Basketball fans around the world arent the only ones upset they wont get a chance to see the U.S. National Team and their counterparts from Spain in Sundays gold medal game of the FIBA World Cup.U.S. forward Kenneth Faried wanted a piece of that action as well, and didnt hide it after the U.S. punched its ticket for Madrid with a somewhat surprising blowout 96-68 blowout win over Lithuania in the semifinals Thursday night at Palau Saint Jordi. Faried said he wasnt sure if and where he would watch Fridays semifinal in Madrid between France and Serbia. And he certainly wasnt surprised that Spain fell to France in the quarterfinals in Madrid Wednesday night. I wasnt surprised at all, he said. There was too much hype around them. It was arrogant, borderline disrespectful to us, saying theyre better than us, were not going to be able to match up with their bigs and all this other arrogant stuff. I just took it as, okay, alright. Once we meet them in the finals well see what happens. We cant even see what happens. One of the breakout stars on this U.S. team, a player many people didnt think would make the roster, let alone come here and shine the way he has, Faried let loose even more about his disappointment about missing out on the chance to battle Spain on their home soil. I am disappointed, he said. I wanted to beat them in their own country. Farieds words are exactly the kind U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski has stayed away from throughout this competition. And with Serbia and France still having to fight it out for that spot opposite the U.S. in the gold medal game, he certainly doesnt want to add any bulletin board material to the party. Neither did Farieds teammates. Kenneth is crazy, James Harden said and then smiled when told of Farieds comments. Hes crazy. The veterans of the program know better than to cross that line, having adopted Coach Ks respect the process (and the opponent, at all times) mantra. It honestly doesnt matter, said Steph Curry, who won gold in Turkey four years ago. You know so many people were predicting that matchup. But it obviously didnt happen. It was on peoples mind, with the history we have with them in the Olympics and then this idea of playing their home floor. Were just happy to take care of our business, which we set out to do, and make it to the finals. Whoever matches up against us Sunday well be ready for them.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 07:15:03 +0000
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