USA Basketball 2014 World Cup Preview: #USABMNT vs Ukraine (Photo via Warriors.com and David Dow/NBAE/Getty Images)
USA (4-0) vs Ukraine (2-2)
Tipoff: Thursday, September 4, 2014- 8:30AM PDT
Location: Bizkaia Arena, Bilbao, Spain
TV: ESPN2, also available online at WatchESPN/ESPN 3
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @brownieNBA)
Last Game:
Ukraine lost 73-61 vs New Zealand
USA won 106-71 vs Dominican Republic
Team USA results:
8/30: USA 114, Finland 55 (boxscore)
8/31: USA 98, Turkey 77 (boxscore, highlights)
9/2: USA 98, New Zealand 71 (boxscore)
9/3: USA 106, Domincan Republic 71 (boxscore)
Previous Matchups:
USA has not faced Ukraine in international play. This is the first year Ukraine has qualified for the FIBA World Cup/World Championships. They have never participated in the Olympic Basketball tournament.
Probable Starting Lineups:
USA:
PG: Kyrie Irving (9.5 PPG, 3.3 APG, 2.8 RPG)
SG: Stephen Curry (8.3 PPG, 4.5 APG, 4.0 RPG)
SF: James Harden (11.5 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.0 RPG)
PF: Kenneth Faried (14.8 PPG, 0.3 APG, 7.8 RPG)
C: Anthony Davis (16.8 PPG, 0.8 APG, 6.5 RPG)
Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski
Dominican Republic:
PG: Eugene “Pooh” Jeter (16.0 PPG, 5.8 APG, 2.8 RPG)
SG: Dmytro Zabirchenko (2.0 PPG, 1.0 APG, 0.0 RPG)
G: Oleksandr Lypovyy (4.5 PPG, 0.8 APG, 2.5 RPG)
PF: Maxym Kornienko (6.5 PPG, 0.2 APG, 5.8 RPG)
C: Kyryl Natyazhko (4.0 PPG, 0.8 APG, 3.8 RPG)
Head Coach: Mike Fratello
Keys to the game:
USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) remained undefeated with their 98-71 win over New Zealand.
The United States fifth and final Group C game against Ukraine is essentially a tune-up after the they clinched first place in the Group with four straight wins to begin the FIBA World Cup.
Team USA’s primary objective is simply to stay healthy as they head into the 16-team tournament phase of the World Cup, which begins September 6 in Barcelona, Spain.
Expect to see a little more of the American bench unit, specifically big men Andre Drummond and Mason Plumlee once the game is in hand for the USA, who should handle the Ukraine with no more difficulty than they did their first four match-ups.
The USA’s 35.5 point margin of victory makes it clear just how much of a cakewalk it’s been for the Red, White and Blue in preliminary group play.
The Americans have dominated inside, but have yet to truly get their outside shots to fall. While Klay Thompson leads the team with 10 made three-pointers on 24 tries, Steph Curry is just 7-19 from beyond the arc, and the team is shooting just 33% from deep.
Ukraine’s top player is Los Angeles-born Pooh Jeter, who played for the Sacramento Kings during the 2011-2012 season before moving overseas. He currently plays for the Shandong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.
“I played against him a couple times when he was in Sacramento,” Curry told media after the win against the Dominican Republic last night in Bilbao, “He’s the heart and soul of the team, been playing well. There’s a lot of great guards out here and he’s one of them, so we’ve got to be prepared and study up on him and how he’s been effective so far in the tournament, and have a game plan for him.”
Starting shooting guard Sergii Gladyr (9.0 PPG, 1.5 APG, 1.5 RPG) has missed the Ukraine’s previous two games with an injury, and it is unclear whether he will return in time to play against the USA on Thursday.
The Ukraine has been competitive in each of their four games, with wins over Turkey and the Domincan Republic, and losses to Finland and New Zealand.
“It’s still important,” Curry said of today’s game against the Ukraine, “We have to have that mentality we’ve established with our standing in the pool, that we don’t have any poor performances, with the mindset of winning a gold medal.”
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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