So, it comes to this.
The United States dispatched Lithuania 89-74 to advance to its first World Championship Gold Medal game since 1994.
Familiar issues surfaced. Chauncey Billups could not keep Mantas Kalnietis in front of him. Robertas Javtokas destroyed the Americans inside early—just like Tiago Splitter and Timofey Mozgov did for Brazil and Russia.
Anytime Team USA seemed on the verge of creating an avalanche, Lithuania stopped the snow slide. Eric Gordon missed a fast-break dunk that allowed the opponents five points in a five-second span. Mike Krzyzewski should have lost count of those by now. Kevin Love's prolific production continued, but he saw just eight minutes of court time. The less athletic foe—surprise, surprise—showed lots of zone.
The U.S. blitzkrieg began late in the third quarter, just as it did against Russia, Iran, and Tunisia in the previous two weeks. The opposing coach, in this case, Kestutis Kemzura, derided an official for what he deemed missed travelling and goaltending violations. Chauncey Billups again locked in from beyond the international arc. He recovered fro ...
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Article written by Robert Kleeman
2010 FIBA World Championship: Team USA One Win from Tournament Redemption
September 11th, 2010 by Robert Kleeman Leave a reply »
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