One might think that beating the USA in a Basketball World Cup is a great thing. But the past two decades have shown that triumph over the Americans can also be almost a curse. And, Lithuania became the last victim.
Lithuania shocked the basketball world by scoring more than 100 points in a huge 110:104 victory over the USA. But, after the victory against the USA, Lithuania was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Cup even though it was considered the favorite against Serbia. The Lithuanians were completely dominated and lost 87:68 to Serbia, who advanced to the semi-finals. The Lithuanian representative insisted after the loss to Serbia that the euphoria of defeating the USA was long forgotten before the quarterfinals.
"The match against the USA, as you can see now, means nothing. Just history", said Tadas Sedekerskis afterwards. "Now we have no chance to fight for a medal."
However, the "basketball gods" have not been kind to the teams that have defeated the USA in recent World Cups. The American's level of defeat, as well as the physical and mental strain, have proved too difficult to recover from and refocus on the next knockout match. A look through the recent history books actually shows that teams that have beaten the USA have been beaten by a wide margin of points in the next game. Greece in 2006 shocked the world when it defeated the USA 101:95 in the semifinals, shocking a team composed of stars such as: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard, all 24 or younger. However, the Greeks were then defeated in the final by Spain with a deep score of 70:47. In the last World Cup, France eliminated the Americans in the quarterfinals 89:79. But "Les Bleus" were then defeated by Argentina with a score of 80:66 in the semi-finals. It's also Argentina that made history in 2002 by becoming the first team to beat a USA team made up of NBA stars since they were allowed to play a decade earlier. This Argentina win came in the last match of the second group stage. The South Americans defeated Brazil in the quarter-finals and Germany in the semi-finals, before succumbing to the former Yugoslavia in the final. The 2002 champions, the former Yugoslavia, are the last team to beat the USA in an elimination round at the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals and went on to win the tournament. Since then the curse has been deadly for other representatives. And now Greece 2006 and France 2019 are in the same company as Lithuania.
