Rico spending time with Klay Thompson as he describes his four-day Camp experience.
Background: East L.A. Sports Scene.Com will keep our avid basketball fans up to date with our recaps and coverage of Team USA & USA Basketball at the FIBA World Cup Tournament. This tournament was re-formatted to become the FIBA World Cup of Basketball. The (24) countries that will compete for the 2014 FIBA World title, began “Pool or Round-Robin” play in several Spanish cities on August 30th. USA Basketball, the national governing body of basketball for our country, once again has assembled (12) outstanding NBA players, both young and veteran, from our Men’s National Team roster. They are charged with defending our World Championship title, claimed in Istanbul, Turkey, four years ago. To follow all of the 2.5 weeks of International hoops action, go to www.fiba.com. To follow Team USA on-line go to www.usab.com
Next Game: vs. Turkey, Sunday, Aug. 31st, 12:30 pm (PST) on ESPN TV
Recap/Day #1:
Team USA played in Bilbao, and easily defeated its first opponent, Finland, in a huge “blow-out” by the score of 114-55. Head Coach, Mike Krzyzewski, used all 12 players in this extremely one-sided victory during the opening game of Group “C” pool play today. Leading USA scorers were Klay Thompson, Golden St. Warriors, (18); Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans, (17); Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls, (12); and Rudy Gay, Sacramento Kings, (10). The 59 point margin of victory was the biggest ever recorded by our team in this competition. Next opponent-Turkey, Aug. 31st, in a rematch of the 2010 FIBA Championship Game.
Selected Player Game Stats: Klay Thompson, (18) points on 7-10 FGs with 4-7 made from the shorter FIBA 3 point line, a distance of 22 ft-1.75 inches; Anthony Davis, (17) points on 6-8 FGs & 5-5 Free Throws; Derrick Rose, (12) points on 3 FGs & 5-5 Free Throws; Rudy Gay, (10) points on 5-9 FGs. Stephen Curry added a game-high (5) assists while DeMar DeRozan & Kyrie Irving were each credited with (4) assists. DeMarcus Cousins grabbed 2 offensive & 8 defensive rebounds for a game-high (10). /RC