The new Golden State Warriors star scored 30 points four years ago in the gold-medal game, when the Americans held off Spain. 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.
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“When they came in, it looked like there were seven guys on the court”, Krzyzewski said after Saturday’s triumph.
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.
But there is pressure as well. Among 18 Olympics basketball played, the team took home 14 gold medals, 1 silver, 2 bronze and missed out just one chance against Argentina in 2004. Anthony said this will be his final Olympics.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said this squad has already bonded as much as any of the three US teams he has led in the Olympics. So that game shouldn’t be close, and it might be a while before they get one – if they get one – that is. “And I never want to experience it again”. With Krzyzewski retiring after Rio, that just adds to the United States pressure to give him a triumphant sendoff.
“When we do sub, there’s no drop-off”, assistant coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We control our own destiny”.
“It was disappointing when I didn’t make that team”, Durant said.
“It’s good. We live life”.
But from a fan’s perspective, I’m not too anxious about Team USA’s prospects in these games, and nothing in a 57-point win will have me feeling otherwise. She also became just the 11th US player to reach that number of appearances.
Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving finished with12 points and five assists. “Every team is here for a reason”. “So there’s a lot of things we did well, but I’m sure there are things that we could do a little bit better”.
“I know it is going to be different here”.
“You realize the history, the work that has come before you”.
China features former National Basketball Association center Yi Jianlian and 2016 second-round draft picks Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin.
“We just wanted to send a statement to the rest of the world”, Anthony said. “But it can happen”.
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“They played their tails off against us and made us better”, offered Durant in the sincerest tone he could muster. That’s something we’ve accepted as a team. “As far as the NBA championship goes, as long as I’m in this league, I have the opportunity to go win an NBA championship or try to compete to win an NBA championship”.
