In my last article I said that Australia would provide Team USA with their toughest competition in pool play, but I did not think that Australia would push the US until the final minutes.
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Australia might be the team to beat besides the United States.
Diana Taurasi knocked down a personal Olympic best six 3-pointers and finished with 25 points as the United States took a big step Wednesday toward the quarterfinals, routing Serbia 110-84.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The blowouts are over. The Olympics are underway.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – With the United States in danger of losing for the first time since 2006, National Basketball Association stars Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving took command Wednesday to subdue stubborn Australia at the Rio Olympics.
The halftime break seemed to help recharge United States of America, which started the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 58-54 lead, holding a small advantage most of the second half, though Australia kept hanging around until a dagger 3-pointer from Irving with US nursing a 90-86 lead with 1:37 left.
“We knew going into [the game against the US] that we had to be physical with them defensively and get them out of their comfort zone”, Mills said.
“We expected a game like this”, said Anthony, who was on the team in 2004 the last time the USA lost a game in the Olympics.
Carmelo Anthony is now the top scorer for Team USA in Olympic men’s basketball history.
He also called the Australians, who start five NBA players and feature two former NBA players on their bench, “role players”: “These guys are role players in the NBA”. Australia could have made basketball history by nearly causing the world’s number one ranked team a major upset. They play as one. “It definitely got real”. Andrew Bogut tallied 15 points, and Matthew Dellavedova turned in a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards. They almost became the first team to knock off the Americans in the Olympics since Krzyzewski took over in 2005.
The battle of the last winless men’s basketball teams in Group A went down to the wire as Venezuela squeaked past China 72-68 Wednesday night to take another step toward advancing. Anthony broke Robinson and James’ all-time record for games played in the previous game and thus will continue to set a new mark in each game he plays in. Then the Aussies gave the team ranked No. 1 all it could handle.
The victory means France, which has yet to face China or the Americans, is likely to finish third in the table and face a possible semi-final against the USA.
The Americans were out of synch in the first half, at least partially because Australia executed its game plan to near perfection. Venezuela gave America a good run for their money, but their contest against Australia was far more hard than they had thought.
More accurately, Anthony was outstanding from the arc (9-for-15), rescuing a poor night from everyone else.
The one two punch of Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving carried the U.S.in crunch time, scoring every point in the fourth quarter.
Irving once considered playing for Australia, where he was born while his father was playing there professionally.
Dellavedova drew George’s ire early, goading the Team USA forward into a technical foul just minutes into the contest.
Hero: Anthony not only had a game-high 31 points but was diving on the floor for loose balls and leading by example.
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They’ve said it won’t come easily.
