World Championships Thread

[MavsFanFinley]

Wow, doesn't get much worse than this. Spain beats the US 81-75. I just don't get it.

Spain's 9-0 closing run completes U.S. disgrace

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- The U.S. team had one last debacle before leaving town.

The United States lost again at the World Championships on Saturday night, falling 81-75 to Spain in the fifth-place game.

It was an outcome far worse than anyone on the American team ever could have expected coming into this tournament -- the worst showing in history by a U.S. team at a World Championships.

"In Spain, the people are sleeping now. But our team is having a dream in the States,'' Spain coach Javier Imbroda said.

Spain closed with a 9-0 run as the American team failed to score in the final 2:38. Paul Pierce, the team's leading scorer, did not play in the fourth quarter -- a move coach George Karl admitted might have been a mistake.

Spain's on-court celebration was subdued, even though beating the United States was quite an accomplishment for a team that finished ninth at the 2000 Olympics.

It was, after all, only the fifth-place game -- played before a crowd of less than 1,000. But at least Spain didn't have to settle for the embarrassment of finishing sixth.

That distinction belongs to the Americans.

"Quit is a very hard word,'' Karl said, disagreeing with that assessment. "They got frustrated, felt the pressure a little bit, didn't finish some plays that they would have completed on their own teams because of their familiarity with each other.''

The United States won its first five games of the tournament to improve to 58-0 when using NBA players in international competitions, then lost three of their final four to Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain.

Juan Carlos Navarro, a draft pick of the Washington Wizards, led Spain with 26 points. NBA Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Raef LaFrentz led the U.S. team with 13 points, and Ben Wallace had 12.

"This is a good experience (for the Americans) to establish what happens when you lose, and to analyze it, because the world is changing,'' Imbroda said.

Michael Finley made one of two foul shots for a 75-72 lead, but that would be the final point for the Americans.

Navarro's two foul shots with 2:09 left made it a one-point game, and a foul shot by Jose Antonio Paraiso tied it with 1:37 remaining. Finley missed for the Americans and Gasol then missed for Spain, which grabbed the offensive rebound. Gasol's two foul shots with 52 seconds left put Spain ahead for good.

Gasol missed two free throws with 35 seconds remaining and a chance to give Spain a four-point lead, but Finley missed a 3 for the U.S. team at the other end.

Navarro's two free throws with 19.4 seconds left made it 79-75, and Reggie Miller was called for a double dribble at the other end.

"We didn't play the right way, we didn't play with the passion of the other teams,'' Antonio Davis said.

After scoring Spain's first five points, Gasol picked up two fouls in quick succession midway through the first quarter and was not much of an offensive factor the rest of the half.

The U.S. team held a double-digit lead for most of the half, and Pierce's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the United States a 50-40 lead at the break.

Wallace had an alley-oop dunk to complete a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, making it 56-40 before Spain inched back within nine by the end of the quarter.

The Americans went ahead 69-56 early in the fourth before Spain made its comeback.

[Fin4MVP]

Do these guys even care? How many of them will be on the Olympic team anyway?

[irontoad]

Dang, CANNOT believe USA lost again, un-freaking-believable. I don't care if the team hasn't practiced together enough or whatever, you think they'd pull it together enough to avoid more disgrace. You've got to give the other teams a lot of credit, though, too. Some great players and teams are out there.

BTW, what the hell is up with Dirk's shooting? Man, 8 for 26 is terrible. At least he's doing everything else right, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in under 40 mins is not bad at all...

[Fidel]

Well SJ,
I do not consider Nikagbatse a PG. He´s a shooting guard that can play the point (and he did play the point, but when he was on court with Pesic or Garris we didn´t have a true point out there which was one of our problems IMO. Pesic can also play the point but he isn´t a PG either).

So in my book we only had two true PG´s on the roster. You can pretty much forget Roller. While he is a nice player he´s not up to the international competition yet. That leaves us with Demirel. He sure had his moments on offense but was the weak spot in our defense. I understand that he has trouble defending taller guys, but he was also weak against penetration. I didn´t understand at all why Nikagbatse couldn´t get more pt against Argentina since he´s a much better defender then Demirel and we struggled mightily to defend the perimeter.

So Nikagbatse makes the difference. If you consider him a PG then the PG play was ok overall. I consider him a SG that can play the point, but when he was on court with Pesic they shared the PG duties and we played without a true PG.

[digit]

Germany is REDHOT against the Kiwis...
64 - 39 with still 3 min to play in the SECOND quarter....

Dirk will probably score 40+, today...just an awesome effort after yesterday`s tears...great character..

[Fidel]

Yep 74 - 48 after the first half. Germany probably shot 80% or something from the field. Dirk has 25 points on 11 - 14 shooting.

[digit]

Obviously Deutschland is shooting the lights out, today...
74 - 48 at the half...
2P FG 75%
3P FG 82%
FT 85%

Dirk already with 25 Pts in 17 min PT...

[Fidel]

Juhuuu,
Germany beats New Zealand 117 - 94 to take 3rd place.
Congrats to a great team.

LET`S GO GERMANY !!!

[seelenjaeger]

Hmm, I´d consider Nikagbatse as our point, as he and Demirel are a nice PG tandem and he´s been assist leader on some of his teams so far as far as I know ... and I see him running the point in the future.

We have to get at least steady shooting from our sgs, so that our above-average inside guys (Dirk and Adi) can get some relief ...

Nevermind, let´s CELEBRATE [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Fidel]

The refs just stole the world chamionship from Argentina. Two HORRIBLE calls in the final 5 seconds. That steal of Scola from Divac was all ball.

[Hoopsmeister]

and Bogdurivic's (sp?) slamming the Argentinian off his lay-up was very much a foul. Ah well.

[seelenjaeger]

The KING is dead, and the new king is ... the reigning one.

Yugoslavia did it again! Trailing late and winning a close one in OT... this team is just cool as it can be.

And Ginobili was in the game, so much for the trustworthyness of german reporters ("all ligaments torn ...&quot

84-77 OT

And now the Argentinos are complaining about the refs ... hehehe

[Fidel]

Congrats to the world champs Yugoslavia.
But Argentina got robbed BIG TIME in this one.

[Maringa]

What a wonderful game to watch. I wish I could see some of the players in a Mav's uniform: Oberto, Bodirga (he said he will never play in the NBA), Noccioni and many others. Why did we let Wolkowyski go? He looked half-way decent...much better than Eschmeyer. Highly entertaining.
Also I am so jealous of the fans...we need some unruly fans in some of the NBA arenas...those fans put us to shame! Both the Argentinian and Yugo fans!!!!

[MavsFanFinley]

<< Why did we let Wolkowyski go? He looked half-way decent...much better than Eschmeyer. Highly entertaining. >>



When I watched them play the US, I thought the same thing. I was impressed with how he was down low against Ben Wallace. I remember looking at the box score and was astonished to see he only shot 4-12 cause he seemed more impressive than that. He had 9pts and 9rbs for that game.

I don't remember what happened, why he didn't end up signing with us? There were those reports that he was going to sign a 2 year deal, was that just last summer?

As for todays game, I was really pulling for Argentina, ever since the US was out of medal contention, that's who I was wanting to win.

[Fin4MVP]

Ruben was cut I believe.

[digit]

As far as I know Ruben is currently with CSKA Moscow...at least, that`s what the German commentator did tell..