Welcome to the 2010 FIBA World Championship, hosted by Turkey. 24 nations will hoop it up over the next 2 weeks to see who will be awarded the Naismith Trophy. The 24 teams are divided into 4 groups, with Team USA in Group B. The tournament begins with the Preliminary Round where each team plays against the other teams of the same group, with the top 4 teams of each group qualifying to enter the Knockout Stage. So the Preliminary Round is sort of like a mini-regular season.
Two years ago, a star studded team including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, and Chris Paul recaptured glory for Team USA as they took the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. This year, none of those players are back for Team USA 2010. Instead, we have the "B Team" which includes Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups, Derrick Rose, and our own Stephen Curry. This team is lacking in front court size and big men, but hopefully the athleticism of our guards and forwards plus some hot Curry shooting will be enough to make up for it and take us to the trophy.
Here we go. 5 games in 6 days, with the first opponent from Group B, Croatia. Familiar names on Croatia: none.
Preliminary round lineup:
| Day | Date | Opponent | Live PDT | Live Chan | Replay PDT | Replay Chan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat | Aug 28 | Croatia | 9:00am | ESPN Classic, espn3.com | 8:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Sun | Aug 29 | Slovenia | 6:30am | ESPN2, espn3.com | 3:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Mon | Aug 30 | Brazil | 11:30am | ESPN, espn3.com | 8:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Wed | Sep 01 | Iran | 9:00am | ESPN, espn3.com | 8:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Thu | Sep 02 | Tunisia | 6:30am | ESPN2, espn3.com | 9:30pm | ESPN2 |
5 games in 6 nights. 5 game threads in 6 days. Where's my hazard pay?