Throughout the FIBA World Cup, most of the attention was on Team USA and Spain and their anticipated matchup in the gold medal game a week from today. And while the Americans and Spaniards both stormed through their groups undefeated, so did Greece, running the table in Group B. The Greens, as they are known, won their first four games by double digits before dismissing Argentina, 79-71, to clinch the group. As the last team to defeat the United States – winning the semifinals
The group stage of the FIBA World Cup is over, with 16 of the 24 teams moving on and three of them – the United States, Spain and Greece – still unbeaten. But they cannot afford to lose now. The knockout stage begins Saturday, and it’s pretty much the same as the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Win and keep playing. Lose and go home. And being one of the last four teams is something special – in this case,
In a day where all 24 teams played in the FIBA World Cup leading up to Thursday’s frenetic first round finish, it was The Manimal who again stood out in another Team USA victory. After a closely contested first quarter, Kenneth Faried helped the Americans (4-0), once again propelled by their big men, take the second and third quarters by a combined 26 points and defeat the Dominican Republic (2-2) 106-71 to advance to 4-0 and clinch the best record in
In a highly patriotic coincidence, Team USA was off on this Labor Day Monday as they prepare for Tuesday’s match with New Zealand, the only Group C team without a win here in this FIBA World Cup. Groups A and B played on Monday with the hosts separating themselves from the pack, one big upset, one huge Freakish dunk and an emerging dark horse for the all-tournament team. Group A Serbia (2-1) outscored Iran 25-13 in the decisive third quarter and defeated Iran
We will spare you too many of the gory details of Team USA’s massacre of Finland. Here’s all you need to know: The Finns were 0-for-17 from the field in the second quarter. If you watched the entire game, congratulations. You have proven yourself worthy of throwing away two perfectly good summertime hours from your Labor Day weekend that could have been spent doing something more enjoyable, like watching paint dry. Day One of the 2014 FIBA World Cup is in the books,
In years past, Americans have considered the Olympics to be the only relevant international basketball competition. Stateside, the other quadrennial tournament formerly known as the FIBA World Championship went largely unnoticed until Team USA embarrassed themselves in 2002, losing three times in Indianapolis and finishing sixth after never having lost with NBA players. The rest of the world sees things differently. Other basketball federations have been viewing the World Championship as the more important international competition. Also, because the very best Americans play
We waited all season for an Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. Yet when the time came for the two talented teams to finally meet in late May, only Miami showed up. Indiana finds itself down three games to one, and more blame is being passed around than a Benghazi hearing on Capitol Hill. A lot of that blame is being placed on the referees, an easy target since Miami took twice as many free throws
On Thursday night, Philips Arena opened its doors for the Atlanta Hawks first home playoff game of the 2014 NBA postseason. After having stolen home court advantage, the air in Atlanta was heavy, of course it was humid—welcome to Georgia, but it was heavy with hope and expectation. All week long, ever since the Hawks 101-93 Game 1 road victory in Indiana on Saturday, the talk among locals has been upset. Not just a game; the series. The team’s confidence only served to