FIBA Worlds Daily Three: Durant good, U.S. shaky

The U.S. has a bevy of formidable offensive options - and they are all named Kevin Durant. Make no mistake, Derrick Rose, Andre Iguodala, Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom & Co. are all outstanding NBA players, but Durant is the only prominent member of Mike Krzyzewski's rotation whose game translates beautifully to international play. (Of course, Durant's game is so fluid it would likely translate underwater, but that's another discussion for another time.) The reigning NBA scoring champ poured in 12 of the first 25 U.S. points, 19 of his squad's 43 in the first half and 27 of Team USA's 70 points on the day. Though still a month shy of his 22nd birthday, Durant is almost single-handedly carrying the U.S. hopes for a world title.

The Spurs have a reason to be excited, and that reason's name is Tiago Splitter. Yes, the U.S. is undersized, but the No. 28 pick in the 2007 Draft - who is set to join San Antonio this season - very clearly has NBA game. During one memorable sequence toward the end of the first quarter, the Brazilian center finished a dunk off a pick-and-roll, then swatted a layup attempt from a mohawked Russell Westbrook to close out the first quarter as Brazil led 28-22. Later in the game, he tossed a crafty left-handed hook (Splitter is right-handed) off glass and in against Odom. He finished the game with 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, and would have had more were it not for foul trouble. Quite simply, if given the minutes, Splitter is ready to make a notable impact in the NBA next season.

The United States: very far from invincible. The good news is that the U.S. now sits atop its group at 3-0 and has a very likely shot at a perfect group play record given the favorable matchups coming up against Iran on Wednesday and Tunisia on Thursday.

The bad news is that the U.S. trailed a talented but decidedly less imposing Brazil squad by as many as eight points, only scored nine points in the 4th quarter and gave Brazil two chances to tie in the closing seconds: the first when Marcelo Huertas went to the free throw line with 3.5 seconds left, and the second when Leandro Barbosa very nearly rattled in a high degree of difficulty layup at the buzzer. The U.S. escaped, but they'll have to play notably better if they expect to win the Weltmeisterschaft, which, in case you were wondering, is the phonetically amusing German word meaning "World Championship."