THE WAIT IS OVER

Team USA, The 2010 FIBA World
Basketball Champions.

After 16 long years, Team USA has conquered the FIBA World Championships anew. What made this victory so sweet was the absence of those highly touted members from the gold-medal winning US squad in the Beijing Olympics. The Americans completed a sweep of all its games in this year’s edition of the quadrennial meet, capped by a rousing 81-64 rout of host Turkey in the finals. NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. For US head coach Mike Kryzewski, winning the title is something very special, according to FIBA.com.

“I want to congratulate the Turkish team for a truly perfect tournament. They epitomised what a team should be and we had to be at our very best to beat them. It was a terrific tournament and a truly wonderful city. I’ve never seen a country celebrate a team better than Turkey. It created a great atmosphere for the tournament.

“This championship meant a lot because we have a very young team. It meant a lot to all of us. This was very special. We hadn’t won the World Championship since 1994 and we, as a country, are trying to show great respect for the World Championships which I’m not sure we did a decade ago. I mean it’s twice as big in terms of the number of teams participating than the Olympics. But the Olympics meant a lot too.

“I’m not sure we have dominance if you look at the game against Brazil. And we didn’t dominate tonight. We played a bit better than Turkey. What Jerry Colangelo has done is build a culture where we respect the international game and develop a team that can play in those events. I love the international game. There are so many great coaches and teams and it has made me a better coach. Our goal is to win a gold medal but also to win the respect of others in the way that we play and carry ourselves.

“He (Kevin Durant) elevated. He was on a pretty high floor already but he went close to being in the penthouse. The beauty about Kevin is he’s pure. He’s not trying to do anything except play basketball and get better. I love coaching him and he learned how to be a really great international player in the last five weeks which will help him be an even better NBA player. He’s very genuine. He’s a special guy and definitely a special player.”