t is going to be an all-Europe affair in the finals of the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Germany and Serbia will battle for all the marbles this Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena. So, which country will have a gold medal to celebrate?
Catch this game live on Sunday, September 10, at 8:40 PM, Manila time
Germany (7-0)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Dennis Schroder
- SG: Andreas Obst
- F: Moe Wagner
- F: Daniel Theis
- C: Johannes Voigtmann
The Germans did what?! Dennis Schroder and company took down the pre-tournament favorites on Friday, defeating the United States in a 113-111 victory. Scoring 113 points in 40 minutes against the mighty Americans was an incredible feat already in itself for Germany, whose win in the semifinals improved their tournament record to 7-0. As evidenced in the USA game, the Germans have a brilliant offense. Schroder is the team’s scoring leader and top table-setter, with averages of 17.9 points and 6.7 assists per game.
As a team, Germany is shooting 51 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from deep. But it goes beyond just Schroder, with guys like Andreas Obst, Franz Wagner, and even Daniel Theis around him being threats as well. Even when Schroder shot the air out of the ball in the quarterfinals against Latvia, the Germans still pulled off a win. Obst will be marked man by Serbia in the finals after he torched the USA for 24 points, including four 3-pointers. Wagner and Theis powered Germany against the Americans as well with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Serbia (6-1)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Stefan Jovic
- SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic
- SF: Ognjen Dobric
- PF: Nikola Jovic
- C: Nikola Milutinov
Serbia will act like they have been here before. Although they have not won gold in the World Cup since becoming Serbia, they were part of the two Yugoslavian squads that topped the competition before. In any case, there is no denying the talent on the Serbian roster even if it’s missing several big names, none bigger than Nikola Jokic. Bogdan Bogdanovic leads the Serbian crew, who crushed Canada in the semis, 95-86.
Bogdanovic is averaging 19.4 points per game and shooting 40.4 percent from behind the arc. Much has been said about Germany’s offense, but Serbia are actually better in the tournament than the Germans in terms of field goal percentage (56%), 2-point shooting (68.4%), and 3-point shooting (38.8%). But those numbers shouldn’t deceive anyone into thinking that Serbia are all just about offense. They have allowed only 77.6 points over their last three games. Nikola Milutinov will have a big role for Serbia on both ends, as he is averaging a near-double-double of 13.6 points and 9.0 rebounds, while also leading his team with 0.7 blocks per contest.
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: Serbia (+1.5) cover the spread.
Over/Under: The total (174.0) hits the Under.
