The USA Men\u2019s National Team secured a landmark win over Greece in their first appearance in the UAE last night.
\nInfront of a sold-out crowd and Etihad Arena, day two of the inaugural International Basketball Week, featured a double-header which saw Mexico emerge victorious over Lebanon in the evening\u2019s earlier game.
\nIn the first game of the night, Mexico triumphed 88 \u2013 70 over Lebanon with Joshua Ibarra leading Mexico with a team-high 20 points. Lebanon and Mexico join Egypt, Germany, Greece and the US in International Basketball Week, a series of exhibition games ahead of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which will take place in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan from August 25 \u2013 Sep. 10.
\nReflecting on the past week, Omar Quintero, Head Coach of the Mexico National Team, said: \u201cIt\u2019s always good to finish before the World Cup winning to give us that confidence, we\u2019ve got a tough group to compete with but we feel prepared.
\n“The fans and the public have showed us so much love since we arrived, it\u2019s incredible that Abu Dhabi is promoting basketball here – the fans, the hospitality, and the arena are amazing.\u201d
\nIn the second game of the evening, Team USA sealed a 108-86 win over Greece. Competing for the first time in the region, Team USA took an early 32-17 first quarter lead and never looked back. The US were led by the Minnesota Timberwolves\u2019 Anthony Edwards who scored a game-high 21 points. Greece was led by Nikos Rogkavopoulos and Panagiotis Kalaitzakis with 12 points apiece.
\n View this post on Instagram A post shared by USA Basketball (@usabasketball)
\nThe game saw fans revel in the entertainment and atmosphere on offer as they chanted \u201cGO TEAM USA\u201d throughout.
\nCenter Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz) said: \u201cIt was a lot of fun, we\u2019ve got incredible depth in our team so all 12 of us are unbelievably talented and we all play the right way. Greece is obviously very skilled, they\u2019re very physical so I\u2019d say playing them now before the pool play in the World Cup is advantageous.
\n“My experience in Abu Dhabi so far has been awesome, the people are so friendly, the hospitality and food is unbelievable.\u201d
\nBoth the USA Basketball Showcase and International Basketball Week highlight the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) Abu Dhabi\u2019s commitment to reinforcing Abu Dhabi\u2019s positioning as a global sporting destination with a diverse calendar of entertainment that appeals to a mass audience.
\nThe result of a multi-year partnership between the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) Abu Dhabi and the National Basketball Association (NBA), last year saw the inaugural NBA Abu Dhabi Games which will return later this year when the Dallas Mavericks take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 5 and 7 as part of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 Presented by ADQ. Both initiatives underpin the Emirate\u2019s sports and entertainment strategy, and directly align with the capital\u2019s international stance as an events innovator.
\nTonight sees Germany take on Greece with Team USA in action again, this time against Germany, on Sunday night. The USA vs. Germany game will be broadcast live in the region on Starzplay.
\nTeam USA features NBA All-Stars Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), and Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year Jarren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies) and 2022-23 Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic) under the watchful eye of Head Coach Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors). Germany features brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic), Dennis Schr\u00f6der (Toronto Raptors) and Daneil Theis (Indiana Pacers).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The USA Men\u2019s National Team secured a landmark win over Greece in their first appearance in the UAE last night.
\nInfront of a sold-out crowd and Etihad Arena, day two of the inaugural International Basketball Week, featured a double-header which saw Mexico emerge victorious over Lebanon in the evening\u2019s earlier game.
\nIn the first game of the night, Mexico triumphed 88 \u2013 70 over Lebanon with Joshua Ibarra leading Mexico with a team-high 20 points. Lebanon and Mexico join Egypt, Germany, Greece and the US in International Basketball Week, a series of exhibition games ahead of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which will take place in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan from August 25 \u2013 Sep. 10.
\nReflecting on the past week, Omar Quintero, Head Coach of the Mexico National Team, said: \u201cIt\u2019s always good to finish before the World Cup winning to give us that confidence, we\u2019ve got a tough group to compete with but we feel prepared.
\n\u201cThe fans and the public have showed us so much love since we arrived, it\u2019s incredible that Abu Dhabi is promoting basketball here \u2013 the fans, the hospitality, and the arena are amazing.\u201d
\nIn the second game of the evening, Team USA sealed a 108-86 win over Greece. Competing for the first time in the region, Team USA took an early 32-17 first quarter lead and never looked back. The US were led by the Minnesota Timberwolves\u2019 Anthony Edwards who scored a game-high 21 points. Greece was led by Nikos Rogkavopoulos and Panagiotis Kalaitzakis with 12 points apiece.
\n View this post on Instagram A post shared by USA Basketball (@usabasketball)
\nThe game saw fans revel in the entertainment and atmosphere on offer as they chanted \u201cGO TEAM USA\u201d throughout.
\nCenter Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz) said: \u201cIt was a lot of fun, we\u2019ve got incredible depth in our team so all 12 of us are unbelievably talented and we all play the right way. Greece is obviously very skilled, they\u2019re very physical so I\u2019d say playing them now before the pool play in the World Cup is advantageous.
\n\u201cMy experience in Abu Dhabi so far has been awesome, the people are so friendly, the hospitality and food is unbelievable.\u201d
\nBoth the USA Basketball Showcase and International Basketball Week highlight the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) Abu Dhabi\u2019s commitment to reinforcing Abu Dhabi\u2019s positioning as a global sporting destination with a diverse calendar of entertainment that appeals to a mass audience.
\nThe result of a multi-year partnership between the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) Abu Dhabi and the National Basketball Association (NBA), last year saw the inaugural NBA Abu Dhabi Games which will return later this year when the Dallas Mavericks take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 5 and 7 as part of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 Presented by ADQ. Both initiatives underpin the Emirate\u2019s sports and entertainment strategy, and directly align with the capital\u2019s international stance as an events innovator.
\nTonight sees Germany take on Greece with Team USA in action again, this time against Germany, on Sunday night. The USA vs. Germany game will be broadcast live in the region on Starzplay.
\nTeam USA features NBA All-Stars Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), and Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year Jarren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies) and 2022-23 Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic) under the watchful eye of Head Coach Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors). Germany features brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic), Dennis Schr\u00f6der (Toronto Raptors) and Daneil Theis (Indiana Pacers).<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=324544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324545,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324544\/revisions\/324545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=324544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=324544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=324544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}