Brazil’s 79-78 FIBA World Cup win over Greece on Tuesday was mainly due to FIBA’s allowance of goal-tending, which secured Brazil 22 points in its win.
The fact that FIBA doesn’t enforce the ‘above the cylinder’ basket interference rule sealed Greece’s fate. Grizzlies Bruno Caboclo managed to use the looser international rules to his advantage by sealing his country’s win against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece, doing something that would not be allowed in the NBA.
The looser rules mean that players don’t have to wait until the ball is no longer above the rim of the hoop to tip it back in on offence or swat the airborne shot away on defence.
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The rule itself doesn’t ensure the dominance of NBA players, and an example of that could be seen when Team USA, made entirely of NBA champions, barely made it out alive against Turkey.
In the case of the Brazil-Game, the heads-up deflection sends Brazil to the second round. Greece now needs to win the game against New Zealand on Thursday in order to qualify for the next round.
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