2008 adidas Nations Camp: Day 4By: Aran_Smith

adidas Nations Final Day

The Championship game between the 2010 and 2009 USA squads did not disappoint as it turned out to be a back and forth affair throughout.

Once again the "stars" for 2010 came off the bench as the starters were: Ray McCallum, Trey Zeigler, LaQuinton Ross, Jared Sullinger and Evan Anderson.

Just as they had against Team Europe, this squad built a nice lead only to watch it shrink when the headliners came into the game. Why this was is hard to say, but it could be that these guys play more cohesively and better defensively than the stars.

Florida guard Brandon Knight came in with 3 minutes remaining the in first quarter and had a tremendous first half going 4-8 from the floor for 13 points helping the younger team withstand a 2009 run to keep the score even (44-44) at the half. Knight would go scoreless in the second half on 7 shots.

The 2010 bunch rolled off 10 quick points to start the second half before Peyton Siva once again took it upon himself to ignite a scoring run with a 3 pointer and a lay in. Dexter Strickland followed that with an emphatic dunk to make it a 3 point game at 65-62.

From there the game remained knotted up. The score was once again tied at 80-80 for what seemed like about the 6th or 7th tie score of the game.

Tony Wroten was relatively quiet with 10 points mostly in the second half. He knocked down a key jumper in the closing minutes and took a key charge on Lance Stephenson.

	Brandon Knight

Stephenson, who missed the semifinal was the game’s high scorer with 34 points. His steam rolling drives to the basket were highly effective as he was able to get inside against the smaller 2010 guards and make plays. He may lack great leaping ability, but he does a great job of getting defenders off balance with his crossover and then using his strength to muscle baskets inside.

In the closing minutes Brandon Knight let the clock wind down to 5 seconds and drove and kicked to Jared Sullinger who hit a 12 footer to push the lead to 6 with around a minute left.

Stephenson went down court and missed a shot but got the rebound and hit an and-1 to make it a 3 point game (93-90) with 53 seconds left.

With around 10 seconds over the shot clock the 2010 team opted to let the clock wind down as Knight drove and missed, Stephenson got the rebound and threw a beautiful outlet pass to Strickland who flushed and amazingly got fouled by Wroten with 6 seconds left.

The crowd went nuts, could overtime be on the way? Once again Strickland went to the line with the game in the balance, but unlike the night before when he hit both free throws, this time his shot kicked off the left side of the rim and SF LaQuinton Ross got the board was fouled and hit both free throws for the 95-92 thrilling victory.

Stephenson led all scores with 34, Sullinger led the 2010 squad with 24, Siva went for 16, Strickland had 14 while GJ Vilarino had 9.

Derrick Favors, Noel Johnson and Trae Golden were all missing and Joshua Smith played limited minutes.

	Lance Stephenson

The success that Stephenson has overpowering weaker players at the high school level won’t be nearly as effective at the college and pro levels unfortunately. As well as he played one NBA scout told me, "based on what I’ve seen, he’s NOT an NBA player".

So "Born Ready" should think long and hard about a college destination that will be rewarding on more than just a basketball level and plan for a few years, instead of the one and done vibes that are permeating from his "camp".

Wherever his pro career takes him, it would be unfortunate to see him take the same path that Lenny Cooke took, and give away his chance for an education to pursue a pro career far too early. Lets hope he’s able to use the system instead of letting the system use him.

*Check back Wednesday for a report of the top prospects from this year’s Nations camp.

Rosters

adidas Team Europe

2009 adidas US National Team

2010 adidas US National Team

adidas Team Canada

adidas Team Latin America

adidas Team Africa

adidas Team Asia Blue

adidas Team Asia Red

adidas College Players