Almar

[yoda]

both teams rushing shots, shooting poorly
score after 3 quarters Netherlands 50 - Israel 46

edit- update, headed to overtime tied 66-66


further update-- .interesting- both team have left the floor so it looks like they are not going to play an overtime and the game ends tied


further edit - added... final score of friendly game, Finland 81 - Lithuania 79 on a buzzer-beater,
in front of 13,054 fans (in Tampere, Finland), Finland's Lauri Markkanen with 24 pts
and former Illini Jacob Grandison with 12
(earlier today, at the World University Games in China, Finland's Junior Team beat Lithuania 84-69)

[yoda]

Iceland's final 12 man roster has been set, and as we knew, Almar will not be playing with his national team
https://www.mbl.is/sport/korfubolti/...ar_snyr_aftur/

Finland has set their final National Team roster and is already playing some games. Today they beat Estonia 86-80,
with Lauri Markkanen going for 29 pts, 13 reb

Rienk, Luuk & their National team begin play Aug 13 in their Pre-Olympic qualifiers to try for a spot in the 2024 Olympics
https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/tur...am/Netherlands
https://www.fiba.basketball/news/lin...med-after-draw

Ari Boya plays for his Cameroon team in the African Pre-Olympic qualifiers- https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/nig.../team/Cameroon

After all that wraps up, then the FIBA World Cup starts- https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023
South Sudan (Koch), USA, Finland and other nations - here's the schedule- https://www.fiba.basketball/basketba...n-schedule.pdf

and the schedule of preparation games for each team, South Sudan plays 5 "tuneup"games-
https://www.fiba.basketball/basketba...world-cup-2023

Great Britain (DLO) did not qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup in August, but was eligible to compete
in the Pre-Olympic qualifier tournaments. However, they have withdrawn and been replaced by Croatia.
Here's their explanation, and it has to do with their "...abysmal summer in 2022"...

https://www.hoopsfix.com/2023/03/bbf-opts-not-to-enter-gb-senior-men-in-pre-olympic-qualifiers/

[yoda]

Pre-Olympic qualifiers start this weekend at several locations
Turkiye, 8 teams incl Iceland & Netherlands- https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/turkiye/2023/games
Poland/Estonia, 8 teams- https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/poland-estonia/2023
Nigeria, 8 teams incl Cameroon- https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/nigeria/2023 (former Jim Les/UC-Davis player Chima Moneke plays for Nigeria)
Argentina, 7 teams- https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/argentina/2023
Syria, 6 teams- https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/syria/2023

one other minor note- later this month when the FIBA basketball World Cup starts in the Philippines,
South Sudan (Koch Bar's team) has added Marial Shayok, former Bradley recruit and brother of former Bradley "star" Shayok Shayok, but former Brave Chudier Bile is currently not with them.

[Da Coach]

By the way, as has been mentioned, Almar is on campus and he is doing off-court strengthening and conditioning workouts with the team, but his situation does not allow him to participate in any on-court team practices or workouts. Once the Fall Semester begins, he will be able to participate fully.

[yoda]

Almar's Iceland National team plays an Olympic qualifier game today at noon- it could possibly be streamed- https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/tur...Crkiye-Iceland

edit- bad start to this qualifying tournament
Iceland falls way behind early - already trails by 54-31 at half
They could have used Almar -
his U20 teammate Orri Gunnarson is 3-4 from 3pt but the rest of the team is 2-14 combined
..and they are being outrebounded 25-17
Turkey's also gotten to the FT line 15 times to just 2 for Iceland


update- final score Turkiye 99 - Iceland 72 but it wasn't that close.
Turkiye had a 23 pt lead at half, then pulled out to a 32 pt lead in the 3rd quarter and coasted from there
Turkiye hit 11-22 (50%) from 3-pt while Iceland hit 27%, and Turkiye badly outrebounded Iceland.
Iceland plays Ukraine tomorrow. Ukraine beat Bulgaria today. Netherlands plays Monday & Wed,
& Iceland plays Bulgaria Tuesday.

Almar's U20 buddy Gunnarson was 6-9 from 3pt

[yoda]

Netherlands loses a close game in the Olympic qualifiers, in OVERTIME, 91-89 to Sweden
Rienk Mast 8 pts, 6 rebs in 26 min, Luuk played 6 min and was scoreless on three 3pt attempts

[yoda]

South Sudan led much of the way but Brazil had a good 4th qtr and won 85-75
Koch was scoreless but only played 3 min

[yoda]

Netherlands beats Belgium in Olympic qualifier
Rienk 8 pt, 7 reb in 17 min

[yoda]

At the Olympic qualifiers-
Netherlands unfortunately loses again...89-81 to Croatia
They are now 1-2 in group play and on the verge of elimination.if Sweden beats Belgium,
and they currently lead by 5 in the 3rd quarter.
Rienk had 2 pts, 5 reb, 4 asst, Luuk 2pt, 1 reb

Iceland also finished 1-2 in group play, but finished 3rd in their group and are likely eliminated

Over in Nigeria - the Cameroon National Team played great in their first game, beating Guinea 104-74.
Ari Boya had been listed on their roster, but he did not play and is not any longer on their roster.

BUT- the news is very good news - as Ari returned to Austria, re-signed with his former Austrian pro team,
and got married this summer and welcomed a baby daughter!!
Congrats to Ari!



https://bbc-nord.at/2023/08/04/arist...rt-fuer-23-24/
https://www.afrobasket.com/Cameroon/...another-season
https://www.interperformances.com/ne...-nord-dragonz/

final note, ISU's 5th year senior Harouna Sissoko is playing for the Mali National Team in the Olympic Qualifiers,
he scored 6 pt in yesterday's win over Nigeria.

also South Sudan beat Venezuela (who are ranked #17 in the world by FIBA) by 19, no stats yet

[Tommy]

Congrats Ari! Classy Brave and met him with our kids and he was very nice and took time to talk with us and take pic. My kids love him!

[yoda]

In that South Sudan win, Koch Bar played 8 min & had 6 pt, 1 reb

[yoda]

FIBA World Cup 2023 group play games started today, 8 games and the European and N. American teams dominated,
except for Finland, who has Lauri Markkanen (19 pts, 8 reb, 4 asst) but little else.- they lost to Australia.
Early tomorrow South Sudan & Koch Bar take on Puerto Rico. USA also plays tomorrow morning.
Ahmet Jonovic's Serbian team also plays tomorrow, but of course he's not playing with their senior Men's National Team,
which is pretty strong has 3 current NBA guys plus 9 guys playing top pro ball in Europe.

[yoda]

South Sudan with a 10 pt halftime lead in their first FIBA World Cup game
SSD 52 - Puerto Rico 42



update- game went to OT and Puerto Rico edged out South Sudan


other games:
Serbia clobbers China 105-63
US beat New Zealand 99-72

[yoda]

FIBA World Cup update:
already with more than a full round of group stage games plus the entire tournament rounds left to play,
TEN teams (of the 32 teams in the 8 groups) have already failed to advance to the Championship bracket
and will play for 17-32nd place in the lower/consolation bracket.

France - who are 0-2 and even if they win their 3rd game will still fail to advance to the 16-team Championship knockout stage.
Their lineup includes numerous veteran NBA guys including 3-time All Star and 4 time All NBA Rudy Gobert,
Evan Fournier, who has averaged 18ppg over the last decade in the NBA, & other top talent.

also Finland, who arguably have one of 2 or 3 the best players of all in the tournament, Lauri Markkanen, but they had very little
size otherwise

The US, Canada, France and Australia were the top four favorites headed into the tourney. But Dominican Republic (3-0), Serbia (2-0), Lithuania (3-0), Germany (3-0) and Slovenia (2-0 with Luka Doncic averaging 35.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 6 apg thus far) have all looked strong so far.

Of poss interest to Bradley fans:
-Koch Bar is playing a reserve role and only averaging 7 minutes per game. South Sudan is 1-1 with a very disappointing loss to Puerto Rico, but now they must beat a very strong Serbia team to advance to the Championship tournament round.
The Chicago Bulls' Carlik Jones also plays for South Sudan.

The Bulls' Nikola Vucevic plays for Montenegro

ex-Wichita State Shocker Austin Reeves plays for the US.

Former Bradley recruit George Conditt plays for Puerto Rico.

[yoda]

FIBA WORLD CUP
the first group stage is done and the 16 teams that advance now play another round of Group Stage games.
Group I- Dominican Republic, Serbia, Italy, Puerto Rico
Group J- USA, Lithuania, Montenegro, Greece
Group K- Slovenia, Germany, Australia, Georgia
Group L- Canada, Spain, Brazil, Latvia
European and N American/Caribbean teams have done very well.
African, Asian & S America produced only one team in the Championship bracket.

South Sudan plays in the lower bracket to determine places 17-32, & their next game is tomorrow morning vs winless Philippines.