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YCN
07-17-2002, 12:02 AM
(I DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS THAT WHEN I MAKE A STUPID MISTAKE IT IS ALWAYS A HEADLINER)

OK, the championship is next year. Wow did I miss that! And why would you compete in basketball ONE year for the right to go to the championship NEXT year?

Well, I'm famous for posts like this, so I might as well admit it, sometimes my posts just suck.

(NOTE: The following post is left unedited in its entirety, because if the poster was to delete it, it would be misrepresentative of the bonehead mistake that the poster originally made.)
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I know, this subject sounds lurid, but I DO want to make a point.

The championship of the Americas is being decided in Brazil from July 17-21. That is a period of 5 days, and the three advancing teams to the world championship in Dubrovnik, Croatia will be playing 5 games in 5 days in southeastern Brazil.

Then they get a break, and a very long flight to Europe, to play beginning on July 25th.

Considering that 3 teams are qualifying from the Americas and that probably well more than 80% of the world's population comes from the other continents, it seems likely to me that the world championship will be competed by 16 teams. I would like to confirm that, but the FIBA site isn't responding to my attempts to access it. (This doesn't surprise me, many world athletic organization sites are pretty poorly hosted and/or maintained.)

Since the world championship finals are scheduled for July 25-August 3, that suggests that the preliminaries will be in 4 quads of 4 teams each, followed by quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship and consolation games.

So it would appear the schedule would be as follows:

July 25-26 - Preliminary games 1
July 27-28 - Preliminary games 2
July 29-30 - Preliminary games 3
July 31 - Off day
August 1 - Quarterfinals
August 2 - Championship and consolation semifinals
August 3 - Championship and consolation games.

That makes 11 games in 18 days, starting with 5 in 5, followed by a long plane trip during a 3 day hiatus, then 6 games in 10 days.

I'm not aware of a WNBA schedule this rigorous. You would think that young athletes would get a little bit more time to compete in the biggest tournament in the world, wouldn't you?

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So does anyone have an answer as to why you would start a basketball tournament in July one year, and complete it in August the year after? What the heck is that?


[This message has been edited by YCN (edited 07-16-2002).]

swok34
07-17-2002, 10:35 AM
So does anyone have an answer as to why you would start a basketball tournament in July one year, and complete it in August the year after? What the heck is that?

Aren't these "qualifying" games being played right now? I know that Stacey Dales played for Canada last summer and it was to qualify for the 2002 something games......Canada didn't make it.

YCN
07-17-2002, 03:45 PM
Canada was trying to qualify for the regular 2002 FIBA World Championships last year, which is being held in China September 14-25 this year.

The USA young women's team should be playing Venezuala as I write this in the COPABA World Championship for Young Women Qualifying Tournament in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.

Speaking of the FIBA World Championship again, the USA roster is 2/3 full thus far, with these eight players selected: Tamika Catchings, Shannon Johnson, Lisa Leslie, Katie Smith, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, Natalie Williams.

Gee, I hope we have a chance with that motley crew. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by YCN (edited 07-17-2002).]