBA superstar, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada .
Bogdanovic, who also topscored in Serbia’s convincing 87-68 win over Lithuania in the quarterfinals last Tuesday, also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals in another stellar performance
Nikola Milutinov and Ognjen Dobric added 16 points apiece for Serbia.
“The defense starts with our guards, and it’s a chain effect for the rest of the team. Just one person messes up, and the whole chain falls apart. The taller guys have a lot of trust in our guards and their ball pressure, the rest of the team gives them a lot of trust. That’s why they are playing with a lot of confidence. Dobric was already great on defense v Lithuania, but it wasn’t noticeable because of his offense. And look at him today, 13 points… No, wait, 16 points! In a World Cup semifinal,” said Serbia head coach,Svetislav Pesic.
RJ Barrett was the top scorer for Canada with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting in 32 minutes , followed by Dillon Brooks with 16 points and three rebounds.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the high-scoring Oklahoma City Thunder guard was limited to only 15 points — 10 points below his average of 25.0 points in Canada’s previous games.
The 6-6 standout, who had back-to-back 30-plus games against deposed champion Spain and Slovenia, was held to only 4-of-8 shooting in 34 minutes by the tight defense of Aleksa Avramovic.