Canada and Slovenia will be battling for one of the spots in the final four portion of the 2023 FIBA World Cup when they go at each other this Wednesday. Will Canada keep the dream alive? Or, will Luka Doncic lead Slovenia to the semis?
Catch this game live on Wednesday, September 6, at 8:30 PM, Manila time
Canada (4-1)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: R.J. Barrett
- SF: Dillon Brooks
- PF: Dwight Powell
- C: Kelly Olynyk
Canada rebounded from a stunning loss by pulling off a much bigger stunner. Following the 69-65 loss to Brazil, Canada took down Spain in a do-or-die game, 88-85, thus punching their tickets to Manila. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to be the biggest reason for Canada’s success in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and he showed that again with a 33-point explosion in the Spain game.
The good thing for Canada is that SGA is hardly the only one showing signs of life, as even the much-maligned Dillon Brooks is proving to be a huge problem to their rivals. Gilgeous-Alexander is leading Canada in the tournament with 23.8 points per game, while RJ Barrett and Brooks are putting up 12.8 and 10.4 points, respectively. Brooks will be looking to hit while the iron is hot after going off for 22 points on 8/12 shooting from the field against Spain, though, his impact is not limited to how many buckets he generates.
Slovenia (4-1)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Aleksej Nikolic
- SG: Zoran Dragic
- SF: Luka Doncic
- PF: Bine Prepelic
- C: Mike Tobey
Just like with the Dallas Mavericks, there’s Luka Doncic and there’s everyone else for Slovenia. The Slovenians are heavily dependent on Doncic, and it’s not exactly a bad thing for them. After all, they are still standing in the tournament even though they are coming off their first loss when they suffered a 100-71 blowout at the hands of the Germans.
Through five games, Doncic is averaging 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game. Against Germany, Doncic took 22 shots and made only seven of those attempts while going only 3/5 from the foul line and 2/11 from deep. No other Slovenia player had more than seven field goal attempts. Lots of guys on the Canadian roster have extensive experience facing Doncic in the NBA, but none of them are viewed as Luka-stoppers. Doncic will continue to be the bottom line for Slovenia, which is averaging 88.4 points per game.
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: Canada (-8.5) cover the spread.
Over/Under: The total (177.0) hits the Under.
