USA won't stumble vs. Serbia in FIBA World Cup final. Anthony Davis has averaged more blocks per game (2.2) than Serbia's entire team (1.6) during the FIBA World Cup.
So as Serbia prepare to face Davis and Team USA in the tournament championship game Sunday (3 p.m. ET), the mismatch is clear. This is the No. 11 team in FIBA's rankings vs. the No. 1, a game pitting 12 NBA players against none. Serbia, which beat France 90-85 in the semifinals Friday, has exceeded expectations, particularly in the elimination round.
France, the 2013 European champs, were good enough to knock out tournament co-favorite and host Spain in the quarterfinals, but not good enough to even take the lead against Serbia. Serbia is a very good team, blending youth and experience and rising to the occasion at the right time. Serbia struggled with France's Nicolas Batum, the Portland Trail Blazers small forward who scored 35 points (with eight three-pointers) Friday. NBA Oden allegedly beat ex-girlfriend. An Indiana judge has granted a delay in the case against former NBA No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden, who is facing a felony domestic violence charge for allegedly beating his ex-girlfriend last month.
Oden's trial in Indianapolis is scheduled to start Nov. 19 after it was initially set for Oct. 22, according to documents filed Monday in Marion County court. Oden's attorney filed a request Monday to have a GPS tracking device removed from the 7-foot, 280-pound center's body, but the request is still pending, a spokesman for the Marion County Prosecutor's Office confirmed to ESPN.com. Oden, 26, is facing one count of felony battery resulting in serious bodily harm and two misdemeanor battery charges for his alleged role in an Aug. 7 attack on a 24-year-old woman at his mother's suburban Indianapolis home. Oden, who has been allowed to leave the state but was required to wear the GPS device from the time he was formally charged, couldn't be reached for comment Monday. NBA needs to pull stars from USA Basketball, which is showcasing only Duke's ...
MADRID – The confetti falls, the star-spangled banner plays and the USA Basketball illusion plays itself out again and again.
Here come the Duke and Syracuse coaches hugging the NBA stars, primping for pictures that they'll rush through texts and Twitter to star recruits. Pity poor Serbia, the silver-medalist props to a college recruiting video. The World Cup of Basketball is a wonderful event, a well-run, well-coordinated tournament with pride and history and gravitas. It is something else, too: beneath the threshold of worthiness for NBA stars to participate. For Indiana Pacers star Paul George to have broken his leg in a televised pick-up game on the Vegas strip never felt as senseless as did watching the United States hang 129 points on Serbia in the gold-medal game Sunday at Palacio de los Deportes. As one GM told Yahoo Sports, "[Outside of the U.S. team], there's more talent and more interest from basketball fans in the NBA summer league than this event. " Commentary: Under Armour Won Even When They Lost Out On Kevin Durant.
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Joe Kaiser previews the potentially loaded 2014-15 NBA draft class to find the players who could be fantasy stars as rookies. The Crossover Podcast: '14-'15 breakouts Ford: Big Board 8.0 Getty Images. Basketball Offense - Triangle Offense, Coach's Clipboard Playbook. We have already discussed a number points that have to do with reading and reacting to the defense... reading the post defense, reading wing pass denial, the wing reading and reacting to his defender sagging in the post, and reading the weakside and strong-side "two-man" options.
Here we'll discuss a few more. 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup - Full Schedule - FIBA.com. NBA.com. ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports.