The World Basketball Championship continues in Japan. Until the fifth game day, without defeats, there were those who, in fact, should not have lost at the preliminary stage: Argentina, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Italy and the USA. There is no doubt that these teams will get into the playoffs. Who will join these teams in the relegation games is the first question of the Japanese championship. The second is who will prevail in the European-American confrontation. Today, experts estimate the chances of the two continents approximately equally.
The fifth game day of the Japanese world championship was the most eventful. All twenty-four teams participating in the championship took turns on the floor. By 10 am Moscow time, the results of four matches were already known. Argentina easily beat Nigeria - 98:64 (almost half of the points scored by Argentines on the account of Nochioni and Zhinobili), the Spaniards sorted out relations with Angola - 93:83, the Senegal team could not contain the Chinese onslaught, and the Celestial basketball players together with their coach Jonas Kazlauskas celebrated first victory in the championship - 100: 83. Chinese center Yao Ming scored his rightful 26 points and continues to be the most successful player in the championship. On average, he scores 26.7 points per game. True, the Chinese team itself does not help much so far. He promised to be an interesting match between Lithuania and Australia. He was like that, but only during the first two quarters. And then the Lithuanians took the initiative in their hands. As a result, 78:57 in favor of Lithuania, and it has a chance to go further.
Eight games were played day and evening (Moscow time). Germany easily threw Panama - 81:63. 25 German points on the account of Dirk Nowitzki, but the feeling that he scored them rather out of habit did not leave. Germany in this meeting could do without its center. Serbia and Montenegro, last playing under the double name, beat Venezuela - 90:65. Oscar Torres, who is well-known to Russian fans, who is a member of the Venezuelan national team, scored only 10 points. In our championship, the Oscars, as a rule, gain more, but here he still does not manage to reach the usual sniper level. And given the general situation of Venezuelans, it is unlikely to succeed.
Another piece of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia, is gradually gaining momentum, and its victory over the Puerto Rico team is confirmed by 90:82.
The owner of the championship, the Japanese team, with the frantic support of the stands, nevertheless lost to the team of New Zealand - 57:60. The Lebanon-France meeting was a sensation. The Lebanese national team, despite the fact that the country is going through hard times, showed its fighting qualities and wrested a victory from the French with an advantage of just one point - 74:73. The Turks easily figured out the Qatar team - 76:69. The most spectacular event was to be the match between the US and Italy national teams - the fact that both of these teams decided for themselves the task of reaching the next stage did not say anything.
In this championship, the Americans play in full accordance with the Brazilian football principle: let the opponent score as much as he can, and we will score him as much as we want. Before meeting with Italy, the Americans easily scored more than 100 points in each game. With Italians, the US team almost reached this mark - 95:84. Moreover, during the game, the Americans conceded about 10 points, and this state of affairs continued until the end of the second quarter. And then everything fell into place, and the American basketball players confidently brought the match to victory. A rare case for meetings of this level is Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points. Wade - a little less: 25. But Le Bron James was limited to 8 points.
After five playing days, five teams lost the chance to go further. These are the teams of Venezuela, Nigeria, Panama, Qatar and Senegal. Seven teams ahead of schedule secured their way to the next stage. Twelve teams claim the nine remaining passes in the playoffs. The fight is just beginning.