| On the eve of the FIBA final four |
| By Jason Behr September 10, 2010 Coach Norman Dale from Hoosiers was a great motivator both on and off the court. Just before the start of his team's state semi-final game he opened his pre-game speech with: "There's a tradition in tournament play to not talk about the next step until you've climbed the one in front of you." Team USA needs to take that to heart on Saturday as they begin their semi-final game. USA squares off against Lithuania in the semi-finals of the FIBA Championships. The winner will face the winner of Turkey-Serbia for the championship. While it's in their wildest dreams to be playing for a championship for the first time in 16 years, USA needs to quell those thoughts and handle their first task at hand. That first step is a Lithuania team that has gone undefeated through pool play including a win over defending champion Spain. To advance to the semis, they handily beat Argentina who was the number one team in FIBA rankings. The key for USA will be to continue to do the things that got them here: Ride the Kevin Durant express on offense and ride the guard-pressure express on defense. Durant has adapted well to the international game and has brought his scoring punch to the party, even if it is with the multi-colored FIBA ball. The depth at guard play was one thing that was abundant entering this tournament and so far that depth has been used well to keep the pressure on their backcourt opponents. But most of all, their primary goal should be to DEFEND THE PICK AND ROLL. The '04 Olympic Team chose not to. The '06 World Championships Team wanted to, but at times forgot to. The '08 Olympic Team was so talented they didn't need to. For this team to take the title in Turkey, all they're going to need is the will to. Everything else on offense and defense should take care of itself. |
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