• USA World Cup Qualifying Team Roster

 

Here are the things to know about Monday's USA-Argentina FIBA World Cup Qualifying matchup in Greensboro, North Carolina.

 

This is the final game of the 2017-19 FIBA World Cup Qualifying. The 9-2 USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team will meet 9-2 Argentina at 7 p.m. EST on Monday. Although the U.S. and Argentina have already earned their 2019 World Cup bids, the two teams sit tied atop of the second round Group E standings meaning  the winner of this game will finish first in Group E. The USA-Argentina game will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

 

 

What Coach Van Gundy Saw And Liked From His USA Team In The Win Over Panama On Friday:
"Our sharing of the ball (23 assists on 28 made field goals) was really good. I think our second half defense was better than our first half. Then our rebounding (46 to 27) was dominant."

  

Coach Van Gundy On Argentina:

"Argentina has a great program no matter who they bring in. They’re big, they shoot, they pass, and they play exceptionally hard. (Lucio) Redivo and (Marcos) Delia and (Nicolás ) Brussino are all very accomplished FIBA players, and Argentina has an unbelievable reservoir of talent, depth and shooting. So, the names change, but the way they play stays the same.” 

  

Coach Van Gundy On What Has To Be Different From The First Game Against Argentina:

"They physicality just sort of manhandled us and at the end of the day I think we subconsciously didn’t compete at the same level as they did. We had a hard time scoring. They’re so big, and they’re so tough and well coached, we have to score the ball more efficiently than we did in the game down there."

  

Summing Up Argentina

Argentina opened play in the final window of World Cup qualifying on Friday night and lost an exciting 87-86 overtime game to Puerto Rico in San Juan. Despite Puerto Rico leading by 10 points with 1:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, Argentina rallied to tie the game and force overtime. In the recent loss to Puerto Rico, 6-foot-7 guard Nicolas Brussino and 5-foot-10 guard Lucio Redivo each tallied 16 points, while 6-foot-7 forward Marcos Mata added 11 points and 6-foot-11 forward Marcos Delia scored 10 points. 

Argentina head coach Sergio Hernández has a very different roster for this game than the one he relied on to defeat the USA 80-63 on Nov. 29, 2018, in La Rioja, Argentina. In Argentina's win over the U.S. in November, Nicolas Laprovittola scored 17 points, Redivo added 14 points, Brussino recorded 11 points and Luis Scola accounted to 10 point and nine rebounds.

 

Argentina's Group A First Round Results

         Argentina 96, Paraguay 63

         Argentina 68, Panama 59

         Uruguay 88, Argentina 83

         Argentina 83, Paraguay 61

         Argentina 87, Panama 62

         Argentina 102, Uruguay 58

 

Argentina's Group E Second Round Results

         Argentina 78, Mexico 74

         Argentina 106, Puerto Rico 84     

 Argentina 80, USA 63

 Argentina 85, Mexico 71

 Puerto Rico 87, Argentina 86 (1OT)

 Argentina @ USA

 

USA-Argentina History
USA Basketball teams are 68-13 all-time versus Argentina in international play at all levels. Most recently, Argentina bettered the USA 80-63 in a second round World Cup Qualifying game on Nov. 29, 2018.  The two squads also met on Sept. 3, 2017, in Cordoba, Argentina, and the United States rallied from 20 points down in the third period to post an 81-76 in the gold medal contest of the 2017 AmeriCup. Argentina’s biggest win over the USA came in 2004 Olympics when they upended the U.S. 89-81 and went on to win the gold medal. The U.S. is 7-1 against Argentina in Olympic games; 7-3 in World Cup games; 10-1 in FIBA Americas Championships contests.

What The Statistics Tell Us

After 11 FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying games, Argentina enters Monday's game averaging a FIBA Americas second best 86.7 points a game, while the USA is third averaging 86.4 points a game. Argentina also ranks second (47.6) in field goal percentage, the USA ranks fifth (.455%); the USA ranks first in 3-point percentage (.388%) and Argentina lists fifth (.341%); the USA ranks second in rebounding (45.0 rpg.) and Argentina is eighth (40.0 rpg.); while the USA lists seventh in turnovers (12.7) and Argentina is 10th (14.5).

 

 

Right At Home

The USA is now 5-0 in home World Cup Qualifying games. The Americans defeated Mexico 91-55 in Greensboro (on 11/26/17); won 84-48 over Cuba (2/23/18) and Puerto Rico 83-75 (2/26/18) in Santa Cruz, Calif.; beat Uruguay 114-57 in Las Vegas (9/14/18); and defeated Panama 111-80 (2/22/19) in Greensboro.

  

 

Rotating Rosters - 54 players

Through the six FIBA World Cup Qualifying windows, the USA's six teams have featured 54 different players who were primarily from the NBA G League. A total of 13 USA players played for more than one USA team, including Reggie Hearn, who has now played for five of the six USA teams, and Xavier Munford and Travis Trice, who have now played on three USA World Cup Qualifying teams.

  

 

FIBA World Cup Qualifying Results
Check out the scores and standings for the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying. 2017-19 Americas World Cup Qualifiers Schedule/Results

 

 

World Cup Qualifying Update

Following conclusion of the final window of World Cup Qualifying games on Monday (Feb. 25), who will qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup will be finalized.

 

Currently, 298 teams are already officially assured of a berth in the 2019 World Cup, including Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, USA and Venezuela. China qualified as the host country.

 

Below are the current World Cup Qualifying second round standings for FIBA's four zones:

 

Africa (top 2 from each group and best 3rd place team – 5 teams total)

 

GROUP E

*Tunisia                10-2

*Angola                  9-3

Cameroon              7-5
Egypt                     7-5
Morocco                 4-8
Chad                      3-9

 

GROUP F

*Nigeria                   10-2

*Senegal                  10-2

*Cote d'Ivoire              7-5

 

Americas (top 3 from each group and best 4th place team – 7 teams total)

 

GROUP E

*Argentina               9-2

*USA                        9-2

Puerto Rico              7-4

Uruguay                   6-5

Panama                    4-7

Mexico                      4-7

 

GROUP F 

*Venezuela               9-2

*Canada                   9-2

*Brazil                      8-3

Dominican Rep.        7-4

Chile                         2-9

 

Asia (top 3 from each group and best 4th place team – 7 teams total)

 

GROUP E

*New Zealand         10-2

*South Korea          10-2

*Jordan                    7-5

Lebanon                  6-6
Syria                        2-10

GROUP F
*Australia               10-2
*Iran                       8-4
*Japan                    8-4
*Philippines             7-5
Kazakhstan             4-8
Qatar                      2-10

 

 

EUROPE (Top 3 from each group – 12 teams total)

 

GROUP I

*Spain                     9-2

*Turkey                   8-3
Montenegro            7-4

Latvia                     6-5 

Ukraine                  5-6

Slovenia                 2-9

 

GROUP J

*Lithuania             10-1

*Italy                     8-3

*Poland                  7-4

Hungary                 5-6

Croatia                   4-7

GROUP K

*France                10-2

*Russia                  8-4

*Czech Rep.           8-4

 

GROUP L

*Greece                10-1
*Germany               9-2

*Serbia                   7-5

Georgia                  5-6

Israel                      5-6

Estonia                   2-9

 

* According to FIBA, team has officially qualified for 2019 FIBA World Cup

# Team has officially qualified as the host country

 

 

The New World-Wide Qualifying Process

Under FIBA’s new competition system, a total of 80 national teams from FIBA’s four regions of Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe initially competed in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifying first round looking to earn a qualifying berth into the 32-team 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup competition that will be held Aug. 31-Sept. 15 in China. 

 

The FIBA World Cup Qualifying games are being used to qualify 31 of the 32 nations that will compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. China automatically qualified as the host nation of the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

 

Five teams will qualify from Africa, seven teams from the Americas, seven teams from Asia and 12 teams from Europe. 

 

The current two-time defending World Cup champion USA men have participated in 17 FIBA World Cups and have collected 12 medals - five gold medals (1954, 1986, 1994, 2010 and 2014), three silver medals (1950, 1959 and 1982) and four bronze medals (1974, 1990, 1998 and 2006). USA teams own an overall record of 123-27.

 

Results from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 will qualify seven teams for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Additionally, Olympic host, Japan, automatically qualified, and the final four nations will qualify through four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that will be held in 2020 in advance of the Olympics.

 

For more information on the new World Cup Qualifying process, check out our crash course here: WCQ Crash Course

 

 

USA - Argentina Game Information
The game is available via ESPN+

LiveStats: USA vs. Argentina Live Stats