1998 FIBA World Championship

1998 FIBA World Championship
13th FIBA World Championship
Tournament details
Host nation	Greece
Dates	29 July – 9 August
Teams	16 (from 5 federations)
Venues	2 (in 2 host cities)
Champions	Yugoslavia (4th title)
MVP	Dejan Bodiroga
Tournament leaders
Players Teams Points Alberto Herreros (17.88)  United States (82.10) Rebounds José Ortiz (10.5)  Nigeria (37.4) Assists Shane Heal (4.5)  Argentina (13.10)
Official website
1998 FIBA World Championship
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The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 nations and the matches were played in two venues in Athens and Piraeus.

Because of the National Basketball Association lockout and unlike the previous championship, the USA Basketball Association was unable to send a team comprised from NBA players, thus causing the American national team roster to be comprised out of professional basketball players playing in Europe and two college players.^[1] The tournament was won by Yugoslavia, in their first participation after the breakup of Yugoslavia, defeating 64–62 Russia in the final.

Venues

Attica		Greece
Marousi, Athens	Neo Faliro, Piraeus	Marousi, Athens Piraeus
Athens Olympic Indoor Hall Capacity: 18,700	Peace and Friendship Stadium Capacity: 14,776

Squads

Competing nations

Greece and the United States qualified automatically, the first because of its status as host country, and the latter due to earning a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The remaining places were secured according to the different continental tournaments held in 1997.

Preliminary round

	Qualified for the second round groups I and II
	Qualified for the second round groups III and IV

The top three teams in each group advance to the second round, into either Group E or F. The fourth place team in each group moves onto the 13th–16th classification.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Greece	3	3	0	210	185	+25	6
Italy	3	2	1	211	199	+12	5
Canada	3	1	2	211	214	−3	4
Senegal	3	0	3	180	214	−34	3

Group Β

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Yugoslavia	3	3	0	261	194	+67	6
Russia	3	2	1	243	213	+30	5
Puerto Rico	3	1	2	217	223	−6	4
Japan	3	0	3	169	260	−91	3

Group C

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Lithuania	3	3	0	247	200	+47	6
United States	3	2	1	253	205	+48	5
Brazil	3	1	2	197	222	−25	4
South Korea	3	0	3	191	261	−70	3

Group D

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Spain	3	3	0	225	211	+14	6
Argentina	3	2	1	201	181	+20	5
Australia	3	1	2	208	207	+1	4
Nigeria	3	0	3	183	218	−35	3

Second round

	Qualified for the final round
	Qualified for the 9th–12th classification

First three teams in each group of the first group phase qualify to the second phase, creating two new groups of six teams. The final standings also take in account the results of previous round matches.

Group Ε

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Tie
Yugoslavia	5	4	1	387	312	+75	9	1–0
Russia	5	4	1	372	330	+42	9	0–1
Greece	5	3	2	317	322	−5	8	1–0
Italy	5	3	2	319	327	−8	8	0–1
Puerto Rico	5	1	4	360	386	−26	6
Canada	5	0	5	349	427	−78	5

Group F

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Tie
United States	5	4	1	423	368	+55	9	1–0
Spain	5	4	1	377	361	+16	9	0–1
Lithuania	5	3	2	375	376	−1	8
Argentina	5	2	3	368	377	−9	7	1–0
Australia	5	2	3	362	363	−1	7	0–1
Brazil	5	0	5	323	383	−60	5

Classification round

13th–16th classification

	Thirteenth to sixteenth				Thirteenth place
	2 August 1998
	Senegal	55
	Japan	60
					3 August 1998
					Japan	60
					Nigeria	70
					Fifteenth place
	2 August 1998			3 August 1998
	South Korea	65		Senegal	75
	Nigeria	89			South Korea	72

Semifinals

15th place playoff

13th place playoff

9th–12th classification

	Ninth to twelfth				Ninth place
	7 August 1998
	Puerto Rico	64
	Brazil	76
					8 August 1998
					Brazil	75
					Australia	79
					Eleventh place
	7 August 1998			8 August 1998
	Canada	71		Puerto Rico	92
	Australia	88			Canada	81

Semifinals

11th place playoff

9th place playoff

5th–8th classification

	5th–8th place				5th place
	8 August 1998
	Lithuania	71
	Italy	76
					9 August 1998
					Italy	61
					Spain	64
					7th place
	8 August 1998			9 August 1998
	Argentina	64		Lithuania	77
	Spain	77			Argentina	76

Semifinals

7th place playoff

5th place playoff

Final round

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	7 August 1998
	Russia	82
					8 August 1998
	Lithuania	67
					Russia	66
	7 August 1998
					United States	64
	Italy	77
									9 August 1998
	United States	80
									Russia	62
	7 August 1998
									Yugoslavia	64
	Yugoslavia	70
					8 August 1998
	Argentina	62
					Yugoslavia	78			Third place
	7 August 1998
					Greece	73
	Greece	69							United States	84
	Spain	62							Greece	61
									9 August 1998

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

3rd place playoff

Final

Awards

1998 World Championship Winner
Yugoslavia Fourth title

MVP
Dejan Bodiroga

All-Tournament Team

• Vasili Karasev
• Alberto Herreros
• Dejan Bodiroga — MVP
• Gregor Fučka
• Željko Rebrača

Top scorers

Country	Name	Ppg
	Alberto Herreros	17.9
	Mohammed Acha	17.5
	Artūras Karnišovas	17.1
	Shane Heal	17.0
	Andrew Gaze	16.8
	José "Piculín" Ortiz	16.5
	Maikeru Takahashi	16.4
	Vasili Karasev	16.1
	Seo Jang-Hoon	15.2
	Dejan Bodiroga	14.7

Final standings

Rank	Team	Record
1	Yugoslavia	8–1
2	Russia	7–2
3	United States	7–2
4	Greece	5–4
5	Spain	7–2
6	Italy	5–4
7	Lithuania	5–4
8	Argentina	3–6
9	Australia	5–3
10	Brazil	2–6
11	Puerto Rico	3–5
12	Canada	1–7
13	Nigeria	2–3
14	Japan	1–4
15	Senegal	1–4
16	South Korea	0–5

Notes

1. ↑ 1998 USA Basketball Archived 10 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine.