Kampeon ang koponan ng US sa kakatapos lamang na 2010 FIBA Men’s Basketball World Championship.

Ginapi nila ang host-country na Turkey sa finals, 81-64. Ito rin ang tumapos sa 16 na taon na paghihintay ng US sa kampeonato, na hindi nila napagwagian mula 1994.

Ito rin ang kaunaunahang paghaharap ng dalawang bansa.

Lumamang pa ang Turkey ng ilang beses sa unang quarter ng laro. Ngunit matapos nilang umungos 17-14 kontra sa mga kano, hindi na nila nasagot ang 11 puntos na ibinuhos ng mga kano, na binuo ng mga batang manlalaro ng NBA tulad nina Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose at Russel Westbrook.

Mistulang pagod ang Turkey matapos tumungo sa finals mula sa 83-82 pagwawagi nila sa Lithuania. Ngunit masaya naman ang bansa, dahil ani Hedo Turkoglu, “Nobody expected us to get this far in the tournament so as team captain I’m really proud of my teammates. I have to give credit to (Turkey) coach (Bogdan) Tanjevic for what he has done.”

Sa tanong naman kay Mike Kryzewski ukol sa pagtatapos ng laro at sa kanilang pagbubuo ng koponan sa mga nakaraang taon, inamin niyang hindi pa dominante ang koponan. “I’m not sure we have dominance if you look at the game against Brazil. And we didn’t dominate tonight. We played a bit better than Turkey. What Jerry Colangelo has done is build a culture where we respect the international game and develop a team that can play in those events. I love the international game. There are so many great coaches and teams and it has made me a better coach. Our goal is to win a gold medal but also to win the respect of others in the way that we play and carry ourselves.”

Dinugtong pa niya na si Shaquille O’Neal na lamang ang aktibong manlalaro ng NBA na may World Championship sa kanyang rekord.

“This championship meant a lot because we have a very young team.” dagdag ni Kryzewski, sa tanong na kung mas mahalaga itong World Championships kaysa sa Olimpiyada. “It meant a lot to all of us. This was very special. We hadn’t won the World Championship since 1994 and we, as a country, are trying to show great respect for the World Championships which I’m not sure we did a decade ago. I mean it’s twice as big in terms of the number of teams participating than the Olympics. But the Olympics meant a lot too.”

Natapos ni Durant ang laro na may 28 puntos, ang pinakamataas niya sa buong torneo. Tinanghal siyang Most Valuable Player ng palaro. “I was put in a great position to come out here and start. My teammates always made sure I came to work every day and they pushed me,” ang hayag ni Durant.

Bagaman tinagurian silang B-team, dahil wala ni isa sa ‘Redeem Team’ ang nasa kasalukuyang koponan nila, hindi ito naging hadlang sa mga Kano. “That was motivation for us all. We worked that much harder to prove people wrong.”

Nakuha ng Lithuania ang ikatlong puwesto nang gapihin nito ang Serbia, 99-88. Ang defending champion naman na Spain ay hindi na napagwagian kahit ang ika-limang puwesto nang gapihin sila ng Argentina sa talang 86-81. Kinuha naman ng Russia at Slovenia ang ika-pito at ika-walong puwesto ng torneo.

Ito ang pinal na puwesto ng walo pang koponan na pumasok sa round of 16, ayon sa pagtatala ng FIBA:

9. Brazil
10. Australia
11. Greece
12. New Zealand
13. France
14. Croatia
15. Angola
16. China