Team USA FIBA Worlds- USA Rolls Over Croatia 106-78

Team USA has received the 'B-team' nickname due to no members of the 2008 Beijing gold medal squad playing in Turkey for this 2010 FIBA worlds tournament.

We know that every team will try to make their FIBA tournament stay a memorable by beating Team USA. Coach Mike Krzyzewski will definitely keep this team focused and remind them of that.

‘We’re not taking anything for granted; we know that we can get beat here.’

And to emphasize that point, during the pregame warmups the arena video screens played the USA FIBA failures in 2002 and 2006

So they unleashed their 'A' Game on Croatia.

FIBA number 2 ranked Team USA had everybody score and five players in double figures led by Eric Gordon's 18 points and Kevin Durant's 16. They shot 55% from the field, only turned the ball over seven times, and lit it up at a 40% clip from three point range as they broke open a close contest in the second quarter and rolled to a 106-78 win.

The Croatians were playing in their first FIBA Worlds in 16 years. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 17 points and Marko Popovic added 16 for Croatia, which once was among the world's best teams but hadn't played in the world championship since winning a bronze medal in the 1994 FIBA Worlds in Toronto.

Thanks to the efforts of Ante Tomic, Bojan Bogdanovic and Luksa Andric they stayed in contact with Team USA. The Croatians hit the glass in the opening stanza for a 12-9 rebounding advantage and trailed 22-20 at the end of the quarter.

The teams traded baskets until a Kevin Durant dunk and subsequent three point play at the 8:52 mark of the second quarter triggered a 14-2 run that broke open the game and sent Team USA racing off to a 48-26 halftime lead. Croatia was held to six points thanks to Team USA's stifling defense.

After a Croatian turnover to open the third quarter, Andre Igoudala opened the scoring with a three pointer to extend the lead to 51-26. Team USA outscored Croatia 30-22 to build the halftime cushion to a 78-48 advantage at the end of the quarter.

The teams traded baskets in the fourth quarter to close out their opening Group B game as Coach K got the starters some rest and the rest of Team USA some FIBA game experience.

"People aren't expecting us to come out here and win, so we just wanted to make a statement and I think tonight we did," Kevin Durant said.

Team USA plays Slovenia tomorrow in an early showdown for the Group B lead. Slovenia beat down Tunisia in their FIBA tournament debut 80-56.

Team USA plays Brazil on August 30 and Iran on September 1 before closing group play September 2 against Tunisia.

Team USA FIBA Worlds-Let The Games Begin

Team USA got through the exhibition part of their schedule with an unblemished 4-0 record in their games against France, Lithuania, Spain and Greece.

But now they are in Istanbul for the real deal, the 2010 FIBA World Championships and these games count.

Lamar Odom, who was a member of the 2004 USA Olympic team, said: "Our goal is to be the best defensive team in the tournament. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a pretty good chance to win."

Team USA will play five games in six days starting w3ith their opening Group B matchup against Croatia. They have never faced Croatia in FIBA Worlds play, but have an unblemished 3-0 against them in Olympic b-ball play

But Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has a 39-1 international coaching mark and is leading his third USA FIBA squad, isn't sleeping on Croatia.

“We have a lot of respect for them. Their guard play is outstanding, (Roko) Ukic is one of the best international guards and (Marko) Popovic is just a veteran. Their size is a concern, they have five guys who were 6-11 or above so we don’t have as big of team. They have a rich tradition and we have a lot of respect for who they are.”

The opening game against Croatia will be a 12 Noon EDT start on ESPN3 and will be repeated at 11 PM EDT. Here's the schedule if you wish to follow the FIBA Worlds action.

So let the games begin, and may Team USA win!

Team USA Eurotour- USA 87-59 Now The Real Work Starts

It was after a thank you Lawdy 2004 Olympic bronze medal, hard on the heels of an embarrassing and unacceptable sixth place FIBA worlds finish on home soil that Team USA revamped the way it approaches international basketball on the men's side.

The Team USA women, ahem are handling their international basketball business.

The 2010 FIBA World's edition of Team USA returned to the scene of that basketball crime to take on Greece yesterday in their final tuneup game before the start FIBAworlds pool play Saturday against Croatia.

I watched Team USA take the opening tip and go wire to wire in Athens for the 87-59 win, but as Team USA Head coach Mike Krzyzewski cautioned us, “The score is insignificant really because they didn’t have their complete team against us.

The Greeks did not use their centers 'Baby Shaq', AKA Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Yiannis Bourousis. 'Baby Shaq' was injured in warmups and did not play. Greece also didn't play much zone because we probably will see them again in the knockout rounds.

But it was fun to watch this team run up and down the floor and roll up a 22-2 edge in fast break points, have Eric Gordon come off the bench and light it up from FIBA three point range (and lead all scorers with 18 points), force 21 turnovers, and have a 44-22 rebounding edge.

But now the real work starts to bring the Naismith Trophy and the 2012 automatic bid back to the USA. Team USA will play five games in six days starting on Saturday against Croatia, and from this point until they are hopefully hosting the trophy on September 12, the games count.

Team USA Eurotour- Greece Is The Word

The Team USA Men's FIBA world championship squad is in Athens for the final game of their exhibition tour to take on Greece.

We USA basketball fans remember the last time we tangled with them in FIBA play. Greece and Sofoklis Schortsanitis AKA 'Baby Shaq' sprang a 101-95 semifinal upset in Japan that sent Team USA to the bronze medal game after winning their first seven games and their preliminary group.

They'll head to Turkey tomorrow to begin preparation for their opening game in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Istanbul against Croatia and try to bring the Naismith Cup back to the USA for the first time since 1994.

But some of the suspense is already gone prior to the 12 PM EDT start USA time of their game with the Greeks at OAKA Arena. We now know who made the USA FIBA worlds squad.

Your 2010 FIBA World Championship squad is: Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets); Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).

This squad averages 24.66 years of age, 5 years of NBA experience, will have six players who are 22 years or younger and four 21 year olds. Chauncey Billups is the old man at age 33 and the only player with FIBA international experience. The 2006 FIBA Worlds team by comparison averaged 24.58 years of age.

But Rajon Rondo isn't one of them. He's headed back to the States.

While announcing the final 12 man FIBA Worlds roster, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said, “Rajon came to us and said he was going to withdraw from the team, that he had some family matters to attend to and some things to take care of before the NBA season. He did an outstanding job during our training, we appreciate the effort and commitment he made to our program and he completely has our support."

This will be another stern test in front of a raucous home crowd for what the world calls 'The 'B' Team'.

We'll see if Team USA has the right stuff in this game and also from August 28-September 12 when the FIBA Worlds finally kick off.

Hopefully this young squad has what it takes to bring that FIBA Championship back to home soil along with the automatic qualifying berth in the 2012 London Games.

Team USA Eurotour- 86-85 Escape From Madrid

Unlike the last two games they have played against France and Lithuania, Team USA was wide awake at the start of this basketball battle with defending FIBA champion Spain at the sold out Magic Box arena in Madrid.

Team USA shot 48.5 percent from the field, had a 39-27 rebounding margin and held Spain to 41.8 percent shooting. They had four players in double figures, with Kevin Durant leading all scorers with 25 points and ten rebounds. Derrick Rose chipped in 13, Khloe's man Lamar Odom had 12 points and nine rebounds, and elder statesman Chauncey Billups contributed 10 points to the win.

Spain was led by Juan Carlos Navarro’s 20 points. Marc Gasol scored 17, with Felipe Reyes tossing in 16 from the bench.

Team USA must have thought they were in Pamplona instead of Madrid. They started fast with a 16-3 run to open the game and kept building on it through the second quarter to hold a 45-33 halftime lead on their hosts.

Spain came out of the locker room fired up. Over a five minute stretch of the third quarter they hit two three pointers and were aided by 6 of 7 free throw shooting to whittle the halftime deficit to 55-53.

Team USA woke up and went on a 8-1 run jump started by Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry that pumped the lead back up to 63-54. Spain responded with consecutive baskets, and then Team USA responded with a 6-0 run over the final 1:04 of the quarter to take a 69-58 lead into the final stanza.

After getting whistled with three quick fouls to begin the fourth quarter, Team USA went into a defensive shell in order to avoid the bonus and putting Spain on the free throw line. Spain outscored Team USA 20-11 over the next seven minutes and finally tied the game at 80-all with 2:37 to go.

Spain finally took its first lead of the game on a Reyes layup with less than two minutes to go. Kevin Durant hit a bucket to tie the score again at 82-all and after a Rubio turnover Team USA had a chance to regain the lead. Lamar Odom's three pointer was off the mark, Spain grabbed the rebound but missed their shot to take the lead. Odom made up for his miss by grabbing a huge rebound.

With 32.99 seconds left on the game clock and seven seconds on the shot clock Derrick Rose nailed a driving bucket to give the USA the lead back at 84-82.

After a Spanish time out, Juan Carlos Navarro was fouled while scoring on a drive with 27.82 seconds left in the game. He converted the free throw to give Spain an 85-84 lead.

It was Derrick Rose to the rescue again as he shook Ricky Rubio and was fouled on his way to the basket with 16.92 seconds left. As 10,960 fans cranked up the volume Rose calmly sank both free throws.

After another Spanish time out advanced the ball to midcourt, they passed the ball around trying to get somebody open for a game winning shot.

The first attempted three pointer from Rubio was partially blocked by Kevin Durant and after a scramble for the ball Spain came up with it. Rudy Fernandez launched another three pointer that was swatted away by Durant as time expired to preserve the hard fought win.

"It was one of those games that was a learning experience for us and I think we made key plays down the stretch," Durant said. "We also played as a team and stuck through tough times."



Team USA is now 3-0 on this exhibition tour, and they'll hop a flight to Athens to train and take on Greece in their final tuneup game Wednesday. That game will be televised live on ESPN at 11 AM CDT.

They start FIBA Worlds preliminary group play against Croatia on Saturday

If Team USA keeps playing like this, they'll shed that 'B' Team moniker quickly.

Team USA Eurotour- Showdown With Spain

Team USA's Eurotour continues with a 2 PM CDT game versus the defending FIBA World Champions Spain in front of what is sure to be a raucous crowd in Madrid.

The last time we faced FIBA number 3 ranked Spain was during the 118-107 gold medal game in Beijing that has been considered the greatest international b-ball game ever played. Unfortunately for Team USA all 12 participants in that game are sitting at home watching the 2010 FIBA world championship action.

While Spain will be missing Pau Gasol, brother Marc will still be in the Magic Box along with Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio and Juan Carlos Navarro.

In addition to being the defending FIBA world champs, Spain won the 2009 EuroBasket title, and picked up silvers in the 2008 Olympics and in the 2007 EuroBasket finals after a narrow loss to Russia.

So yes, Spain will be a formidable challenge for Team USA. Can they handle it? Only if they cut out the maddening first quarter slow starts. Shooting 14% and turning the ball over six times in the first quarter will eventually catch up with you.

And Spain has much better guards than Lithuania does. Fall asleep on those Spanish guards and you will be getting your butt kicked.

But I'm sure Coach K and his staff have already made that point clear to the Team USA ballers.

At any rate, should be a fun game to watch.

Team USA Eurotour- Sloppy 77-61 Win Over Lithuania

If Team USA wants to claim their first FIBA basketball championship since the 1994 Dream Team rolled though everyone on Canadian soil, they have to do a better job of getting their offense in gear when the game tips off.

The 2010 edition of Team USA may hate the derisive nickname of 'The B Team' they've been saddled with, but if they want the world's basketball respect, they better recognize that everyone's going to come at them with their 'A' game.

Team USA got off to a horrible 3 for 21 shooting start and was sloppy with the basketball as they turned the ball over six times in the first quarter. Fortunately for Team USA they only faced a 15-7 deficit at the end of the first stanza thanks to their defense and an equally sloppy opening shooting quarter by Lithuania.

Team USA tightened up the defensive pressure and started finding the range as they clawed their way back into the game to trail at halftime 29-28.

The game was broken open thanks to a later third quarter 17-0 run triggered by Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon. The run included four consecutive free throws after a flagrant foul and technical foul assessed to Mantas Kalnietis that gave the USA a 54-49 lead they never relinquished.

Kevin Durant shook off the rough start to score 15 points, Russell Westbrook had 12 points and Rudy Gay had 14.

Team USA faces Spain,the defending FIBA world champions tomorrow, and if they fall asleep in the first quarter of tomorrow's game, they will get their butt kicked.

Team USA Eurotour- First Up: Lithuania

Team USA's 13 finalists for the 2010 FIBA World Championship basketball team have been practicing in Madrid the last few days in preparation for back to back games against Lithuania and the defending FIBA world champion Spanish team.

They'll play a tough Lithuanian squad later today as they continue working to get their collective act together before the FIBA Worlds get started on August 28.

Like the USA, Lithuania has a serious love for basketball. The Baltic nation is hosting the European championships next year and it's the country's number one sport.

Coach Kestutis Kemzura is still trying to determine who will be the final 12 men on the roster representing Lithuanian b-ball honor and is playing with 14 men for now.

They are planning to take to the FIBA Worlds a younger squad built around the talents of the Toronto Raptors Linas Kleiza and San Antonio Spurs draftee Martynas Gecevicius.

I'm sure Coach K and his staff is reminding Team USA that Lithuania is no basketball pushover despite our 5-1 record in official international competition and the 2-0 exhibition record in games against them.

Lithuania is ranked Number 6 in the FIBA rankings (the USA is Number 2 behind Argentina) and the last time we faced them in international competition was the bronze medal game of the 2004 Athens Olympics that the USA won 104-96.



The one loss versus Lithuania? A stunning 94-90 defeat that came eight days before that bronze medal game victory in 2004 Olympic preliminary round play.

Lithuania also gave Team USA a major scare in the 2000 Sydney Olympic semifinals. The USA escaped to the gold medal game with a narrow 85-83 win after Sarunas Jasikevicius missed a desperation three pointer at the buzzer.

So this will be an interesting challenge for Team USA. If this team is on track to win its first FIBA Worlds gold medal since 1994, we'll get to see on this Eurotour if they can handle the enhanced competition that will be opposing them every step of the way.

Team USA Administers Le Beatdown 86-55

The Team USA men continued tuning up for the FIBA World Basketball Championships in Turkey by playing an exhibition matchup in Madison Square Garden versus France.

Granted, the French team was missing Tony Parker, Joakim Noah and Knick signee Ronny Turiaf, but the Team USA squad that opposed them in front of the sellout New York crowd is missing all 12 members of the 2008 'Redeem Team' that won Beijing B-ball gold.

Chauncey Billups is one of the few players on this young squad with international experience. He played on the 2007 FIBA Americas championship squad that secured the 2008 Olympic berth. It's a young, athletic squad Coach K has to work with that has five 21 year olds on the roster, and that roster got pared down to 13 players after Jeff Green and JaVale McGee were cut yesterday.

But back to Le Beatdown. The game didn't start out that way. This was the first international game for many of Team USA's players and the nervousness showed with the lackluster 6 for 16 shooting and five first quarter turnovers.

France actually held a 15-11 lead late in the first quarter until the USA turned up the defensive pressure and got a Rudy Gay dunk after a Stephen Curry steal. After France went 1 for 2 from the free throw line, Rudy Gay nailed a three pointer to end the quarter tied at 16 all.

The second quarter saw Team USA sprint off with an 11-3 run to grab the lead for good. France fought back with a 7-2 run of their own to close that deficit to 29-26with four minutes left, but Team USA responded by closing out the quarter with a 10-4 run to take a 39-30 lead into halftime.

The old man of the USA squad, 33 year old Chauncey Billups blew the game open by triggering a run with a pair of three pointers to expand that halftime cushion to 49-34. They kept piling on the defensive pressure and built the lead by the end of the third quarter to a comfortable 61-46 margin. They outscored France 22-9 in the fourth quarter to close out the win.

Team USA's FIBA competition gets tougher as they depart today for Spain. They'll take on Lithuania August 21 and the FIBA defending men's champion Spain on August 22 in Madrid before traveling to Athens to take on Greece, the team that eliminated them in the 2006 FIBA semis.

The final cut will be taking place sometime during or after during the European tuneup tour and we'll see starting August 28 whether this team has the right stuff to win our first FIBA men's title since 1994.

Team USA 2010 FIBA B-Ball Finalists In New York

The 2008 Olympic champion Team USA men ballers start FIBA World Basketball Championships Group B play on August 28 against Croatia.

This weekend in New York Team USA Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff will have to determine which three guys will not be going to Turkey out of the 15 finalists for the squad. The 12 man rosters for the two week FIBA tournament must be finalized by August 24.

For you LeBron haters, he, D-Wade and Chris Bosh aren't on the list. Neither is Kobe Bryant for you folks who love hatin' on him.

Before y'all get too happy, they are STILL on the 27 man USA 2010-2012 national squad.

Note to the rest of the FIBA basketball planet, don't get too happy because our 'A' team isn't going to be in Turkey. Some of the finalists on this squad are Rajon Rondo, Chauncey Billups, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Tyson Chandler, Lamar Odom and Andre Igoudala just to name a few.

They'll be just as determined to not only win gold in this FIBA world championship for the first time since 1994, but get that automatic qualifying spot for the 2012 Olympic B-ball tournament that goes with it.

As part of a World Basketball Festival that started yesterday at Radio City Music Hall with an intersquad scrimmage on the Radio City stage, Team USA will be taking on a French National Team at Madison Square Garden August 15 that doesn't include Tony Parker or Joakim Noah.

Noah is on the 24 man French roster and has made it clear while he won't be playing in the FIBA Championships, he will play for France in the future. The Puerto Rica squad will be taking on China in the other game.

But back to Team USA and Coach K and his coaching staff's dilemma. It will be interesting to see who makes this team, then watch them take on the world in Turkey in two weeks.

2010 FIBA World Championship For Women Draw

Now y'all know I wasn't going to talk about the USA 'Menz' basketball team and the upcoming FIBA World Championships in Turkey without talking about the women's tournament since it's taking place this year as well.

Hey if we don't care about women's sports, especially at the international level, who will?

But I'm digressing here.

The FIBA World Championships for Women will be contested in the Czech Republic from September 23 to October 3. Unlike the men's championship, only 16 nations are competing.

The various national organizations have expessed a desire to expand the number of teams to 24, given that women's basketball is becoming more popular internationally and give more teams a chance to compete for the title.

For now FIBA is keeping the women's tourney at 16 teams. One automatic qualifying slot slot went to the 2008 Olympic Champion USA, the other to the host Czechs. The other 14 teams qualified through their various FIBA regional zone tournaments.

The draw for the women's tournament was held in Karlovy Vary on November 24, the city hosting the final rounds of this year's tournament. The Group play and second rounds will be contested in Brno and Ostrava.

Here are the Groups for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women.

Group A (Ostrava) Canada, Belarus, China, Australia
Group B (Ostrava) Senegal, Greece, USA, France
Group C (Brno) Mali, South Korea, Brazil, Spain
Group D (Brno) Japan, Czech Republic, Argentina, Russia

After round robin play is completed, only the top three teams in each group will advance to the second round. They will form two new groups, Groups E and F

Group E based in Ostrava will be comprised of the six survivors from Groups A and B, while Group F based in Brno will be comprised of the six Group C and D survivors. They will play another round of games to determine the top four teams in those reconstituted groups.

The top four teams in Groups E and F will advance to the knockout eliminations in Karlovy Vary to determine the 2010 FIBA Women's world basketball champion.

Our northern neighbors qualified on the FIBA women's side, and will be playing in Group A. Canada has a tough opening game September 23 against the 2006 defending FIBA women's champion Australians.

Meanwhile, the 2008 Women's Olympic Champions are in Group B and on September 23 will take on Greece in their quest to reclaim the FIBA crown for a record eighth time.

Team USA was unbeaten and cruising to another basketball confrontation with the Aussies until the Russians upset Team USA 75-68 in the semifinals and ended their chance at a FIBA World Championship threepeat.

The Opals then demolished the Russians 91-74 to take their first FIBA title while a stunned Team USA regrouped and blew out the host Brazilians 99-59 for the bronze medal.

Head coach Geno Auriemma and his staffs mission will be threefold. He has to return Team USA's women to FIBA golden glory, retool with the next generation of outstanding women players and prep for the 2012 London Games.

Unlike the men, the Number One FIBA ranked Team USA women have been kicking butt and taking names at the international level since 1996, have won this event seven times, and taken four out of the last six.

The final USA women's team lineup hasn't been set yet, but we already know it will be a team in transition with longtime center Lisa Leslie retiring from international competition after the Beijing Games.

Team USA is in excellent shape with a core roster that includes Olympians Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Kara Lawson, Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter. There are other talented players that could possibly make the squad such as WNBA Rookie of the Year Angel McCoughtry, Jia Perkins, Crystal Langhorne, Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Candice Dupree.

While it would be a longshot, I'd be thrilled if my Houston homegirl and Baylor freshman phenom center Brittney Griner ended up making the trip to the Czech Republic. Frankly, with all the talent at center I see her either on the Youth Olympic Games Team, a Pan Am Games team or maybe the 2016 Olympic team in Rio.

Whoever ends up on the final roster, it will be fun to watch. The winner also gets the automatic bid for the 2012 London Games.

2010 FIBA World Basketball Championships for Men Draw

While most of the planet's sports fans were waiting with breathless anticipation for the 2010 World Cup soccer draw in Cape Town, or in Canada were tracking the progress of the Olympic torch relay across their country, back on December 15 the draw setting up the groups for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men took place in Istanbul.

The draw determines the composition of the groups for the 24 teams participating in the August 28-September 12 tournament.

The 2008 Olympic champion USA will be in Group B, and will open group play in Istanbul August 28 against Croatia. The 2006 defending FIBA champions Spain will play in Group D and open defense of their title in Izmir versus France.

Our northern neighbors Canada also qualified for the 2010 field. They are in Group D and will playing their opening round match versus Lebanon.

Here are the groups for the 2010 FIBA World Championship For Men:

Group A (Kayseri): Serbia, Argentina, Australia, Jordan, Germany, Angola
Group B (Istanbul): Croatia, Brazil, Tunisia, Slovenia, Iran, USA
Group C (Ankara): China, Turkey, Russia, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast, Greece
Group D (Izmir): Lithuania, Lebanon, France, Spain, Canada, New Zealand

Group of Death so far looks like a toss up between Group A and Group C.

After the Group play round robin, the top four teams in each group advance to the knockout Eights round until the new FIBA champion is crowned.

The final composition of Team USA FIBA World Championships lineup hasn't been determined yet, but we already know who will coach them.

It's the same group of coaches that led Team USA to a 36-1 record in the last two year cycle.

Mike Krzyzewski will be back as Team USA's head coach along with his staff of Jim Boeheim, Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan.

Can't wait to find out not only which NBA ballers will be representing the USA as we reestablish our international basketball prominence, but for the action to start in Turkey as well.

The FIBA Championship winner is also playing for another prize. Winner gets the automatic qualifying spot for the 2012 London Olympics b-ball tournament.