I was glad to see Spain eliminated. I think Serbia may well prove to be a tougher challenge, but I was always scared of what Spain could potentially do if they put it together. For whatever reason, they never really could get it done in this tournament. I know not having Pau Gasol was a big loss, but I'm not so sure you can chalk it all up to that fact.
Serbia won't prove a tougher challenge for Team USA because I think they are going to get decisively beaten by Turkey. Turkey's team is on a mission. I didn't watch the game, but I can't believe how badly they beat Croatia, who took Serbia down to the wire in a very good game. Based on both teams' Croatia games and how Turkey destroyed France, Turkey >>> Serbia.
serbia vs span great game! ricky rubio played bad in this game. and that last 3 pt shot by serbia was amazing!!
Turkey is crushing teams and playing like a team possessed, that's true. But people have been sleeping on Serbia for the entire tournament. People dismissed them in the Euro championships last year, when they finished with the silver. They're a young team and they have their flaws but they got a lot of heart. I wouldn't discount them and I wouldn't say Turkey is way better. Their homecourt advantage is huge, but I certainly wouldn't say the Turks will mop the floor with them. Maybe I'm biased. Time will tell.
I didn't say they would mop the floor with Serbia, but they should beat them decisively, IMO, by 10-15 points. I don't expect it to go down to the wire. More people have been sleeping on Turkey than Serbia. Nobody even mentioned Turkey when this thing started. Their 2-3 zone is devastating. Serbia will need to keep drilling 3s just to stay in the game. I can't wait for Saturday to watch it!
i think usa is going to end up blowing them out by about 20. those 3's are going to stop falling for the motherland (USSR)
russia can't shoot and yet they are 4-6 on 3's so far. that'll make any game plan look bad. add on the fact that team USA can't grab a rebound or make a layup and that durant already has 3 airballs and i think russia only has 1 turnover even with numerous deflections by team USA, and it's hard to see how much worse it could have gone in the 1st quarter. hopefully we get some bounces and a little rebounding determination this quarter or we're going to lose.
USA has to be patient and not go for the homerun steals, also need to communicate on D. Good that Billups checked out, sometimes I think he tries to act like the top dog too much.
we have not gotten a single ****ing bounce this game. westbrook grabs a rebound and looks to have a layup, loses it and it goes to a russian of course. next possession russia bobbles a pass and it bounces right back to a teammate for a layup even with 2 americans right there. not to mention 3 straight ridiculous calls going against us on the last possession (clearly knocked off russia, clearly durant didn't have possession to reset the clock, and billups didn't foul on the box out).
Even with USA being unbeaten so far in the tournament, it's pretty apparent that the players are still not familiar with each other and haven't developed cohesiveness like veteran FIBA teams. That's the one advantage other FIBA teams have over USA.
one more near steal for a breakaway layup again manages to get picked back up by russia just before we get there and leads to an open shot. hell, earlier iguodala stripped the ball from someone and it ended up being a perfect bounce pass to a cutter. you'd like to think some of these deflections will be rewarded at some point instead of just leading to open shots for russia.
Even when Russia was ahead in the 1st quarter, it was obvious they couldn't keep the shooting up the entire game. Team USA will win this going away unless something bizarre happens in the 2nd half. They need to keep pressuring the ball and contesting passes without going for too many steals. Westbrook needs to slow it down some on the break. Exhaustion will eventually take a toll on Russia and offense will become a lot easier for USA.
in one of exhibition games against spain, they mentioned some guy was playing in his 150th game for spain. i think only billups and odom have ever even been on a team USA and i would guess combined they didn't even have 40 games coming into this tournament. so yeah, the chemistry issue is definitely hard to overlook. they seem to come together as quickly as you can expect, but you still see the hesitations and the uncertainties that you don't see from these guys in nba games. well, we managed to get the lead going into halftime with one of the ugliest looking 12-0 runs ever. it would be nice if odom didn't just stand behind his guy and slap at rebounds at least a couple of times in the 2nd half. maybe box out or something. durant is also just jumping at rebounds instead of putting a body on anybody.
this is FIBA, something bizarre always seems to happen to us. we've had so many 1 on 1 transition opportunities and finished so few. it's like these guys forgot how to make layups. this is FIBA, offense is never easy for team USA.
Iggy needs to go to the bench. He just is not effective out there. Also, my obligatory comment on how FIBA officials are a complete joke.
