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08/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States National Team will kick off the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday when they take on Croatia in Group B play.
Team USA, which is led by defending NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, along with veterans Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets and Lamar Odom of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, is attempting to avenge the team's bronze medal performance during the 2006 Worlds in Japan.
Piloted by Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski, this group probably has the least amount of star power since the professionals started playing for USA Basketball in the early 1990s. Most of the NBA superstars who restored order in the hoops world back at the 2008 Beijing Olympics took a pass this time around.
The "Redeem Team," featuring Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Chris Bosh all helped bring back the gold medal to the United States for the first time since 2000 in China but decided against an encore performance, forcing USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo, along with Krzyzewski and his assistants, Jim Boeheim, Mike D'Antoni, Nate McMillan and Jay Triano, to cobble together what can best be described as an NBA B-team.
The only true superstar in the bunch is Durant but that didn't stop Team USA, from finishing its preparation for the Worlds undefeated after a 87-59 rout over a highly-regarded but shorthanded Greece team in Athens on Wednesday. The Americans also topped France, Lithuania and Spain in the Global Community Cup during their prep for the Worlds.
"Coach K" has been starting Durant along with Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, and either Odom or Dallas' Tyson Chandler in the frontcourt depending on the opposition's size. Billups and Chicago's Derrick Rose handle the backcourt.
Depth, however, is what differentiates the U.S. from the rest of the world and Krzyzewski's bench is made up of Warriors sharp-shooter Stephen Curry, Indiana scorer Danny Granger and rising stars Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, Kevin Love of Minnesota and Eric Gordon of the Clippers, along with swingman Rudy Gay of Memphis. Boston point guard Rajon Rondo was the final player left off the roster when he withdrew on Tuesday.
"I think this group is really a good group," Krzyzewski said in New York earlier this month. "I can tell you intangible-wise it's off the charts with attitude, team, hard work, 'I'll do anything', all that. That's a good place to start."
Gordon was the star against Greece, coming off the bench to lead the U.S. with 18 points and shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range as the second-ranked American men closed out the pre-FIBA exhibition schedule with a perfect 4-0 mark.
"We're getting more comfortable, since that first game against France," Durant said. "It's starting to get easier playing with everybody. Everybody's coming out and playing hard. I think that's the best thing about it."
"The thing we need to do is understand that we're a group that's just coming together so we have to improve game by game," Chandler added. "We are competing against ourselves. We want to the best that we can be in this short period of time we are together."
Twenty-four teams will compete in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, divided into four preliminary round groups consisting of six teams each. The United States was drawn into Group B back in December with Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Slovenia and Tunisia.
The U.S. has never faced Croatia in World Championship play, but is 3-0 against the club in Olympic action. Led by Roko Ukic, a former NBA player with Toronto and Milwaukee, and Ante Tomic, Croatia is currently ranked 15th in the world by FIBA. The country won a bronze medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championship but dropped off until a bit of a comeback at the 2008 Olympics and EuroBasket 2009 with sixth-place finishes in both.
Team USA will follow its bout with Croatia by facing its second European team in as many days on Aug. 29 when it meets Slovenia, a team it defeated 114-95 in 2006 World Championship preliminary play.
Slovenia, ranked 20th in the world, is without a few key players like Sacramento's Beno Udrih, who decided to quit the team because of lack of playing time, and Erazem Lorbek. Despite the setbacks, Slovenia has enough talent with Goran Dragic and Bostjan Nachbar to make them a threat in the tournament.
FIBA Americas Zone champion Brazil will then challenge the U.S. on Aug. 30. The USA-Brazil World Championship series stands at 6-5 in favor of the United States, with the two teams last meeting in the 1998 World Championship.
This version of the Brazilians, led by Toronto's Leandro Barbosa, Cleveland's Anderson Varejao, San Antonio's Tiago Splitter along with new coach Ruben Magnano, should be the United States' toughest test in Group B but is only ranked 14th in the world by FIBA.
Following a day off on Aug. 31, the USA resumes play Sept. 1 against Asia Zone champ Iran, a team it has not faced previously in World Championship play, then closes out preliminary play with a contest versus Tunisia on Sept. 2, another team that the Americans have not met in World Championship action.
Led by head coach Veselin Matic, who previously had coached the Polish national team, Iran saw great success immediately by defending its FIBA Asia Championship title last year. Memphis' Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian to play in the NBA, headlines the club.
Tunisia, meanwhile, will be participating in the World Championships for the first time after earning a berth with a bronze medal performance in the 2009 FIBA Africa Championship. Star guard Amine Rzig can fill it up from outside but Tunisia lacks depth and defensive skills.
The real competition for the Americans figures to come later in the tournament against teams like Argentina, Spain and a healthier Greece team.
The Argentines are ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA and feature Houston Rockets power forward Luis Scola, Milwaukee swingman Carlos Delfino and Philadelphia forward Andres Nocioni. The real star, San Antonio swingman Manu Ginobili, is not participating, however and the Sixers have advised Nocioni to withdraw due to an injured left ankle.
Even without Ginobili and the possible absence of Nocioni, Argentina figures to have one of the most balanced and fundamentally sound teams in Turkey, but may not have the go-to-guy down the stretch to build on its recent success that has included a silver at the 2002 FIBA World Championships, gold at the 2004 Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Spain, the defending world champion, is also toiling without its biggest name, Lakers power forward Pau Gasol. Pau's brother, Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies, highly-touted Minnesota draft pick Ricky Rubio and Portland sharp-shooter Rudy Fernandez are on hand, however, as the team hopes to build on its silver medal performance at the 2008 Olympics.
Greece, meanwhile, figures to be much tougher with Sofoklis 'Baby Shaq' Schortsanitas, who was injured during warm-ups before Wednesday's exhibition game against the U.S., and Yiannis Bourousis back in the lineup.
"Greece did not have its two big guys (Schortsanitas and Bourousis) inside, but for us it was good to play another international game against a great country, a good atmosphere, and it just gives us more experience," Krzyzewski said after that win. "We're happy that we got a chance to play everyone and I think they played all their healthy players. The score is insignificant really because they didn't have their complete team against us."
Held every four years, the FIBA World Championship is considered international basketball's crown jewel event. The U.S. has had mixed results in World Championship play. The same players that won the gold in Beijing, minus Bryant, were only able to take home a bronze in the 2006 World Championship, and the U.S. hasn't won a gold since 1994 in Toronto, when Shaquille O'Neal was in his prime and dominating for the Americans.
All told, the USA has compiled an overall 105-27 win-loss record in the World Championships and won 10 medals - three gold medals (1954, 1986 and 1994), three silver medals (1950, 1959 and 1982) and four bronze medals (1974, 1990, 1998 and 2006).
The winner of the 2010 FIBA World Championship automatically earns a berth in the 2012 London Olympics.
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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