Team USA Dominant at FIBA Championships

6 games into the 2010 FIBA Championships, and Team USA has posted a strong 6-0 record. These 6 wins have come via wins over Croatia, Slovenia, Brazil, Iran, Tunisia, and Angola, with a 29.8-point average margin of victory. The toughest challenge for Team USA came in the August 30^th game against Brazil, a 2-point win that saw Brazil’s Leandro Barbosa miss a game-tying jumper as the clock hit 0.00. One might say that was the midway wake-up call that Team USA needed to keep them awake throughout the championships. Apart from this narrow victory, the team has been quite dominant, and this dominance has brought about whispers of a 1992 Dream Team comparison. The biggest difference between this team and the ’92 team is the comparative caliber of NBA players on the squad.

The 2010 Team USA is full of up-and-coming NBA stars, with the oldest players on the team being the LA Lakers’ Lamar Odom, and the Denver Nuggets’ Chauncey Billups. In my opinion, stacking the team with young, energetic players is the best way to keep the team’s focus solely on the task at hand, winning this year’s FIBA World Championships.

Looking ahead, I don’t expect Team USA to have much of a problem getting to the tournament finals. They may encounter Brazil again, which could turn out to be another nail-biter, but I expect Coach K and the team to learn from the past and put that game in the bag without much of a problem. Their toughest opponent could prove to be current world number 1, Argentina, who Team USA is poised to play against in the semi-finals. On the other side of the bracket, the two strongest teams, Turkey and Slovenia, face off in the next round. I predict the winner of this match-up will make it to the tournament finals to face Team USA for the championship.