USA 70, Brazil 68: World Championship Instant Analysis
Kevin Durant (USA Basketball, Nike)
Why Team USA won: Kevin Durant and Chauncey Billups. Every time it seemed things were about to get out of hand for the favored Americans, Durant would stick a jumper or score at the rim, or Billups would attack the basket and get himself free throws or a layup. In the first half the whole team got away from playing aggressive offensively, before KD and Chauncey set the pace in the second half and got the U.S. over the hump to avoid an upset.
Why Brazil lost: They couldn’t shoot. In particular, they couldn’t shoot in the fourth quarter. In one stretch they missed about 4-5 threes in a row, as Leandro Barbosa finished 3-for-13 beyond the arc for the game. In the final three seconds, Marcelo Huertas bricked a huge free throw and Barbosa missed a layup (albeit a tough one) at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.
Key numbers: Kevin Durant (27 pts, 10 rebs, 3 stls, 7 turnovers); Chauncey Billups (15 pts, 1-7 3PA); Derrick Rose (11 pts, 4 stls); Lamar Odom (8 pts, 9 rebs); Marcus Vinicius (16 pts); Leandro Barbosa (14 pts, 4 stls, 5-18 FG); Tiago Splitter (13 pts, 10 rebs); Free throws (USA 23, Brazil 8).
Next up: Team USA vs. Iran (Wednesday), Brazil vs. Slovenia (Wednesday).
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August 30th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
rodnets says:
Team USA reality check nº1 poor iranian fellows, haddadi is going to get smoked badly
August 30th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
atticusmitch says:
dude the B team is sucking so bad. Theyonly lost by 2! Are you Kidding me! Brazil’s best player is Barbosa and we only won by 2. OMG where is Tayshaun Prince when ya need him.
August 30th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
bobby stew says:
splitter should work well with duncan
August 30th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
ylm says:
where’s the video of barbosa breaking iguodalas ankles
August 30th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
yoda says:
brasil lost because of thin bench. tiago played 4th quarter with 4 pf’s (in fiba 5th one is ejection, not 6 like in nba). huertas also had 4 pf’s. this usa team is bad. only durant and somehow billups are good. you guys are lucky that other teams don’t play with best squads
August 30th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
hahns says:
i only saw the 4th quarter….but i thought billups was sucking. USA’s offense was pretty weak 4th quarter- coach k should have subbed in some fresh blood to change things up offensively.
it should have been the kd and rose show, but billups was holding them back imo.
August 30th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
the truth says:
Only durant and billups are good? are you serious? They might not have gelled yet but get serious dude. D rose isn’t good? Rudy gay isn’t good? What about lamar odom and russell westbrook? they suck man, brazil with their full roster would have a lot more talent. I mean shit just look what Nene and Andy do in the league compared to the whole US squad.
August 30th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
yoda says:
@7
players that you mentioned above, are great individually. but in this team concept, they suck. iggy was bricking as usual, lamar had great moves and then fucked up all, rose tries too much to penetrate crowded pain, no sure shooter…
have you seen anything resembling a real play? it was one on one whole night. brasil was killing with pick and rolls and pick and pops whole night, till they were out of breath and till they pilled up fouls.
August 30th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
the truth says:
I agree with that, i haven’t missed a game, exhibition or the past 3. But sayin those guys suck is just ignorant. Some are playing different roles, out of position, different style of play etc. Give any guy on usa’s roster a few years of fiba experience and its game over, you basically have (other than KD), anywhere from the 11th to 20 something best players on the planet playing right now, that’s why they’re in the NBA and not playing overseas. I just hate to hear ppl say how much some players on this team suck when in reality other than a very few exceptions, the worst player on our roster (maybe other than love) is better than any team we play’s best player. If they were better they’d be making big money, playin in the league and making all star teams.
August 30th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Jason says:
sick of this Kevin Durant 24/7 hype… he is too overrated
August 30th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
yoda says:
well, it was poor choice of words on my side. i don’t mean players as players are bad ( but you will agree that these are second or third tier of players in nba, atm, except durant) but as team they aren’t really good. i mean, as a team they had 8 assists. too much one on one game. even billups, as true pg, was shooting and penetrating instead of passing. this team might be really good, but now they are more like 2002. squad. until they start to share the ball, you can’t be sure they will win every game.
if durant wasn’t hot like he was and if brasil hit one of open shots in 4th q, usa would get first L. and thats against team that has almost 7 man rotation…
August 30th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
D Roc says:
This team had played about 4 real games together as a unit and everyone is jumping on them as far as how they play together. Every team that they have faced has FIBA experience and Team USA is virtually learning on the fly. These are good character building games for the U.S. Because it allows us to never get complacent and also realize who are our go to players at crunch time(Rose and Durant). Let these kids gel and they’ll be ok.
August 30th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
D Roc says:
Coach K needs to take a page out of the opposing teams playbook and use more pick and roll and more off the ball movement on offense because the international teams are just ball watching and not even expecting our players to cut to the rim
August 30th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
K Dizzle says:
lol @ Durant being overrated. This team is 1-2 without him. What’s up with USA callin a tumeout to set up one-on ones for Rose, Billips, or Odom. Just bad basketball. Chauncey committs a charge, then misses a 3. Rose turns it over with nobody near him, then LO tries to drive baseline when Splitter already there and steps outta bounds. Bad ball. Lucky for the US that Barbosa missed 15 shots and that other dude missed the and-one then the freebie.
Woulda been interesting if Nene and Varejao had played.
Splitter showed some nice moves. He might be better than Scola when it’s all done. Scola came in at 27. Splitter’s 25 and a legit 7 footer so he got a chance to be good playin with Duncan.
August 30th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
e40 says:
@jason
at least the durant hype is deserved. dude averaged 30 ppg in his 3rd season,almost won mvp award, took his team to the playoffs, almost to the champs to game 7 if not for a lucky gasol tip in.
The rose hype on the other hand is undeserved and way out of control. Hes just an extremely poor mans(im talking homeless poor here) version of steve francis.
August 30th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
D Roc says:
Derrick is just trying to fit in and not shoot the ball so all this talk about him hogging the ball is crazy. There are three players on team usa’s bench that have more shot attempts than Rose. Coach K just has to use the pick and roll more and these games won’t be even close. If D Rose took 18 shots like Barbosa he would have had 20 plus but the offense is just pass the ball to durant and clear out.
August 30th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
D Roc says:
These international teams have years of chemistry and experience playing together so roles are already established on their respective teams. Also going forward in the tournament teams are going to crowd Durant and force him to put the ball on the ground and that may be his weakest skill so coach K will have to figure out how to free him up more. this is Rose’s first intro into international play and to my recollection chris paul and Deron had similar numbers during the Olympics. Point Guards go through the hardest adjustments in Fiba ball because its way more physical than the NBA and the ball handling skills of paul and deron are negated by carrying and traveling calls.
August 30th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
slick ric says:
E40, shut yo lame a** up, Im not saying D rose better than durant but he took his team to the playoffs two straight years and also riased his game while in the playoffs.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
D Roc says:
Remember guys these are just kids and their two best players are only 21(durant and rose). When Lebron and wade and Melo played in FIBA play at that age they proved they weren’t prepared for that level of play either. Larry Brown had them rotting on the bench because they didn’t defend. Man how quickly we forget, it takes an adjustment period for all United States players and with time they’ll adjust to the game.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
the truth says:
true dat yoda we on the same page
August 31st, 2010 at 1:03 am
stupid says:
What ifs? they are just that…what ifs, USA won, that just showed you they were the better team. If Brazil had won they would be the better team, simple as that.
August 31st, 2010 at 5:53 am
Kingsley says:
As posted in the other post, I am really puzzled at why the lack of love shown to Danny Granger? While it is understandable that size is an issue for S.Curry to get minutes, Danny possesses an old school fundamental game, much more polished offensive skills than Iggy & Gay, less one-dimensional than EG, and would certainly have shoot us back into the game (along with KD & Chauncey) yesterday when it was evidently, more offense is needed.
I understand about the emphasis on athleticism on defense, but last night was clearly the night where Danny’s versatility will have come in handy for us, yet he is limited to the human victory cigar treatment…
August 31st, 2010 at 7:05 am
Jason says:
@e40
yea Rose is overrated, he is outta control and always turnin sh*t over.
Kevin Durant is overrated, he didn’t do anything in the playoffs. I’m not surprised he won the scoring title because he learned how to chuck shots @ the rim since his rookie yr. Now he is just a scorer that learned how to add b.s. calls to his game. He didnt get his team to the playoffs by himself… Still, I think the team overachieved and with the west weakening he may continue to show his overrated asz in the playoffs.
August 31st, 2010 at 10:03 am
jasondolemite says:
@ Kingsley – Granger can’t play D, and he will be the first one to tell you that.
Durant is NOT overrated. He’s being asked to carry the entire load, and he’s very underrated defensively.
Everyone needs to chill out and remember that there’s still plenty of ball to play, and I’m pretty sure we are not showing our full set of offensive plays yet. This team will come together soon.
August 31st, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Jay10do says:
USA sucks, KD is overrated most definitely, RWB has no defense at all, Rose jus tryna fit in, they just can’t play with each other, they just suck
September 1st, 2010 at 1:28 am
Echelon says:
@Jay10do: Wah, wah, wah, wah.