FIBA World Championships Open Thread: Team U.S.A. vs. Russia

Team U.S.A.'s march for the gold medal at the FIBA World Championships continues today when it faces Russia (11 AM, ESPN), which figures to present quite a challenge. As John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes, Russia's size will make it a tough matchup for Team U.S.A., which has but one true center, Tyson Chandler, on the roster. Schuhmann also notes that Russia boasts the fifth-best defense of the tournament so far, thanks largely to its ability to defend the three-point line.

Though Russia's team lacks star power--Andrei Kirilenko isn't participating--it does have Knicks rookie center Timofey Mozgov, who's proven useful so far. Pete Thamel of the New York Times has more on the 7-foot-1 Mozgov here.

Discuss the game live in this thread. This is the knockout round, so a loss for Team U.S.A. will send it home. Today's winner advances to the semifinals, where it'll face the winner of the Lithuania/Argentina match. Here's the official bracket from FIBA's website.