Far less pleasant for the latest assemblage of Team USA hoopsters to stomach is the growing realization that even their dream scenario here at the Summer Olympics, which was presumed to be pretty attainable, continues to dribble out of reach.
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The Americans pushed the lead to as many as 11 in the second, but France’s guard play kept them in it, especially once the starters for both sides returned to the game.
While talented individually, this group practiced together for the first time less than a month ago, and they’re playing teams with considerable global experience with core players.
Whereas Team USA has just four players on this squad who took part in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, just two who were part of the gold medal winning team in 2012 in London, continuity abounds when it comes to their rivals.
Chris Goulding led Australia with 22 points.
“It’s important that we closed it, which means we can beat Team USA”.
Team USA will now enter the knockout portion of the Olympic schedule, which starts Wednesday.
What they do know – even before group play is completed – is that they’re going to have to play better than they have for the past week. Even without the injured Marc Gasol, Spain’s entire lineup has been drafted by an National Basketball Association team.
With a ten point lead three minutes into the second quarter, Coach K went with wholesale lineup changes, putting his starting unit back in the game.
Durant scored nine of the United States’ first 19 points thanks to some nifty moves toward the basket and open transition opportunities.
After a scary escape in a thrilling match against the Australian Boomers, team United States of America was forced to pull another rabbit out of their hat in their last match against Serbia.
The Americans responded well to the threat, as they did against Australia – although less so against Serbia, as they held on for a three-point victory. And they did, quite literally – committing two technical fouls while building a 16-point first quarter lead. The U.S. took two ball-dominant point guards and a variety of isolation-favoring jump shooters (and two centers) to Rio and apparently never bothered to figure out how to make them work together.
As the No. 1 seed, Team USA will play the No. 4 seed in Group B.
France played like a team that wasn’t scared.
Defense is supposed to be this team’s calling card.
Ultimately, there are two scenarios at play here.
Added French veteran Boris Diaw, Gobert’s new teammate with the Utah Jazz: “They haven’t been dominating, but they haven’t lost either”.
“This isn’t a tournament that we’re going to just dominate”, Paul George said, via the Associated Press.
They look beatable, and the world knows it.
Klay Thompson ended an Olympic-long slump with seven 3-pointers and 30 points, and the Americans needed nearly all of them to hold off France 100-97 on Sunday.
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Ultimately, the Americans likely have too many good scorers to be defeated. Kyrie Irving notched a double-double with 10 points and 12 of Team USA’s 32 assists, and while Carmelo Anthony started cold, he hit several key threes in the fourth quarter to finish with 10 points. “But what people always forget, you must play very good on offence”.
