Kevin Durant recalls the heartache of watching the 2008 US Olympic team win Beijing gold without him, so he has vowed to make the most of his chance for a golden repeat at Rio. Will China pull off the upset or will the US dunk all over the competition?
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“When they came in, it looked like there were seven guys on the court”, Krzyzewski said after Saturday’s triumph.
“All the guys, once I hit that first one, guys they knew at that point, especially from earlier in the day at shootaround”, Anthony said.
With the exception of the six games George played off the bench in April of 2015 in returning from his leg injury, the guys on that second unit have started every National Basketball Association game they’ve played for at least the last three years. The AP reported Anthony tied LeBron James, who made a decision to skip these Games, and David Robinson by playing in his 24th game in the Olympics. He’ll become the first three-time men’s basketball gold medalist if the USA win gold at the end of this tournament. If things get hard, we should be able to withstand it. This would be the fourth Olympics that Anthony is playing.
“I appreciate that. I have an unbelievable respect for Carmelo”. He certainly would be able to give Kevin Durant a challenge this olympics.
Some of that inexperience was on display on Saturday, particularly when coach Mike Krzyzewski started the second half with Kyle Lowry, Paul George, DeRozan, Jimmy Butler and DeAndre Jordan.
This one comes as a bit of a surprise because he has played for the Dominican team in the past.
Examining the opponents the U.S. Men’s Team has faced, we see an aging Argentine team led by the trio of Manu Ginobli (38), Andres Nocioni (36), and Luis Scola (36), whose cumulative age is the same number of points scored by the United States against Argentina.
The Americans’ defensive effort held China to.357 shooting from the field and a.294 mark from outside the arc. “That’s some that’s preached daily, and it’s something we accept” Cousins said.
Patty Mills top scored for the Boomers with 21 points, while Matthew Dellavedova chipped in with 10 assists. When Durant was not draining open threes, he used his size and ball handling skills to attack the weak China interior defense.
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Former NBA player Yi Jianlian, who was selected in the same NBA draft as Durant, was the high scorer for China with 25 points to go along with 5 rebounds and a block.
