Take that Communism

Thursday’s 89-79 victory over Russia was particularly sweet for the US. First of all, it came on the 38th anniversary of the 1972 Olympic basketball finals in which the Soviet Union fraudulently beat the US. And with Mike Krzyzewski and Russian Coach David Blatt sparring verbally in the media, sports journalists and players had a little something extra to pretend to think about.

But the unrelenting buffoonery of David Blatt quickly got old and it’s become clear he’s a weedy and not very bright commie sympathist who shouldn’t be addressing subject matter from the days of ideological hostility.

Thankfully, Kevin Durant is the epitome of a capitalist machine who can do pretty much anything that needs doing: he’s 6’9, can score from anywhere, adapts and is exceptionally versatile. On Thursday he was his usual self; scoring 33 points, just 2 shy of the US FIBA scoring record set by Carmelo Anthony in 2006.

The US is now just two wins away from its first world championship since 1994. But despite Durant’s heroics, the game was far from smooth sailing. The Americans missed 17 of their first 25 shots, rotated too slowly on defense, and were outworked on the boards, trailing for much of the first half. Even throughout the second half, Russia fouled the trash out of the US and managed to run a fluid offense, capitalizing on its size and frustrating the Americans.

But finally, at the end of the second quarter with the US leading by an uncomforting 5 points, Team NBA’s speed and agility started to payoff, forcing the Russians into making turnovers that would lead to fast break points and American dunks.

In hindsight, if a team like Russia isn’t up by at least 10 on the US by half, they’re not winning. Big bulky teams simply can’t keep up with America’s quickness, depth and speed for four full quarters. The Russians did do well though. Sergey Bykov scored 17 points, and a 10 point loss isn’t bad considering they played without the country’s best player and MVP of their 2007 European championship, Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko.

Team USA will next play on Saturday, facing the winner of Lithuania-Argentina game.