2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Group B

Opening of the China vs. South Sudan match at the Araneta Coliseum.

Group B was one of eight groups of the preliminary round of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. It took place from 26 to 30 August 2023 and consisted of South Sudan, Serbia, China, and Puerto Rico.[1][2] Each team played each other once, for a total of three games per team, with all games played at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Philippines. The top two teams advanced to the second round and the bottom two teams qualified for the classification rounds.[3]

Teams

Team Qualification Appearance Best performance WR[4]
As Date Last Total Streak
 South Sudan African Group F top two 24 February 2023 — 1 1 Debut 63
 Serbia European Group I top three 27 February 2023 2019 7 7 Champions (1998, 2002) 6
 China Asian Group F top three 14 November 2022 10 2 8th place (1994) 27
 Puerto Rico Americas Group F top three 26 February 2023 15 10 4th place (1990) 21

Standings

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Serbia 3 3 0 314 223 +91 6 Second round
2  Puerto Rico 3 2 1 285 279 +6 5
3  South Sudan 3 1 2 268 285 −17 4 17th–32nd classification
4  China 3 0 3 221 301 −80 3
Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Games

All times are local (UTC+8).[5]

South Sudan vs. Puerto Rico

This was the first competitive game between South Sudan and Puerto Rico.

26 August 2023
16:00
South Sudan  96–101 (OT)  Puerto Rico
Scoring by quarter: 29–24, 23–18, 15–18, 14–21, Overtime: 15–20
Pts: Jones 38
Rebs: Gabriel, Shayok 7
Asts: Jones 11		 Pts: Thompson Jr. 21
Rebs: Thompson Jr. 13
Asts: Waters 11
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 3,166
Referees: Guilherme Locatelli (BRA), Luis Castillo (ESP), Carlos Peralta (ECU)

Serbia vs. China

This was the first game between Serbia and China in the World Cup. The Serbians won two of the three Olympic Games matches: 1996 as Yugoslavia and 2016 as Serbia. The Chinese won in the 2004 Olympics.

26 August 2023
20:00
Serbia  105–63  China
Scoring by quarter: 25–14, 30–20, 22–13, 28–16
Pts: Bogdanović, Marinković 14
Rebs: Milutinov, Ristić 6
Asts: Gudurić, S. Jović 6		 Pts: Zhao R. 17
Rebs: Cui, Zhou 5
Asts: Zhao J. 6
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 7,292
Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Rabah Noujaim (LBN)

China vs. South Sudan

This was the first competitive game between China and South Sudan which ended as a victory for the latter. This is South Sudan's first ever World Cup win.[6]

28 August 2023
16:00
China  69–89  South Sudan
Scoring by quarter: 14–22, 26–22, 13–19, 16–26
Pts: Li 22
Rebs: Li 5
Asts: Zhao J. 4		 Pts: Jones 21
Rebs: Maluach 6
Asts: Jones 6
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 4,416
Referees: Guilherme Locatelli (BRA), Kerem Baki (TUR), Martin Vulić (CRO)

Puerto Rico vs. Serbia

This was the second game between Puerto Rico and Serbia in the World Cup. The Serbians won their last meeting in 2019 and also won in the final of the 2016 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament and in the semi-finals of the 2020 edition of the said tournament.

28 August 2023
20:00
Puerto Rico  77–94  Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 15–27, 12–30, 31–18, 19–19
Pts: Piñeiro 14
Rebs: Conditt 11
Asts: Waters 9		 Pts: Bogdanović, N. Jović 17
Rebs: Milutinov 15
Asts: S. Jović 6
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 2,944
Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Leandro Zalazar (ARG), Carlos Peralta (ECU)

South Sudan vs. Serbia

This was the first competitive game between South Sudan and Serbia.

30 August 2023
16:00
South Sudan  83–115  Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 20–30, 19–26, 26–27, 18–32
Pts: Jok 21
Rebs: Omot 5
Asts: Jones 6		 Pts: N. Jović 25
Rebs: Milutinov 10
Asts: S. Jović 13
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 5,848
Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Kerem Baki (TUR), Rabah Noujaim (LBN)

China vs. Puerto Rico

This was the second game between China and Puerto Rico in the World Cup. The Puerto Ricans won in 2006, which was the last competitive game between the two teams.

30 August 2023
20:00
China  89–107  Puerto Rico
Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 21–29, 32–26, 20–29
Pts: Zhao R. 16
Rebs: Wang, Zhou 5
Asts: Zhao J. 5		 Pts: Waters 22
Rebs: Romero 10
Asts: Waters 6
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 7,166
Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Luis Castillo (ESP), Carlos Peralta (ECU)

Statistical leaders

Player tournament average

Efficiency

# Player Pld MPG PPG Eff EffPG
1 Serbia Nikola Milutinov 3 25.2 13.3 73.0 24.3
2 South Sudan Carlik Jones 3 29.7 19.7 62.0 20.7
Serbia Nikola Jović 3 25.0 17.0 62.0 20.7
4 Serbia Bogdan Bogdanović 3 27.9 18.0 59.0 19.7
5 Puerto Rico Ismael Romero 3 27.2 14.0 54.0 18.0
Puerto Rico Tremont Waters 3 35.1 16.7 54.0 18.0

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Draw completed in Manila". FIBA. 29 April 2023.
  2. ^ "China drawn into Group B of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023". english.news.cn. 29 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Basketball, FIBA World Cup 2023: Full schedule and how to watch". olympics.com. 29 April 2023.
  4. ^ "FIBA World Ranking". FIBA. 27 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Exact timing of all FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 games available". FIBA. 17 May 2023.
  6. ^ Ninrew, Chany (2023-08-28). "South Sudan sink China in FIBA World Cup but rough road ahead". Eye Radio. Retrieved 2023-08-28.