United States stand just two victories from their record sixth title but they face a challenging FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Semi-Finals showdown with undefeated Germany, who guaranteed a top four finish for the first time since 2002.
The Americans lost their final game of the second group stage – an eye-opening 110-104 loss to Lithuanians – but bounced back by blowing out Italy 100-63 in the Quarter-Finals. Germany meanwhile remain undefeated after narrowly getting past Latvia 81-79 in the Quarters.
The Semi-Finals game will tip off at the Mall of Asia Arena at 20:45 local time, which is 8:45 in the morning ET and 14:45 CET.
Key matchup: Can USA’s frontline control the bigs from Germany? That could decide this game as Germany have good size with the likes of Johannes Voigtmann, Moe Wagner, Daniel Theis, and Johannes Thiemann. The Americans don’t really counter with a lot of depth in the low blocks as Jaren Jackson Jr has struggled with foul trouble and Paolo Banchero – the teammate of the Wagner brothers at Orlando – has been really needed to stand his ground inside. Walker Kessler provides USA with some good size but he has only played 40 minutes in the tournament.
Something else to watch out for is bounce backs from both Anthony Edwards, who went from 35 points against Lithuania to 3 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block in 18 minutes against Italy; and Dennis Schroder, who scored just 9 points against Latvia with 4-of-26 shooting.
X-factors: Germany’s defensive transition will be a major factor as the Americans rely heavily on easy points, producing 26.0 fast break points – compared to just 11.0 points for Germany. Both teams must also stay balanced on defense as both offenses include four players who are averaging double figures in scoring.
Moe and Franz Wagner give Germany a lot of versatility at both ends
Another German defensive aspect will play a major role. Gordie Herbert’s team have grabbed 77.3 percent of rebounds on their defensive basket. That is the highest ratio of any team in the World Cup, permitting only 8.0 offensive rebounds per game – second fewest in the competition. That will keep USA from getting second chance points.
Stats don’t lie: The system of Semi-Finals knockout games was introduced in 1986 and USA have a 4-3 record in Semi-Finals games, winning their last two appearances in the top four. Germany dropped their only Semi-Finals game in 2002 before finishing third.
USA lead the World Cup in steals at 10.0 per game while Germany are fourth at 9.2 steals. The Europeans commit only 10.2 turnovers per game – the fourth fewest in the tournament. USA cough up the ball 14.2 times – the eighth most in the World Cup and worst ratio of any of the Quarter-Finals teams.
Tyrese Haliburton gives USA great energy, leading the team in steals
Past matchups: USA and Germany have squared off six times and the Americans have never lost. The last game came at the 2008 Olympics while USA are 3-0 at the World Cup, including an 85-65 in the the 2006 World Cup Quarter-Finals. The Americans and Germany squared off in the build-up to the 2023 World Cup and USA won 99-91 after Germany had led for most of the first three quarters.
They said: “(The win over Italy) was just a great defensive effort right from the beginning. We put the pressure on and kept the pressure on. The next group came in and did the same thing. It was the best defensive effort of the tournament to this point. That’s what it’s going to take to win two more games.” – Germany guard Dennis Schroder
“We have to show 40 minutes of solid basketball and play as a team. Individual actions will not do it. We have to have a good effort as team. And if we do that we can beat anybody.” – Germany guard Franz Wagner
