CIS Hoops.ca

CORRECTION: My apologies on the format as to which teams make it which was incorrect... Thanks to sources from out west who corrected things on the qualifying tournament. Only the top 4 are assured spots from this week's tournament. There are also 4 wild card spots to be determined by December - maybe that's what my other source was thinking when it was said that Canada needs to finish ahead of 4 teams - the likely thought was that teams finishing 5th and 6th in the FIBA Americas would be considered for wild cards. *** This will necessitate altering the poll a bit. "Top 6 wild card consideration" will now replace "Top 6 Qualify"

Here is the official word from FIBA home page followed by Wikipedia's breakdown of which teams have qualified and the qualifying format:

Competition System:

With the participation of ten (10) teams, and under FIBA's current Games Rules, this Championship will be played in three (3) rounds. If there is a tie for the same position during the First and Second Rounds, the respective system established by FIBA for that kind of situations will be also utilize. The teams will be divided in two (2) groups of five (5) teams each.

The best four teams per group enter the quarterfinals where they will play four games against the teams that entered from the other group. The quarterfinals are scheduled from September 1-4. The best four in the standings at the end of the quarterfinals will qualify into the FIBA World Championship and the semifinals. The semifinals are going to be played on September 5 and the finals the next day.

FIBA 2010 World Championships in Turkey (8 teams have already qualified)

1. Turkey - Host
2. USA - 2008 Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament August 10-24, 2008
3. 4. 5. Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Tunisia CFIBA Africa Championship 2009 August 4-14, 2009
6. 7. 8. China, Iran, Jordan FIBA Asia Championship 2009 August 6-16, 2009

To be determined
2 spots FIBA Oceania Championship 2009 August 23-25, 2009 Australia, New Zealand
4 spots FIBA Americas Championship 2009 August 26-September 6, 2009 Puerto Rico
6 spots EuroBasket 2009 September 7-20, 2009 Poland

4 spots Wild card invitees December 13, 2009 Switzerland

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Free subscription for whoever can guess who I am this week. This guy went to Providence, starred in the ABA for a few years (when he showed up) and then had a cup of coffee (or other substances) with what we used to call the Tor/Buff Braves. Played college with Ernie D.

Trying something new with the poll feature. Hopefully this adds some interactiveness to the site - your comments on the polls in general plus any suggestions on future polls are welcomed... Ex-Laval head coach Jacques Paiement chimes in that Laval's effort against Towson State was very strong and that Les Rouge et Or have several perimeter threats this season as six different Laval players knocked down 3's in last night's tight contest...

ANOTHER CORRECTION: (this is starting to become habitual)... In yesterday's McGill preview, I inadvertently wrote that Matt Thornhill had captured the Quebec league Rookie-of-the-Year in his first season with the Redmen. In fact, although Thornhill was named to the Quebec League all-Rookie team, Laval's dynamic 6'3" J.F. Beaulieu-Mahieux was named both the Quebec and CIS Rookie-of-the-Year that season (2006-07)... Beaulieu-Mahieux and Thornhill, now both going into their fourth seasons, have both had impressive careers and B-M has shown early that he could be a Moser candidate, scoring 31 points last night against Towson... Laval will meet the University of Maine in an exhibition game on November 1st. The Black Bears welcome a pair of Canadian freshmen Michael Allison, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds while Murphy Burnatowski, a 6-6 forward, averaged 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in the tourney.

Thanks to all the coaches who have replied to my messages and emails. Hope to speak to as many of you as possible in the coming days/weeks.