Sharp-shooting Spain blew away Greece 70-47 to capture an emotional first world basketball championship gold medal on Sunday.
An injured Pau Gasol is confident his Spanish team mates can overcome Greece without him in Sunday's world basketball championship final.
Greek playmaker Theodoros Papaloukas knows avoiding turnovers and keeping Team USA off the offensive glass are keys to victory when the sides clash in the semi-finals of the FIBA World Championship.
Manu Ginobili has won his share of big games with Argentina and at club level in Europe and the United States.
United States coach Mike Krzyzewski saluted Greece after the European giants knocked his team out of the FIBA World Championship.
It will be the Beijing Olympics before US National Basketball Association stars have another chance to reclaim global supremacy after losing Friday to Greece at the World Basketball Championship.
Now that Dirk Nowitzki is gone, the United States is headed for a gold medal game showdown with Spain or Argentina.
The similarities between Spain and Argentina have made their semifinal in the world championships as even as a big game can get.
A United States team eschewing the trash-talking swagger of previous incarnations find themselves two wins away from the promised land.
France and Turkey came out on top of two thrilling classification games and will now go head to head on Saturday to claim fifth place.
Greek center Sofoklis Schortsanitis, better known as "Baby Shaq", sees a great opportunity in his team's semi-final showdown Friday with the United States at the World Basketball Championship.
Juan Carlos Navarro is raring to lead Spain to the top of world basketball but he's not quite ready to find himself a place in the ultimate stardom of the US National Basketball Association.