Luka Doncic is going to tell Slovenia's story from the Basketball World Cup in movie form.
The Dallas Mavericks' star, who will lead Slovenia in this World Cup that starts Friday, revealed that he's been working on plans for a behind-the-scenes accounting of the team's journey throughout FIBA's biggest tournament.
“I’m proud to announce ‘Everything It Takes,’ a documentary shorts series about my Slovenia national team,” Doncic wrote on social media Tuesday. “Episodes will premiere across my channels over the next few weeks as we compete for The FIBA Basketball World Cup.”
Slovenia finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics. The nation's biggest basketball win came in 2017 when the Goran Dragic-led club took the gold medal at EuroBasket.
THEY'RE HEREThe U.S. team arrived in Manila on Tuesday and got some shots up a few hours after getting settled in their hotel. The team flew from Abu Dhabi, landed in Manila around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday (9:30 p.m. Monday EDT) and got a police escort to weave through Manila's notorious traffic on the way to the hotel.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULEThe 32 teams were split into eight different groups of four. The top two teams from each group will make the second round. The top eight teams after the second round advance to the quarterfinals.
Here’s a list of all the opening games for all 32 teams:
FRIDAY
Group A (at Manila): Angola vs. Italy, Dominican Republic vs. Philippines
Group D (at Manila): Mexico vs. Montenegro, Egypt vs. Lithuania
Group E (at Okinawa): Finland vs. Australia, Germany vs. Japan
Group H (at Jakarta): Latvia vs. Lebanon, Canada vs. France
SATURDAY
Group B (at Manila): South Sudan vs. Puerto Rico, Serbia vs. China
Group C (at Manila): Jordan vs. Greece, U.S. vs. New Zealand
Group F (at Okinawa): Cape Verde vs. Georgia, Slovenia vs. Venezuela
Group G (at Jakarta): Iran vs. Brazil, Spain vs. Ivory Coast
HOW TO WATCH THE BASKETBALL WORLD CUP— In the U.S.: The first three U.S. games (Aug. 26, Aug. 28, Aug. 30) will be on ESPN2. Aug. 26 and Aug. 28 games will begin at 8:40 a.m. EDT; the Aug. 30 game begins at 4:40 a.m. EDT.
— There are streaming options for other games.
WHO IS PLAYINGThere are two All-NBA players in the field: Slovenia's Luka Doncic (Dallas) and Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City). They’re among six All-Stars from last season in the World Cup field, the others being Finland’s Lauri Markkanen (Utah) and U.S. players Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis) and Anthony Edwards (Minnesota).
BETTING GUIDEThe U.S. is the overwhelming favorite to win the World Cup, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, with the Americans’ odds listed at minus-130 (meaning a $130 wager on the Americans would return $230, if they won). Australia and Canada are tied as the second choice, both at plus-750 (a $100 wager would return $750), followed by France at plus-1,000. Want some value? Try Slovenia; Luka Doncic’s team has odds of plus-3,000.
WHAT TO KNOWWhat you need to know about the Basketball World Cup, and the U.S. road to getting here:
— The basketball-crazed Philippines is about to have a shining moment
— USA Basketball’s coaching staff for the World Cup is an All-Star team
— Getting used to FIBA rule differences is part of the challenge for NBA players
— As World Cup nears, U.S. team says it’ll embrace any doubters
— U.S. finishes exhibition season with perfect 5-0 record after rallying to beat Germany
— The U.S. brought some help to finish World Cup preparations
QUOTABLE“I have goosebumps right now." — Philippines basketball fan RJ Tan, after seeing the U.S. team walk past him into their Manila hotel Tuesday.
THE SCHEDULE— Aug. 25-30: First Round
— Aug. 31-Sept. 3: Second Round, and classification for 17th through 32nd place
— Sept. 4: No games
— Sept. 5-6: Quarterfinals
— Sept. 7: Playoffs for 5th through 8th place
— Sept. 8: Semifinals
— Sept. 9: Playoffs for 5th through 8th place
— Sept. 10: Gold medal game, bronze medal game
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