Slovenia vs. USA: FIBA World Cup 2014 Quarterfinal Score and Twitter Reaction
Featuring All-NBA guard Goran Dragic and coming off a double-digit win over the Dominican Republic, the United States knew Slovenia would be its toughest FIBA World Cup test yet.
It didn't matter.
Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis each had double-doubles, and Klay Thompson scored 20 points as the United States pounded the boards and hustled its way to a 119-76 victory over Slovenia in the quarterfinals despite an up-and-down shooting night.
Slovenia proved at times a much tougher out than on Aug. 26, when the United States pummeled the small but burgeoning basketball squad by 30 points in an exhibition. Like two weeks ago, the United States' effort was led by Faried and Davis, who have emerged as the most formidable frontcourt in the tournament this side of Spain.
Crashing to the rim and using its length and athleticism to its advantage, the U.S. starting frontcourt combined for 10 of the team's 24 offensive rebounds. The boards helped the United States outshoot Slovenia 92-66, atoning for a bunch of missed open shots in the first half.
Struggling from distance and close to the basket, the United States made just 36.2 percent of its shots and went 3-of-10 from three-point range to go into the break ahead 49-42. Starting wings James Harden and Stephen Curry went a combined 0-of-12 in the first 20 minutes, with the latter picking up three fouls before the end of the first quarter.
Curry (six points) and Harden (14 points) were slightly better in the second half, as the U.S. wound up shooting its way back up to the 50 percent mark. Still, the United States offense was far more effective when the bench duo of Thompson and Derrick Rose entered, a promising sign for those worried about Rose's difficulties in returning to form. The Chicago Bulls star, who was shooting 21.6 percent coming into Tuesday, scored 12 points and was Team USA's best defender on Dragic.
"I think I found it now," Rose told ESPN.com's Marc Stein of his jump shot. "Just changed one little thing."
ESPN.com's Ethan Strauss believed this to be Rose's best outing of the tournament:
Consistency has yet to find the guard rotation seven games into the tournament. On Saturday, Curry was knocking down six threes against Mexico. On Tuesday, his defensive laziness contributed to his foul trouble, and he couldn't knock down a shot. Kyrie Irving, Harden and Rose have all had wild fluctuations in play on a game-to-game basis.
Thompson, who has impressed with his defensive effort in Spain, has been the closest thing to a constant on the wing. His game-high 20 points came on 7-of-12 shooting.
For the most part, it's been up to Davis and Faried to carry the load, and they've yet to disappoint. Faried's infectious hustle and crashing of the boards helped hold things together in the first half, as he scored 12 of his 14 points. Davis, long-armed and constantly intimidating near the basket, added three blocks to go with his 13 points and 11 boards. He's headed for a no-brainer MVP selection if the United States wins the gold medal.
CBS Sports' Doug Gottlieb and Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin complimented the Team USA frontcourt:
As has been the case for much of the tournament, Davis and Faried sat out most of the second half once the United States opened a large enough lead.
The U.S. looked like a completely different team in outscoring Slovenia 70-34 in the third and fourth quarters. Shots from close and far fell. Generating turnovers became so easy, they were almost routine. Dragic, one of the best guards in basketball, fell apart for a 6-of-15 evening.
Slovenia's inability to get into a rhythm beyond the arc was as uncharacteristic as it was a credit to the United States coaching staff. Coming into the game shooting an above-average clip on 26.2 attempts per game, Slovenia began 2-of-12 from three before finishing at 29.6 percent.
In head coach Mike Krzyzewski's meeting with reporters preparing for Tuesday's game, he indicated the team would defend the perimeter aggressively, according to Sam Amick of USA Today:
"We just have to focus on the fact that they're an unusual team and that at times they can put five three-point shooters out on the court. They're unusually good in that they have one of the great guards in the world in Goran Dragic, and his brother is outstanding too and with (shooting guard Domen) Lorbek, those three guys on the perimeter provide probably, outside of Spain, the most experienced perimeter that you have in the tournament. They have great spacing. They share the ball. Half their shots are threes. They're going to be a tough team to defend. We think they're one of the best teams.
"
For the most part, that's exactly what it did. The U.S. closed out hard on dangerous shooters, disrupting shot rhythms with length and forcing difficult looks. Slovenia actually had a ton of success using shot fakes to create deep open twos or crash hard into the paint.
But some of the misses were just plain bad luck. At times, sloppy rotations from the United States gave Slovenia open looks; it just didn't knock them down. Goran and Zoran Dragic, the stars of the team and solid shooters in their own right, went a combined 3-of-11 from distance.
With the margin for error decidedly thin, this was the worst possible time for Slovenia to go cold from three-point range. The United States has the depth, athleticism and talent to overcome shaky shooting. Any hope Slovenia had of shocking the world and advancing came only in a scenario in which it was lights out from the field.
That didn't happen when the game was in reach, and its shot-making fell apart as the favorites turned the game into a blowout.
The United States will face familiar foe Lithuania in the semifinals Thursday. Lithuania, which came into the World Cup ranked fourth in the world, earned a final four berth with a 73-61 victory over Turkey. The Lithuanians feature NBAers Jonas Valanciunas and Donatas Motiejunas. One of the most experienced teams in the world, Lithuania has a long history of narrowly missing out on upsets of the world power.
It'll no doubt be interesting to see which version of the U.S. shows up. Krzyzewski knows the history between the two countries and will no doubt try to use it as motivation for the players.
But the result is very likely academic. Lithuania defeated Slovenia only by three points in their group-stage matchup and did so only due to a historic offensive collapse from the Slovenians. There is also no sign of Sarunas Jasikevicius, the retired Lithuanian star who still haunts many Americans' dreams.
The only true test will come in a likely final against Spain, which has a good deal of its 2012 Olympic roster and has an entire country at its side. Entire halves like the one the United States played Tuesday won't fly against Spain; it's too good. Take it from Dragic, per Amick:
With only one more tune-up game remaining before Sunday's finale, Coach K has a lot of work to do to get this group ready. Let's see if he can pull it off.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
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