A day after Germany beat Serbia in double overtime, Germany laid a goose-egg, losing by 35 to Australia. I enjoyed the take of the announcer on NBA.tv. “Germany looks like a team playing with a hangover.” Dramatic pause when he realizes the implication of what he said. “Oh, I don’t mean to imply they were out drinking last night, but certainly their double overtime victory was on their minds.” Sure.
But the game of the day was clearly the US vs Brazil. I feel like I’ve already used my quota of praise for the FIBA tournament, but this game was definitely worth an hour and a half on the DVR. And if you did not record it, go watch the replay in the ESPN3 archives.
Also, it may be tempting to fast-forward to the end of the game, but to enjoy Brazil vs the US, you have to watch the first quarter when Brazil was playing insane basketball. This was a classic case of one team shooting lights out, and it being apparent that the other team was eventually going to come back. But Brazil's early run kept the game entertaining. Teams cannot match up with the US in the long-haul, but over 10 minutes, and sometimes over 40 minutes, plenty of these teams can play impressive basketball.