USA Basketball 2014

Andy Fahey

This article will be featured in an upcoming edition of Warriors Gameday Magazine.

It’s not every day you receive a gold medal, let alone earn it with the same guy you’ve shared a backcourt with for the better part of the last three years. Yet there Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson stood, side-by-side on the podium following Team USA’s win over Serbia in the gold medal game at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. As those gleaming medals were draped around their necks, it was impossible to ignore the transformation they had undergone. They weren’t just the Splash Brothers anymore. They were World Champions.

The path to gold was not easy. Although Team USA pushed through opponent after opponent on its way to a perfect 9-0 record in the tournament, this was the World Cup. As in, the best basketball the world has to offer. Despite Team USA’s status as the undisputed global powerhouse, now riding an international win streak of 63 consecutive games (45 in official FIBA events and 18 in exhibition play), it’s not  like the opposition was laying down. Everyone wants to knock off the top dog. But Team USA’s overwhelming supply of talent and depth at nearly every position proved far too much to overcome for anyone in its path, as indicated by the average margin of victory of 33 points. In fact, one could argue that facing the world’s best was actually the easy part. Only 12 players made the Team USA roster, and there’s no shortage of applicants. Even with guaranteed roster locks such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love declining to participate, the competition simply to make the squad was fierce. How fierce you ask? Put it this way: NBA standouts like Damian Lillard, John Wall and Chandler Parsons didn’t even make the cut.

The journey to that podium lasted nearly two months and took the Warriors backcourt duo across the United States before heading to Spain to represent their country. In late July, 19 Team USA hopefuls convened in Las Vegas for the Men’s National Team training camp, a four-day gathering where the foundations for a World Championship were laid. Those 19 players were joined by 13 members of the USA Men’s Select Team, a group of the game’s most promising young players chosen to train with the National Team, including Warriors forwards Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green. Following training camp and the concluding intrasquad scrimmage, the list of 19 was pared to 16 finalists, the Splash Brothers among them, who traveled to Chicago for several international scrimmages. Halfway through August, Curry and Thompson reconvened with the National Team in Chicago for their exhibition game against Brazil and now-teammate Leandro Barbosa. Although Team USA prevailed 95-78, the Brazilian roster full of NBA players gave the Americans a run for their money, keeping things close for most of the game. But after the Brazilians had trimmed the U.S. lead to five, Thompson hit a clutch three-pointer to stem the tide, and the Americans never looked back. Although it was just three points on the scoreboard, it was one of the earliest examples of Thompson’s breakout performance throughout the tournament, and the National Team brass took notice. “He’s terrific. He’s terrific,” assistant coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The way he plays, he has the ability to make any team better. He can shoot it, he can defend, he can play multiple positions, he can guard point guards.”

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo echoed those sentiments: “I don’t think you can ever have too many shooters on the team, especially in international play, and Klay can just flat out knock it down.”

From there, Team USA continued on to New York City to round out its exhibition schedule against the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, both American victories. Curry was particularly impressive in the win over the Puerto Ricans, leading all scorers with 20 points on six-of-seven shooting.

The following day, Curry and Thompson were officially selected to the 12-man World Cup roster, marking the first time two Warriors players were simultaneously on the U.S. Senior National Team. The next stop on their journey was Spain, where anything short of a gold medal would have been viewed as a disappointment.

Team USA cruised through the preliminary round, defeating Finland, Turkey, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic, and Ukraine. The team’s 5-0 record, combined with its  No. 1 seed, pitted the United States against Mexico in the Round of 16, where Stephen Curry scored a team-high 20 points in an 86-63 victory. Twenty was the magic number once again in the following round, but this time it was Thompson’s turn. He scored a game-high 20 points in a 119-76 blowout of Slovenia in the quarterfinals, advancing Team USA to the semifinals to face off against Lithuania. The Splash Brothers scored a combined 29 points in a 96-68 win to advance to the finals against Serbia.

In the gold medal game, Team USA distanced itself from Serbia early with a 28-6 run to close the first quarter. With a dominant 129-92 victory, the United States became just the third country in FIBA World Cup history to capture consecutive titles. With the championship, the USA earned an automatic bid to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Thompson finished second on the team in scoring with an average of 12.7 points per game, while he and Curry combined to hit 43 three-pointers, more than any duo in the tournament.

“It feels great. Words can’t describe it. I can’t wait to go home and celebrate. I’m so excited, especially on the world stage,” said Thompson. “Next up is an Olympic gold medal and an NBA Championship. If I get all three of those, you can’t get any better than that.”

You have to admire his ambition. Team USA will enter the Olympics as the prohibitive favorite, and Curry and Thompson could very well have another gold medal around their necks. But even that won’t satisfy them for long, and for the Warriors and their fans, that’s undoubtedly a good thing. As the saying goes, good things come in threes. For the Splash Brothers, what could be more appropriate?

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Splash Brothers Take On the World

Warriors TV’s Laurence Scott takes viewers behind the scenes with Warriors Summer Review, a 4-part video series that looks at the team’s eventful Summer of 2014.

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Warriors Summer Review

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USA'S 9-0 RUN AT THE WORLD CUPAug. 30: USA 114 - Finland 55Aug. 31: USA 98 - Turkey 77Sept. 2: USA 98 - New Zealand 71Sept. 3: USA 106 - Dominican Republic 71Sept. 4: USA 95 - Ukraine 71Sept. 6: USA 86 - Mexico 63Sept. 9: USA 119 - Slovenia 76Sept. 11: USA 96 - Lithuania 68
Sept. 14: USA 129 - Serbia 92

MADRID (AP) – Team USA’s dominant run through the World Cup concluded in jubilant celebration, as the U.S. squad beat Serbia 129-92 on Sunday in Madrid to capture its second straight World Championship.

Splash Brothers Stephen Curry (10 points) and Klay Thompson (12 points) each made a pair of 3-pointers in the gold medal clinching win, and the U.S. team cruised to its ninth straight win to conclude a non-surprising surprise. After all, it wasn’t long ago that this “depleted” team was thought to be weak enough to lose being that they were without All-Star forwards Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin, all of whom informed USA Basketball not long before the tournament that they would be unavailable.

But Kyrie Irving – the tournament MVP – and James Harden stuck around, and despite sending the youngest U.S. team since NBA players debuted in 1992, the Americans remained as dominant as ever.

They have won 63 straight games – 45 in official FIBA events and 18 in exhibition play – and are automatically qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

LeBron James, Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul might want to return for that. But the Americans will have to leave room for some players from this team, which has loads of young talent that figures to get even better from the time it spent together.

It was the fifth world title for the Americans, tying Yugoslavia for the most all-time. And the second for Derrick Rose, who used this tournament as his return after missing most of the last two seasons following a pair of knee surgeries, along with Curry and Rudy Gay.

It was the first medal for Serbia, which had been a part of Yugoslavia when it won five. The Yugoslavians had been the last repeat champions, winning in 1998 and 2002.

The Serbians were only 2-3 in the group stage but then routed previously unbeaten Greece and Brazil before building a big lead and holding on for a 90-85 semifinal victory over France, which had beat then in the group stage and knocked out tournament co-favorite Spain in the quarters.

Serbia carried that momentum into the early moments of this one and was running a fluid offense that produced layups and dunks, and opened the biggest lead any team had against the U.S. in this tournament when Miroslav Raduljica's three-point play made it 15-7.

That was wiped out in a minute, and Serbia's hopes of winning didn't last much longer.

Harden had a three-point play and 3-pointer, DeMarcus Cousins tied it with a pair of free throws, and then Irving had a jumper, 3-pointer and layup to cap a 15-0 burst that made it 22-15.

Irving hit a couple more 3s in an 11-0 run later in the quarter that provided a 35-19 cushion, and the Americans poured it on midway through the second in making it 56-30 after back-to-back 3s by Irving and Harden.

The Americans came in winning by 32.5 points per game and their closest victory in the tournament was by 21 points over Turkey. They thought they would get a tough game Sunday, but were simply too good to let that happen.

They finished at 58 percent from the field, made 15 of 30 3-pointers and put eight of their 12 players in double figures.

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Good as Gold: Splash Brothers Help Team USA Win World Cup

The U.S. Men’s National Team will play for gold on Sunday, and that became official with the final buzzer sounding on Thursday’s 96-68 over Lithuania in the World Cup semifinals in Barcelona.

Like they’ve done on multiple occasions throughout the World Cup, the U.S. squad once again allowed their opponent to hang around in the first half before completely dominating the third quarter. The team struggled early with turnovers, foul trouble and poor shooting in the opening minutes, but enter Klay Thompson.

The Warriors shooting guard made an immediate impact upon entering the game. He knocked down two 3-pointers in the opening period, each of which put Team USA in front. His second trey gave Team USA a lead it would never relinquish, and Thompson went on to score 14 of his 16 points in the first half.
While Thompson excelled, fellow Splash Brother Stephen Curry struggled with foul trouble for the second straight game. He picked up two fouls in the opening minutes and played sparingly until the fourth quarter. Still, Curry finished with 13 points and three rebounds, and he and Thompson combined to make five of the team’s nine 3-pointers. And Thompson, in addition to his 16 points, added three rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

The U.S. squad rode the momentum of Thompson’s spark and opened the third quarter on an 18-2 run. The rout was on from there, and the only question left revolved around who Team USA would play in Sunday’s final. That will be determined by Friday’s semifinal matchup between France and Serbia. France beat tournament host Spain to advance to the semifinal, and Serbia is coming off a blowout win against Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Whether it’s France or Serbia, Sunday’s World Cup finale will tip off at 12 p.m. (PDT) on ESPN. For full coverage of the Splash Brothers at the World Cup, click here.

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Thompson Provides Early Spark, USA Advances to Gold Medal Game

The U.S. Men’s National Team dominated the second half and marched to a 119-76 win over Slovenia in a World Cup quarterfinal matchup in Barcelona on Tuesday.

Klay Thompson helped USA recover from a slow start with seven points in the opening period. He shot 7-for-12 from the field while knocking down four 3-pointers in a 20-point performance that led the team.

Stephen Curry battled foul trouble with three fouls in the first period, but came on strong with six points in the third quarter as Team USA took control of the game. Curry finished with six points, two assists and was a plus-21 in his 17 minutes on the court.

Although Team USA finished strong, they started out just 1-for-12 from the field while Slovenia was 4-for-6 in the early going. Any thought of an upset, however, was soon extinguished as the U.S. squad broke the game open by outscoring Slovenia 37-22 in the third quarter.

The U.S. squad is now 7-0 at the World Cup and will move on to the semifinals to face Lithuania on Thursday at 12 p.m. (ESPN). Lithuania has gone 6-1 at the World Cup and beat Turkey 73-61 earlier on Tuesday to advance to the semifinal. Thursday’s game is expected to be the biggest test yet for the U.S. squad, and should they win they would advance to the gold medal game on Sunday.

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Thompson Scores 20 in Quarterfinal Win Over Slovenia

The U.S. Men’s National Team built a double digit lead early and the game’s result was never really in doubt in Saturday’s 86-63 win over Mexico in the FIBA World Cup’s Round of 16.

As Warriors fans have grown accustomed to, Stephen Curry took the game over in the third quarter. He scored 11 straight points in a two-and-a-half minute stretch for Team USA, including three 3-pointers. Curry shot 6-for-9 from distance and paced the U.S. squad with 20 points and four assists.

Klay Thompson also had a strong game with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists. The Splash Brothers were the two highest scoring players for Team USA, and Curry’s red hot stretch put the game out of reach as the U.S. squad eased to its sixth win in as many games at the World Cup.

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Curry Heats Up in Round of 16 Win Over Mexico

TEAM USA UPCOMING GAMESAll Games Televised on ESPN2

The U.S. Men’s National Team wrapped up the group stage of the FIBA World Cup with a 95-71 win over Ukraine on Thursday in Bilbao, Spain. The win capped a 5-0 run in pool play, and now the U.S. squad will travel to Barcelona for the Round of 16.

Playing their third game in as many days and with first place of Group C already secured, Team USA got off to a slow start. They were held without a field goal for the first four and a half minutes of the game and they trailed by seven late in the first quarter, their largest deficit in this year’s World Cup.

But as they’ve done on multiple occasions already in this tournament, the U.S. squad went on a game-changing run. Their 19-5 run to close out the second quarter gave them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, and USA controlled the game in the second half. Stephen Curry made three out of his four 3-point attempts and finished with 14 points, while fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson tallied seven points, five rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes off the bench.

Up next for the U.S. squad is a game against Mexico in the Round of 16. Atlanta Hawks big man Gustavo Ayon leads Mexico with 15.8 points and 7.5 rebounds, and Team USA will look to slow him down in a game that will be televised live on ESPN2 on Saturday at 7 a.m.

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USA Takes Down Ukraine in Group Play Finale

Stephen Curry flirted with a triple-double and Team USA cruised to its fourth straight win to open the 2014 FIBA World Cup, beating the Dominican Republic 106-71 on Wednesday in Bilbao, Spain. The win clinched first place in Group C, guaranteeing that the road to gold will remain intact until at least the Round of 16 this weekend in Barcelona.

In addition to clinching the group, the win was the 58th straight for Team USA, a streak that dates back to the 2006 World Championships. Curry contributed to the win with eight points, seven assists and six rebounds, and he was on pace for a triple-double at the half before sitting out the majority of the third and fourth quarters with the game well in hand.

Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson added eight points, three assists and three steals, and he scored the final five points of a 22-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters. That run ultimately put the game away for the U.S. squad, which shot 56 percent from the field and forced the Dominican Republic into 26 turnovers.

Now 4-0 at the World Cup, Team USA will wrap up group play on Thursday against Ukraine. The third game in as many days for Curry, Thompson and company will tip off at 8:30 a.m. on ESPN2, and regardless of the game’s result, Team USA will continue on to the single elimination portion of the tournament and take on the fourth place team from Group D on Saturday.