| Golden At Last |
| By Isiah Mungai September 13 , 2010 Facing Turkey in Istanbul Kevin Durant and the U.S “B” team proved that they had what it takes to set themselves apart from previous U.S teams by winning the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship. This “B” team filled with young players defeated the host nation 81-64 Sunday taking the gold medal back home for the first time in 16 years. It was again Durant who led the charge posting 28 points while making 7 of 13 three point attempts in 39 minutes of play. During the group stage coach Mike Krzyzewski played all players evenly but during this elimination round he stuck to his top players and Durant rarely had a break. Needing only 6 points to set the U.S record for most points in the tournament Durant just needed 2.5 minutes and 3 shots to set it. Playing against another good NBA player in Hedo Turkoglu it was the defense that really stood out allowing him to 16 points but shutting down his teammates. Other than Turkoglu shooting 5 for 8 the rest of the Turkish squad shot an abysmal 15 of 43. It’ll be easy in stating that Durant was the best player in this tournament, he won the tournament MVP award, but players like Lamar Odom stepped up big time recording his second straight double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Also Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook had his best games when they mattered most. Now when they are referred to as the “B” team they can easily say that this b stands for best. With the victory the U.S is officially invited to the 2012 Olympics where it will be a very different squad playing. Don’t be surprised if they players who skipped this tournament decide to play; already Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul have stated their intent to play. At halftime of the game FIBA inducted its Hall of Fame class that included former NBA players, Vlade Divac, Arvydas Sabonis and female star Cheryl Miller. |
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