USA Basketball 2014 World Cup Preliminary Round: #USABMNT vs Finland (Photo: USA Basketball)
USA Basketball Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) will play their first game of the FIBA Basketball World Cup preliminary round against Finland on Saturday. The game will take place at the Bizkaia Arena in the city of Bilbao, Spain, where LetsGoWarriors co-editor Poor Man’s Commish will be reporting live — join us by searching the hashtag #LetsGoWarriorsLive on Twitter!
There are reports of up to 8,000 fans from Finland who have made the journey to Bilbao, Spain.
It will be televised on ESPN at 3:30PM EDT (12:30PM PDT). Check the FIBA.com website for more information.
Since the initial FIBA World Championship in 1950, USA Basketball has achieved an overall record 114-27 and taken home 11 medals total — four gold, three silver and four bronze. Last time at the 2010 FIBA World Cup, the USA took home the gold, but only two countries — Brazil and Yugoslavia — have ever won back-to-back world titles.
The #USABMNT currently boasts a 16-0 record in World Cup opening games, 3 of those wins coming under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Since Krzyzewski and director Jerry Colangelo took over in 2005, USA Basketball has an overall record of 66-1 in FIBA competitions. They’ve won 53 straight games since 2006.
In an unparalleled fourth term as head coach, Krzyzewski doesn’t underestimate their Finnish opponents.
“Finland is a very well-coached team,” Krzyzewski said, “They rely a lot on threes and they play very, very hard, and seem to be a very close-knit group. (Petteri) Koponen is excellent, he’s a big guard who can score, pass, he’s one of the better guards in the tournament and he’s the key to their team. He gives them even more confidence because of how confidently he plays.”
This is the first time since the 1964 Olympics when USA Basketball has faced off against Finland on the international hardwood. Former Warriors player Jeff Mullins was part of the collegiate team sent to Tokyo, Japan that summer, helping the US to win a gold medal.
NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.
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