2023 FIBA World Cup All-Underrated Team
The 2023 FIBA World Cup is well in the rearview mirror after Germany defeated Serbia to take their first-ever international basketball gold medal. Most stars shined as expected, but others reached unexpected levels under bright lights and left a surprising mark on all of the basketball world this summer.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup ended with a gold medal for Germany, a silver medal for Serbia, and a bronze medal for Canada. Most players with high expectations heading into the tournament met them, even if their teams did not.
This led to an unsurprising All-Star Five for the tournament of Dennis Schroder, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic. Schroder and Gilgeous-Alexander led their countries to new heights, and both Doncic and Edwards brought their teams as far as they could before running into tough opponents.
While the stars of the tournament impressed but were unsurprising, there were plenty of players who were very underrated heading into the tournament and had very solid performances either as stars or role players for their teams who made deep runs. This formed the basis for our All-Underrated team, a player at each position and a sixth man who had a much larger impact on their teams' performance in the tournament than expected.
Some of these players surprised as stars, and went from zero to hero for their home country based on their play. Others simply deserve more recognition for what they brought to the table for their team in each and every game, and the final few thrived in their role. They did exactly what their teams needed them to do to help them win games.
After all, stars aren't the only reason Germany, Serbia, and Canada won medals this summer and Latvia overperformed. Their entire rotation was critical to their success, every minute and every possession mattered, and these players exemplified that in limited roles. They may not be getting any extra recognition from FIBA, but we're going to give it to them here and talk about how they can carry this into their club play next season.
Here's the 2023 FIBA World Cup All-Underrated team.
2023 FIBA World Cup: All-Underrated Team
Point Guard - Arturs Zagars
From European basketball's next big thing to failed prospect due to injuries, Arturs Zagars has seen it all in his short professional career. Most European basketball fans had not given the youngster much thought heading into the FIBA World Cup. Latvia was without Kristaps Porzingis, in a group with Canada and France, and thus expected to swiftly be eliminated in the first round. Zagars and Latvia had other ideas, though.
They beat France in their second game thanks to 22 points and five assists from Zagars and clinched their place in the second round. There, they would meet Spain, the reigning champions who they would need to beat to advance to the quarterfinals. They did exactly that, and Zagars' seven points and five assists were key in their second major upset victory of the tournament.
After beating Brazil by 20 they officially qualified for the quarterfinals and drew Germany. Germany would go on to win the gold medal, but Latvia pushed them all the way and got a final shot for Davis Bertans to win the game. Their dream run was over, but Zagars thrived once more and finished with 24 points and eight assists.
The 23-year-old was a free agent heading into the tournament, but it doesn't appear that will be the case for much longer. According to Aris Barkas of Eurohoops, Zagars is signing with Fenerbahce and joining Lithuanian club BC Wolves on loan for at least the start of the season. We may see the youngster back in EuroLeague soon.