Pau Gasol paced Spain with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds. The difference was the defense, which has taken a dramatic step forward in the elimination rounds.
Advertisement
Friday’s matchup is a rematch of the last two Olympic gold medal games, both won by the United States. “This is going to be a great game between great teams and great players alike”.
After an easy game against Argentina to open up the knockout stage, Team USA looked to get back to their dominating ways as they headed into a semi-final match with fellow juggernaut Spain.
For a while during these Olympics, though, it seemed like the USA men’s basketball team was stuck in some kind of Olympic time warp, complete with a maritime theme.
Entering the 2016 Rio Olympics, the hope for the men’s basketball tournament for all fans hoping for a great game was that Team USA and Spain would wind up squaring off. Cousins had been plagued with foul trouble for almost the entire Olympics run, preventing him from ever establishing rhythm; he fouled out in less than 11 minutes against Spain.
He finished with nine points, 16 rebounds and four blocks in his second start of the Olympics. If the Warriors do not win more than 73 games, it will be a letdown.
“I know for us, it’s one game or nothing”. The game features numerous same faces the 2012 fixture: Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Pau Gasol, Jose Calderon. Carmelo Anthony, on the other hand, continued a string of brutal offensive performances, going just 2-11 from the floor overall, including 1-of-4 from downtown, with just seven points.
We probably shouldn’t expect Team USA to start playing like the Warriors at this point.
The teams’ shooting percentages are near-identical, but the approaches differ. They have their key players from ’08 and ’12. “I just (feel) like if we had been a little sharper with our shots, if we would have moved the ball a little better, if we would have boxed out more, and make it a two- or three-possession game, then you’re talking about a whole different story”.
He accepts that the ball won’t find him all that often, and he still plays with energy without the ball, setting screens and rolling to the rim, pulling in defenders and opening up shooters.
Yoshida was trying to become the second woman to ever win four Olympic gold medals in a single event across four Summer Games, and the second wrestler to win four Olympic golds.
In the final period Team USA finally broke through.
If it is, he went out with a bang, nearly single-handedly carrying the Spanish offense, to the tune of 23 points, eight rebounds, and two assists on 9-for-19 shooting. And that’s when one of them separated himself from the pack.
The quote very insightful, and at the United States of America practice today, Durant and head coach Mike Krzyzewski interpreted the message.
“We’ve been battling against them for a long time”, Spain point guard Ricky Rubio said.
Neither did the U.S. It’s going to get tougher as we go along, so we have to be prepared.
Advertisement
Spain already is without Marc Gasol, who broke his foot during the National Basketball Association season, but after the win over Argentina, Krzyzewski was asked how he planned to deal with the Gasol brothers.
