Spain will play Argentina in the FIBA World Cup championship game Sunday.
But Australia stole the show in the semifinals.
Argentina advanced with an 80-66 win over France, which just beat Team USA. Says something about the state of American basketball, huh?
In the other semifinal, Spain beat Australia, 95-88, in double overtime. Late in the fourth quarter, Andrew Bogut fouled Marc Gasol (33 points) – a controversial whistle that Bogut responded to with a money gesture:
[wpvideo 3alTyi1V]
Then, Bogut really got going. As did Australia assistant coach Luc Longley.
Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia:
An emotional but measured Luc Longley, after Australia’s loss: “Spain gets kissed on the dick by the basketball gods every time we play them.”
— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) September 13, 2019
FIBA’s headquarters are in Switzerland. Was Bogut implying the organization favored European teams? Or was he incorrectly implying FIBA was located in Spain? With his conspiracy theories, it’s hard (and not worthwhile) to keep up.
I won’t assume FIBA is beyond reproach. But sometimes, a bad call is just a bad call. These are not the world’s best referees.