After a long period of waiting, the 12th edition of the Fiba World Tour is set to go. Best teams in the world will gather in the Japanese City Utsunomiya to compete for the title in the first Masters of 2023 World Tour. Utsunomiya is hosting the opener for the second year in a row, while Marseille, Edmonton, Constanta, and Macau will be new locations compared to the previous edition.
Utsunomiya will host 12 teams divided into 4 pools consisting of 3 teams. Each team will play the other starting from Saturday, April 29th. First-placed and second-placed teams in each group will proceed to the elimination stage which will be played on Sunday, April 30th. The semifinal and final games will be held also on Sunday.
Ub, the No.1 seed, was superior last campaign and will bring the same members to Japan. Miami brought very good USA’s players to the roster, including Dylan Travis, Kareem Maddox, and Canyon Barry. Jimmer Fredette is ice on Miami’s cake for challenges they will face in the upcoming period. Sansar MMC Energy led by Anand Ariunbold, is the third team in pool A.
In group B, Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy has a Mongolian star Delgernyam Davaasambuu aka ‘The Bull, in its squad. Lithuanian team Raudondvaris Hoptrans, former Sakiai, is going to be a hard team to beat in the same pool. They are led by the powerful duo Marijus Uzupis and Aurelijus Pukelis. Partizan, a Serbian team, is a dark horse in the pool and can cause big upsets.
In pool C, Latvian team Riga will miss the services of their stars Karlis Lasmanis and Nauris Miezis who chose to play in China this season. Amsterdam, the Dutch giant, made a deal with former basketball star Worthy De Jong hoping he might be their savior. Utsunomiya won the 2023 Ulaanbaatar Super Quest last weekend beating Chinese Futian, so their fans silently believe that scenario can be repeated.
Fans will see a contest in group D between Austrian Vienna and Belgian Antwerp. Vienna is going to rely on the skills of Quincy Diggs, the best-ranked USA player in the standings. However, Antwerp is represented by Denis Donkor who is a real threat in defense. We will get the third team in the group in the qualifications between Yokohama BeefmanEXE, Sydney CLBEXE, and Rosedale SwishEXE.
It’s important to start the season well, but upsets shouldn’t be a surprise because because this is the first challenge for the teams this year, and after the tournament they will definitely have an idea of what they need to improve in the rest of the season.
More: fiba.basketball
Add Comment