FIBA World Cup: Puerto Rico, Venezuela make Americas look good
By Phil Watson
Venezuela shuts down China for second-round bid
At Beijing, China couldn’t do anything with its massive size advantage over Venezuela. Instead, it was the South American side that dictated play with its feisty work on the glass and its smothering defense.
Venezuela outrebounded China 49-28 and enjoyed an 18-14 edge in second-chance points. But more than anything, China hurt itself with its poor shooting despite having a 16-8 edge in points off turnovers.
China shot just 33.3 percent (19-for-57) overall and made only 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) from 3-point range. The closest the Chinese were able to get in the fourth quarter was when they cut the margin to 60-53 with 3:07 remaining.
Venezuela shot 44.4 percent (28-for-63) overall and made 8-of-24 from deep (33.3 percent). Point guard Heissler Guillent continued his solid play for Venezuela, scoring a game-high 15 points to go with eight assists. Nestor Colmenares added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Fang Shuo came off the bench for 13 points for China, while Yi Jianlian had 11 points and eight rebounds. Zhao Jiwei finished with 12 points and three steals.
In the first game on the final day for Group A, Ivory Coast got off to a blistering start before Poland was able to right the ship and finish unbeaten in the group with an 80-63 victory.
It was a sloppy game, with 31 combined turnovers, but Poland’s depth made the difference. The Poles outscored Cote d’Ivorie off the bench 36-8 and also had a 21-14 edge in points off miscues, despite committing one more turnover (16) than the Coasters.
Poland shot 56.4 percent (31-for-55) overall and was 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) from deep, compared to 43.3 percent (26-for-60) and 5-for-20 (25 percent) for Ivory Coast.
Adam Waczynski paced Poland with 16 points and six assists, while Damian Kulig added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Charles Abouo had a game-high 23 points with six rebounds for Ivory Coast, while Deon Thompson added 18 points and six boards. Souleyman Diabate had six assists and three steals.
Ivory Coast (0-3) and China (1-2) will head to classification round play in Group M, to be played in Guangzhou, joined by Nigeria and Korea from Group B.