Spain’s Real Madrid win record ninth Euroleague Basketball title

A year after their football team recorded the epic ‘decima’ – the 10th European championship – Real Madrid’s basketball team did the team and the city proud too, winning the 2015 Euroleague Basketball title at home in Madrid. With the final held against Greece’s finest Olympiacos on Sunday, May 17th, Real Madrid pulled away in the game’s last four minutes to clinch the victory, 78-59. It was Madrid’s ninth Euroleague title, the most of any team in the championship (just like their cousins out on the football pitch).

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International Watch: Ranking the top 10 FIBA World Cup players outside the USA

Although the USA – the world’s number one ranked team – were an automatic favourite to be crowned champions at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, few predicted that they would achieve the feat with such relative ease, winning each game by an average margin of 32.5 points per game and continuing their 63 game unbeaten streak in international basketball contests. But don’t let the Americans’ dominance distract you from the top performers from the rest of the world, many of whom, even in defeat, used the World Cup stage to further define their legacies.

Here are the top 10 players from the 2014 FIBA World Cup outside the USA. Click here for full feature.

USA stamps basketball dominance with another FIBA World Cup win

Without Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, or Carmelo Anthony. Without even Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Kevin Love, or Paul George. On paper, the 2014 World Cup featured a younger and 'weaker' USA side. This wasn't the 'redeemed' USA side that - since their last competitive loss in 2006 - had been undefeated and dominated opponents in every international basketball tournament since. This was, what many critics called, the 'C Team', the youngest USA side since the NBA began sending professionals back in 1992.

But basketball games aren't won on paper; Team USA's so-called 'C Team' turned the 'C' into 'Championship', defending the rebranded FIBA World Cup title for the first time in their history with a dominant performance that easily blew out the rest of the global competition. Winning every game by an average margin of 32.5 points, Team USA went an undefeated 9-0 at the World Cup in Spain, capping off their wonderful tournament with their best performance in the final: a 129-92 victory over Serbia in Madrid on Sunday, September 14.

After a slow start as Serbia raced to a 15-7 lead early in the game, USA bounced back with a 15-0 spurt and never looked back. USA made the most of the shortened international three-point line, hitting 11-16 threes in the final. Kyrie Irving (26) and James Harden (23) were the chief perpetrators as Serbia had no answer for the American onslaught. By the end of the contest, eight of the 12 USA players had scored in double figures en route to the 37 point win.

This was USA's fifth gold medal at the FIBA World Cup, tying for top slot with the former Yugoslavia. They have now won 63 straight games - 45 in official FIBA events and 18 in exhibition play - and are automatically qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

USA won all of their group games with relative ease, yet, because of their slow starts and the quality of their opponents, doubts remained about the true talent of this young team. By knocking out Mexico, Slovenia, Lithuania, and then Serbia on the way to the gold, USA went on to erase all such doubts. Kyrie Irving was named tournament's MVP, but this was far from a one-man effort: the likes of Kenneth Faried, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, DeMarcus Cousins, Klay Thompson, and more came up big from game to game to keep the Americans at the head of the race.

Since breaking up with Yugoslavia, the silver in 2014 was Serbia's first ever medal at the tournament. Serbia were the competition's unlikely finalists: they won only two of their five group games to sneak into the knockout stage, and then, they suddenly found a way to turn their performances around. The Serbs blew out favoured opponents like Greece and Brazil and held on to win in a classic Semi-Final over France to reach the final.

France won the bronze medal by scraping past Lithuania 95-93 for a close win on Saturday. Led by 27 points by Nicolas Batum, France bounced back from a fourth quarter deficit to claim victory. Lithuania's high scorer was their young center Jonas Valanciunas, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. France, who won last year's EuroBasket, will be happy with their performance at the World Cup, especially since they were able to win a medal without the likes of Tony Parker or Joakim Noah in their lineup.

The biggest disappointment at the World Cup was the performance of hosts Spain. Featuring the likes of Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Rudy Fernandez, Spain entered the tournament at full strength and seemed to have all the pieces to be the only true challengers to USA's ascent. This was perhaps the last opportunity of Spain's "golden generation" heralded by Pau Gasol to beat the USA and claim their second World Cup win after 2006. Alas, after a fine start in the group stage and the round of 16, Spain were shocked in one of the great upsets in world basketball by France in the Quarter-Final. A defensive masterclass by the French knocked out the Spaniards and ended any hopes of the dream USA-Spain clash in the Final.

Final Standings

• 1. USA
  
• 2. Serbia
  
• 3. France
  

All Tournament Team

• Kyrie Irving (USA) - MVP 
• Kenneth Faried (USA) 
• Milos Teodosic (Serbia) 
• Nicolas Batum (France) 
• Pau Gasol (Spain)

Team USA are World Basketball Champions

The americans are officially back on top of the basketball world.

After what seemed to be like an endless stream of upset losses, mediocre play, underwhelming performances, and bronze medals in the international game, Team USA completed their process of redemption by winning gold at the FIBA World Championships in Turkey. USA beat the hosts 81-64 in the final on Sunday, providing the perfect ending to an impressive unbeaten tournament. Paired with the awe-inspiring exploits of the 'Redeem Team' which won the Beijing Olympic gold in 2008, the US have left no doubts on being the best international team in the business.

But, unlike the 'Redeem Team', the World Championship squad, labelled the 'B' team by their detractors, did not arrive with the same superstar hoopla. The team had no super-duper-star except for Kevin Durant. Gone were the Dwyane Wades, the Kobe Bryants, the LeBron James', and the Carmelo Anthonies. They were replaced by the likes of Lamar Odom, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, and Andre Igoudala. The only other veteran presence except for Odom in this team was Chauncey Billups.

The 21-year-old Durant, the NBA's leading scorer last season (the youngest ever!) grabbed this opportunity with both hands to become the best player in the world. He ended up as the tournament's MVP, averaging 22.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game during the course of the tournament. He showed up as the going got tougher, scoring 33 in the Quarter Final against Russia, 38 in the semis against Lithuania, and 28 in the final against Turkey. He was the USA's most consistent and trustworthy player, game after game, and has staked his claim to replace some of the other "stars" when USA prepare their squad for the 2012 Olympics.

Durant scored more points than any American in the World Championships ever (205) and scored more points in a single game than any American ever (38). If I had to bet today, I can see him easily becoming the NBA's MVP in the 2010-11 season.

Hosts Turkey put up a brave show, going undefeated until the final, led by Hedo Turkoglu and Ersan Ilyasova. Lithuania defeated Serbia to win the bronze medal, and both teams an excellent overall tournament. The play of the tournament would probably be Serbia's Milos Teodosic's game-winning three to shock Spain.

Speaking of: Spain were probably the biggest disappointments of the tournament. Playing without last World Championships' MVP Pau Gasol, Spain failed to really make a mark, finishing sixth, below Argentina, who were fifth. Argentina featured some amazing play by Luis Scola, who averaged 27.1 ppg (tournament leader), 7.9 rpg, and was an influence all over the court.

FIBA's team of the tournament was:

Kevin Durant (USA)
Luis Scola (Argentina)
Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey)
Linas Kleiza (Lithuania)
Milos Teodosic (Serbia)

Unfortunately, for us hoop fans in India, the World Championships were not shown on TV, because apparently fixed Pakistan-England cricket series' are more important.

The tournament was by far the most hyped World Championships ever, but it still lost a lot of credibility after many of the world's best players decided to skip it. Players such as Gasol, Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni (Argentina), Yao Ming (China), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Tony Parker (France), Nene (Brazil), and Andrew Bogut (Australia) did not play. Of course, USA played without and of their Redeem Team players, such as Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Carmelo, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, and Chris Paul.

It is sad that so many great players (by choice, fatigue, or injury) did not show up for this competition, because a tournament like this deserves to have a stature in basketball equal to the FIFA World Cup. Fortunately, the teams that did show up put up an amazing show, and Durant's heroic contributions will be remembered for years to come.