USABMNT 2014: Team USA vs Serbia, Gold Medal, Game Notes (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)
BARCLAYCARD CENTER (AKA PALACIOS DE LOS DESPORTES), MADRID, SPAIN — The gold medal game will tipoff in one hour, as USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) squares off against Serbia for the automatic berth into the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
After #TeamUSA’s practice yesterday, Stephen Curry described the team’s mindset heading into today’s game.
“Keep pressure for forty minutes. We know we’re a very deep team,” Curry said, “So for us, keep the intensity going, knowing that in the first half it might be close and we might be playing hard and playing well, but the score might not reflect it.
“If we keep that intensity long things will go our way and that’s the mentality we have.”
Serbia won’t be underestimated by the USABMNT.
“I learned that they play with a great sense of pride,” Klay Thompson said about Serbia, asked by reporters after practice if he’d learned anything from watching their tape, “They love playing with each other. When a team has great chemistry like that, that’s when they’re at their best and a real passionate team. So it’s going to be our biggest challenge and that’s what you expect going into the the championship game.”
GAME NOTES PROVIDED BY USA BASKETBALL
The USA and Serbia have never met in FIBA World Cup of Basketball play, although both participated in 2010 when the USA won gold and Serbia finished fourth.
Yugoslavia, which Serbia was part of, competed in World Championships between 1950-90 and won three titles (1970,1978,1990), three silvers (1963,1967,1974), and two bronze medals (1982,1986). USA teams were 4-5 versus Yugoslavia in World Championship play.
Due to a UN embargo, Yugoslavia was not permitted to compete in the 1994 World Championship in Toronto. However, Yugoslavia, while comprised of Serbia & Montenegro, won World Championship gold in 1998 and 2002, and tied for ninth in 2006. The U.S. was 0-1 versus the Serbia & Montenegro team, losing 81-78 in 2002. The USA National Team defeated Serbia & Montenegro 78-60 in an exhibition game in Belgrade in a lead-up to the 2004 Olympics.
Serbia competed under only its flag in 2010 and finished fourth with a 6-3 record.
In 2014, Serbia (5-3) defeated France 90-85 Friday night to advance to the gold medal game. Serbia is led by guard Milos Teodosic, 14.0 ppg, and 4.1 apg.; former (2013-2014) Milwaukee Bucks 7-foot center Miroslav Raduljica, 13.5 ppg, and 4.8 rpg.; 6-foot-6 guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, 11.6 ppg. (15-36 3pt FGs) and 6-foot-10 forward Nemanja Bjelica, 11.1 ppg, and 7.4 rpg. As a team, Serbia is averaging 81.4 points a game and owns an overalll +7.5 margin of victory.
FIBA World Ranking: #11
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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