Rockets No. 1 draft pick Yao Ming of China and guard Oscar Torres of Venezuela will represent their respective countries when the most prestigious basketball event in the world, the World Basketball Championship for Men, tips off in Indianapolis on August 29, 2002. Conseco Fieldhouse and the RCA Dome will be the venues for this 11-day event, which will include teams from 16 countries playing a total of 62 games.
World Basketball Championship for Men Facts
Event Dates: Thursday, Aug. 29 through Sunday, September 8, 2002
Games: 62 games will take place over the 11 days of the event
Venues: Conseco Fieldhouse and the RCA Dome
Teams: 16 national teams from five continents, 15 qualified through zone tournaments and the United States as the host country. Countries include Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Lebanon, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Turkey, United States, Venezuela and Yugoslavia.
Oscar Torres
Glenn James/NBAE/Getty Images
Pool Assignments: The 16 teams are divided into four groups for the preliminary rounds; pool assignments were done through a draw on Feb. 5, 2002. The first two rounds of the tournament are round robins, and teams advance to quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds, either through the medal or consolation rounds.
Pool Assignments
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Yugoslavia
Brazil
United States
Argentina
Spain
Turkey
Germany
Russia
Canada
Puerto Rico
China
New Zealand
Angola
Lebanon
Algeria
Venezuela
Format: Two ways exist for teams to qualify for the 2002 World Basketball Championship for Men. A country may qualify as the host country, as the United States will for the event. Another route is to qualify by finishing among the top teams in FIBA zone qualification tournaments.
The FIBA zones are broken down into five regional areas: Africa (consisting of 53 National Federations), Asia (consisting of 44 National Federations), Europe (consisting of 50 National Federations), Americas (consisting of 43 National Federations), and Oceania (consisting of 21 National Federations). The number of teams qualifying per zone tournament varies from zone to zone.
The tournament format will feature a round-robin competition in preliminary round play Aug. 29-31, and the top three teams from each preliminary group advance to form two second round groups consisting of six teams each. Each team's results against teams advancing from its preliminary group will carry over to the second round standings. Each team then will play the other three teams in the second round group whom they have not faced in the preliminary round.
The second round, which will be contested Sept. 2-4, will feature the top three finishing teams from Group A and Group B forming one second round group, and the top three finishing teams in Group C and Group D forming the other second round group. The top four teams from those two groups will then advance on to the medal round quarterfinals Sept. 5, followed by the Sept. 7 semifinals and the gold and bronze medal games will be played on Sept. 8.
History: This is the first time the tournament has taken place in the United States in its 52-year history. The event is expected to draw between 150,000 and 175,000 basketball fans from across the United States and foreign countries. Past host countries are: Argentina (1950, 1990), Brazil (1954, 1963), Chile (1959), Uruguay (1967), Yugoslavia (1970), Puerto Rico (1974), Philippines (1978), Colombia (1982), Spain (1986), Canada (1994) and Greece (1998).
Past Champions
1950
Argentina
1978
Yugoslavia
1954
United States
1982
Soviet Union
1959
Brazil
1986
United States
1963
Brazil
1990
Yugoslavia
1967
Soviet Union
1994
United States
1970
Yugoslavia
1998
Yugoslavia
1974
Soviet Union
Yugoslavia leads in gold medals with four and is tied with the United States for total medals at nine. Yugoslavia also claims three silver and two bronze medals. The United States has three World Basketball Championship titles to its credit, as does the former Soviet Union. The United States also has three silver and three bronze medals. The former Soviet Union has earned a total of eight medals, that includes three silver and three bronze. Rounding out the top six in total medal counts are: Brazil, two gold, two silver and two bronze; Argentina, one gold; and Russia, two silver (has only been competing since 1991).
Eligible Players
The following is a list of current and former NBA players eligible to participate for the qualified teams:
ARGENTINA
Ruben Wolkowyski (formerly of the Dallas Mavericks)
Juan "Pepe" Sanchez (formerly of the Philadelphia 76ers/Atlanta Hawks)
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