FIBA World Cup an exciting opportunity for players, major challenge for Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic will be well represented at the FIBA World Cup. it is an incredible opportunity for them, but also a potential risk for the team.

Montenegro is a tiny country, still relatively new to international competition after the break up of Yugoslavia. There are not a ton of basketball players to draw from and the competition in Europe is steep, even among countries in the former Yugoslavia.

None of that mattered. It did not really matter that Montenegro was no favorite to win Eurobasket in 2011 or 2013 or 2017 (they missed out in 2015), this was a big moment and a big appearance for the team.

Nikola Vucevic was at the center of it. You could easily argue that Montenegro missed Eurobasket, the championship for European teams, in 2015 because Nikola Vucevic had a falling out with the national team coach. He is since gone and Vucevic is back with the team, where he averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the 2017 Eurobasket.

Montenegro did not perform well relative to the tournament. They finished 13th, going 3-3. It was still the best Montenegro had ever performed in an international tournament.

But this summer is different. This summer Montenegro is doing something it has never done before.

The tiny country on the Adriatic Sea of roughly 622,000 people will compete with the best teams in the world in the expanded FIBA World Cup. Montenegro will compete in the FIBA World Cup for the first time in its history.

And Vucevic will most likely be there as the team’s only NBA representative and one of its most important players. Montenegro, ranked No. 28 in the world, will hope to score some upsets in their group with more known powers in Brazil and Greece.

Montenegro certainly has improved as a basketball nation. Vucevic was not part of the team that qualified for the World Cup as qualification took place during the NBA season. The country is starting to rise the basketball ranks. Vucevic will likely get the chance to represent his country and be part of that movement in China in a month.

He will not be alone among Orlando Magic players.

Evan Fournier is expected to rejoin France after missing the 2016 Olympics (controversially as he opted to sit out for free agency and then was denied re-entry after France qualified for the Olympics). France is one of the favorites to medal with a lineup that also features Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum.

Al-Farouq Aminu has long been a stalwart for Nigeria, scoring 12.0 points per game in Nigeria’s 2015 Afrobasket win. He was named to Nigeria’s preliminary roster pool and Al-Farouq Aminu has talked about the Group play games as Finals games for his country.

And Khem Birch will likely join Canada as they try to climb the ranks of FIBA.

Aaron Gordon was not named to the United States’ preliminary roster pool. But with a recent rush of players withdrawing from the team, they are considering extending him an invite to the team’s training camp starting August 5.

That is a lot of Magic representation for the tournament. A lot of key players will be playing for their national team.

This is a great opportunity for these players individually. They get the chance to represent their countries in truly meaningful games. For Vucevic, playing for Montenegro has a lot of meaning for him. It has a lot of meaning for many of the players to represent their country.

But it is a double-edged sword.

The World Cup is especially late this year and playing so many high-intensity games so close to the season has the potential to leave several key Magic players tired heading into the season.

There is a balance that a player has to make between the honor of representing his country and preparing for the regular season.

No one should ever be criticized for their decision to represent their country. It is truly one of the great honors a player can have while playing basketball.

And all five Magic players who may compete in this tournament should feel their teams are capable of making deep runs.

The United States is, no matter who is on the roster, the favorite to win the title. France should also make a deep run in the tournament. France won the bronze medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Montenegro, Nigeria and Canada are all in tough groups. Only the top two in each group will advance to the second round. But it is certainly possible any of those three teams could score upsets. No one enters a tournament not thinking they could make some noise.

Playing these high-intensity playoff games will certainly come with their advantages for the team’s development.

Throughout the Magic’s playoff run, fans worried how the team would handle the big-game pressure. The Magic came through in the end. But the playoffs exposed the team’s flaws and brought the team to a more heightened atmosphere and pressure.

If the Magic want more playoff experience, there may be no closer substitute than playing in high-pressure, tournament-style games like they would at the FIBA World Cup.

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There are also some clear drawbacks. And it is these drawbacks that are finding players in the U.S.A. roster pool dropping out.

The World Cup will bump right into training camp. The championship game of the FIBA World Cup will take place September 15. Training camp for the Magic is likely to open as early as September 23. That leaves only a week between the end of the tournament and the beginning of the long grind that is the NBA season.

There is always the chance for injury whenever players are playing high-level basketball. But there is also a great chance for fatigue too. Players coming into camp tired already can put them behind and put pressure on other parts of the roster to make up ground.

Vucevic credited not playing for the national team last summer as one of the reasons he came to camp so refreshed and ready to play.

The team itself also credited having so many roster players in town playing and working out together in September for building the foundations for their playoff run.

Playing in the World Cup would take away a lot of these perceived advantages and change preparation for the season.

Group play will end September 5. So most likely Nikola Vucevic, Al-Farouq Aminu and Khem Birch will have a few weeks to recover before camp begins. But with both the United States and France expected to make deep runs in the tournament, players on those teams will have little time to get ready for the NBA season.

The Magic probably already feel like they have a small margin for error. And with two starters — potentially three — playing in this tournament, there is definitely at least some cause for concern that several key player swill return fatigued for what could be a difficult season.

Orlando wants to use continuity to help the team hit the ground running this fall. They will have to rely on that even more if players are late arriving for pre-season training.

No one should judge a player for their decision to take on this honor. They all understand the risks and the potential of playing in this tournament. And this is an incredible opportunity for these players to represent their countries. It is never certain a player will get to do it again.

Teams have always navigated these risks and rewards for their players for every international tournament.

Eds. Note: This article has been corrected to note Montenegro was previously part of Yugoslavia. It originally stated it was former part of the Soviet Union.