FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014: Serbia Will Be No Match for Team USA in Final
The gold-medal game in the FIBA World Cup was supposed to be Spain vs. Team USA, but France knocked off the Spaniards in the quarterfinals. Perhaps the French had used all of their energy to upset Spain, because they fell to Serbia in the semifinals 90-85.
All while the other side of the bracket was filled with upsets and unexpected finishes, the Americans have continued to chug along. That's precisely what they will do on Sunday during the gold-medal game.
Serbia has done well to make it this far, but Team USA is simply too talented and dedicated to fall.
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Too Many Scorers
Team USA has six players averaging double figures compared to four for Serbia. In the American's case, their balance is based on sacrifice not the lack of a go-to scorer.
Every member of the American roster is capable of going off on any given night. You've seen evidence of that throughout the play in Spain.
Six different players have led the team in scoring throughout the team's 8-0 run. There's no telling which player will have the hot hand on Sunday.
Too Many Athletes Around the Basket
We knew about the depth at point guard with the likes of Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose and Stephen Curry, but the play of Anthony Davis, Kenneth Faried and DeMarcus Cousins may have come to a surprise to some.
The American bigs have used their length and athleticism to block shots, intimidate and to finish around the rim with authority.
Faried, Davis and Cousins have averaged 34.8 points, 19.8 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots during the FIBA World Cup. Serbia's front court is led by two skilled and versatile big men in Milos Teodosic and Nemanja Bjelica, but overall they lack the athleticism to keep pace with Davis, Faried and Cousins.
Too Much Depth
The Team USA roster goes deeper than the players who have stood out to this point, there are others who still have yet to spread their wings.
DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, Miles Plumlee, Cousins and Andre Drummond are all better than just about every player on the Serbian squad, yet they have played the fewest minutes of any players on the American roster.
As long as Team USA is focused, they should pull away for an easy win in the second half.
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