After rolling through their first two contests, Team USA faces their biggest challenge yet at the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championships today when they take on Brazil (2:30 EST).
The Brazilians, winners of the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship, are one of the most balanced teams in the tournament and could pose problems inside with the Anderson Varejao-Tiago Splitter combination.
If Varejao and Splitter are active and causing headaches inside for Team USA, it will really open up the middle for Leandro Barbosa to relentlessly attack the basket.
Defense will be instrumental in the U.S. gameplan today. It seems likely that Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook will spend a majority of the time on the speedy Barbosa when the U.S. plays man-to-man. Keep an eye on how much zone they play today as well; yesterday against Slovenia, Coach K implemented some of the 2-3 principles brought on board by Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
On the flip side, how Brazil defends Kevin Durant will more than likely be a strong indicator of how good of a chance they have of pulling off an upset.
Durant is such a difficult matchup, especially in international ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Eric Felkey
2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship: Live Updates of USA vs. Brazil
August 30th, 2010 by Eric Felkey Leave a reply »
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