Team USA should have little trouble dispatching Finland in its World Cup opener.
Team USA begins its quest for gold at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup against Finland on Saturday. The game is the first of five in six days during the group stage.
Team USA enters the tournament as the favorite to win it all despite missing a good number of its top players. Even with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and a host of other elite players missing in action, Team USA remains stacked with high-end talent.
Team USA cruised through its four-game exhibition tour, with Anthony Davis and James Harden leading the way. Davis and Harden are the only two players on this roster that also participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics, making them de facto leaders of the team. The 21-year-old Davis was especially dominant during the exhibition slate, averaging 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in just over 20 minutes per game.
A major storyline to keep an eye on for Team USA against Finland and throughout the tournament is the play, and health, of Derrick Rose. Much has been made of Rose's return to the court following a second major knee surgery, and after much fanfare at the outset of Team USA's training camp, the optimism has died down a bit. Rose showed a healthy amount of rust during the exhibition games, and he also missed a game due to soreness.
With Rose still working his way back, Kyrie Irving stepped up and played well during the summer tour to seemingly wrestle the starting point-guard spot away from the 2011 NBA MVP. Irving averaged 10.5 points and 4.2 assists while shooting nearly 64 percent in the four exhibitions.
As for the competition, Finland is participating in this tournament for the first time ever. Finland qualified for the World Cup as a wild card after finishing in ninth place in two straight EuroBaskets. The 2011 EuroBasket was the first one Finland had qualified for since 1995.
The most notable player on the Finnish roster is Erik Murphy, currently of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Murphy has already been on three NBA teams after being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2013, and he might not be long for the NBA. Finland has a host of other players who played collegiate hoops in the United States, but none of them were drafted.
The only other draftee on the roster is 26-year-old Petteri Koponen, who was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers at the very end of the first round in 2007 before being immediately traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. Koponen's rights were traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, but he still has yet to appear in an NBA game.
Considering the massive talent gap, Team USA shouldn't face too much resistance from this Finnish squad. This should act as a nice tuneup for a tougher game against Turkey the following day.
Game time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Bizkaia Arena, Bilbao, Spain
TV: ESPN
Online: WatchESPN
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