And he’s the guy that US head coach Mike Krzyzewski leans on as much as any player he’s had on the national team.
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If it made an impression on us, it made a much deeper one on Kevin Durant, who really got fascinated by the intense pride and unity the two sides showed – and wish some of it would rub off back home.
Usain Bolt already has two gold medals from the Olympic Games in Rio, and will be competing for a third one Friday in the men’s 4×100 meter relay finals at 9:35 p.m. ET.
This is where Thompson can be an overwhelming for the worldwide teams. It overwhelmed Argentina from start to finish, pulling away early for a 105-78 victory behind 27 points from Kevin Durant. “The other guy, these guys will have to guard”.
Spain has established itself as the world’s second-best team with silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. The U.S. won that one by 36 points, but had a much harder time in this one without Bird. Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan started over DeMarcus Cousins, who had started the first five games, to give the US a stronger defensive presence inside.
First, this is just an extension of the “process over outcome” that coaches talk about all the time. After a slow start to the Olympics, the Pau Gasol-led Spaniards have turned it on the past few games, blasting past France earlier on Wednesday. A large part of that can be attributed to Jordan’s insertion into the starting lineup, sending DeMarcus Cousins to the bench.
Thompson missed all six of his 3s against Argentina and is now 3-of-22 from deep in the five non-France games.
The other two Warriors didn’t have strong performances for Team USA. Their offense isn’t bad, as they’re now fifth in scoring in Rio (74.1 points per game), but they aren’t beating the Americans in a shootout.
What changed can be credited a lot to how Jordan protected the paint and was able to be more effective in covering pick-and-rolls, but the team also seemed to communicate much better.
“It is impossible to beat them”, said Spain forward Laura Nicholls. That helped the American players chase around screens and survive when they switched on the perimeter.
Thompson scored 17 points in the first half to spark the Americans to a 45-39 half-time advantage.
With an 82-76 win, the US sent Spain to the bronze medal game and secured an opportunity to play for its third straight gold medal. It wasn’t a great strategy and it wasn’t a strong way to close the game, but the defense was good enough throughout the contest to make it work.
In the first game against the Americans, Torrens dropped 20 points; on Saturday she’ll have another chance to (re) introduce herself to the U.S.
Of course, the USA has always taken a lot of pride in sports, from Jesse Owens to the Miracle On Ice to the Redeem Team to this year’s Final Five gymnasts. It’s not like he wasn’t a potent scorer before, but those last three games in Turkey were him going into full flamethrower mode on a team that had plenty more scoring talent.
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The problems that plague the US are an advantage for Spain, and vice versa.
