Could Anything Possibly Go Wrong for Team USA's FIBA Tournament Run Now?
Team USA easily survived its Murphy's Law game, recovering from a sluggish first half to smash Lithuania 96-68 in the semifinal round of the FIBA World Cup.
Now that we've seen the U.S. recover from a contest in which everything went wrong in the early going, there's not much doubt the Americans will cruise to the gold medal with one more victory.
Not much, but perhaps some.
Team USA struggled through an opening half in which early foul trouble sent a number of key players to the pine far sooner than coach Mike Krzyzewski would have liked. Stephen Curry, James Harden and Kenneth Faried all picked up two personals in the game's first six minutes.
Curry's third would come with less than four minutes gone in the second quarter.
Pulling star-caliber talent off the bench in relief allowed the U.S. to navigate foul trouble better than any other team in the tournament. But the physical play and inconsistent whistles that led to those violations were part of a larger problem the U.S. had to overcome.
Seemingly incidental contact drew whistles, while far more physical plays went uncalled. As the first half wore on, both teams clearly exhibited frustration with the officiating. Predictably, that led to short tempers and increasingly chippy play.
In one second-quarter sequence, Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas roughly lodged his left elbow beneath DeMarcus Cousins' chin as both jostled for rebounding position on a free throw. Valanciunas forced Cousins backward, and what happened next very nearly sent the contest into a tailspin:
But Cousins didn't swing. He showed restraint that probably surprised many of his critics. At that moment, the U.S. proved that even in a game in which nothing was going its way, it would stay the course.
That didn't stop both clubs from airing a few grievances after the final horn.
""I figured they wouldn't hit an old man." --Coach K on intervening in post-game exchange
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 11, 2014"
Klay Thompson continued to showcase remarkable confidence in his offensive game. With Curry and Harden on the bench early, the "other" Splash Brother became the clear focal point of Team USA's attack. He hunted shots on offense, hunkered down defensively and played like a leader.
Thompson finished with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, throwing in a pair of impressive blocks and three excellent assists in transition for good measure.
Though Thompson was mostly responsible for keeping the U.S. afloat in the first half, the team came alive behind James Harden in the second.
The rout was on in short order, and it featured all of the typical elements we've come to expect from Team USA: The pace quickened, Harden and Curry drilled threes and the U.S. ratcheted up its stifling pressure D. By the time Lithuania called a timeout with 8:04 remaining in the third, an eight-point halftime deficit had ballooned to 18.
The game was over, even if there were still 18 minutes left to play.
So the U.S. weathered an early storm against an opponent that was not at all intimidated. It overcame tough whistles, survived amid offensive struggles (Harden, Derrick Rose and Anthony Davis combined for just two points in the first half) and once again found its stride in time to win comfortably.
That's enough to make one wonder if the U.S. just passed its toughest test of the tournament. At the very least, it's worth asking if either France or Serbia, one of whom will face Team USA in the final Sunday, can do anything to pose a bigger threat.
France knocked off Spain, the tournament host and erstwhile contender for gold. It'd be unwise for the U.S. to look past a team that showed such commitment and defensive intensity in knocking off the Spaniards.
Serbia has been similarly impressive, getting terrific point guard play from Milos Teodosic and all-around excellence from Bogdan Bogdanovic. With a tourney run that includes wins over Brazil and Greece, Serbia could enter the final with confidence.
And whether France or Serbia ends up facing the U.S., both clubs will know how important it is to catch America napping in the early going.
Having watched Spain lose, it would be a mistake to rule out an upset. At the same time, what we've seen throughout the World Cup is that the U.S., for all its occasionally spotty play, always finds a way to get itself going eventually.
France or Serbia will certainly try to slow the game down, ugly things up inside and make the gold-medal contest a physical one. That's the recipe, albeit one the U.S. has overcome time and again so far.
At the same time, these things keep happening to Team USA, which might be cause for mild concern. The halftime deficit to Turkey, the messy first quarter against Ukraine and even the first half against Lithuania—all of those substandard performances were the result of the blueprint opponents have constantly tried and failed to sustain for entire games.
The U.S. has proved its ability to overcome slow pace, physicality and its own early malaise, though it would probably be better if the Americans proved they could avoid having to overcome anything in the first place.
We'll get one more round to see if Team USA can put together a full game, devoid of sloppy periods that, if only for a short while, make the result seem something other than certain.
Realistically, though, the U.S. isn't going to see anything new. Everything that could have gone wrong for Team USA already has at some point—and the Americans have yet to be legitimately challenged. Don't expect that to change in the final.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
