December 9, 2016
FIBA conducted the draw for the group placements for next year’s tournament on Friday in Prague. The sixteen teams were drawn into four groups. Hradec Kralove will host groups A and B while Prague will host groups C and D and the final phase of games starting with the quarterfinals. Round robin games will be played on June 16th, 17th, and 19th. Crossover games will be played on June 20th, while the quarterfinals will be played on June 22nd before the the final two days of games on June 24th and 24th
Groups (teams listed in seed order):
- A: Spain, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Hungary
- B: Turkey, Belarus, Slovak Republic, Italy
- C: France, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia
- D: Russia, Montenegro, Latvia, Belgium
The format is slightly different as a result of the reduction in teams from the tournament two years ago. The top team in each group will automatically advance to the quarterfinals, so teams are likely to fight hard for that spot and the extra rest in round robin play. The bottom team in each group will be eliminated after the round robin is complete. The second and third place teams will play a crossover game with the other group in the same location to determine the other four quarterfinalists. The second place team in Group A faces the third place team in Group B while the second place team in Group B faces the third place team in Group A. Groups C and D will follow the same format in Prague. Teams who make it to the quarterfinals will play three additional games with the losers playing additional games to determine a final ranking. Those games will still be important because the five highest finishers besides Spain will join hosts Spain in the 2018 World Championship.
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