爱华网What is the FIBA World Cup of Basketball?
The World Cup of Basketball isn’t a new tournament. It was FIBAWorld Championship until FIBA decided to hitch on the globalrecognition of the World Cup name in an attempt to increaseattention and presumably, boost its SEO hits. The name is not thatimportant if you’re already a fan of the tournament.
It has had its share of great sporting moments. Back in 2002,the U.S. lost its first international game since it started sendingNBA players. Then in 2006, an unheralded Greece team beat the U.S.,before losing in the finals to Spain. That US debacle promptedwidespread changes in its national team system, culminating in thecreation of the Redeem Team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The World Cup of Basketball has moments in the spotlight overthe years. Things have leveled off since the US re-established itsdominance in the sport but anytime you have the best players in theworld playing for pride and country, there will always be anaudience for it.
Who’s the Favorite?
Obviously, it’s the USA. That has been especially true since the2008 Beijing Olympics and figures to hold true for as long as NBAplayers take the tournament seriously. The 2014 US Team looks to beon the right path to reasserting its dominance in the tournament sounless something unforeseen happens like LeBron James being grantedSpanish citizenship, Team USA is the odds-on favorite at 2/5 oddsto win the tournament.
Should the US be concerned about other teams?
If the team plays up to its ability, there’s no real reason tobe concerned. Spain have always played the US tough and with thetournament set to be held in its home soil, things could get hairyfor the Americans. The odds to win the tournament speaks for itselfwith Spain trailing only Team USA at 2/1 odds. Just below Spain isFrance at 25/1.
Who are the must-watch teams of the tournament?
This is an entirely different question than who is going to winthe whole thing. Team USA will always be in this conversationbecause it has NBA players. It also goes for Spain and to a lesserextent, France, Brazil, and Argentina.
However, there’s one team that should get a special mention:Gilas Pilipinas.
That’s the Philippines men’s national basketball team, which isparticipating in the tournament for the first time since 1878.Considering how much of a hotbed basketball is in the Philippines;it’s shocking that the Philippines hasn’t made it this far in thepast 35 years for one reason or another. It is a good thing, thenational program has finally been steered in the right directionand after years of underachieving in international competition,Gilas Pilipinas have established itself as an up-and-comingnational team that could make some noise in the tournament.
Are there any props worth betting on?
A USA vs Spain final seems to be inevitable at this point but itdoesn’t mean that we cannot put money on who we think the thirdplace team is going to be. Taking out both the US and Spain, Franceassumes the role of favorites to finish third at 4/1 odds. Braziland Argentina are next at 9/2 odds, followed by Brazil, Lithuania,and Greece at 6/1 odds, Serbia at 10/1 odds and Turkey at 12/odds.
Should we even watch it?
Of course. It is the highest level of international basketball,on part with the games we see during the Olympics. Plus being heldin Spain is an added bonus and again, don’t sleep on the otherteams in the tourney like the Philippines just because they’re nextto longshots to win the title.
Besides, the next tournament is five years from now in 2019. Soenjoy it while you can because it’s going to be a longer wait forthe next one.
2014男篮世锦赛夺冠赔率
2014年8月30日到9月14日男篮世锦赛将在西班牙举行，自2002年美国男篮经历了第一次输球后，到2006年美国男篮被一支名不见经传的希腊队淘汰后，美国男篮励精图治在2008年北京奥运会上重新夺回失地。
以目前的美国队的夺冠赔率1.25和西班牙的3.75及后面的阿根廷和巴西的34.00来看，这美国队的夺冠赔率只有0.25倍的净利润来看可比巴西世界杯的巴西队夺冠赔率稳很多，关键是东道主的西班牙男篮的3.75夺冠赔率，在这个2.75倍的净利润下西班牙的夺冠简直就需要奇迹，和当年希腊夺得欧洲杯一样的低概率的事件。至于说巴西、阿根廷、希腊、法国及后面的球队等等，这些球队可能就是陪太子读书的角色。
