FIBA Worlds Daily Three: U.S. undefeated, still not unstoppable

The U.S. won by 37... and we learned very little. ESPN commentator Fran Fraschilla likened Wednesday's U.S.-Iran matchup to a No. 2 seed vs. a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A fair assessment, though we probably would have gone with No. 1 vs. No. 16. One of many signs that this game was going to get decidedly out of hand came late in the first quarter, when Iranian center Hamed Haddadi - an NBA backup who averaged 1.7 points for the Grizzlies last season - attempted a contested, leaning, slow-motion three-pointer. It was one of approximately 72 jumpers Haddadi shot en route to 19 entertaining but not particularly efficient points in an 88-51 loss. For the U.S., the win means a 4-0 record and a guaranteed first-place finish in Group B, but in terms of their tournament outlook, it doesn't signal any drastic change. Even though they won by 37 on Wednesday, the narrow escape against Brazil on Monday is a hovering reminder that this team is still far from invincible.

Big brother is watching. On Tuesday, we mentioned that a struggling Spain team was very clearly missing Pau Gasol (groundbreaking, we know). Pau's brother Marc most likely did not have time to read that blog post, but he is doing everything he can to verify the age-old adage that one Gasol is better than none. After scoring 25 with eight rebounds in a win over Lebanon Wednesday, Gasol 2.0 is averaging 18.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the tournament, including 21.7 points in his last three games.

Welcome back Krstic. Before this summer, Nenad Krstic was just another NBA center. Then he became an NBA center who happened to occasionally throw chairs in massive European basketball melees. On Wednesday, Krstic made his 2010 Worlds debut after a three-game suspension, leading Serbia to a win over Australia with 14 points and 10 rebounds. It should be noted that he also registered a zero in another very important category: items of thrown furniture.