FIBA World Cup 2014: Day 12 Schedule, Predictions After First Semifinal Result
After earning another blowout win on Thursday, Team USA will sit back on Friday while France and Serbia fight for the second 2014 FIBA World Cup championship slot.
Although Team USA held up its end of the bargain to deliver the anticipated last game, Spain did not. The hosting nation suffered a surprising upset to France in the quarterfinals, creating two final hopefuls that will struggle to match the United States' star power in the gold-medal contest.
The U.S. secured a 28-point victory over Lithuania and are unlikely to receive a tougher challenge from France or Serbia. But we learned our lesson from writing Spain into the finals with permanent ink.
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Let's look at both Thursday's result and Friday's upcoming semifinal bout.
| France vs. Serbia | 4:00 p.m. | ESPN2 | Semifinals |
Semifinal Recap: United States 96, Lithuania 68
In what's becoming a recurring theme during the FIBA World Cup, Team USA let Lithuania hang around for a half before running away with a sizable victory.
After entering halftime up eight, the U.S. outscored Lithuania, 33-14, during the third quarter on its way to a 96-68 conquest.
Kyrie Irving led the way with 18 points, but James Harden and Klay Thompson followed close behind at 16 apiece. While Lithuania received 15 points each from Jonas Valanciunas and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, it wasn't enough to overcome its dreadful 2-of-18 shooting from three-point range.
Now only has Team USA run the table in Spain, but it's done so in dominating fashion. No team has come within 20 points of the squad loaded from top to bottom with NBA superstars. The NBA's Twitter page gives a crisp look at each game's margin of victory:
While most of the guards got involved on Thursday, Derrick Rose registered four points on eight attempts along with three turnovers. Throughout the tournament, the Chicago Bulls point guard is shooting 27.3 percent from the floor. Stephen Curry, with a 42.2 field-goal percentage, is Team USA's only other player shooting below 45 percent.
Yet Mike Krzyzewski won't stop praising Rose. After he posted 12 points and five assists against Slovenia, the head coach told the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson that he saw a return to the old MVP talent:
Looks like he jumped the gun. Recovering from his second major knee injury, Rose has struggled to produce consistent results, instead following glimpses of brilliance with ugly outings that make fans wonder why he's on the team in the first place.
The questionable personnel move hasn't mattered so far, and it'll even look smart if he has one more gem in him this weekend.
Semifinal Preview: France vs. Serbia
Neither France nor Serbia looked poised to sniff the finals, but the winner of this showdown will become the ultimate underdog against the U.S.
Quite frankly, both nations are probably playing for second place. Throughout the tournament, Serbia has scored 80.1 points per game, France has tallied 72.9 and the U.S. clocks in at 101.5. Even the recently defeated Spain was way behind Team USA at 83.0, so another upset is much more improbable.
Yet that nihilistic approach won't fly for the men taking the court on Friday. Maybe the winner's frightful championship opponent will forget how to shoot for a day.
France is riding the high of knocking off Spain, exclaiming the 65-52 upset with a 10-0 run. Spain scored just nine points during that fateful fourth quarter.
But that shouldn't overshadow Serbia's 84-56 stomping of Brazil, another top contender many considered the favorite for third place. Serbia pummeled the favored opponents in the second half, outscoring Brazil, 47-24.
Both sides have exceeded expectations. While Serbia came in with a No. 11 FIBA ranking, France was not taken seriously with Tony Parker and Joakim Noah sitting the tournament out.
They've clashed already in Spain, with France receiving the upper hand by one point. This time around, it's Serbia's turn to edge out a narrow victory.
Guard Milos Teodosic has fueled Serbia's offense, averaging 15 points over the past four games, including a tournament-high 23 against Brazil. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Miroslav Raduljica also supply the nation with a well-rounded attack that will give France all it can handle.
In their first matchup, Serbia shot a paltry 4-of-18 from three-point range. Since it ranks third with a 38.3 percentage from behind the arc in Spain, a few more makes will lead the country to a championship clash against Team USA.
Prediction: Serbia 72, France 70
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