FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, will be gathering the world’s most renowned athletes to be pitted against each other in matches to be held across six different areas across Spain, namely Madrid, Sevilla, Bilbao, Barcelona, Granada, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
A total of 24 countries are set to go all out in the tournament, divided into four clusters, namely Groups A, B, C, and D.
High anticipation is particularly coming from the NBA superstars that are set to participate in this year’s FIBA that had showcased their talents through NBA matches aired by ABS-CBN Sports over the previous years.
Also participating in the tournament will be the country’s very own Team Philippines’ Gilas Pilipinas, led by Coach Chot Reyes. The team will be competing in Group B of the tournament alongside Senegal, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Greece, and Croatia.
The tournament’s defending champion, which defeated host country Turkey in the 2010 finals, is team USA, currently ranked 1 st in the FIBA World Rankings. Team USA had won the event four times in the past and has appeared in all 17 previous editions. This year’s team will be coached by Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski, who also coached the USA when it won its last title.
Posing as the biggest threat to the USA this year is no less than the host country. Spain is currently ranked 2 nd in the FIBA Wolrd Rankings and is to be led by brothers Pau and Marc Gasol. Spain last won the FIBA World Championship in 2006, when it defeated Greece in the gold medal game in Japan.
ABS-CBN Sports + Action will be airing all Group B games, which the Philippines belongs to, and all games of host country Spain. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN Sports will be airing all of Team USA’s games on Channel 2.
For updates, visit ABS-CBN Sports and ABS-CBN Sports + Action’s official page at www.sports.abs-cbn.com.
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