FIBA World Cup 2014: Spain is out
The second day of quarter-final games in the FIBA World Cup 2014 brought with them arguably the most exciting and intense Basketball of the tournament so far. Certainly, France knocking out tournament hosts Spain sent shockwaves around the country and stunned the millions watching the spectacle unfold on TV. Joining France in the semi-final stage will be Serbia after the team smashed Brazil to repeat its last four appearance from the 2010 competition.
Here’s how the action happened.
France vs. Spain
This all European clash saw border sharing countries France and Spain clash in a do or die contest, but it was the French celebrating a 65-52 win at the end of regulation. Tournament host Spain carried the weight of expectation from a country impressed by the serene unbeaten progress the team had made to get this far. However, the pressure on the hardwood proved too much as France finally found its game to break Spanish hearts. France now makes its first ever semi-final appearance, and make no mistake, the current Eurobasket champions are contenders at the FIBA World Cup 2014.
France outrebounded Spain at both ends, collecting 44 overall compared to just 19 for the Spaniards. 13 offensive boards meant Les Bleus had plenty of second chance opportunities, while in defence the team collected 31 caroms to ensure the Spanish were often cut out of attacking plays.
Boris Diaw got the score going for France, opening the game with a triple to offer an early confidence boost. Spain struggled to deal with the French attack and an 8-0 lead was opened up, while midway through the sixth minute Diaw hit again from downtown to cap an 11-2 run for Les Bleus at the start of the game. The hosts responded with an unanswered 10 points to take their first lead of the game, Marc Gasol getting the key basket (11-12). Through the rest of the quarter the teams traded and at the first break could not be split, the score reading 15-15.
Florent Pietrus gave France a 17-15 lead at the start of Q2 before Rudy Gobert sandwiched a Sergio Llull jumper to put the score at 21-17. Jose Manuel Calderon and Pau Gasol scored the only points for two minutes, ensuring that Spain once again tied the game, this time at 21 apiece. Another minute passed before Mickael Gelabale responded for France with a layup and a triple (26-21), sparking a nine point run that extended the visitors to 30-21. Spain once again fought back, but while France conceded some of its advantage, the deficit was at seven points as the halftime buzzer sounded in Madrid (35-28).
It was Spain’s turn to strike first in a stanza as Pau Gasol made a layup to get the crowd cooking, while Llull followed suit to make it a three point game (35-32). Gasol was driving any chance Spain had of success and after a quiet 90 seconds on the floor he struck again to bring the team within one point. However, France finally scored after nearly four minutes of the third quarter through an Antoine Adiot layup, before Juan Carlos Navarro finally got into the game with a hit from beyond the arc and a layup (39-39). The buckets dried up over the remainder of the section but Spain held its first split lead of the game, winning by 42-43 after 30 minutes.
The fourth quarter was set to be tight as tournament hosts Spain chased the win from a leading position, but instead the hosts crumbled under the pressure. France poured in 23 points and got mean off the boards to restrict the Spanish to just 9. A 10 minutes that should have been extremely close slowly became a procession as France cruised to the win.
Diaw led the French resistance with 15 points, while Thomas Huertal secured 13 points, nine of them in the decisive fourth quarter. Gobert claimed 13 rebounds and Joffery Lauvergne took 10 boards.
Pau Gasol was once again the leading light for Spain with a game high 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Serbia vs. Brazil
The USA remain as the only non-European team left in the FIBA World Cup 2014 after Serbia took apart Brazil to win 84-56 in Madrid tonight. The Serbian contingent will now head to the semi-final stage for the second consecutive World Cup (fourth when included as Yugoslavia) and the team seems to be moving through the gears as the tournament progresses, never a bad thing to do. As for Brazil, the players can console themselves with the fact they put together a solid World Cup performance this year.
During the first quarter it was anybody’s game as both teams traded baskets for much of the frame, although Serbia pulled away towards the end of the period to lead 21-17 after ten minutes. In the second quarter the game became even tighter as Brazil came back from a losing 29-23 position. However, the South Americans still lost the stanza 16-15, putting the scoreboard at 37-32 as the teams headed off the hardwood for the long break.
Whatever Serbia head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic said at halftime seemed to work as the Europeans emerged in the third quarter with renewed scoring impetus. They outpaced Brazil in every area of the court to sweep the stint 29-12, a commanding performance that gifted Serbia a 66-44 advantage at the last split. The mountain was too high for a shell-shocked Brazil and in the fourth quarter Serbia moved through the cogs to win the period 18-12, adding a nice gloss to the scoreboard in the process.
An unselfish Serbian performance saw the team dish out 19 assists with Milos Teodosic adding to his game high 23 points with 4 dimes. Following Teodosic in the scoring charts for Serbia was Bogdan Bogdanovic with 12 and Miroslav Raduljica with 10 points.
Brazil had 37 rebounds through the game, including 12 at the offensive end. Ultimately those second chances went begging as the team struggled to score consistently. Anderson Varejao and Marquinhos Vieira scored 12 apiece in the losing effort, while star man Marcelinho Huertas was shut down at the bucket in a disappointing scoring display, although he did hand out 9 assists.