United States 2014 World Cup Preview

          It could not have gotten much worse for the United States during the World Cup draw. In addition to being drawn into Group G, the Group of Death, with Germany, Portugal, and Ghana, the U.S. also has the toughest travel schedule, having to go about 9,000 total miles between games in the group stage. It will not be easy moving on from this group, but what the USA has proven over the years is that the team is best when they are the underdogs, which is certainly the case coming into the summer of 2014. Here is an analysis of each positional level of Team USA, as well as how they may fair in each game.

Team USA in the FIBA World Championships

          Team USA’s basketball “B” team has been competing in Turkey at the FIBA World Championship tournament. Although no member of Team USA’s gold medal Olympic team from 2008 is on the world championship team, it is no excuse for the way they have played through their first 5 games.

Age is Only a Number

The team may be young, led by 21 year old and reigning NBA scoring champ Kevin Durant, but that is no excuse for the immature way that this team has been playing in their group stage games.

Game after game, this team has played offensive basketball as if they were in an all-star game. They attempt to run flashy fast breaks with jaw dropping alley-oops and other unnecessary moves. It’s one thing to run the fast break, which they should definitely be doing with the likes of speedsters Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook running the point, but too many times