FIBA World Championships 2010: Team USA Silences Turkey To Win Gold Medal
Call them Redeem Team II.
After 16 years of failing to win the gold medal at the FIBA World Championships, the USA finally reaches the top with their 83-64 victory over Turkey to secure gold at the Sinan Erdem Dome.
The victory comes two years after the USA secured the gold medal over Spain 118-107 at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and sixteen years after they blew apart Russia 137-91.
This was a younger USA team, with six players 22 of younger and no returnees from the 2008 side. Thanks to this victory, the States will not have to qualify for London 2012 through the FIBA Americas tournament. Instead, they qualify directly.
Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, who won Tournament MVP honors, steamrolled his way to 28 points, while fellow Thunder member Russell Westbrook dished out 13. The Los Angeles Lakers' Lamar Odom will add a FIBA World Championship ring to his NBA World Championship ring, with 15 points.
“I just wanted to come out here and win," a relieved Durant said after the match. "That was my mindset from day one. None of that stuff, global marketing entered my mind. I just wanted to win for everybody. This is a great feeling and it’s all I worried about.
“I was put in a great position to come out here and start. My teammates always made sure I came to work every day and they pushed me.”
Durant had a chip on his shoulder when labeled as part of the USA's "B Team."
“That was motivation for us all," Durant said. "We worked that much harder to prove people wrong.”
“Everybody, coaches, guys behind the scenes and everyone pushed us to make sure that we played as one group. Words can't describe my feelings now. Sixteen years without winning this tournament. I have been four years in this programme and I feel like a veteran now. There is only one (current) American NBA player that has won this tournament in the NBA (Shaquille O'Neal) so that's pretty special."
For Odom, it was about fundamentals.
“We tried to play our style, our game which is aggressive and we did it right away," Odom said afterwards. "We kept it during the whole game, played hard and got the crowd out of the game. To win this tournament we needed to be the best defensive team and I think that we achieved that.”
USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski will now have 12 medals to his credit, with eight of them gold. He now has a 43-1 record since the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, and has won gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2007 FIBA Americas Tournament to go with this gold medal.
“I want to congratulate the Turkish team for a truly perfect tournament," a belated Krzyzewski said after the game. "They epitomised what a team should be and we had to be at our very best to beat them. It was a terrific tournament and a truly wonderful city. I’ve never seen a country celebrate a team better than Turkey. It created a great atmosphere for the tournament.
“This championship meant a lot because we have a very young team. It meant a lot to all of us. This was very special. We hadn’t won the World Championship since 1994 and we, as a country, are trying to show great respect for the World Championships which I’m not sure we did a decade ago. I mean it’s twice as big in terms of the number of teams participating than the Olympics. But the Olympics meant a lot too.
“I’m not sure we have dominance if you look at the game against Brazil. And we didn’t dominate tonight. We played a bit better than Turkey. What Jerry Colangelo has done is build a culture where we respect the international game and develop a team that can play in those events. I love the international game. There are so many great coaches and teams and it has made me a better coach. Our goal is to win a gold medal but also to win the respect of others in the way that we play and carry ourselves.”
The USA show 44.1% from the floor and were 10 for 14 from the line. They had 16 assists compared to Turkey's eight and also outrebounded the hosts 37 to 32.
The Phoenix Suns' Hedo Turkoglu scored 16 points in the loss, while Semih Erden added nine points. Turkoglu was the only player from Turkey to score in double figures.
“Tonight everybody was kind of nervous and wasn’t playing their game," Turkoglu said after the match. "I told the guys to relax and play the way we do. Even last night against Serbia there were nerves. I was telling them to enjoy the moment because it might not happen again. I’m happy with how we played overall in the tournament.”
