An event like no other is locked in to take place a little later this year across three different Asian nations and the competition is closer than ever.
Christmas for international hoops fans comes in August; the tip-off for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
32 teams are confirmed and ready; the final round of qualifiers concluded in March and now squads are being finalised.
Olympic bronze medalist the Boomers have taken its initial extended 18-player squad down to 15 players.
Australia made it through to the quadrennial event last year, marking a fifth consecutive qualification to the FIBA-run tournament. Australia’s looking to best its PB of a fourth-placed finish.
This year’s tournament sees many familiar sides return to the competition, plus nations Cape Verde, Georgia, Latvia and South Sudan making their World Cup debut.
Men’s FIBA World Cup dates
August 25 – September 10, 2023
The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will tip-off on August 25, with the Grand Final set for September 10 in the Philippines.
The draw of where and when each of the 32 competing nations will play is yet to be determined with the announcement of the draw set for April 29.
Pools A,B,C and D are being held in the Philippines, pools E and F in Japan and G and H are in Indonesia.
The second round of the tournament will be shared among four different cities with the decider happening at Philippine Arena in Bulacan, Philippines.
Men’s FIBA World Cup location
Japan, Indonesia & Philippines
The Philippines and Japan have hosted the event individually in 1978 and 2006 respectively, but it will be the first time a major World Cup (across Football, Rugby, Basketball and others) has been held in Indonesia.
The venues are in Manila, Jakarta and Okinawa.
In a diversion from the norm, this year’s tournament for the first time ever will share the hosting duties across multiple nations – the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
How to watch and stream the FIBA World Cup
The FIBA World Cup will be shown on Foxtel and their sports streaming service Kayo here in Australia with the Boomers matches expected to be shown live on one of the free-to-air channels as well.
The rest of the competition will be shown exclusively on ESPN for Australian audiences.
How to buy FIBA World Cup tickets
Tickets can be found through FIBA’s portal right here. Various passes are also available, including finals passes and individual team passes, via this link.
Basketball Australia also have some Tour Packages available right here, if you haven’t left it too late.
Boomers games
Australia v Finland | Group | Friday August 25, 6:00pm AEST
Australia v Germany | Group | Sunday August 27, 6:30pm AEST
Australia v Japan | Group | Tuesday August 29, 9:10pm AEST
FIBA World Cup Groups
Group A | Angola, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Italy
Group B | South Sudan, Serbia, China, Puerto Rico
Group C | USA, 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 | Iran, Spain, Cote d’Ivoire, Brazil
Group H | Canada, Latvia, Lebanon, France
Can the Boomers win the FIBA World Cup?
Many Australians will be tuning in to see if the Boomers previous highest placed finish of fourth at the last FIBA World Cup will be bested this time around.
The Boomers had a strong tournament performance at their last international event, the Olympics, taking home the bronze medal after edging out Luka Doncic’s Slovenia.
Considering the growth and development of the young talent making it’s way to the NBA, plus the stars still playing on our shores in the NBL, it’s fair to say Australia is going to have a very good chance of at least making the big dance.
Journalists inside the game of basketball have spoken recently about the ease at which the Boomers got through the qualifiers and how big of a threat they can be when the superstars rejoin the green and gold fold.
Since the Olympics, Australia has had players such as Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Xavier Cooks and Josh Green emerge as new contributors and starting calibre options. Friend of Only Sports Dejan Vasiljevic has missed the cut, but don’t rule out a late call up or two.
Josh Giddey confirms he’s playing for the Boomers
As of mid-April, confirmation came that Oklahoma City Thunder rising star Josh Giddey committed to the national cause. This is a huge boost for the Boomers, with the 20-year-old coming off another promising season.
The move will help with national morale as well, given the Ben Simmons situation.
What could the Boomers’ best lineup look like?
Still over five months out from the World Cup, it’s hard to determine who will be available and who will rule themselves out.
As it currently stands with no one yet to make themselves unavailable, many Australian NBA stars will come into the squad with an aim to have a top three finish at the tournament.
Here at Only Sports, we’ve put together our predicted starting five for the upcoming World Cup:
PG: Josh Giddey
SG: Patty Mills
SF: Matisse Thybulle
PF: Xavier Cooks
C: Jock Landale
Which other teams can take it up to the Boomers and, of course, the Dream Team?
Another team that you never really know what to expect from is the United States, who every now and then select an interesting crop of players despite having the best of the best at their disposal.
Considering they lost the previous FIBA Basketball World Cup to Spain in 2019, the USA could roll out an all-NBA caliber team to wipe out the competition and reclaim the throne.
But in saying that, there are up against some strong opposition in this World Cup that could really give them a run for their money.
Obviously Australia is going to be up there, but European sides such France and Spain are going to be extremely hard to get past.
For France, they have the perfect mixture of shooting and playmaking with players such as Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum on the perimeter. But it’s their paint powerhouses of former defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert and projected first overall 2023 NBA Draft pick Victor Wembanyama that make them a serious threat.
And for Spain, its there ability to never give up and almost always finish inside the top three. With plenty of unknown players to the world in some of the European leagues, it makes them very unpredictable.
