Thanks and goodbye, Wemby: another FIBA windows cycle ends, but flaws persist / News - Basketnews.com

In the exclusive article for the BN+ members, BasketNews Daily Editor Edvinas Jablonskis argues how little good FIBA windows give following the elimination of such teams like Argentina, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Nigeria.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The second FIBA World Cup Qualifiers cycle has come to an end, and once again, it caused plenty of discussion regarding the Qualifiers system.

The reason for that has been known for quite some time. Some of the traditional basketball powerhouses didn't qualify because they couldn't rely on their best players.

Five teams from FIBA Top 20 Ranking list won't play in the upcoming World Cup:

Argentina(no. 4 in FIBA Ranking) Czech Republic(12) Poland(14) Turkey(16) Nigeria(19)

The list doesn't includeTunisia(22nd place in FIBA Ranking) andCroatia(23rd).

Looking four years back, these teams achieved such things like:

Argentina:FIBA World Cup runners-up in 2019, quarterfinal in Tokyo Olympics 2020, FIBA AmeriCup champions in 2022. Czech Republic:quarterfinal in FIBA World Cup in 2019, group stage in Tokyo Olympics 2020, Round of 16 in EuroBasket 2022. Poland:quarterfinal in FIBA World Cup 2019, semifinal in EuroBasket 2022. Turkey:22nd place in World Cup in 2019, Round of 16 in EuroBasket 2022. Nigeria:17th place in World Cup in 2019, group stage in Tokyo Olympics 2020, Round of 16 in AfroBasket 2021.

So, throughout the 4-year cycle, all five teams played in the previous World Cup. Three of them made the knockout stages. Also, three of them took part in a 12-team Olympic tournament. On top of that, all five teams reached the knockout stages in their respective continental tournaments.

But it's not only about countries. Most of those eliminated nations are significant markets.

Turkey is probably the most obvious case. There's no point in writing much. Everyone who follows basketball knows how passionate, interactive, and locked in Turkish fans could be.

Usually, Turkish broadcasters also prepare top-notch content for TV viewers. That's a big chunk of the audience lost.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has a population of 225 million people. Once again, another huge market is out of the picture.

Yes, Argentina and Poland are countries dominated by football. Regardless, there will be no major football tournament in 2023, and both countries have recent success and stars that could attract people to watch their nation play.

The Czech Republic was on a rise and will miss its first major tournament since EuroBasket 2013. EuroBasket 2022 was good proof of that growth.

6785 people on average attended Group D games in Prague. But it wasn't only the Czech games that attracted people.

The Serbia-Poland game attracted 4903 spectators, Israel-Finland – 5298, and Finland-Poland – 8832. Excluding Czech Republic's games, the average attendance was 4509 people.

One of the main FIBA's arguments about the window system is the ability to grow and popularize basketball in smaller countries.

Well, it didn't go that well in Georgia during the same EuroBasket 2022.

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