FIBA World Cup 2019: Day 1 takeaways, Day 2 look-ahead
By Phil Watson
Group A may not be the prettiest …
In Beijing, Poland took control of its matchup with Venezuela with a strong second quarter, holding Venezuela to just 4-of-12 shooting in the quarter — including 0-for-6 from 3-point range — and the Venezuelans helped out with five turnovers in the period.
That enabled Poland to turn a two-point deficit at the quarter break into a 44-36 halftime lead and the Poles held on, weathering a 6-0 run by Venezuela to open the second half when Aaron Cel quieted the uprising with a 3-pointer.
Poland led by as much as 16 points in the second half and had a huge advantage at the free throw line, where they were 18-for-25 to Venezuela’s 7-for-11 (an 11-point differential in a game decided by 11 points seems significant).
Poland shot just 42.2 percent overall and 30.8 percent from 3-point range, but that was enough. Venezuela hit just 38.6 percent overall and 25.8 percent from deep.
Five Poles scored in double-figures, led by Michal Sokolowski’s 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go with nine rebounds. Adam Hrycaniuk posted a double-double in 22 minutes with 10 points and 10 boards, including five off the offensive window. A.J. Slaughter had five assists.
Pedro Chourio led Venezuela with 15 points, while Miguel Ruiz grabbed 10 rebounds and Heissler Gullient dished out eight assists,
China escaped after a sloppy first half and led by as much as 19 en route to their 70-55 victory over Ivory Coast. The visitors had a 41-33 rebounding advantage and had 19 offensive rebounds, but scored just nine second-chance points as they shot just 29 percent for the game.
Ivory Coast undid itself with turnovers — 21 of them — leading to 18 Chinese points. The work in transition helped China shoot 53 percent on a night, with an enormous 56-18 edge in points in the paint.
That was key, because China was just 1-for-10 from 3-point range. Veteran Yi Jianlian paced China with 19 points and eight rebounds and guard Guo Ailun had 17 points and nine assists. Guo was largely responsible for keeping China in the game in the first half until the rest of the team beat the jitters.
Guy Landri Edi scored 10 points for Ivory Coast.
On Monday in Beijing, Venezuela and Ivory Coast will battle to avoid almost certain elimination at 4 a.m. Eastern, with China and Poland looking to take control of the group and all but clinch a pass to the second round in their matchup at 8 a.m. Eastern.