Everything you need to know about watching the Utah Jazz compete in the FIBA World Cup

How can you watch the Utah Jazz players in the FIBA World Cup?

The Utah Jazz have a number of players in the FIBA World Cup. If you’re like us, you want to track the players from the Jazz and their home countries in which they’re competing in. But do you know? Well, we got your back.

Below is a detailed list of everything you’ll need to know on your journey into the world of FIBA World Cup basketball.

How to watch?

There are several ways to watch the FIBA World Cup. Americans can see Team USA games air on ESPN, but if you don’t have ESPN, you live out of the market or you’re interested in the other squads, you can watch those games via ESPN+ or Courtside1891. Both ESPN+ and Courtside 1891 carry a price to use the service, but Courtside 1891 is only $9.99. However, blackouts in coverage may happen from time to time.

Who’s in the FIBA World Cup and what team do they play for?

The Jazz will have five players in the FIBA World Cup. Lauri Markkanen is playing for Team Finland. Simone Fontecchio is playing for Team Italy. Jordan Clarkson is playing for Team Philippines. Kelly Olynyk is playing for Team Canada. And Walker Kessler is playing for Team USA.

How many games is each team guaranteed?

Each team is guaranteed three games, and there’s a good chance that all five teams make it out of the first round (aka Group Play).

Each of the five team’s schedules?

Team Canada

• Friday, Aug. 25 vs. France (7:30 a.m. MST/ ESPN+)
• Sunday, Aug.27 vs. Lebanon (3:45 a.m. MST/ ESPN+)
• Tuesday, Aug. 29 vs. Latvia (7:30 a.m. MST/ ESPN+)

Team Finland

• Friday, Aug. 25 vs. Australia (2:00 a.m. MST/ESPN+)
• Sunday, Aug. 25 vs. Japan (6:10 a.m. MST/ ESPN+)
• Tuesday, Aug. 29 vs. Germany (1:30 a.m. MST/ ESPN+)

Team Italy

• Friday, Aug. 25 vs. Angola (2:00 a.m. MST/ESPN+)
• Sunday, Aug. 27 vs. Dominican Republic (2:00 a.m. MST/ESPN+)
• Tuesday, Aug. 29 vs. Philippines (2:00 a.m. MST on ESPN+)

Team Philippines

• Friday, Aug. 25 vs. Dominican Republic (6:00 a.m. MST/ESPN+)
• Sunday, Aug. 27 vs. Angola (6:00 a.m. MST/ESPN+)
• Tuesday, Aug. 29 vs. Italy (6:00 a.m. MST/ESPN+)

Team United States

• Saturday, Aug. 26 vs. New Zealand (6:30 a.m. MST/ESPN2)
• Monday, Aug. 28 vs. Greece (6:30 a.m. MST/ESPN2)
• Wednesday, Aug. 30 vs. Jordan (2:30 a.m. MST/ESPN2)

How does the FIBA World Cup Tournament work?

The FIBA World Cup Tournament has five rounds. The first two rounds are group play action. The first round will see four teams in eight groups play three games against one another. The two teams with the best record from each group move on to the second round. The other two teams from each group will go into what’s called the Classification Round (more on that later).

In round two, the top two teams play against one another. Each team will earn a group number and each number will be paired with the top two teams from another group to form a new foursome. For instance, Group A will send over A1 and A2 to Group B, and they’ll be paired in a new foursome with B1 and B2. This will be done until every team earns their place.

Groups A and B, Groups C and D, Groups E and F, and Groups G and H will be the new alignments in round two. In round two, the two teams who carried over from the previous group won’t play against one another. Instead, the teams from Group A will only play two games, each against Group B teams. This is the same for every new grouping.

The grouping also changes, with the A+B grouping now being known as Group I, the C+D grouping being Group J, the E+F grouping being Group K, and the G+ H grouping becoming Group L. As with the first group play, the two winners move on to the third round.

Round three starts a single elimination tournament, akin to March Madness. The top seed from Group I will face the second seed from Group J. The top seed from Group K will face the second seed from Group L. The top seed from Group J will face the second seed from Group I. The first team in Group L will take on the second seed from Group K. The winners move on to the Semi-Finals.

The winners of the Semi-Finals will play for the FIBA World Cup, while the losers of the Semi-Finals will play for the bronze in the Third Place Game.

While the tournament continues, they’ll begin the Classification Round. In it, the 16 teams that lost in the first round will be molded into new groups of four, but with the same pairings (#3 and #4 from Groups A+B, #3 and #4 from Groups C+D, #3 and #4 from Groups E+F, #3 and #4 from Group G+H). As with the other side of the tournament, the teams will only face off with the two newly added squads.

After the games, the classification for teams #32-#17 for the final FIBA World rankings will be complete. The remaining 16 teams will be classified as they get eliminated from the contest, with the eventual winner being #1, the runner-up being #2, the winner of the Third-Place Game being #3, and so on.

The remaining will be classified according to the official FIBA rule book.