Nike Global Challenge: Serbia vs. USA-3
Words. HShoop
Jeremy Tyler (Photo. Kelly Kline)
The most anticipated game of the Nike Global Challenge opening day ended up exceeding expectations. USA-3 has arguably the strongest roster in the field, featuring John Wall and Jeremy Tyler, considered by many to be the #1 players, respectively, in the ‘09 and 2010 classes, plus 2011 sensation Michael Gilchrist and ‘09 stud center Daniel Orton. Not to mention USA-3 was supposed to have ‘09 two-guard Xavier Henry, a Top-10 talent who isn’t playing this weekend due to injury.
Meanwhile, the Serbians came to Oregon toting a roster of mostly 19-year-old pros, led by a handful of players who could conceivably be taken in the NBA Draft over the next few years.
In another hotly-contested battle, Serbia found itself down by nine points with under three minutes to go, but stuck back-to-back threes and got a Tayshaun Prince-like running lefty hook from 6-8 Milojko Vasilic to pull within one point in what seemed like no time. They finally took the lead with 43 seconds left on a tip-in by 6-9 Nikola Markovic, which led to one of the Serbian coaches leaping in the air for a chest-bump with Markovic (17 pts, 13 rebs, 5 stls) on the ensuing timeout.
Serbia had a chance to extend the lead, but Orton made a spectacular block at the rim to give the U.S. the ball back and a chance to win. Inbounding under their own basket with nine seconds left, the U.S. got the ball to DeShaun Thomas, but the 6-6 forward from Bishop Luers (Ind.) who’d scored a team-high 22 points had his driving layup blocked by Vasilic. John Wall chased down the loose ball and fired a three from the corner that looked good, but rattled in and out, giving Serbia the win.
Wall put up 18 points and four steals, and for stretches showed why he might be the best player in the country. When he wanted to, he directed the offense like a coach diagramming plays, literally telling everyone on the floor where to go while he worked his magic. Wall constantly beat his man off the dribble and seemed to score at will, and had way more amazing passes than his two-assist stat line implied. He also wowed the crowd with a blocked shot that he pinned on the glass near the top of the backboard square, and dove for loose balls more than a couple of times.
NOTES
* Fred Jones of the NBA’s Knicks and Ime Udoka of the Spurs were both in the building. Jones played college ball at the University of Oregon, while Udoka is a Portland native who played at Portland State U and briefly for the Trail Blazers.
* Tyler, a 6-9 center from San Diego H.S. (Calif.) had some shining moments, but overall he was outplayed by Serbian big man Dejan Musli. The 7-foot, 255-pounder had 14 points and six boards, besting Tyler’s six points and two rebounds.
* Although this is a Nike event, the Serbian team has a contract with adidas, so they were wearing three-stripes everywhere except for their socks, which were Nike.
* Most players here are wearing Nike Hyperdunks, but Gilchrist, the St. Patrick’s (N.J.) wing, stood out with some shiny gray/blue Zoom BB II’s. On the court Gilchrist didn’t play well, finishing with one point and three turnovers. He’s obviously younger than mostly everyone here, as evidenced by his skinny frame. Against a Serbian team that looked every bit like a group of grown men, Gilchrist couldn’t get into a rhythm.
* DeShaun Thomas, who is committed to Ohio State, showed a vast array of moves in the paint to get his left-handed buckets. At 6-6 he’s a little undersized to play power forward even in college, but Thad Matta still should think about incorporating some post-ups in the playbook for Thomas.
* Look-alikes: Serbia’s Uros Lukovic looks EXACTLY like Kyle Singler pre-buzz cut. Markovic looks like a cross between Andrea Bargnani and Jason Kapono. Finally, Orton looks like Russell Westbrook’s big little brother.
[...] While all of the international teams were solid — especially Serbia, a team of mostly 19-year-old pros who were coming off a Euroleague junior championship and upset a loaded USA-3 team on the [...]