Since the beginning of the FIBA tournament, all the experts and their mothers expected Team USA to meet their match against Spain for the gold in the final game.
Just one problem: Spain will no longer play for the gold after a shocking 65-52 loss to France on Wednesday.
Despite a valiant effort from Pau Gasol, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, the rest of his team struggled mightily against France’s tough defense, anchored by center Rudy Gobert and his game-high 13 rebounds. Boris Diaw led his team with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Thomas Heurtel poured in 13 points, including a dagger 3-pointer to help seal the victory late in the fourth quarter.
USA will play Lithuania on Thursday, and the winner of that game will move on to the gold medal game on Sunday against France or Serbia.
So much for Goran Dragic’s claim that Spain is the favorite to win it all, from USA Today:
But when the Phoenix Suns point guard was asked to pick a FIBA World Cup favorite just minutes after his Slovenian team was drubbed 119-76 by Team USA on Tuesday night, one might have assumed that he’d pick the Americans if only because of the magnitude of the one-sided moment. And one would have been wrong.
“Uh, I mean so far, (it’s) Spain,” Dragic said.
“They’re good, very good,” Dragic said of Team USA. “The big guys under the basket, if they’re going to get offensive rebounds then (their teammates) don’t have pressure when they shoot the ball. They get second offense, but I think…it’s going to be hard against Spain.”
To be fair, Dragic is one of many who believed USA would struggle against teams like Spain and Lithuania due to their size. Word got to Kenneth Faried about that general belief, and he did not take the notion lightly, from Amick of USA Today:
The popular narrative, which was relayed to him after Wednesday’s practice, is that teams such as Thursday’s opponent Lithuania and possible finals foe France have the formidable frontcourts to slow the USA’s group of Faried, Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans), DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings), Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons), Rudy Gay (Sacramento Kings) and Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn Nets).
Faried disagrees.
“That’s what’s going around?” Faried asked with a quizzical look. “That’s massively disrespectful. I’m not buying that at all. We’ll just have to see tomorrow, I guess.”
“It’s just funny to me,” Faried continued. “It’s just more critics being critics, people trying to bring you down. But you’ve got to fight through adversity. I had to do it my whole life, so it’s nothing new. Whatever I hear, whatever I read, I’m not taking it to heart, I just take it as more fuel to the fire.”
Faried has been a monster in this tournament, and some would even argue that he has been the most important player on the team. After hearing how he feels about the narrative of the frontcourt of Team USA, his performance against Lithuania will be something to look forward to on Thursday.
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Here is some unpleasant detail about Greg Monroe’s DUI arrest, from Gus Burns of Mlive.com: “Detroit Pistons’ forward Greg Monroe, who is facing a two-game suspension after NBA officials learned he pleaded guilty to impaired driving in April, “urinated on himself during the booking process,” the Huntington Woods police report documenting his arrest says. Huntington Woods police released video footage of the Feb. 13 stop and arrest, which stemmed from a defective headlight, on Wednesday. “I’m just trying not to be in the newspaper,” Monroe is heard saying to the officers during his transport to jail. “I play for the Pistons,” Monroe said. “You play for the Detroit Pistons,” asks one of the officers in the vehicle. “Unless you told people that are going to tell people, we don’t tell people,” an officer is heard saying.”
Adam Silver explained why he doesn’t think Danny Ferry should be fired, from Sam Amick of USA Today: “The discipline of a team employee is typically determined by the team, and in this case the Hawks hired a prestigious Atlanta law firm to investigate the circumstances of Danny Ferry’s clearly inappropriate and unacceptable remarks,” Silver said. “In my view, those comments, taken alone, do not merit his losing his job. “It’s a question of context … These words, in this context, understanding the full story here, the existence of the scouting report, the fact that he was looking at the scouting report as a reference when he was making these remarks, what I’m saying is – and frankly my opinion — is that this is a team decision in terms of what the appropriate discipline is for their employee. But if I’m being asked my view, I’m saying that, based on what I know about the circumstances, I don’t think it’s a terminable offense.”
More details of the infamous call by Ferry is now available, thanks to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: “On Deng, Ferry said: “… For example, he can come out and be an unnamed source for a story and two days later come out and say, ‘That absolutely was not me. I can’t believe someone said that.’ “But talking to reporters, you know they can [believe it].” Ferry kept going on Deng: “… Good guy in Chicago. They will tell you he was good for their culture, but not a culture setter. He played hard and all those things, but he was very worried about his bobble-head being the last one given away that year, or there was not enough stuff of him in the [team] store … kind of a complex guy.”… Ferry’s clinging to the story that the racially charged words belonged to someone else – that a riff connecting Africans to a con man stereotype weren’t his words at all. In context of the transcripts, it appears that those had been Ferry’s own interjections on the call, somehow supporting the intel culled outside of the Hawks. Ferry’s supporters within Atlanta’s hierarchy say that they’ve chosen to believe him, but it’s been a tougher sell in the real world.”
- Ferry also chimed in with thoughts about Carmelo Anthony: “The call proceeded with Ferry hustling through free agent names, a list that included Carmelo Anthony: “He can shoot the [expletive] out of it, but he screws you up in other ways,” Ferry said, according to a transcript obtained by Yahoo Sports. Ferry would go on to say of Anthony: “So is he really worth the 20 million dollars? … I would argue if he plays the right way, absolutely.”
- In the midst of all the mess, the Hawks have re-signed Elton Brand, from Woj: “Atlanta has re-signed Elton Brand to a one-year, $2M contract, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.”
- According to TMZ Sports, Dominique Wilkins has strong interest in becoming an owner of the Hawks: “With racist-ass racist Bruce Levenson on the outs … TMZ Sports has learned NBA legend Dominique Wilkins is actively trying to become the next owner of the Atlanta Hawks. Multiple NBA sources tell us … Dominique is “extremely interested” in becoming the next owner of the Hawks — and has already been pre-approved for ownership by the NBA. We’re told Wilkins — who has amassed his own small fortune over the years — has partnered up with a “very well-known businessman” who believes Wilkins would be the best person to lead the Hawks back to NBA glory.
Byron Scott believes Kobe Bryant will average 20-plus points in the upcoming season. That and more from Mark Medina of Daily News: “He’s gotten older, but can still get it done,” Scott said of the 36-year-old Bryant. “I see a guy who’s going to average 20-something points per game, will have a great year and have a lot of people eating crow.”… “I know how stubborn he is and he knows how stubborn I am,” Scott said. “There’s going to be times we’re butting heads. But it’s all because we want to win.”… “One thing I’ll never do is sacrifice a players’ health for a basketball game,” said Scott, who declined to specifiy how many minutes Bryant will play. “If it can hurt him in the long run, I won’t do it.”… “I might have to tackle him and hold him back,” Scott joked. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do that anymore. But I’ll have to get one of the coaches to come with me and grab him and hold him back. I know how competitive he is. But for me, I’m looking out for him.”
Scott also explained why it’s difficult to win with Mike D’Antoni’s philosphy: “At times, I saw good rotations. At times, I saw bad rotations,” said Scott, who worked last year for Time Warner Cable SportsNet as a studio analyst. “A lot of that was they didn’t have a specific game plan on what they wanted to do on that end of the floor.” Still, D’Antoni oversaw a roster that sat out a combined 319 games because of injuries. D’Antoni often lamented about the team’s inconsistent defensive hustle. “No disrespect to Mike at all. I think Mike’s a good coach,” Scott said. “But in this league, if you want to win on a consistent basis and win championships, you have to play defense consistently.”
- Zoran Dragic is a name of interest right now, thanks to his strong showing in the FIBA tournament. Marc Stein of ESPN has details: “The Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers are expressing the most serious interest in signing Slovenian guard Zoran Dragic, ESPN.com has learned. League sources told ESPN.com this week that talks regarding the NBA future of Dragic — younger brother of Phoenix Suns star guard Goran Dragic — are scheduled to intensify this week now that Slovenia has been eliminated from the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup… Zoran Dragic is projected to play shooting guard in the NBA with a shot that’s still developing but with toughness and a motor that are unmistakably reminiscent of Goran Dragic. He has solidified his status as an NBA prospect with his play in this tournament, helping Slovenia make a real run at winning Group D before pumping in a team-high 18 points Saturday in the win over the Dominican Republic that clinched a quarterfinal showdown with the United States.”
Jerry West has signed an extension to stay with the Golden State Warriors for two more years, according to Tim Kawakami of Mercury News: “Warriors executive board member Jerry West has agreed to a two-year extension with the team through the 2016-2017 season, an NBA source confirmed to this newspaper on Wednesday. West had one year remaining on his original deal with the team and this new deal will be tacked on, for a total of a three-year commitment from this point. This move, coupled with the new deal for general manager Bob Myers through the 2017-20178 season, puts a bow on co-owner Joe Lacob’s desire to keep his front office together for the long-term as the team gets set to move into a San Francisco arena by 2018.”
With the news of Chauncey Billups’ retirement, Chris Paul opened up about why Billups is so special to him on his instagram: “But early in my career when I began to have what they call “NBA family”, I was blessed with another big brother! In a league that’s filled with fierce competition and unfortunately at times jealousy, a veteran guard took me under his wing and told me and showed me what it means to be a professional and to ALWAYS help the next guy coming up behind you. One of the highlights of my career was the night that I found out I would get to play along side of Chaunce! I could go on and on talkin about this guy but I’ll end by saying THANK YOU BIG SHOT!!! And I would love to be there whenever the Hall of Fame Ceremony is!”
James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.