The FIBA World Championship quarterfinals began with Belarus beating Russia 70-53. Wow, I did not see that coming.

Like the U.S., Russia was a perfect 6-0 through the two rounds of pool play and expected to challenge Australia in tomorrow's semifinals. It's not as if Belarus played out of their minds as it shot 49.2 percent and had 16 turnovers to 11 assists.

Yelena Leuchanka of the Atlanta Dream led Belarus with 17 points and nine rebounds and was one of four players to score in double figures.

Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Silver Stars led Russia with 16 points and former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova added 14 points.

If I know U.S. coach Geno Auriemma, he made more than a passing mention of the result of the Russia game to his team just in case they viewed a win over South Korea as little more than a formality.

The U.S./South Korea quarterfinal is just a couple minutes away and will be televised on NBA TV.