LEARNED #1: Germany could be a force for years to come
Germany took the 2023 World Cup by storm and went undefeated en route to winning the title for the first time. The country had been building up talent for many years now and finally broke through last summer by taking third place at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022.
Dennis Schroder put his leadership on display in Asia in carrying Germany to the World Cup crown just four years after crashing out in the First Round. Germany could be a force for some time now as the average age of the team was just 25.1 years with only Daniel Theis and Niels Giffey being older than 30.
Plus, there is a lot of talent coming up in the country. Get used to including Germany among the title contenders in the near future.
LOVED #1- Philippines fans really love basketball
The Philippines have been long known as a basketball-loving nation and they showed that at the World Cup, coming out in droves to not only see their own national team but cheer on their favorite NBA stars. It was in the Philippines that a new World Cup attendance record was set with 38,115 fans flocking to the Philippine Arena for the Philippines' opening game against the Dominican Republic.
Besides celebrating their own players, some of the fan highlights in Manila were their loud ovations for USA guard Austin Reaves, who plays for many Filipinos' favorite team the Los Angeles Lakers; and then going from booing Canada's Dillon Brooks - because of his antics in the NBA with LA Lakers star LeBron James - to then chanting MVP over the course of the Third Place Game.