Spain Overtakes USA in latest Basketball rankings
The United States of America no longer holds the top spot in the FIBA world basketball rankings, which were released on Friday, for the first time since the ranking system was introduced in 2010, Spain overthrows the USA as a result of the last international window’s results.
Bad Form of USA
The weighted approach of games and victories has been used by FIBA to ranked teams since 2017, and the rankings are valid for six years. Therefore, the stigma from losing to France and Serbia would follow the squad until 2025 when Team USA finished eighth under Gregg Popovich at the 2019 Cup in China.
USA Basketball was reportedly one international defeat away from losing its top ranking. That defeat came last Friday in Washington in the shape of a thrashing at the hands of Brazil. As of the right moment, Team USA has two losses in 10 games of qualifying play. And has not qualified for the FIBA World Cup, which will be held in the Philippines next summer. In addition, the Americans dropped two exhibition games and lost an Olympic match to France. They also came close to losing to French in gold medal game in Tokyo.
Current Rankings
Spain is presently in first place with 758.6 points, well ahead of the United States in second with 757.5 points. In order to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, the defending European and world champion Spaniards defeated Italy and the Netherlands twice in the most recent international window. They lost to Brazil without their NBA stars before defeating Colombia. Belgium dropped one spot in the rankings. They are currently ranked 30th after their losses to Turkey and Greece as part of the World Cup qualifying process.
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