The United States men's basketball team steps into the critical phase of the tournament with one mistake could cost their chance of winning the top prize at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. In Tuesday's quarterfinals, Team USA will once again be tested by emerging hoops power Slovenia, which is led by no other than Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns.
Coming off another big win over Mexico (86-63) in the round-of-16, the American took a one-day break before plunging into action against a Slovenian squad that is expected to play with more intensity and drive to win than their tune-up game two weeks ago.
USA crushed Slovenia by 30 points, 101-71, in their final tune-up game before the FIBA World Cup. The Americans big bodies simply dominated the European powerhouse, as Anthony Davies finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks and Kenneth Faried added 14 points and 8 rebounds.
David and Faried have been dominant throughout USA's campaign to the point that their excellent performances covered the lack of production from their guards until Stephen Curry and James Harden woke up big time in the quarterfinal showdown with Mexico.
Meanwhile, the Slovenians are leaning heavily on Dragic, who is averaging 16.5 points and 4.3 assists in the tournament. His brother, Zoran Dragic, has also been producing big time numbers for Slovenia. The latest of his exploit was an 18-point performance to lead his team to a quarterfinal win over Dominican Republic.
"He was awesome," Goran Dragic told ESPN.com that night. "He was our best player on the court.
It means a lot to play with him. We don't see each other so often. OK, on Skype, but it's not the same. Now it's a perfect situation for us to play together with the national team.
"We can share the court and maybe do some damage [with the national team]. And hopefully someday we can play each other in the NBA."
However, the key to victory for Slovenia is still going to be their frontline defense that was shredded to pieces by the American big men. A strong performance against David and Faried could give Slovenia a chance to keep within striking distance with the USA and allow them to pull off an upset towards the end of the game.
Live Stream, TV Schedule and Box Scores Stats
United States vs. Slovenia match will be shown live on ESPN starting at 3:00 p.m (US Eastern Time). Live Steam feed is available on ESPN3 for American audience or Sports Stream TV, while stats and latest play-by-play update can be found on the World Cup official site.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
