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Team USA won the FIBA World Cup
The US national team, made up exclusively of NBA players, took first place at the world championship held in Turkey, defeating the hosts of the tournament, the Turkish team, in the final (81:64). The Americans have not been world champions for 16 years, although at the two previous World Cups (2002, 2006), the colors of the Stars and Stripes were also defended by basketball players representing the strongest club league in the world. But in one case, a total underestimation of their opponents and a lack of internal discipline at the home championship prevented them, and in the second, the team from the USA simply turned out to be weaker than Greece, which defeated them in the semi-finals, which in turn then lost to Spain.This time everything was different. The famous university coach Mike Krzyzewski assembled far from the most stellar squad under the American banner, but the result was a completely manageable team, capable of controlling the course of the game and achieving results. Only in the preliminary stage match with Brazil (70:68) did the Stars and Stripes hang by a thread in the end, but eventually snatched victory. The second most difficult game for Krzyzewski's team was the quarterfinal confrontation with Russia, when in the middle of the second period the overseas masters were down to five points. The enchanting performance of Kevin Durant, who scored 33 points, allowed the Americans to win over the Russian team, which had been drained of blood by numerous personnel losses. In all other cases, the US team achieved confident victories, including the final.
Here's who received gold medals as world champions: Chauncey Billups (Denver), Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook (both Oklahoma), Derrick Rose (Chicago), Rudy Gay (Memphis), Andre Iguodala ( Philadelphia"), Danny Granger (Indiana), Stephen Curry (Golden State), Eric Gordon (Clippers), Kevin Love (Minnesota), Lamar Odom (Lakers), Tyson Chandler (Dallas "). In the final match with the Turkish national team, which the day before snatched victory from Serbia at the last second, the winners' top scorer was the same Durant - 28 points. For the losers, Hidayet Turkoglu was the most active on the court. He brought his team 16 points.
Led by Dusan Ivkovic, who worked in the Russian capital clubs CSKA and Dynamo, the Serbian national team was never able to recover from a dramatic defeat with a minimal difference in the score from Turkey, when a ticket to the final was at stake. In the match for third place, the Serbs lost to Lithuania without much resistance - 88:99. The team from the Baltics became a World Championship medalist for the first time, and their performance in their homeland is assessed as excellent. However, the Serbs are not ashamed of their national team. In this country, almost everyone is sure that the path to the final was blocked not by their own mistakes, but by biased refereeing.
As for the Russian team, which finished in seventh place, in terms of winning percentage (six wins in nine matches) it occupies an even higher position, second only to the USA, Turkey, Lithuania, Argentina, and is on equal terms with Serbia. The symbolic five of the championship included the best scorer of the tournament (27.1 points on average per match) Argentinean Luis Scola, Lithuanian Linas Kleiza, American Kevin Durant, Turkish Hidayet Turkoglu and Serbian Milos Teodosic.
Final classification of the World Championship. 1. USA. 2. Türkiye. 3. Lithuania. 4. Serbia. 5. Argentina. 6. Spain. 7. Russia. 8. Slovenia. 9. Brazil. 10. Australia. 11. Greece. 12. New Zealand. 13 France. 14. Croatia. 15. Angola. 16. China. 17--20. Germany, Puerto Rico, Iran, Lebanon. 21--24. Cote d'Ivoire, Canada, Jordan, Tunisia.