IZMIR (FIBA World Championship) - IZMIR – (FIBA World Championship) - All eyes will be on Lithuania when they face New Zealand in the first game of Group D in Izmir tomorrow (28 August), as the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey comes to life.

A long-time power of international basketball, the Lithuanians suffered through a humiliating eleventh placed finish at the 2009 Eurobasket, and only have a chance to redeem themselves in Turkey via a FIBA wildcard.

While some people think this relatively inexperienced Lithuanian team is vulnerable, New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic is buying none of it. "On paper, they don’t have as tough a players as they used to, but those tough players in the past had to start somewhere as well.

"You look at their record in the pre-season games. They lost to Spain, yes, but they beat Slovenia, they beat Croatia, they beat Turkey and they beat Germany as well. They are a tough team, with one superstar in Linas Kleiza," Vucinic said.

Watch for Kleiza, his country’s second leading scorer at the Beijing Olympics, to make an impact early following his below par performance in 2009, and his match-up with the tough-as-nails Mika Vukona will be a highlight.

For New Zealand to have any chance of an upset, star shooting guard Kirk Penney will have to continue his hot form, which has seen him average 25ppg over nine warm-up games, including a 43 point haul against Slovenia.

The Tall Blacks, as they are affectionately known, have competed in the past two FIBA World Championships and finished a more than respectable fourth in 2002 and ninth in 2006. Lithuania’s previous two starts in this tournament, in 1998 and 2006, both saw seventh placed finishes.

The second game of the day is probably the tightest match-up, with Lebanon and Canada doing battle in a contest that could ultimately decide which team progresses to the Eight Finals.

After Lebanon finished fourth at last year’s FIBA Asia Championship, missing automatic qualification for Turkey and relying on a FIBA wildcard, few thought they could make any serious impact in Group D.

But under former New Zealand coach Tab Baldwin this Lebanese side has shown some promising form in the lead-up, defeating Canada and taking Argentina to the wire.

Canadian point guard Jermaine Anderson said his team has learned a lot from that game, particularly about Lebanon’s unorthodox style. "They don’t do the norm. The Europeans come down and they are all structured, but they (Lebanon) just play. So we just have to be ready for anything – they just play and they play very hard.

"We have to try and get more possessions than them and play fast, up-tempo. And play our pressure defence, that’s our identity," Andersen said. "We are going to play fast."

The frontcourt combination of Jackson Vroman and Matt Frieje have taken a liking to coach Baldwin’s mid-post offence, and together with veteran Fadi El Khatib they will face a crucial battle with Canada’s talented trio of Joel Anthony, Levon Kendall and NCAA standout Rob Sacre.

Canada have played in 12 FIBA World Championships, finishing in the top ten on an impressive seven occasions, though the last of those was in 1994 in Toronto. Lebanon have played in the past two FIBA World Championships, producing a monumental upset in 2006 when they defeated France.

The final game of the day sees reigning world champion Spain face neighbours France, in a re-match of the lop-sided Quarter Final at last year’s Eurobasket.

This French team has been hurt by injuries and has suffered some disappointing losses in their lead-up matches, but would have taken heart from getting within one point of Australia, with centre Ali Traore scoring 17 points.

Spain, however, are another step up from the Boomers, and France will have their work cut out shutting down the likes of Juan-Carlos Navarro, Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio.

The Spanish defence will likely focus on Valencia star Nando de Colo and Boris Diaw, hoping to take away any open looks and force turnovers that will lead to easy points. In contrast, the French will be happy to play in the half court where they have an edge in strength and athleticism.

Spain’s gold medal in 2006 was their first time on the podium at the FIBA World Championship in nine attempts. France’s best finish came way back in 1954 when they placed fourth in Rio de Janeiro, while they also placed fifth in 1963 and 2006.


FIBA