Team USA Wins “Back-To-Back” FIBA World Cups

Background: East L.A. Sports Scene.Com is pleased to bring you our final report and game recap of the 2014 FIBA World Cup Tournament, Spain.  We hope you have been able to follow our coverage of each game that Team USA played on the “Road to the Gold.“  To review all of the 2.5 weeks of the Tournament, you may still visit the following websites: www.nba.com/fiba and www.fiba.com. To see how Team USA and your favorite NBA players performed, go to www.usab.com. (Photo courtesy of USA Basketball).

Recap/Game Day 9/               Team USA Destroys Serbia To Win The Gold, 129-92                                                               Championship Brings Automatic Bid To 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

USA Basketball’s Senior Men’s National Team Players and Coaches will be the first to tell their fans, families, and friends that they never doubted, for any length of time, the eventual outcome of the Gold Medal Game or the Tournament itself. Gold was always the Ultimate Goal, and Gold was the Final Reward for the all of the hard work put in by Head Coach, Mike Krzyzewski, (Duke University), his Assistant Coaches, Jim Boeheim, (Syracuse University), Tom Thibodeau (Chicago Bulls), Monty Williams (New Orleans Pelicans), USA Basketball’s Managing Director, Jerry Colangelo, and the 12 member squad of highly dedicated and driven players.

In recapping the final game, there was only a matter of brief concern in the 1st quarter when Serbia took an early 8 point lead (13-5). Shortly thereafter, the tournament’s MVP, Kyrie Irving (26) began to paint his “Picasso” on the world stage as he produced a masterful, and unforgettable Game Portrait of Perfection. Irving’s colorful 3-point strokes and graceful drives only served to inspire James Harden (23), to perform just as admirably with his consistent and clutch, BIG game play. Rounding out Team USA’s scoring brigade were: Klay Thompson (12), Kenneth Faried (12), Rudy Gay (11), DeMarcus Cousins (11), Stephen Curry (10), and DeMar DeRozan (10). Yes, you read correctly, 7 players in double figures, earning Team USA the 2014 Tournament Record for the Most Points Scored in a Single Game.

With our final report of this remarkable journey for Team USA, which began with Training Camp on July 28th, we now take a moment to reflect on how an unfortunate and very severe leg injury to teammate and friend, Paul George, (Indiana “Pacers”) during the August 1st, “Blue vs White” intra-squad game in Las Vegas, still managed to motivate Team USA to move on and prepare themselves for the World Cup. From his hospital bed, George only asked that they…Come home with the Gold!  And so, just 6 weeks later, on Sept. 14th, just after the team’s final meeting in the locker room with Jerry Colangelo, Coach “K” and his staff, imagine hearing the team’s resounding reply in unison…Paul—Mission Accomplished, Keep Getting Better, We Can’t Wait to See You Back!  

Team USA will now take some well-deserved time off and then regroup next July for its annual Training Camp in Las Vegas, NV in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. Stay connected with the Team by following USA Basketball and East L.A. Sports Scene.Com on their websites. Rico Cabrera, Sr./East L.A. Sports Scene.Com

All-Tournament Team: Milos Teodosic, Serbia; Pau Gasol, Spain; Nicolas Batum, France; Kenneth Faired, USA; and Kyrie Irving, USA. Tournament MVP: Kyrie Irving.

Selected Player Stats:

Irving (26) points on 10-13 FGs/6-6 3 Ptrs/4 assts/1 blk; Harden (12) points on 6-11 FGs/2-4 3-Ptrs/5 rebs/3 stl; Faried (12) points on 5-12 FGs, 2-4 FTs/7 rebs/Game’s “Best Dunk”; Thompson (12) points on 5-8 FGs/2-5 3-Ptrs/2 assets; 2 blks; Rudy Gay (11) points on 5-9 FGs/1-3 3 Ptrs/1 asst/1 stl; Cousins (11) points on 2-3 FGs/7-8 FTs/9 rebs/1 asst/2 blks/1 stl; DeRozan (10) points on 3-4 FGs/1-1 3 ptr/3-3 FTs/4 rebs; Curry (10) points on 2-7 FGs/2-7 3 Ptrs/4-4 FTs.