Basketball World Cup 2023, 3rd place match on Sunday, 10/09/2023
Well, if the United States had taken a bit more experience and nominated a big edgy center, they would probably be in the finals now.
But as it is, the realization remains that it wasn’t enough for gold and bronze is the best the NBA pros can hope for now.
In my USA Canada tip, I’m expecting an exciting and entertaining match between two disappointed nations, both of which will play forward from the start
It ended up just as I predicted: this U.S. team doesn’t win gold.
The 100:63 victory over Italy in the quarterfinals was probably just a deceptive liberation blow, which was shortly followed by the 111:113 defeat by Germany, which can now become world champions for the first time again.
However, I would like to defend the NBA pros a bit. After all, their elimination in the round of the last four is not necessarily due to the fact that they performed badly, but rather that the Germans played the game of their lives.
Andreas Obst in particular was a constant threat to the US team with his many three-pointers from downtown.
But not only the USA look disappointed, also the neighboring Canada was expected to do more.
Quite a few bookmakers finally prepared for the “supposed dream final” between the two NBA greats with sports betting bonuses and free bets.
However, the Maple Leafs succumbed to the rebound kings from Serbia, who, despite a lack of sparkling ideas in the build-up to the game, were able to secure enough free balls and thus show off their strengths to the best advantage over their opponents.
Only good from the point of view of all fans of CAN that the USA can not similarly assert themselves at the board and somewhat “came up short”.
Even the match between USA and Germany revealed the highest score ever achieved at a World Cup finals with 224 points.
In fact, this is a result that one is more used to in the NBA, but the playing time at the FIBA World Championship is limited to 10 minutes per quarter and thus much shorter.
But personally, I expect a similarly entertaining game with a lot of tempo in the match for third place.
After all, the USA and CAN are among the top three offenses in this World Cup. The United States has averaged 101.2 points per game so far, while the Maple Leafs are averaging 96.2.
Adding these two stats above together, we come up with an expected combined offensive output of 197.4 points.
If both teams stick to their average point production in the match for third place, then the betting markets at providers such as Interwetten can offer considerable odds for this.
In terms of a possible winner, however, I keep myself covered! But it is clear that just looking at the USA Canada odds makes me lose any desire to bet on the United States to win.
Because with win odds averaging 1.40 to 3.25, these are far too one-sided for me. Canada plays technically great basketball and is a slight underdog at best.
Who wants to be on the safe side, should provide the Maple Leafs at the bookmaker Sportwetten.de with a HC of +10.5 and thus enjoy relatively good chances to be able to secure the odds of circa 1.57 traded in this context.
Conclusion: If it was about gold, both teams would probably focus a bit more on their defensive skills.
But in the “duel of the disappointed”, I think it will be a lively and entertaining game in the first place – also due to the playing style and performances shown so far.
As far as the outcome of the match is concerned, however, I would prefer to put my money on the guests, as in this case the ratio between risk and payout convinces me much more than in the opposite case.
My USA Canada tip: Over 196.5 points!
