🏀 It's (Almost) Playoff Time!

The World Cup is coming to an exciting close, the WNBA playoffs are about to start, and the NFL is back. What a time to be a sports fan. 😁

Let’s kick things off today with a little debate—let us know which career path you’re choosing:

Today’s Lineup

Dennis the Menace 😈: Schröder almost shoots Germany out of the World Cup…

Playoff Time Alert ⌚: Crina prepares you for the WNBA Playoffs!

Global Hoops 🏀: A sweet short film on one community’s love for basketball.

But before all that, here’s some trivia:

FIBA World Cup Update

Earlier in the week, we saw two teams move on to the FIBA World Cup semifinals—the USA and Serbia. The rest of the quarterfinal round is now complete, so let’s take a look at the other two countries who made the final four.

🇩🇪 Germany beat 🇱🇻 Latvia, 81-79

Dennis Schroder may have shot 4-for-26 (yes, we’re not making that up), but that didn’t stop Germany from pulling out the W against a super feisty Latvia team. The hero of the day was Franz Wagner, who came through in a big way down the stretch by dropping 16 and 8 off the bench.

🇨🇦 Canada beat 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 100-89

Who else but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was gonna step up for Canada? He needed just 12 shots to drop his 31 points. Slovenia’s (and Dallas’) Luka Doncic also stuffed the stat sheet, but his efficiency was way down with Lu Dort and Dillon Brooks clamping him up all night.

Luka and Slovenia may have been eliminated, but he did give us this piece of beautiful footwork on the way out.

Around the W With Crina

The eighth and final playoff spot in the WNBA may very well be decided on the last day of the regular season this Sunday.

For those unfamiliar, the top eight teams (out of twelve total in the WNBA) make the playoffs. Seven teams have clinched their spots so far:

1. Las Vegas Aces

2. New York Liberty

3. Connecticut Sun

4. Dallas Wings

5. Minnesota Lynx

6. Atlanta Dream

7. Washington Mystics

Two teams are fighting for the eighth seed: the Chicago Sky and the Los Angeles Sparks. The final spot may very well be decided by one game on Sunday, so all eyes are on these two teams to battle it out.

Friday, September 8

• Minnesota Lynx at Chicago Sky (8 pm ET on ion)

Sunday, September 10

• Chicago Sky at Connecticut Sun (1 pm ET on CBS Sports Network)

• Los Angeles Sparks at Seattle Storm (3 pm ET on ESPN3)

After the regular season ends on Sunday, it’s playoff time! The WNBA playoffs begin on Wednesday, September 13 with a best-of-three first round. The semifinals, and Finals after that, will all be best-of-five. 🏀😁

Which team are you most excited to watch throughout the playoffs? Who will grab the eighth spot, the Sky or the Sparks? Let us know!

Frozen Moments

• Dillon Brooks will be Dillon Brooks, no matter what country he’s in. 🥊

• Kevin Durant has nothing but respect for King James! 🤝👑

• Former DPOY Michael Cooper still has some things to learn… 🎓

What We’re Enjoying

The Mountain Ballers of the Philippines: As The Philippines co-hosts the FIBA World Cup, many are starting to realize just how much this island nation loves basketball. This great short film by Carlo Ledesma is a great starting point to explore Filipino hoops, even deep in the mountains of Northern Luzon. Check it out. 👇

Signing Off

And that’s all for today! No matter where in the world you’re reading this from, we appreciate you. Thanks for helping to spread positivity through hoops worldwide! 💙🏀

Until next time,

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer to today’s trivia is Kiki VanDeWeghe! Born in West Germany, VanDeWeghe was an All-Star for the Denver Nuggets in 1982 and 1983.