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The FIBA World Cup is officially underway, and Serbia finds themselves facing off against China in their first matchup. They are set to play on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
In terms of the latest power rankings, these squads are on two different ends. Serbia cracks the top 10 in ninth place, and would probably be higher if they had the services of Nikola Jokic. As for China, they are in 20th place.
A handful of NBA talent will be on display as each team has at least one pro player on their roster.
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Serbia's 2023 FIBA World Cup roster
- Filip Petrusev
- Nikola Jovic
- Bogan Bogdanovic
- Vanja Marinkovic
- Ognjen Dobric
- Dusan Ristic
- Marko Guduric
- Stefan Jovic
- Dejan Davidovac
- Borisa Simanic
- Aleksa Avramovic
- Nikola Milutinov
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China's 2023 FIBA World Cup roster
- Kaier Li (Klye Anderson)
- Mingxuan Hu
- Jiwei Zhao
- Rui Zhao
- Peng Zhou
- Zheling Wang
- Qi Zhou
- Yongxi Cui
- Jinqiu Hu
- Junlonh Zhu
- Hao Fu
- Zhenlin Zhang
Serbia vs. China Prediction
Heading into this matchup, it's hard not to favor the Serbian squad. Even though they'll be without an NBA superstar in Nikola Jokic, they are still the much deeper roster.
In terms of recent international play, Serbia has played much better than the Chinese. During the 2019 World Cup, Team China made it to classification round 17-32. In that same year, the Serbian national team made it to classification games 5-6. They are also coming off a EuroBasket run where they reached the round of 16.
As a top 10 team in the latest power rankings, Serbia is a clear favorite to win this opening matchup against China.
Players to watch
Looking at Team China's roster, only one same sticks out. That being Kaier Li, who is Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson. He went through a deep process this year to be eligible to compete for his family's home country in the World Cup.
Since he is the only player on his team on an NBA roster, Anderson will be called up to lead the charge. He is coming off a season with the Timberwolves where he averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
As for the Serbians, the two names that stick out are Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Jovic. The veteran guard has always been a scoring threat in the NBA, and Jovic is a versatile forward coming off a successful rookie year with the Miami Heat.
