Everything Timberwolves fans should know about the FIBA World Cup

Group A – Karl-Anthony Towns and Matteo Spagnolo

Group A will feature Angola, Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Italy. The latter two teams will feature players from the Timberwolves.

Suiting up for the Dominican Republic will be Karl-Anthony Towns, who is returning to represent his late mother’s home country for the first time in ten years. The exhibition games went their way after eliminating one of the most prestigious national teams of all time from even qualifying for the World Cup in Argentina.

In his first game, Towns scored 20 points along with six rebounds on very good shooting splits against a clear favorite Canada squad featuring Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett and fellow Wolves teammate, Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

For Italy, the 50th overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, Matteo Spagnolo, was chosen for the first time to play for the main roster. So far, through all the exhibition friendlies, he has not disappointed.

Italy went undefeated through seven games against great teams like Greece and Serbia, with Matteo scoring 14 in their last game against New Zealand. Not to mention Spagnolo recently signed a new deal for Alba Berlin, who competes in the Euroleague and German National League, so we should expect to see some increased productivity from him next season.

Italy and the DR will face off on August 27 at 4am EST, in Manila.

As for the rest of the group, the Philippines matchup will probably be the hardest for both teams, headlined by Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson.

This is when Wolves can tune in to see the Dominican and Italian teams compete:

Italy – Angola: 25th of August, 4am EST

Dominican Republic – Philippines: 25th of August, 8am EST

Dominican Republic – Angola: 29th of August, 4am EST

Italy – Philippines: 29th of August, 8am EST