FIBA’s new schedule and tournament format will absolutely rock the upper echelons of international basketball.
Take Team USA for example. From parading Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Kevin Durant, and DeMarcus Cousins, among others, a very odd composition of the traditional powerhouse American team is now expected to feature the likes of Kendall Marshall, Reggie Williams, Darius Morris, and Marshall Plumlee — talk about a drop-off.
The newly-implemented changes by basketball’s international governing body is now forcing its member nations to make huge sacrifices if they desire to rule the world of hoops. In the revamped scheme, national teams will now play a series of home-and-away games against each other and these contests mostly occur within the NBA calendar.
As such, the biggest stars from the globe’s most competitive league will be absent for majority of the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying phase.
Leading the motley crew of Team USA players will be veteran NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy, who currently works as a color commentator for ESPN. However, in spite of his experience, Van Gundy will be treading new territory this time as an international coach.
It’ll be a tall order for Van Gundy, but he understands the core principles that a ragtag team must acknowledge in order to shock the world, per an Associated Press report on NBC Sports.
“What we have to do is match and exceed their passion, how hard we play, how together we are as a group,” Van Gundy said, “because when the U.S. has not succeeded in international competitions, it’s because there wasn’t as much maybe sacrifice as you need, or maybe you were deficient in one skill that was important.”
As per FIBA’s new schedule, the first window of the second round will be held in August 2018 which is the only time when NBA stars will be available for duty. After that, they’ll just have to count on Team B, so to speak, to make the USA qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup that is to be held from August 31 to September 15, 2019 — where these superstars will finally be able to play once more.
It’ll be a whole new ballgame for international basketball, but Team USA is embracing the new underdog label as they hold forth until the stars become available to play.
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