Chicago Bulls News Feeds

Tribune News Services

ISTANBUL -- Kevin Durant carried the United States into the gold-medal game at the world championship, scoring a U.S.-record 38 points in an 89-74 victory over Lithuania.

With a special 9/11 message on his sneakers, Durant soared over defenders or stepped away from them for 3-pointers, scoring 17 in the first quarter to stake the Americans to an early lead that was never seriously challenged.

He went on to surpass Carmelo Anthony's single-game record of 35 points and raise his average in the tournament to 22.1, which would be the best ever by a U.S. player.

More importantly, he guaranteed the Americans a chance at their first world title since 1994. They will play Turkey or Serbia on Sunday.

One thing has become clear: There will be a place for Durant. The Bulls' Derrick Rose went 0-for-4 with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

Photo: Derrick Rose and Andre Iguodala celebrate. (REUTERS / Jeff Haynes)
There was some doubt this U.S. team was the one that could end the drought after all the superstars from the 2008 Olympic gold medalists declined to play this summer. But Durant kept saying yes, and he's on the verge of going down as the most accomplished U.S. player ever in this event.

Lamar Odom added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Andre Iguodala led the defensive effort that took Lithuania star Linas Kleiza right out of the game.

Durant posted a message on his Twitter page Saturday that read: "May God bless those who were effected by the events on Sept 11, 2001....9-11-01 on my shoes tonight..you guys will watch over us.."

Then he went out and dominated the first quarter, shooting at the basket in front of section 324, which was completely awash in Lithuania green and had fans banging drums and waving flags.

The teams met last month in an exhibition game in Madrid, and the U.S. shot just 3 of 21 in the first quarter before rallying for a 77-61 victory. There would be no slow start this time.

Lithuania led by two midway through the first quarter before Durant seized the game, showing off his entire repertoire. First there was a dunk, followed by a three-point play and two free throws. Iguodala briefly interrupted the Durant show with a dunk, then Durant scored on a follow shot and made a 3-pointer.

In just 3 1/2 minutes, he had taken the U.S. from down two to up 10, and Lithuania never really recovered.

The Lithuanians hit their first eight 3-pointers in their quarterfinal victory over Argentina, but the outside shot wasn't falling Saturday. They hit only three of 12 in the first half, yet still were down only eight with 3 minutes left before Thunder struck -- the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant and NBA teammate Russell Westbrook combined for nine straight points, extending the lead to 42-25. The U.S. took a 15-point advantage into the half.

The Americans extended the lead to 19 in the third quarter, and though Lithuania kept making little runs, could never get within single digits. Durant finished 14 of 25 from the field, adding nine rebounds in 38 minutes before taking a seat with 44 seconds remaining.

Robertas Javtokas had 15 points and nine rebounds for Lithuania, which lost for the first time and will play for bronze. Kleiza, who was averaging 19.1 points, was limited to four on 1-of-11 shooting.

The Americans came in averaging 95 points and led the tournament in many other categories. But that was the case four years ago, too, and none of that mattered when Greece executed at will over the final three quarters in a 101-95 semifinal victory.

That was the latest U.S. disappointment in an event it was won only three times. Mike Krzyzewski had lost in the semifinals of both previous appearances, with his team of college players winning a bronze in 1990.

Now the Americans have a chance at gold, and with it an automatic berth into the 2012 Olympics. Many of the stars have indicated they may return for that, so it's unknown how many of these players will be back.


More...

 

Rose downplays Anthony-to-Bulls possibility

AOL Fanhouse reports: Bulls guard Derrick Rose said it's too early to think about possibly having Carmelo Anthony as a teammate.

"Right now, I think that we have our team (in order for the season),'' Rose said from Istanbul, site of the World Basketball Championships, about a Yahoo! Sports report that Anthony could wind up in Chicago. "If it was something like (a trade for Anthony), I would have heard it (was close) or somebody would have called me. Nobody has called me yet.

"He's still in Denver. He hasn't said he wants to leave. So right now, I'm just playing it between the lines and worrying about what's going on (in Turkey).''

Get the full story: Fanhouse.com


More...

 

Review of Jordan murder case dropped

Tribune News Services

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The killing of Michael Jordan's father is no longer on a list of some 200 cases independent reviewers describe as mishandled by North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation.

Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker said Thursday the case was taken off the list after a second look at documents. James Jordan was shot as he slept in a car beside a North Carolina highway in 1993.

Swecker's review concluded last month that the bureau failed to disclose details about inconclusive blood tests in the investigation. But Swecker said Thursday he missed language in which the bureau did refer to those results.

Attorneys for a man convicted of the murder had argued the physical evidence was weak and say state handling of the evidence could still be significant.



More...

 

Let's get Melo: Nuggets still wooing Anthony


Carmelo Anthony reportedly would rather be traded than sign a new deal with Denver. (MCT)

The Denver Post reports: The Nuggets want to get a firm, final answer from Carmelo Anthony on whether he wants to remain in Denver, and the two sides are expected to formally meet soon. Denver offered a three-year, $65 million contract extension early this summer and Anthony has not responded.

Yahoo Sports, citing NBA sources, reported that Anthony would like to be traded before the season and that he prefers to go to either the Bulls or Knicks. New Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri said last week that he would try to convince Anthony to stay. But if Anthony won't sign an extension, the Nuggets will seek a trade rather than let him leave as a free agent next summer.

Get the full story: DenverPost.com

More...

 

Kevin Durant leads U.S. past Russia

Tribune News Services

ISTANBUL -- Kevin Durant scored 33 points and the United States beat Russia 89-79 on Thursday to move within two wins of its first world championship since 1994.

The victory came on the 38th anniversary of the Soviet Union's win over the Americans for an Olympic gold medal, a game with such a controversial ending that the U.S. players refused to accept their silver medals.

Durant made sure there would be no worries at the finish of this one, shooting 11 of 19 while just missing Carmelo Anthony's world championship team record of 35 points set in 2006.

The U.S. will play either Lithuania or Argentina on Saturday. Host Turkey and Serbia will play in the other semifinal.

Chauncey Billups scored 15 points and Russell Westbrook finished with 12, including seven in a row for the Americans when their athleticism finally turned away a Russian team that had the pace to its liking for the first half.

The U.S. and Russia have met many times since 1972, including a U.S. victory 16 years ago in Toronto that gave the Americans their last world championship.

But none of the games is as memorable as the clash in Munich, when the Soviets were given a third chance after the Americans stopped them twice in the final 3 seconds, and they eventually scored on the second do-over for a 51-50 victory.

David Blatt, Russia's American-born coach, reopened some scars that will never heal for members of that U.S. team this week when he said he'd watched a film about the game and believed the outcome was fair.

U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski responded that of course Blatt would have that opinion as a Russian, which Blatt is not. He was born in the United States and went to Princeton.

Blatt's team then looked poised to deal the Americans more Sept. 9 heartbreak, running its offense well in the first half and capitalizing on its size advantage inside to frustrate the U.S.

Then, leading by only five in the third quarter, the Americans finally began forcing the Russians into mistakes, which they turned into transition baskets that finally allowed them to shake free.

Westbrook dunked after a turnover, hit a 3-pointer, then came up with a steal and had another dunk to key a decisive 15-5 spurt that pushed the U.S. lead to 65-50. The Oklahoma City guard converted a three-point play to open the scoring in the fourth, and Durant's brilliance from there helped the Americans further extend it in the fourth.

Sergey Bykov scored 17 points for Russia, which exceeded expectations in this tournament after coming to the worlds without some of its top talent, most notably Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, the MVP of their 2007 European championship.

Andrey Vorontsevich had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Timofey Mozgov, recently signed by the New York Knicks, scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

The Americans missed 17 of their first 25 shots, rotated too slowly on defense, and were outworked on the boards while trailing for much of the first half.

The U.S. built an early six-point advantage before Mozgov began to control the middle. He hit all four of his shots in the first quarter, twice while getting fouled, and his last basket tied it at 25 heading to the second period.

Russia got the first two baskets of that quarter, starting with an embarrassingly easy drive into the lane for an uncontested layup by Dmitriy Khvostov. The Russians pushed their lead to 35-30 midway through the period on consecutive baskets by Bykov, and only then did the Americans start digging in on defense.

They held Russia without a basket for more than 4 minutes, running off 12 straight points to take a seven-point lead, before going into the locker room ahead 44-39.

The Russians will play in the consolation bracket, still hoping to finish fifth.



More...

 

Re: ChicagoBreakingSports Bulls News Feed

Do we like this sort of thing?

 

Ask Sam | Sam Smith opens his mailbag | 09.10.10

Sam Smith opens his mailbag to respond to the latest round of questions from his readers.

More...

 

Bulls name assistant coaches on Tom Thibodeau's coaching staff

The Chicago Bulls have announced that Ron Adams, Andy Greer, Rick Brunson and Adrian Griffin have been hired as assistant coaches, while Randy Brown has been promoted to Special Assistant to the General Manager and Pete Myers has been named a Scout.

More...

 

Bulls announce 2010-11 TV schedule

The Bulls have announced their television broadcast schedule for the 2010-11 season, with Comcast SportsNet and WGN-TV/WCIU overseeing all local television duties. All 82 regular season games will be televised, as well as all eight preseason games.

More...

 

Open Thread: FIBA World Championship SemiFinal: Team USA vs. Lithuania

More...

 

Talking Carmelo Anthony for Joakim Noah and Luol Deng: The search for September pagev

More...

 

Pinckney joins Bulls coaching staff

More...

 

Team USA vs Turkey, final

More...

 

Golden again: U.S. captures world championship

More...

 

So far so good. I'm thinking if we want to comment on something in particular it might still be good to start a new thread, but to each their own.

 

I like it.

 

Bulls name Reinsdorf's son president, COO

More...

 

Rose cutting a piece of the basket’s net after the championship win

More...