VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - It was business as usual in international basketball this year.

The United States marched to titles at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain and the FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey.

The USA dominated.

The American men's and women's teams have not lost a competitive international since 2006.

I'm going to remember their scintillating runs to my dying days.

What else happened that is unforgettable?

1. Finns. Everywhere I turned in Bilbao, where Finland played in Group C of the Basketball World Cup, were Finns wearing wolf costumes.

2. Post-game press conferences. These are informative, and sometimes funny.

This year, I had the opportunity to sit alongside all the coaches and the players and introduce them to the media. It was good fun, including one presser on 7 September. Lithuania had just beaten New Zealand and showed up at the conference with Jonas Kazlauskas and Jonas Maciulis. One journalist must have been distracted because he believed a different Jonas had shown up - Jonas Valanciunas.

When he tried to ask Valanciunas a question, the coach and Maciulis put him right. "Oh, you're not Valanciunas?" the journalist said to Maciulis. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." See that press conference and Maciulis' gold-medal winning reaction here and go to minute 12.

3. The Haka. This generated a lot of conversation. Check out how the USA received the Haka here.

4. Petteri Koponen. Surely the Finland guard is good enough to be a back-up playmaker in the NBA?

5. The biggest shock: Spain's Quarter-Final defeat to France. When the tournament hosts crashed out of the Basketball World Cup, it felt like someone had died. Also, it was the first time since 2003 that I did not get to watch Spain in person (I'd been working at games in Bilbao and Barcelona).

6. Brittney Griner's dunk against China on the opening night of the FIBA World Championship for Women in Istanbul. At the end of a long day, I was tired, hungry and needing a jolt. She provided it. What is far more appealing about Griner, though, is the tall center's soft shooting touch.

7. Nicolas Batum. Remember how he was anonymous on offense in some of the big games France played in recent years? Not so this year. Batum was downright heroic at the Basketball World Cup.

In a 90-85 Semi-Final defeat to Serbia, Batum poured in 35 points, with many coming from long range. Then in the third-place game, Batum had 27 points and led France to victory. Not surprisingly, he made the all-tournament team.

8. Diandra Tchatchouang. The French forward didn't offer much at the World Championship for Women until the last day when she mesmerized in the open floor in a win over Serbia. "I didn't feel in a good rhythm for a long time in this tournament," she told me. "I just had a better game (against Serbia). France coach Valerie Garnier would love to see Tchatchouang and her teammates get into transition more. So would I.

9. Turkey's late three-pointers. Check out the game highlights of Turkey v Finland and Turkey v Australia. Cenk Akyol and Emir Preldzic hit three-pointers that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

10. Australia overcoming adversity at the World Championship. Star center Liz Cambage suffered an Achilles tendon injury a week before the tournament but everyone stepped up, including bigs Marianna Tolo, Laura Hodges and Cayla Francis. We're going to have to wait a couple of years, but the next time the USA meet Australia, in Rio, it's going to be entertaining.

11. Sasha Djordjevic. He didn't disappoint, did he? Coaching Serbia for the first time, Djordjevic proved to be an exceptional motivator. He also did well with his pre-game preparation, and decision-making once the contests were underway. Djordjevic was also tremendous during his press conferences.

12. Cuba's Alberto Zabala and Australia's Brendan Joyce. Sometimes it's more fun watching the coach than the game.

13. Klay Thompson and Tina Charles. They didn't make the official All-Tournament team, but they made my all-tournament team.

14. The Dominicans. The performance of Orlando Antigua's squad was the surprise for me at the Basketball World Cup. I thought they would crash out early.

15. Shao Ting and China. The Chinese are going to win next year's FIBA Asia Championship for Women and become that zone's dominant team once again. It will be fun to see Shao and China in action in Rio.

16. The awe-inspiring presence of Jerry Colangelo. It's an honor to be in the same building with the man who pulls the strings for USA Basketball.

17. The volunteers. The longer I do my job, be it at Basketball World Cups, World Championships or Olympics, I realize that the volunteers are what really make these events special. Kudos to all of them.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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