FIBA World Cup: Just like that, 4 quarterfinalists; Day 7 takeaways
By Phil Watson
Poland assumes role of Cinderella
FIBA keeps setting them up and Poland keeps knocking them down. To open Group I in the second round at Foshan, the Poles faced their toughest test to date with Russia after taking care of China, Ivory Coast and Venezuela in the first round.
Russia set the tone early and got off to an 11-point lead in the second quarter, but Poland was undaunted. Their physical offensive style got Russia in foul trouble and the Poles punished the Russians at the foul line, hitting 35-of-38 (92.1 percent) for the game in their 79-74 victory.
That offset their 35.8 percent (19-for-53) shooting overall and their 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) work from 3-point range.
Russia hit 40 percent overall (26-for-65) and was 9-for-30 (30 percent) from deep, but went only 13-for-19 at the line and that minus-22 differential there was absolutely the deciding factor.
Adam Waczynski led Poland with 18 points, while Mateusz Ponitka — Poland’s leading scorer in the first round — finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals despite missing several minutes in the second half after a blow to the face opened up a cut.
Mikhail Kulagin scored 21 points for the Russians, while Andrey Vorontsevich had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Argentina, which also improved to 4-0 and clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, overwhelmed Venezuela inside, outscoring their South American rival 42-30 in the paint and leading by as much as 23 in an 87-67 victory.
Argentina and Poland will meet on Sunday to determine the top seed coming out of Group I.
The Argentinians shot 52.9 percent on the night (27-for-51) overall. but were only 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from deep. Venezuela, though, was ineffective from all over, shooting 38.8 percent (26-for-67) overall and matching Argentina with 6-for-21 shooting from long range.
Gabriel Deck, who scored only 27 points in three first-round games, went off for Argentina with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Luis Scola fought through foul trouble for 15 points in 19 minutes.
Facundo Campazzo, with 12 points and nine assists, and Nicolas Laprovittola, who finished with seven dimes, handled the playmaking and Luis Vildoza notched three steals.
Michael Carrera led Venezuela with 19 points.
On Sunday, Venezuela and Russia will play for positioning in the 9-16 classification round at 4 a.m. Eastern, followed by 4-0 Poland and 4-0 Argentina playing to win the group at 8 a.m. Eastern.