New name of game: Positionless basketball

MANILA, Philippines — Positionless basketball is the name of the game as all guards, led by Tissot Tournament MVP Dennis Schroder of champion Germany, made the All-Star Five of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

Schroder saved his best for last, racking up 28 points, two rebounds and two steals highlighted by the game-sealing lay-up and free throws in the last 21 seconds to lead the Germans to a feisty 83-77 win over the Serbians.

The Toronto Raptors guard, in the All-Star Five of the 2022 EuroBasket in Berlin where his team finished third, registered 19.1 points, 6.1 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals as Germany completed a perfect 8-0 run for its first-ever World Cup title.

Bogdan Bogdanovic of runner-up Serbia, with averages of 19.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.1 steals, was also in the mythical team.

Joining them were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (24.5 points) of bronze medalist Canada, Anthony Edwards (18.9 points) of fourth-place USA and top scorer Luka Doncic (27.0 points) of Slovenia, which finished seventh.

As Germany set a modest goal of winning at least a medal in the World Cup, Schroder insisted on a gold as the team’s ultimate prize which they achieved in style after a run that also included a 113-111 win over Team USA in the semifinals.

Now he got a bonus but still credited the entire team and coaching staff behind his back.

“It’s an unbelievable group. This is unbelievable. We enjoyed every single moment, every single day, every single practice, every single game. We embraced it and competed on the highest level. That’s the reason why we did what we did in this tournament,” he said.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old guard Josh Giddey of Australia was recognized with the first-ever Wanda Rising Star Award after tallying 19.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

Germany’s Franz Wagner, Serbia’s Nikola Milutinov, Italy’s Simone Fontecchio, Lithuania’s Jonas Valanciunas and Latvia’s Arturs Zagars were named into the All-Second Team, which was also the first recognition in World Cup history.

Dillon Brooks of Canada, who displayed his offensive prowess with 39 points on 7-of-8 clip from downtown, was named The Best Defensive Player as Latvia’s Luca Banchi was hailed as The Best Coach.

Banchi authored Latvia, a World Cup debutant, to a Top 5 finish highlighted by a 98-63 win against Lithuania.