Translation: A new world.
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It didn’t seem that way in men’s Olympic basketball – until now.
This is a very well-coached ball club under the tutelage of Mike Krzyzewski and they will find a way to grind out a victory when the push comes to shove. They need to improve on physicality and not settle for so many outside shots, while also locking down the paint much better.
If not for Bogdan Bogdanovic’s missed 3-pointer with two seconds to go, Team USA may not have escaped with a 94-91 victory.
Early on, it looked like U.S. were headed for another blowout, leading 23-5 at one point in the first quarter.
“It was a good test for us, we definitely needed that”, Durant said. When we were moving the basketball early on, everything was flowing, the defense was great. At least we ended up getting a win but it was by just three points. “It’s the Olympics. They’re coming at us with everything they’ve got. That’s the way it’s going to be out here”.
Nikola Jokic scored 25 and Miroslav Raduljica 18 before fouling out for Serbia.
George said the United States of America players were “not too concerned”, adding that they were still getting to know each other and such challenges were valuable learning experiences for the medal rounds.
“We’re still scoring close to 100 points, but we’re taking 1-on-5 shots, and we’re too good for that”, George said. “The Euro guys are phenomenal with movement and cuts”. “It’s more so about how they run their offense that’s wearing us down”. It’s wearing us down. But they couldn’t get into an offensive rhythm for the first 20 minutes against Canada.
Once again, the US found itself in a close game of the fourth quarter of the men’s Olympic basketball competition. Despite the poor record, Serbia lost to the best team in the world by one possession.
But despite some uneven play there was no panic in the US camp as players treated the near upsets as learning experiences ahead of the knockout phase of the 12-team tournament. But the Serbs got a basket by Jokic and two free throws Teodosic to get within three. While the move to close the gap may have ironically cost them the win when havoc wreaking big man Miroslav Radulijica fouled out late in the fourth, it did disrupt the U.S. offense, especially late in the game when the ball began to stick and shot selection deteriorated. After a timeout, the ball wound up with Bogdanovic, who had a great look from 22 feet but was just off the mark.
Anthony, who dropped 31 points against the Aussies, will continue to carry that mantle as the leader of the team alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
The Serbs came even closer to an upset than medal hopefuls Australia, who two days earlier also hung with the U.S. for much of a 98-88 American win.
Krzyzewski, though, insists there is more global balance in hoops.
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“It’s my philosophy, but I believe San Antonio’s game showed us in the last decade how the game should be played”, he said. Australia had beaten the Serbia 95-80 earlier in the tournament. Far too often the USA fell into the trap of “iso ball”, with one player monopolizing the basketball and the other four simply standing around hoping that something would happen. The U.S. Men’s National Team would rebound slightly, outscoring Serbia by five throughout the remainder of the frame to take a 72-62 advantage into the fourth and final quarter. “They challenged us. I know we were expected to win the game and expected to be flawless”.
