IT might not have been the fairytale end to the 2023 Fiba World Cup for Team USA, but it will gain a measure of pride from its return to the top of the world rankings.
This comes after finishing behind bronze medalist Canada in this year's global showpiece which featured an all-European final between first-time champion Germany and Serbia.
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After nearly half a decade of lurking in the shadows of 2019 world champion Spain, the young American side regained the top spot with 786.6 ranking points.
Sans 2019 World Cup MVP Ricky Rubio, La Roja's shock group stage exit resulted in a ninth place finish and a drop to No. 2 in the world with 778.2 ranking points.
For the newly minted world champions Germany, their title-winning exploits prompted a remarkable eight-place rise to become the latest world No. 3 team (759.7 ranking points).
Other notable leaps in the post-World Cup rankings (including positions gained) are world No. 5 and tournament runner-up Serbia (+1), world No. 6 Canada (+9), and world No. 8 Latvia with a remarkable 22-place jump after a historic fifth-place finish for the Baltic side.
Meanwhile, Gilas Pilipinas also took a small leap on top of its Olympic Qualifying Tournament berth as it moved from 40th to 38th in the latest world rankings.
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