The U.S. faced Australia in the “eighth-finals” of the FIBA World Championship, as the tournament switched to a one-and-done format. Team USA responded with three quarters of good play, putting the Aussies away, 113-73.
The U.S. came out sluggish once again, having trouble covering Australia’s three-point shooters, a problem that has reared its ugly head throughout the championship. Team USA’s half-court offense is suspect and the team has a tendency to resort to isolation play that is so common in the NBA. So far, the team’s overall talent level has made up for its lack of cohesiveness.
Australia’s best player is Andrew Bogut and his nine first quarter points kept his team in the game early. In the second quarter, inspired play by Joe Johnson and the thus far little-used Chris Bosh, along with poor shooting by the Australians, resulted in a 19-1 run, leading to a 59-29 halftime margin. The second half was more of the same – the game was over in the second period.
In other tournament play, Argentina, Lithuania, Turkey and Spain advanced to the quarterfinals, while Germany (with Mavs’ star Dirk Nowitzki) fought off a feisty Nigeria squad and survived to play Team USA on Wednesday (6:30 AM ET on ESPN2).
