2014 FIBA World Cup Champions!

[JasonEvans]

It was good for this team to struggle a bit with a team that executed well and was especially good for them to correct what was going wrong at halftime. This game could nicely pave the way for the team to be able to deal with adversity later on. Winning by 40+ won't teach you much.

Faried and Davis were stunningly good. Turkey had no answer for them. How did this team not get Davis the ball at all in the first half?!?!

-Jason "Kyrie seemed to be in the game a lot more than Rose when the game was still in a little bit of doubt" Evans

[awhom111]

Here is a look at some of the other games:

In Group A, France and Serbia had the latest titanic clash in the group with France just sneaking out with a 74-73 win. Joffrey Lauvergne had 19 points and 6 rebounds and Nicolas Batum had 11 points and 6 rebounds in the win. Miroslav Raduljica clearly wants to get paid as he had 21 points and 7 rebounds, Bogdan Bogdanovic had 12 points, and Nemanja Bjelica had 11 points in the loss. Brazil played an even first quarter with Iran then ran away with a 79-50 win. Alex Ribeiro Garcia had 12 points, Leandro Barbosa had 11 points, and Tiago Splitter had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Spain closed the day by rolling past Egypt 91-54 as they finally had a game with their entire roster available. Serge Ibaka had 18 points and 8 rebounds, Rudy Fernandez had 14 points, and Pau Gasol had 12 points.
Standings: Spain 2-0, Brazil 2-0, Serbia 1-1, France 1-1, Egypt 0-2, Iran 0-2

In Group B, Croatia held off Argentina 90-85. In the win, Dario Saric had 16 points and 9 rebounds while losing an unspecified number of teeth, Bojan Bogdanovic had 16 points and 7 rebounds, and Oliver Lafayette had 11 points and 9 assists. Luis Scola had 30 points and 9 rebounds and Andres Nocioni had 11 points in the loss. Puerto Rico was stunned 82-75 by Senegal and could have lingering injury issues to deal with. In the win, Mouhammad Faye had 20 points and Gorgui Dieng had 18 points and 13 rebounds. In the loss, Renaldo Balkman had 21 points and 7 rebounds, J.J. Barea had 15 points, and Carlos Arroyo had 11 points before going down. Greece got a tough fight from the Philippines, but won 82-70 behind 25 points and 8 rebounds from Georgios Printezis. Andray Blatche had 21 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
Standings: Greece 2-0, Croatia 2-0, Argentina 1-1, Senegal 1-1, Philippines 0-2, Puerto Rico 0-2

In the other Group C games, the Dominican Republic beat New Zealand 76-63. Francisco Garcia had 29 points and 6 rebounds and Jack Michael Martinez added 12 points and 6 rebounds in the win. In the loss, Tom Abercrombie had 22 points and Kirk Penney had 16 points. Finland bounced back by edging Ukraine 81-76. In the win, Shawn Huff had 23 points and 8 rebounds, Petteri Koponen had 14 points and 9 assists, and Erik Murphy had 12 points and 8 rebounds. Pooh Jeter had 24 points and 9 assists in the loss.
Standings: United States 2-0, Ukraine 1-1, Dominican Republic 1-1, Turkey 1-1, Finland 1-1, New Zealand 0-2

In Group D, Australia eased past South Korea 89-55. In the win, Aron Baynes had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Cameron Bairstow had 13 points. Slovenia eventually built a big lead in an 89-68 win over Mexico as Goran Dragic had 18 points and 6 assists. In the loss, Gustavo Ayon had 23 points and Francisco Cruz had 13 points. Marty had a much better second game as Lithuania again struggled early before beating Angola 75-62. He finished with 9 points in 19 minutes. Donatas Motiejunas had 12 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Reggie Moore had 11 points.
Standings: Slovenia 2-0, Lithuania 2-0, Australia 1-1, Angola 1-1, Mexico 0-2, South Korea 0-2


Tomorrow, Group A and B play while C and D rest. That is flipped for Tuesday as the United States will get a day off before facing New Zealand. That game should not be particularly close, but New Zealand does have a tendency to play well at the start of games.

[sagegrouse]

IMHO (where the H is usually silent) the game against Finland was very bad for the U.S. Those guys put up no competition whatsoever, and the game made the U.S. think it is playing better than it is.

[camion]

IMHO (where the H is usually silent) the game against Finland was very bad for the U.S. Those guys put up no competition whatsoever, and the game made the U.S. think it is playing better than it is.

That's the trouble with blowouts. No matter how much you tell yourself that the next game will be harder you still come out and play like you expect it to be easy. That's the nature of most humans.

[kAzE]

IMHO (where the H is usually silent) the game against Finland was very bad for the U.S. Those guys put up no competition whatsoever, and the game made the U.S. think it is playing better than it is.

We probably just played the toughest team in our group, so the true test will be keeping our focus laser sharp through the next 3 games (which are back to back to back) and beyond, so that we don't take a dip in level of play when we get to the knockout stage. Hopefully, Coach K will go deep into the bench for the next 3 games to try and keep guys fresh. I don't think there's any doubt that we should run through the rest of this group quite easily, so there's no need to push the starters too hard.

[roywhite]

Yes, there were problems by the USA team in approach and execution in the first half, but my main impression from this game was just how dominant this team can be against a good opponent (and Turkey is a good international team). The third quarter and a good part of the fourth quarter (up till garbage time) were very impressive -- pressure defense, excellent ball movement, and the ability to finish, whether at the rim or with open perimeter shots. Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis inside were amazing; Kyrie and Harden are remarkable ball handlers. Fun to watch team basketball at this skill level.

[roywhite]

Sorry if I missed this, but why is Enes Kanter not on this Turkey team?

[JasonEvans]

Sorry if I missed this, but why is Enes Kanter not on this Turkey team?

I think he was deemed ineligible. They are appealing and just awaiting a decision... which should come in a matter of months.

-Jason "sorry, I just could not resist. Knee surgery is the real reason" Evans

[jacone21]

I've decided that Faried is one of those 12 letter compound word guys that Coach K loves to have on his teams. Coach needed him today and he delivered.

[mgtr]

I guess that I am saying that the Emperor has no clothes, but Derrick Rose hasn't shown me much so far. Maybe he is much more rusty than thought originally, maybe he is still injured. I guess he should have found somebody else to stand in for him. No, wait ...

[Billy Dat]

Davis and Faried are unbelievable. I always thought Faried would make the team, but I don't think anyone knew he was going to be this good.

He is the most consistent and toughest player on the team. He was the reason for the turn-around in the second half. USA wore them down as they will against most teams.

Faried's value and Davis' continued ascension have really been the positive stories of training camp through the present (with the 'no thanks' no shows, George's leg break and Durant's bailing being the negative). Which leads one to...

Yeah those two have been outstanding. Not far off of them has been Harden, who has kind of taken over the PG/playmaker role. He can be a bit of a ballhog at times, but he also seemed to make all the right decisions off the dribble.

Sadly, CDu's attempt to find a silver lining in the playmaker storyline indicates how much of a vacuum exists in that spot. We don't have any traditional set-up guys along the Kidd/Paul lines. Kyrie is trying (and he better try harder when he's next to Lebron and Love) but he can't help but salivate and try and break down the D with his driving...ditto for Rose (who still is not himself), ditto for Harden, ditto for Curry, and it sure it would have been ditto for Lillard. These guys look at the people trying to guard them and immediately think, "I can BUST this dude". They aren't wrong, but we need a guy who starts up the offense with some passing. Did we ever throw the ball inside and get a bad result? Not too many times. It's so easy to see as you watch, quick outside shots are bad. But, these guys are such gifted scorers that a semi-open 20 footer looks like a lay-up to them.

So, the cliche of this being a good game because we needed to be tested certainly holds true. I just hope the guards clue in to the fact that the big dogs need to eat and that we get better shots, both inside and out, when the ball moves inside. We shredded that zone once we made that adjustment.

Also, for what its worth, the final percentages don't bear it out, but Turkey was throwing in tons of 3, many well defended, as they hung in the game. It felt like fools gold and it ultimately was.

Meanwhile, in the post game quotes, Faried said he thought K would blast them at halftime but that he was very calm. I bet Mason was silently laughing to himself thinking, "If this was Duke, we'd be getting REAMED right now."

[Clay Feet POF]

That's the trouble with blowouts. No matter how much you tell yourself that the next game will be harder you still come out and play like you expect it to be easy. That's the nature of most humans.

Similarly with Duke’s apparently light non-conference schedule this could be a problem that Coach K might have to face on the collage level.

[subzero02]

Similarly with Duke’s apparently light non-conference schedule this could be a problem that Coach K might have to face on the collage level.

This shouldn't be a problem for Coach K... No one is better than K at blending together various inidividuals into a conglomerate image.

[mgtr]

This shouldn't be a problem for Coach K... No one is better than K at blending together various inidividuals into a conglomerate image.

Well played!

[-bdbd]

It was good for this team to struggle a bit with a team that executed well and was especially good for them to correct what was going wrong at halftime. This game could nicely pave the way for the team to be able to deal with adversity later on. Winning by 40+ won't teach you much.

Faried and Davis were stunningly good. Turkey had no answer for them. How did this team not get Davis the ball at all in the first half?!?!

-Jason "Kyrie seemed to be in the game a lot more than Rose when the game was still in a little bit of doubt" Evans

Much more "goodness" like that and the USA may be flying back from Madrid a week or so early...

But I do get your point, Jason - let's hope that it lights a fire under them!
Might not be fun to be one of their three opponents in the next three days!

[Billy Dat]

let's hope that it lights a fire under them!

I may be reading your intent too literally, but I don't think there's any lack of effort happening. I think, offensively, its a matter of understanding that even though an open look for any of these guys in the NBA season is one they should likely be taking, even early in the shot clock, these games are 17% shorter which means fewer possessions and fewer opportunities for regression to the mean. A collective bad shooting night happens a lot easier over 40 minutes, so we need to be taking the best shots we can, which typically means ones where the ball moves forcing the defense to recover and, hopefully, foul us or lead to a really open shot. Bad offense leads to bad defense and complaining about the officiating...a bad downward spiral.

[CDu]

I guess that I am saying that the Emperor has no clothes, but Derrick Rose hasn't shown me much so far. Maybe he is much more rusty than thought originally, maybe he is still injured. I guess he should have found somebody else to stand in for him. No, wait ...

I don't think he is still injured, because quite frankly that doesn't seem realistically possible. He is over 24 months removed from his ACL surgery (which takes 9-12 months' recovery), and over 8 months removed from meniscus repair (4-5 months' recovery). And he has certainly shown his old explosive athleticism. So "still injured seems highly unlikely.

But I think the rust is much more of an issue than I had expected. On top of that, he is facing a style of defense that he hasn't seen since 2010 (international defense plays much more zone and more compactly). So I think the rust and perhaps lack of comfort with the style of play is the culprit. He is clearly struggling to find his rhythm out there.

BillyDat expounded on the issue, but the PG play has not been inspiring thus far. We have discussed Rose, but Irving and Curry have been less than impressive in the halfcourt so far. They have looked great in transition, but that won't get it done against Spain.

Thankfully Harden has been able to take some of the playmaking duties. But there has been woefully little team basketball on offense overall. In group play, that will be fine. As we reach the medal rounds, it won't.

[Henderson]

I don't think he is still injured, because quite frankly that doesn't seem realistically possible. He is over 24 months removed from his ACL surgery (which takes 9-12 months' recovery), and over 8 months removed from meniscus repair (4-5 months' recovery). And he has certainly shown his old explosive athleticism. So "still injured seems highly unlikely.

But I think the rust is much more of an issue than I had expected. On top of that, he is facing a style of defense that he hasn't seen since 2010 (international defense plays much more zone and more compactly). So I think the rust and perhaps lack of comfort with the style of play is the culprit. He is clearly struggling to find his rhythm out there.

BillyDat expounded on the issue, but the PG play has not been inspiring thus far. We have discussed Rose, but Irving and Curry have been less than impressive in the halfcourt so far. They have looked great in transition, but that won't get it done against Spain.

Thankfully Harden has been able to take some of the playmaking duties. But there has been woefully little team basketball on offense overall. In group play, that will be fine. As we reach the medal rounds, it won't.

I agree on all counts. But in fairness, this team hasn't been playing together for long, and they haven't really been tested. Things tend to be a little sloppy when the opponent is overmatched. Even in the Turkey first half, there was a sense that if the team wanted to buckle down and get it done, they could. And they did in the second half.

One thing that makes me nervous is all this chatter about a Spain-USA final. The USA will get out of group play, no problem. But when it comes to the knock-out rounds, the team can't recover from a bad game. Obviously the players and coaches know that, but I feel like I need to bust out my mummified monkey head every time I hear someone speculating about our playing in the final against Spain.

[CDu]

I agree on all counts. But in fairness, this team hasn't been playing together for long, and they haven't really been tested. Things tend to be a little sloppy when the opponent is overmatched. Even in the Turkey first half, there was a sense that if the team wanted to buckle down and get it done, they could. And they did in the second half.

One thing that makes me nervous is all this chatter about a Spain-USA final. The USA will get out of group play, no problem. But when it comes to the knock-out rounds, the team can't recover from a bad game. Obviously the players and coaches know that, but I feel like I need to bust out my mummified monkey head every time I hear someone speculating about our playing in the final against Spain.

Oh no doubt it is tough to get organized with so little prep. The George injury and Durant withdrawal exacerbate the problem too. But it seems like we are not even trying to run a half-court offense. Basically, for all of the push for continuity and experience, we seem like we are basically back to the pre-K days again in terms of readiness (again, largely due to unforeseen circumstances). I would definitely not say a championship is a given, nor even a championship appearance a given (though I think the latter is very likely).

[MChambers]

Hopefully, Coach K will go deep into the bench for the next 3 games to try and keep guys fresh. I don't think there's any doubt that we should run through the rest of this group quite easily, so there's no need to push the starters too hard.

Don't you know? Coach K never goes more than eight deep!