Basketball World Cup Preview

The FIBA Basketball World Cup begins on Saturday as 24 teams from around the world will battle it in six Spanish cities between August 30 and September 14 promising two weeks of excitement and top class basketball with two clear favorites: hosts Spain and the USA.

Four cities, Granada, Seville, Bilbao and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will host the group stages, with the attention focused on the Spanish in Granada and the American' s in Bilbao.

Spain have a side packed with experience, with 7 players in their squad who formed part of the World Championship winning team of 2006. Spain coach Juan Antonio Orenga counts on a balanced squad with an intimidating forward line of Pau and Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Felipe Reyes, mobile point guards, Sergio Rodriguez and Ricky Rubio and talent in their outside play provided by Jose Manuel Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro and Sergi Llull.

The Spanish face Egypt, Iran, Serbia, France and Brazil in a group where the main threat will come from Brazil and their NBA based players, such as Thiago Splitter, while not discounting a French side weakened by a loss of key players such as Tony Parker.

The Americans are clear favorites in Group C, which will be played in Bilbao. The side coached by Mike Krzyzewski: 'Coach K' , is also missing some big names like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant, but any squad with all of its players performing in the NBA is a huge threat and 'Coach K' s experience has seen them to two Olympic Gold medals and the 2010 World title.

Finland, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic, Turkey and the Ukraine make up the rest of Group C, with the Ukraine likely to pose the toughest threat to the Americans, while the exciting Finnish team can count on the support of thousands of travelling fans.

Group B in Seville hosts the Argentineans, who will battle it out with Greece, Croatia, Puerto Rico, Senegal and the Philippines.

Although they are without star player Manu Ginobili, Argentina have players such as Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni, (who has just signed for Real Madrid) to give them power under the hoop.

Meanwhile Greece are led by former Bilbao and Valencia coach Fotis Katsikaris and have a team mixing youth and experience, while Croatia, who finished fourth in the last Eurobasket, look well-balanced with Roko Ukic and Damien Rudez, who will join the Indiana Pacers, providing support for a side with a never say die attitude.

Finally Group D, which will play in Las Palmas should see Lithuania and Slovenia qualify easily from a group which will have Australia, Angola, Mexico and South Korea competing for the remaining two places in the last 16.

With four sides progressing from every group, the real action will start on September 6 when the World Cup takes up residence in Madrid and Barcelona for the knockout stages. Here the crossovers will be vital, but with Spain and the USA paired in different halves of the draw, the expectation is they will meet in a repeat of the 2012 and 2008 Olympic finals, both of which the Americans won.

However, there is a long way to go until then and a side such as Brazil, Lithuania, Argentina or Greece, who defeated the US in 2006, will all be looking to cause an upset and book their place for the grand final in the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid on September 14th. (Cihan/Xinhua)