Who Is Likely to Win the FIBA World Championship? | IXGAMES

Finally, the FIBA World Championship will kick of this week.  Held in Turkey, the tournament will start on August 28, with the gold medal tourney taking place on September 12 to conclude the two-week event. Though the FIBA is nowhere near the astounding popularity of the World Cup, it is nonetheless one of the most anticipated events this year among basketball fans, sports bettors, and pro basketball leagues.  Host country Turkey automatically qualifies to the event, along with the 2008 Olympic gold medalist team USA.  Twenty two other countries will compete for the gold medal through the qualifying tournaments, which include group plays among the four 6-team groups.  From there, the four top-placers will meet for the Round of 16, a single elimination round. The FIBA fever is in the air, and among the top teams to watch out for, according to experts and sports bettors, are the following: United States, U.S Team The US team has a good chance to win the FIBA championship since they’ve already won 3 gold medals in the past and are known for their roster of the most talented basketball pros.  However, their dominance in the Olympics may not be as astounding as in this competition, following the absence of Miami Heat’s Big 3 and Celtic’s Rajon Rondo.  Some also say that the biggest competition of the US team in its group is Brazil.  Nonetheless, their roster still consists of some NBA’s more powerful players like Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Chauncey Billups, Rudy Gay, Kevin Durant, Lamar Odom, and Andre Iguodala. The US has a win odds of -150 to win according to Intertops sportsbook. Spain Spain may have a hard time with the World Championship this year, as it is grouped with other powerful teams like Canada, Lithuania, and France.  But should Spain make it through the group play, it will surely put up a good fight for the single elimination as the defending champion.  The absence of Jose Calderon (point guard) may affect their game, as he is one of the key players in the 2006 World Championship and the 2008 Olympics, where Spain gave the US team a hard time to win the gold medal.  Still, Spain is hopeful with their roster of players including Pau Gasol, FIBA MVP in 2006, Ricky Rubio, and Rudy Fernandez. Spain has a +300 odds to win found at Intertops online sportsbook list of data. Other contenders for the championship Greece is considered to be among the strong contenders, after winning the silver medal from the last championship event in 2006.  The team has more experienced players and has good rapport since most of them are under the same professional league in their country.  It is said that Greece might be the real opponent of the US team for the final game.  Greece has an odds to win of  +1200. Argentina will also put up a good fight as one of the best-ranked teams.  Beating other teams in its group like Serbia will already be a big accomplishment for Argentina.  The absence of Manu Ginobili may affect their chances, but they still have other good players to rely on, such as Andrew Nocioni, Carlos Delfino, Fabricio Oberto, and Luis Scol who play in the NBA.  Serbia has an +1400 odds to win compared to Argentina’s +2000.