Team USA Defeats Russia 89-79

It wasn’t easy but Team USA was able to hold off a tough Russian team this morning 89-79 in Turkey. USA really put a hold on the game in 3rd quarter lead by Russell Westbrook who finished with 12 points and 3 steals and gave USA some momentum with some big dunks towards the end of the 3rd.It was only a 5 point lead for USA at half but Russia never was able to climb back and was down the entire 2nd half. Kevin Durant did his thing like always finishing with 33 points while Chauncey Billups added 12. Defensively Team USA gambled a lot in the 1st half that lead to a lot of jumpers and 5 on 4 situations that kept Russia in the game. However, in the 2nd half Team USA did a much better job of staying solid and in front and made Russia work for their shots. USA did show their deficiency with their size as Russia had numerous 2nd chance points with their great height. I thought Russia should have stayed in their matchup zone more as it was causing some problems and seemed to have USA taking quick shots. USA had problems with the high pick and roll due to their lack of size. Future New York Knick Timofey Mozgov showed some talent finishing with 13 points. He is a legit 7 footer and won’t be any kind of star in the league but is fairly athletic and can move and should be a solid 10th or 11th player. He wasn’t able to showcase his post-game much which isn’t a big part of the international play so we will have to wait till the NBA to see his game more. Team USA will play Lithuania in the semifinals on Saturday, September 11 at 11 central time on ESPN2. Lithuania features NBA player Linas Kleiza who can fill out a stat sheet and a number of other players who can score as they had 7 players with 12 or more points in their last game vs. Argentina. This should be another test for Team USA but I feel they will handle Lithuania with their athleticism.