Basketball: U.S. uses two units to wear down Slovenia

Nicky Talent

LeBron James and the rest of the U.S. starters were yanked less than halfway through the first quarter.

They hadn't done anything wrong; it was just time for the second team to come in.

That one was better than Slovenia, too.

Using both units to wear down and outrun the Slovenians, the Americans rolled to a 114-95 victory Tuesday, remaining unbeaten and clinching a spot in the round of 16 at the world championships.

"It seems to favor our team," Elton Brand said. "You don't have to pace yourself at all because you know you're going to get a certain amount of minutes. You know you're going to be in there, and you know you're going to play. So once you're out there, you play hard, and you can try to wear down teams."

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for the U.S. team (3-0), which plays Italy, also unbeaten in Group D, on Wednesday. James added 19 in his most impressive performance of the tournament.

James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Shane Battier started the game, but U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski sent Wade, Brand, Antawn Jamison, Kirk Hinrich and Joe Johnson out together midway through the first period.

The second unit put a stop to Slovenia's strong start, and both groups contributed to the big run that blew open the game in the second quarter.

Brand finished with 16 points, and Anthony had 14. All but one of the U.S. players scored.

Slovenia, with four NBA players on its roster, was widely considered the second-most talented team in the group. But the Slovenians have lost consecutive games to the group co-leaders after beating Senegal on Saturday in their world championships debut.

"We did our best, but once the Americans started playing their defense very strongly, that was our problem," Slovenia's Saso Ozbolt said through a translator.

Sani Becirovic led Slovenia (1-2) with 18 points. Primoz Brezec and Bostjan Nachbar each added 15.

Running its offense crisply to get open shots, Slovenia led 21-16 after Rasho Nesterovic's follow shot with 2:47 left in the first quarter. Wade and Brand then each had four points in an 11-0 burst, and the Americans were ahead 30-27 after one.

"We had to wake up a little bit. We came out a little flat," Wade said. "They came out very aggressive early in the first quarter. We've got a deep team. We can bring different guys at them. Once we had the lead at the end of the first, we kind of took it from there."

Slovenia was within four points early in the second before the Americans blew it open with an 18-4 run, fueled by steals and dunks. Antawn Jamison's basket after Joe Johnson's steal made it 55-37 with 4:20 left in the half, and the U.S. led 66-49 at the break.

"It's a game of adjustments," Brand said. "They were executing very well. Once we stepped up our defense and adjusted, we played better. Much better."

Slovenia shot 52 percent in the first half, but the U.S. turned 16 turnovers - the Slovenians had only 15 field goals - into 22 points. The Americans had 17 steals and forced 25 turnovers overall, leading to 28 points.

James and Howard were among the U.S. players who drew "Oohs" and "Aahs" from the crowd with a series of pregame dunks. Then the game started, and the Americans really put on a show.

The U.S. team had little trouble getting the game to the fast pace they wanted and had few problems even when forced to slow down. Wade got behind the zone to dunk an alley-oop pass from Paul on one play, and the U.S. was 7-of-11 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

Slovenia coach Ales Pipan sat Nesterovic, Nachbar and Beno Udrih, three of his NBA players, to open the second half. They watched as the Americans pushed the lead to as much as 29 points in the third quarter.

Pipan said his team played well but "our mind was already on our next game that is tomorrow against Puerto Rico."

The Americans shot 56 percent from the field and were 10-of-20 from behind the arc. They are averaging 115.3 points in the tournament.

The Slovenians, who got within 11 in the final minutes, got 14 points apiece from Nesterovic and Jaka Lakovic.

Suffy

go young guns, looks like the u.s did the right thing by going with these younging,

Nicky Talent

USA may be the next dream team. They have an undeafeated record so far. Lets keep it going