TURKEY VS USA IN FINAL!
As an appetiser to the FIBA World Championship semi finals, what are called "Classification games" were played between the losing quarter finalists in Istanbul. Spain wound up beating Slovenia in another match that was familiar from my time in Warsaw to the tune of 97-80 which allowed the Eurobasket champions a bit of pride after their earlier than expected exit. Argentina then beat Russia 73-61, the Argies, like Spain were weakened by injury and would have been glad for this partial redemption. To be honest I'm not sure what the point of having classification games this far back into the tournament is but nice one for both the winners here.
Now for the more important stuff. The first FIBA World Championship semi final was between Serbia and Turkey in Istanbul. For the Serbs, it was their first World championship semi in their current for though their forerunner Yugoslavia beat New Zealand 89-78 in an '02 semi in Indianapolis. For the Turks however, this was their first appearance at this stage at the third time of asking - home court advantage clearly counts for something in this tournament! Neither side are mugs though, the proof of that is in the amount of quality opponents they've seen off. So, while this wasn't what I had in mind for an all-European semi - an quality basketball game should certainly be a given!
Well the Turks opened the scoring at 2-0 with 9:48 left in the 1st quarter but it was the Serbs who won the early duel for control of the game and built up a solid lead. The Turks eventually came back to tie the game but it was the Serbs that were leading at the first buzzer. The Turks were ice cold for the first two minutes of the 2nd quarter but eventually got within sight of their opponents but still weren't able to turn the game round. Instead the Turks found themselves iced in the latter stages of the half which left the Serbs looking if not secure, at least reasonably comfortable. Dusko Savanovic led the Eurobasket finalists on 9 points. Serbia led 42-35.
Well the Turks certainly tucked into the gap early on in the third quarter and went on to tie the game. However the Serbs recovered to rebuild a solid lead. In fact, the Serbs were looked increasingly comfortable mid quarter only for the Turks to come back. Still the Serbs led 63-60 at the end of three. The home side opened the scoring in the 4th quarter but the Serbs initially looked likely to be able to hold the home side off. The Turks had other ideas though, finally retaking the lead with a three pointer and though the Serbs turned the game back around with seconds on the clock, the latest of jumpers followed by an even later block saw the Turks claim 83-82 win, Hedo Turkoglu grabbing 16 points to put the locals in dreamland.
That match was followed by the other semi final between the USA and Lithuania. The Yanks are the team you'd think would dominate international basketball...if you didn't know international basketball very well. Last time around they lost their semi final 101-95 to Greece in Saitama. In fact for the last time they won a semi, you have to go back to squad they referred to as "Dream Team II" back in '94 and that time Greece were on the wrong end of a 97-58 whacking. The Lithuanians have their own proud basketball history though this is their first World championship semi final since the breakup of the former Soviet Union in 1991. The last time the Soviets made the semi finals(with help from a few Lithuanians) was in 1990 when they beat Purto Rico 98-82 in Buenos Aires.
The Lithuanians certainly weren't in the mood to hang around and opened the scoring before leading 6-2 with 7:24 left in the 1st quarter before the Yanks got going and even then they didn't immediately get their way. The Olympic champions then proceded to ice the wildcard team for four minutes in the back end of the opener though. Lithuania opened the scoring in the 2nd quarter but again found themselves iced as the Yanks maintained a double digit lead. The Baltic side didn't look like getting back into the game before halftime and with Kevin Durant leading the way on 24 points, the US led 42-27 at the half but there was time for a Lithuanian comeback.
The Lithuanians opened the scoring in the 3rd quarter with a three pointer and went on to do enough to make a late comeback look like a possibility. The Yanks though were in no mood for mercy but with seconds left in the period the Lithuanians showed that they still weren't going away. A Lithuanian jumper at the start of the 4th cut the gap to ten once again only for the Baltic side to find themselves iced for over two minutes. In the closing few minutes, hope of a Lithuanian comeback faded. Durant had been running the show on 38 points with Lamar Odom backing him up on 13. The US won 89-74 to find themselves in the final with what is still a relatively weak squad.
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