Black Bears

USA Basketball put together different rosters for all six World Cup qualifying windows, and coach Jim Boylen noticed the same two things with each of those groups.
One, every player beamed when putting on the &ldquo;USA&rdquo; jersey for picture day. Two, by the third or fourth day of practice, the players were coaching each other.
It took 52 players and more than a year, but the job is done &mdash; USA Basketball is going to the World Cup in the Philippines this summer. The U.S. won&rsquo;t have to sweat it out this weekend when the final spots in the 32-team field get claimed, after rallying to beat Uruguay on Thursday and clinching a berth.
&ldquo;When they put on the USA jersey, the same jersey that LeBron James wore, the same jersey that Kobe Bryant wore, the same jersey of the senior men&rsquo;s national team, there&rsquo;s a joy from those guys unlike what I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; Boylen said. &ldquo;And then it clicks: They&rsquo;ve reached a higher level of distinction and they&rsquo;ve got to come together. That&rsquo;s what happened.&rdquo;
Boylen has led the U.S. to a 9-2 record in qualifying, with one game left at Brazil on Sunday. It&rsquo;s meaningless, on paper, for the Americans, but could decide whether Brazil goes to the World Cup or not.
His efforts were lauded Friday by Steve Kerr, who will coach the roster of NBA players that the U.S. will take to the World Cup this summer.
&ldquo;Jim Boylen has done a great job with that whole group and they all go unheralded, and I just want take the time to say &lsquo;thank you&rsquo; as the coach of the team that will be playing in the World Cup this summer,&rdquo; said Kerr, the Golden State coach. &ldquo;My gratitude goes out to Jim and all the players.&rdquo;
For many of the U.S. players, Sunday could be the last time they play with &ldquo;USA&rdquo; on the front of the jersey. The World Cup roster will be filled by NBA players; the qualifying teams, with a handful of exceptions, were primarily players from the G League.
If the U.S. finishes as one of the best two teams from the Americas region in the World Cup, they&rsquo;ll also qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Americans are the four-time defending Olympic champions. Kerr will again coach the Americans in the Olympics if they qualify, assisted by Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra, the Los Angeles Clippers&rsquo; Tyronn Lue and Gonzaga&rsquo;s Mark Few.
&ldquo;All I want them to do is take care of business,&rdquo; said guard Langston Galloway, who played in the most qualifying games for the U.S. over the last 15 months. &ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;m part of their success to some extent. We&rsquo;ve done our job and now we hand it over to the next group and let them finish the job.&rdquo;
MELO ON BOARD
Carmelo Anthony was introduced in Manila on Friday as the newest FIBA World Cup Global Ambassador.
He said it was special to be picked for the role, especially since his close friend Kobe Bryant was an ambassador for the 2019 World Cup in China. Anthony said it was &ldquo;special to kind of follow what Kobe has created on a global scale.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure he definitely would have been here with me, watching these games, coming over, hanging in the Philippines and just enjoying himself,&rdquo; Anthony said. &ldquo;For me, I can continue part of his legacy, but also establish what I have to establish for myself.&rdquo;
Anthony, a three-time Olympic champion, joins Pau Gasol and Luis Scola as ambassadors.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad we&rsquo;re not competing no more. We&rsquo;re on the same side now,&rdquo; Anthony said.
FIELD UPDATE
Jordan made the 32-team World Cup, clinching its spot Friday when New Zealand defeated Saudi Arabia.
Jordan is the seventh team to advance through the Asian Qualifiers, joining co-hosts Philippines and Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Australia and China. There is one spot left unclaimed from Asia, with Iran and Kazakhstan still in the running.
Also clinching on Friday were South Sudan and Egypt.
The other teams that have clinched so far:
Americas Region (7 spots)
In: USA, Canada.
Still in the race: Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico. Those last five spots will be decided Sunday.
Europe Region (12 spots)
In: Finland, Latvia, Germany, Greece, Slovenia, France, Lithuania, Spain, Italy.
Still in the race: Serbia, Belgium, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Georgia, Iceland.
Africa Region (5 spots)
In: Ivory Coast, South Sudan, Egypt.
Still in the race: Angola, Cape Verde, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia.

USA Basketball will compete in the World Cup in the Philippines this summer, and Carmelo Anthony was named an ambassador.

Team USA clinches World Cup berth; Carmelo Anthony named ambassador

If you&rsquo;ve been overly consumed with the NBA and college basketball, are locked into other things in the world, or mainly come here for film stuff and have no idea who I am or what this is about to be, then welcome to the biggest international fiesta on BasketballNews.com!
There&rsquo;s only one window left in Round 1 of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers, but a bunch of countries have already punched their tickets to the next phase this past week. That means your ancestors might be somewhere between thrilled or pissed depending on how the squad from your homeland performed.
To briefly reiterate, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/things-to-monitor-as-the-next-fiba-world-cups-next-qualifying-window-arrives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in case you missed it</a>: this past week was the second window of FIBA World Cup qualifiers for men&rsquo;s basketball. The qualifying windows run through February 2023, which will determine the 32 qualified teams competing in next summer&rsquo;s World Cup. These six qualifying windows are split into two rounds &mdash; three windows each &mdash; the first of which concludes this coming June and July. Now, you&rsquo;ll see why so many teams have qualified to Round 2 automatically.
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Americas Region 
Automatically Advancing: Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Canada, Dominican Republic, United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico&nbsp;
Already Eliminated: Cuba
Group A: World No. 17 Venezuela, who's seen recent international success with appearances in the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2019 World Cup, is off to a 4-0 start in qualifying. Venezuela notably defeated world No. 7 Argentina 71-58 in Buenos Aires, and is likely en route to another World Cup bid if their play continues. Panama, who is No. 50, nearly defeated Argentina as well, losing just 65-58 in Buenos Aires, and were leading 51-49 heading into the third quarter. Panama is 1-3, though, after blowing out Paraguay 81-59, the closest Paraguay kept any game in qualifiers so far. You probably know where this is going &hellip;
Group B: Similar to Group A, Brazil at 4-0 and Uruguay at 3-1, are atop the table and will advance to Round 2. No. 15 Brazil is one of the mainstays of the Americas, having qualified for every World Cup since 1950, which includes two gold medals in 1959 and 1963. Brazil has a +115 point-differential and hasn&rsquo;t had a victory by fewer than 19 points. Uruguay, who is No. 41, hasn&rsquo;t qualified for the World Cup since 1986 after fairly regularly competing at the level from the 1950s through 1980s. 1-3 Chile will compete with 0-4 Colombia for the last spot.
Group C: With an excess of NBA talent eligible if they were to qualify for the World Cup and Olympics, No. 18 Canada is off to a strong 4-0 start, led by names you&rsquo;ll recognize, like Kyle Wiltjer, Kyle Alexander and Anthony Bennett (yup, that one). Canada, as talented as they&rsquo;ve been, finished 21st in the 2019 World Cup, didn&rsquo;t qualify for 2014, finished 22nd in 2010 and didn&rsquo;t qualify in 2006. In that same vein, they&rsquo;ve been Olympic sober since their 2000 appearance. Otherwise, in this group, the Dominican Republic is 3-1, with their only loss being 85-79 to Canada, and still have a +85 point differential because of their one blowout win over the Bahamas, and two wide victories over the 0-4 Virgin Islands. The Bahamas, who defeated the Virgin Islands, now have two World Cup qualifying wins ever, and have a pathway to Round 2.
Group D: Team USA and Mexico are both 3-1, but Team USA avenged their November loss to Mexico with a 89-67 blowout win in Washington D.C., giving them a +35 point differential, thanks to the Joe Johnson-led group from February. Because Team USA is No. 1, Mexico&rsquo;s No. 24 ranking shouldn&rsquo;t take much of a hit given how they&rsquo;ve overachieved so far. Puerto Rico, who is 2-2, automatically moves on due to both their wins coming against Cuba. Puerto Rico also has a narrow 90-86 loss to Mexico from November, and are the only team in this group who has not yet played a home game. All of the November games were in Mexico, while Cuba and the United States only played home games last week. If the July games are held in, for example, San Juan, Puerto Rico will host the United States and Mexico in an effort to move up the standings.
(I&rsquo;m Puerto Rican, so you&rsquo;re getting our highlights.)
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<a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/americas-qualifiers">MORE INFO ON THE AMERICAS REGION</a>
African Region 
No one in the African Region has officially moved on yet because everyone&rsquo;s played three games, meaning everyone has three more. That said, the best story coming out of the second window &mdash; maybe in the entire qualifying pool &mdash; is South Sudan.
Group B: A few months ago, South Sudan was ranked No. 94 in the world, and moved up to No. 82 on the most recent early December poll reveal. In three games in as many days, they handled No. 84 Rwanda 68-56, shocked 2021 AfroBasket champions and world No. 28 Tunisia &mdash; the second highest-ranked team in the African region &mdash; 72-64, then outlasted Cameroon 74-68, holding a firm lead in Group B as one of two African teams to go undefeated last week.
(The other is Group C&rsquo;s Cote d'Ivoire, but Group C didn&rsquo;t play in this window and will return in July.)
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One of the best moments you'll see all day. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAWC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAWC</a> <a href="https://t.co/XwZCjUxYLD">https://t.co/XwZCjUxYLD</a>
&mdash; Bryan Fonseca 🇵🇷 (@BryanFonsecaNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1497655417303973891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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South Sudan finished seventh in AfroBasket in 2021, and have not yet qualified for a World Cup since joining FIBA in 2013.
Group D: The only others to play in this window, featuring Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and Kenya. Senegal, DR Congo and Egypt are all 2-1. Senegal beat Egypt and Kenya but lost to DR Congo. DR Congo overcame Kenya and Senegal but were defeated by Egypt. And Egypt won against Kenya and DR Congo but lost to Senegal. Thankfully, they can figure out all that in July&hellip;
Among the 2-1 teams in Group D, only Senegal qualified in the 2019 World Cup, who went 0-3 in group play and finished 30th in the final standings.
<a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/african-qualifiers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MORE INFO ON THE AFRICAN REGION</a>
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Asian Region 
Automatically Advancing: New Zealand, Philippines, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Iran, Japan
Disqualified: South Korea 
Group A: In last week&rsquo;s update, it was noted that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/amp/joe-johnsons-beautiful-game-and-more-fiba-friday-notes-from-world-cup-qualifiers">South Korea forfeited a game due to COVID-19 cases</a>, and they <a href="https://sports.inquirer.net/453043/south-korea-appeal-on-fiba-world-cup-qualifying-forfeiture-denied-report">have since been disqualified</a>, meaning New Zealand and India will instantly move on from Group A, as well as the Philippines &mdash; but they&rsquo;re in anyway as World Cup hosts. They&rsquo;re all just playing for position in June and July. It also makes South Korea officially the first 2019 World Cup participant that&rsquo;ll miss the 2023 tournament. Currently, after defeating India 101-46 and 95-60, also beating the Philippines 88-63, New Zealand has a stranglehold on first place, with only a game against the Philippines remaining.
Group B: Australia marched out to a 3-0 record with wins over Japan, China and Chinese Taipei all of which were by at least 16 points. China, who is 2-0 after beating Japan twice, will challenge Australia for first place in June, where they&rsquo;re scheduled to face off twice. Japan is currently 1-3, only having beaten Chinese Taipei by five &mdash;in a game that was held in Japan &mdash; so they&rsquo;ll duke it out for the final spot in the group that&rsquo;ll make Round 2. Regardless, Japan is one of the host countries for the World Cup, so they&rsquo;ll automatically qualify.
Group C: Jordan and Lebanon, both of whom are 3-1, will move onto Round 2. Jordan has qualified for two World Cups in its history, including 2019, where they defeated Senegal, their first and only World Cup win. Jordan defeated them in their head-to-head last week, 74-63, giving them first place. Saudi Arabia, who is 2-2 and in third, gave Jordan their only loss, 72-64, in Jeddah. Indonesia, again, is hosting the World Cup with the Philippines and Japan, does not have their qualification guaranteed, and you&rsquo;re seeing why. Of all the teams in World Cup qualifications, they have the worst point differential, -163, and the next closest is Paraguay, at -136. Indonesia has lost games by the following scores: 96-38, 110-64, 95-66, and 94-64.
Group D: Challenging South Sudan for the best story of the World Cup is no. 70 Kazakhstan, who is 4-0, and even defeated No. 23 Iran in Tehran 73-69. Kazakhstan has never qualified for a World Cup, so this gives them their best chance to do so &mdash; even as teams like Australia, and China will await them when groups merge. Iran is 3-1, and both them and Kazakhstan have put beatings on Syria and Bahrain, who will compete for third place this summer.
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<a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/asian-qualifiers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MORE INFO ON THE ASIAN REGION</a>
European Region 
Automatically Advancing: Serbia, Latvia, Greece, Finland, Germany, France, Lithuania, Georgia, 
Group A: Serbia and Latvia are 3-1 each, though Serbia won their head-to-head in November, 101-100, in one of the best games of qualifying so far. Belgium, who is 2-2 here, defeated Serbia 73-69 in November, and only lost 66-65 to and 68-63 to Latvia last week. They&rsquo;ll get to pick on 0-4 Slovakia once before getting a chance to knock off Serbia again this summer &mdash; though this time, it won&rsquo;t be in Mons. Still, expect them to move on.
Group B: The Antetokounmpo-less Greek squad is 3-1 after a 2-0 week, and only lost to Great Britain in November. No one else in this group, which also features Turkey and Belarus, has more than a single win. Here&rsquo;s why: first, Turkey is 1-3, putting their World Cup qualification streak of five, including a 2010 silver medal, in jeopardy. Great Britain and Belarus were scheduled to play each other twice last week, but both games were canceled and are now TBD. Why? The United Kingdom <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/belarus-basketball-ukraine-russia-war-b2024043.html">canceled Belarus&rsquo; visas because of the country&rsquo;s stance as a Russian ally amid the Russia-Ukraine invasion</a>. More on that in a bit &hellip;
Group C: Finland, who is No. 35 in the world, has two wins over No. 4 Slovenia (without Luka Dončić, it should be noted), and another over No. 21 Croatia, surprisingly standing atop the table for what could be their second World Cup appearance ever &mdash; if they continue at this pace. Slovenia and Sweden are 2-2 each, and Croatia is just 1-3. Croatia's only win came in double overtime over Sweden, 105-98 on Feb. 28.
Group D: Germany&rsquo;s had a drop-off post -Dirk Nowitzki, who led them to a bronze medal in the 2002 World Cup. They did qualify in 2019 after missing in 2014, but finished in 18th and missed the knockout stage. Still, they&rsquo;re No. 11 in the world and are 3-1 in first place despite only a +8 point differential, squeezing out wins over Poland, Israel and Estonia. Poland is 1-3 and alone in last place, and after finishing eighth in the last World Cup they&rsquo;ll have to close with force this summer in match-ups against Israel and Germany.
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Group E: Less than a year removed from an Olympic silver medal, and less than three from a second consecutive World Cup bronze, France is 4-0 to the surprise of no one. Montenegro and Hungary, each at 2-2, will likely be able to hold-off 0-4 Portugal, who has lost their games by a combined 71 points. Hungary has never made a World Cup before, and Montenegro&rsquo;s first appearance came in 2019, finishing 25th out of 32 teams.
Group F: Lithuania, at 4-0, will win the group due to their two victories over Bosnia last week, who is 2-2 and in second place. Bulgaria is 1-3 as is Czech Republic who, like Poland, stunned fans with a sixth place finish in the 2019 World Cup &mdash; they are struggling now in qualifiers. Czech Republic has only beaten Bulgaria, 83-80, in their home turf of Pardubice. They&rsquo;ll play Bosnia and Czech Republic in July, further adding to the prospect of them not being able to repeat their 2019 showing, which was their World Cup debut.
Group G: So, Ukraine is in this group, let&rsquo;s start there. They did play on Feb. 24, losing 88-74 to Spain, but saw their Feb. 27 rematch postponed due to Russia&rsquo;s invasion on their land. As of now, they&rsquo;ll likely make that game up in July, which isn&rsquo;t even secondary due to them literally fighting for their lives as you&rsquo;re reading this. More on that fallout in Group H.
As far as the basketball goes, Georgia has advanced and is 3-1, though Spain hasn&rsquo;t, even at 3-0, they will because &hellip; they&rsquo;re Spain and this is basketball. Georgia, whose only loss was 89-61 to Spain in November, has never qualified for a World Cup. Ukraine is 1-2, with a win over North Macedonia from November. North Macedonia is 0-4 and in last place.
Group H: Russia is 3-0, but because their president is buggin' out and trying to invade Ukraine, killing civilians and evidently forming <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/02/politics/sanctions-russians-belarusians/index.html">a misguided partnership with Belarus in the process</a>, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/fiba-suspends-russian-teams-officials-from-international-basketball-competitions-until-further-notice/">they&rsquo;re suspended until further notice</a>. They had defeated the Netherlands 80-69 on Feb. 24, and were slated to face them again on the 27th, which was canceled due to their invasion attempt. As of now, they&rsquo;re scheduled to play Italy and Iceland in July, but ain&rsquo;t no telling what could happen between now and then.
The women&rsquo;s basketball World Cup, which is scheduled to take place this year from September through October, will be held in Australia. <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/news/australia-announced-as-host-of-the-fiba-womens-basketball-world-cup-2022">Russia was the other finalist</a> to host the women&rsquo;s World Cup, and now, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/news/fiba-statement-on-russian-teams-and-officials">they&rsquo;re expelled from the 2022 Cup entirely</a> due to their actions against Ukraine. Something to monitor as this progresses, obviously &mdash; albeit less so from a basketball standpoint.
Otherwise, Italy and Iceland are each 2-2, and the Netherlands sits at 0-3. If Russia gets disqualified, they&rsquo;d all move on, and it feels like that may eventually happen given the direction we&rsquo;re going.
<a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MORE INFO ON THE EUROPEAN REGION</a>
The third window, which will end Round 1, will take place beginning in late June and into early July.
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Bryan Fonseca reviews the action from the second window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers by region.

Where things stand after the FIBA World Cup qualifiers' second window

In case you&rsquo;ve been overly consumed by the NBA, college basketball, or the WNBA off-season, now would be a great time to remind y&rsquo;all that the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers are going on.
And in case you didn&rsquo;t know, the host countries for the 2023 World Cup are Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines &mdash; more on that later.
The last World Cup was right before the 2019-20 season, but feels so long ago because this whole COVID thing hadn&rsquo;t yet clapped us up. If you remember, the 2020 Olympics took place in 2021 &mdash; as in, last year. Yeah, I know, the international stuff can get confusing, but I&rsquo;m here to help you. Trust me.
Now, perhaps quietly to some, international play quickly resumed this past November with the first window of 2023 World Cup qualifying, which we&rsquo;ll recap shortly.
You have four sets of qualifying regions: Africa, Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe. There are six windows played over a 15-month span (starting from this past November), where the competing squads normally would participate in two games per window. COVID had other ideas &mdash; more on that later.
Currently, each region has groups of four, and the top three in each group will advance to round two following the June/July window. This current round of qualifying is between Nov. 20-30, Feb. 21-March 1, and June 27-July 5, after which we&rsquo;ll enter round two. Round two also occurs over three windows: August 22-30, Nov. 7-15, and Feb. 20-28, then those who will have qualified will enter group drawing next March, and we&rsquo;ll see them compete between August 25-September 10 &mdash; the World Cup.
Now, let&rsquo;s lay out all the things you should probably know and, if you see a number in parenthesis next to a team that&rsquo;s listed, that&rsquo;s their current world ranking, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/rankingmen">according to FIBA</a>. So if you feel like your people are being misrepresented, leave me alone and take that up with them. (Unless &hellip; unless you mean, you know, actual greater good/societal misrepresentation, then &hellip; let&rsquo;s talk, because me, too.)
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African Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Angola, Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia
As they did in 2019, Africa will get five of the final 32 World Cup spots. Though they&rsquo;re hoping for a better result, because none of them advanced past&nbsp;group play. The Groups are as follows:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Nigeria (22), Mali (72), Cape Verde (74), Uganda (78),</li>
<li>Group B: Tunisia (28), Cameroon (64), South Sudan (82), Rwanda (84)</li>
<li>Group C: Angola (31), Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire (40), Central African Rep. (75), Guinea (99)</li>
<li>Group D: Senegal (34), Egypt (59), Congo DR (81), Kenya (103)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Africa has a slightly different format. Groups A and C each played three games from Nov. 26-28, the biggest perhaps being Cape Verde&rsquo;s 79-71 upset over Nigeria, which helped move their ranking from No. 100 to No. 74 in the world. Thus, Groups A and C will return in the summer window. Nigeria and Mali are 2-1 and lead Group A, and Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire went 3-0 in November, sitting atop Group C. Groups B and D begin qualifying on Feb. 25 at Dakar Arena in Senegal, which will be three straight days of games through the 27th.
Tunisia&rsquo;s To Lose?: Tunisia went 10-2 in their World Cup qualifying for the 2019 tournament, and is expected to have similar production in group play here. Tunisia won the 2021 AfroBasket this past September, led by tournament MVP Makrem Romdhane, and All-Tournament guard Omar Abada. There&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/african-qualifiers/news/the-african-champions-are-ready-to-soar-in-dakar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also a chance star center Salah Mejri suits up for Tunisia</a>. The 7-foot-2 former Dallas Maverick <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/teams/tunisia/2019.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led Tunisia with 16.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game</a> in their second ever World Cup appearance three years ago.
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The Biggest What If: Tunisia plays Cameroon on Feb. 25. Cameroon is one of the many wild cards worth keeping tabs on. They still haven&rsquo;t been able to piece together the dream frontcourt of Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who hasn&rsquo;t played since the NBA bubble. <a href="https://www.libertyballers.com/2017/2/7/14539418/joel-embiid-named-cameroon-preliminary-roster-fiba-afrobasket-2017-luc-mbah-a-moute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Embiid came close in 2017</a>, but ultimately didn&rsquo;t play. Obviously, NBA players rarely can compete in these qualifying windows because of, well, them being in the NBA. But if Cameroon could do well enough and qualify, who knows if that&rsquo;ll be enough to lure Embiid and Siakam into international play.
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American Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Argentina (silver medalist), Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, USA, and Venezuela.
The Americas will, again, send seven to the World Cup late next year. The Americas have the standard format across the board, so this window will mark two games for each club. The groups are:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Argentina (7), Venezuela (17), Panama (50), Paraguay (77)</li>
<li>Group B: Brazil (15), Uruguay (41), Colombia (67), Chile (68)</li>
<li>Group C: Canada (18), Dominican Republic (20), U.S. Virgin Islands (54), Bahamas (62)</li>
<li>Group D: U.S.A. (1), Puerto Rico (19), Mexico (24), Cuba (65)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico are all 2-0. U.S.A. and Puerto Rico are the only 1-1 teams in the Americas, and will play each other on Tuesday in Washington D.C. Notably, for Team U.S.A., Jim Boylen coached the club in the November window, in which they held off Cuba 95-90, then lost to Mexico in Chihuahua City, 97-88. Although Cuba is 0-2, their star, Jaisel Rivero, is good enough to steal them a game. Rivero put 34 (13-18 shooting) with 9 rebounds and 3 threes on Team USA in their narrow loss. Rivero currently competes with Liga ACB and EuroCup&rsquo;s Valencia Basket in Spain, where he averages 11.1 points (second on team) and 4.9 rebounds (third on team) across all competitions.
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21 points for <a href="https://twitter.com/isaiahthomas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@isaiahthomas</a> last night, including 4 made threes, none bigger than this dagger. 👀 Team USA defeated Cuba 95-90 to start 2023 World Cup Qualifiers. They face Mexico tonight. 📹: <a href="https://t.co/nNQDfvcF82">https://t.co/nNQDfvcF82</a> (via FIBA) <a href="https://t.co/dhAUAUVHLy">pic.twitter.com/dhAUAUVHLy</a>
&mdash; Bryan Fonseca 🇵🇷 (@BryanFonsecaNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1465437069073858560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a>
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Uncle Iso Joe: Among <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/americas-qualifiers/game/0407/Mexico-USA#|tab=boxscore">the notables who suited up for Team USA in November</a> were Isaiah Thomas, Luke Kornet, Chasson Randle, Haywood Highsmith and Shaquille Harrison, among many other current and former NBA players. Seven-time All-Star and 40-year-old Joe Johnson, who famously was a Boston Celtic briefly earlier this season, is <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/americas-qualifiers/news/nba-experience-leads-revamped-united-states-roster-for-second-window-of-2023-fiba-world-cup-americas-qualifiers">confirmed to be suiting up with Team USA</a> in this February window. Brian Bowen II is the only player returning from the November window. Other Team U.S.A. members include current G Leaguers Jordan Bell, David Stockton, Langston Galloway and Justin Wright-Foreman, among others.
La Nueva Era de Baloncesto: Both Mexico and Puerto Rico announced new head coaches shortly before the November window. Mexico&rsquo;s led by long-time NBA assistant Kaleb Caneles, while Puerto Rico hired Nelson Colon, who is a three-time champion and Coach of the Year in Baloncesto Superior Nacional, Puerto Rico&rsquo;s top pro basketball league. Former long-time NBA guard Carlos Arroyo was also appointed the <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/news/puerto-rico-appoints-carlos-arroyo-as-its-male-national-team-general-manager#:~:text=Americas-,Puerto%20Rico%20appoints%20Carlos%20Arroyo%20as%20its%20male%20National%20Team,of%20the%20men's%20national%20team.">Puerto Rican National Team&rsquo;s General Manager last June</a>.
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Both Puerto Rico and Mexico starting this cycle with new coaches, too: <a href="https://t.co/PCDaPmNumy">https://t.co/PCDaPmNumy</a>
&mdash; Bryan Fonseca 🇵🇷 (@BryanFonsecaNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1465151054278967302?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Asia-Oceania Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Australia (finished fourth), China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.
The hosts &ndash; Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia &ndash; typically automatically qualify for the World Cup. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171213161459/http:/www.philstar.com:8080/sports/2017/12/13/1767946/learning-2019-world-cup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indonesia&rsquo;s qualification is more provisional</a> due to their lack of international success. Japan and the Philippines are automatically in, but they&rsquo;re all scheduled to participate in World Cup qualifiers anyway.
In the 2019 World Cup, Asia/Oceania sent eight teams over, which they&rsquo;ll do again in 2023. Here are the groups:
<ul>
<li>Group A: New Zealand (27), South Korea (30), Philippines (33), India (80)</li>
<li>Group B: Australia (3), China (29), Japan (37), Chinese Taipei (66)</li>
<li>Group C: Jordan (39), Lebanon (55), Indonesia (91), Saudi Arabia (79)</li>
<li>Group D: Iran (23),&nbsp;Kazakhstan (70), Syria (85), Bahrain (104)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Due to travel restrictions (COVID), <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/asian-qualifiers/news/update-to-the-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2023-asian-qualifiers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several games had to be canceled</a>, so while the format was originally the same as the Americas, it came with some modifications. No one in Group A has played yet, so they&rsquo;ll each play four games to compensate, all of which will take place between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28. In Group B, only China and Japan were able to play, and China smacked them twice, 79-63, and 106-73. Australia and Chinese Taipei are each scheduled to play three times between Feb. 25 and Feb. 28. Japan will play twice in this window, once against each of them, and China will return for four games in the third window to end round one.
Medal Momentum: This will mark the first we see of Australia since finally winning their first medal at the 2020 Olympics (that were played in 2021). Australia had lost the bronze medal game in the 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2016 Olympics before finally medaling in their fifth attempt. In their history, they&rsquo;ve never had a better World Cup finish than in 2019, where they lost in &hellip; another bronze medal game. Perhaps Australia is really turning a corner now. &nbsp;
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🥉 HISTORY MADE 🥉 The Boomers have done it- Australia have secured their first ever men&rsquo;s basketball Olympic medal! The bronze is coming home! 💚💛<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/ngxiYRwHdk">pic.twitter.com/ngxiYRwHdk</a>
&mdash; Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketballAus/status/1423988352987013120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2021</a>
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European Region&nbsp;
2019 WC qualifiers: Czech Republic, France (bronze medalist), Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain (gold medalist), Turkey.
Europe is the largest region of basketball playing powers here, so their rules are slightly different. Instead of four groups, there are eight. As a result, they&rsquo;ll get 12 World Cup bids.
Here are the groups:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Serbia (6), Latvia (26), Belgium (36), Slovakia (63)</li>
<li>Group B: Greece (10), Turkey (16), Great Britain (44), Belarus (48)</li>
<li>Group C: Slovenia (4), Croatia (21), Finland (35), Sweden (51)</li>
<li>Group D: Germany (11), Poland (13), Israel (42), Estonia (49)</li>
<li>Group E: France (5), Montenegro (25), Hungary (43), Portugal (58)</li>
<li>Group F: Lithuania (8), Czech Republic (12), Bosnia (45), Bulgaria (53)</li>
<li>Group G: Spain (2), Ukraine (32), Georgia (38), North Macedonia (52)</li>
<li>Group H: Italy (9), Russia (14), Netherlands (47), Iceland (46)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Everyone here was able to play two games in November. Your 2-0 teams are as follows: Belgium, Slovenia, Israel, France, Lithuania, Bosnia, Spain and Russia. Your 0-2 teams are Netherlands, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland, Croatia and Slovakia. Czech Republic was a story from the 2019 World Cup. They shockingly punched above their weight and reached the quarterfinals. Czech Republic, led by Tom&aacute;&scaron; Satoransky, finished sixth, one spot above Team U.S.A. But, so far, they haven&rsquo;t won a game in 2023 qualifying. Czech Republic lost to Bosnia 97-90 and Lithuania 74-66. They should have a breakthrough against Bulgaria on the 24th, but it&rsquo;ll be difficult to set themselves up for a repeat of 2019, which was their first World Cup bid.
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The State of Spain: After winning the 2019 World Cup with an incredibly stacked team, including tournament MVP Ricky Rubio, captain Rudy Fern&aacute;ndez, Marc Gasol and Willy Hernang&oacute;mez, Spain was knocked out of the Olympic quarterfinals by the United States. Their Olympic team featured many of their same heavy-hitters, including even Pau Gasol, who retired in October and is now a member of the International Olympic Committee. Like the United States, many of the players you&rsquo;d expect to see on their World Cup roster <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers/team/Spain#|tab=roster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likely won&rsquo;t participate much until then</a>. Even so, expect them to continue reigning as one of the top teams in the world. We could talk about the age factor around this time next year, perhaps.
The Sleeping Giant: Slovenia famously jumped 12 spots after their debut Olympic performance, largely led by Luka Dončić, accompanied by standout pro teammates Mike Tobey, Zoran (Goran&rsquo;s brother) Dragić,&nbsp;and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlatko_%C4%8Can%C4%8Dar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vlatko Čančar</a>. Slovenia finished fourth, losing to Australia in the bronze medal game. They didn&rsquo;t qualify for the 2019 World Cup, but did win the 2017 EuroBasket, in which Goran won MVP and Luka, at 18 years old, was named to the All-Tournament team. (Anthony Randolph played for the Slovenian team, then. Who knew?!?) Dragić and Tobey are <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers/team/Slovenia#|tab=roster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed on the roster for this window</a>. Look for them to continue raising hell in qualifiers, and if Dončić suits up, in the World Cup, too.
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For even more World Cup info and complete schedules, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">go here</a>.
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Bryan Fonseca gives an overview of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

Byron