They will look back on Turkey as a worthwhile experience.

Against all expectations, Russia, who needed a wild card just to play in the 24-team event, made it to the Quarter-Finals and pushed a heavily-favored Team USA hard before succumbing to an 89-79 defeat.

"Our guys went out there, showed a lot of heart and gave it everything they had," Russia coach David Blatt said.

While Russia weren't able to win and make it four teams from Europe in the Semi-Finals, they did make quite an impression in their last-eight clash.

Early on, Russia looked as if they might be about to spring a big upset against a team loaded with NBA stars, one that is hungry to win a first world title since 1994 in Toronto.

Sergey Bykov's opening three-pointer and some stunning first-half play by giant center Timofey Mozgov and young guard Dmitriy Khvostov allowed the Russians to go in front by five.

They were still ahead midway through the second quarter when the opponents found their rhythm, went on a 12-0 to seize the momentum and ultimately claimed a 10-point triumph.

"I know that a lot of them have gotten better in our program," Blatt said of his players.

"It's been an enormous success for us. We weren't necessarily favorites to come out of our group but made it to the final eight, gave the Americans a good run for their money. It's been an enormously successful championship for us."

Russia didn't have Andrei Kirilenko or JR Holden, and they didn't play Viktor Khryapa at the World Championship, even though he was in the squad.

CSKA Moscow, Khryapa club, didn't give their blessing for the team's best player to compete due to injury-related concerns.

All three were the leading figures in the EuroBasket 2007 gold medal-winning team.

Russia did have young players eager to make a mark in the game.

One was Sasha Kaun, the team's starting center who went to high school in Florida and won an NCAA title with the Kansas Jayhawks.

"We proved a lot of people wrong by getting out of our group and getting this far," Kaun said.

"I'm really happy."

"This was really good for us looking ahead to the EuroBasket next year. We have a young team and will get better and better with each year."