Here are three reasons why Team USA will sweep the basketball competition.
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“They are not playing as well as other times they’ve played, but they are still a very talented team individually”, Gasol said. The team were so often forced to shoot from outside but were able to convert just four from 31 three-point shots at a percentage of 13 per cent.
On Friday, in a semifinal matchup against Spain – determined to avenge losses to the U.S.in the gold-medal games in 2008 and ’12 – it was Klay Thompson’s hot hand and DeAndre Jordan’s hulking presence down low that carried the day.
Klay Thompson led the USA with 22 points and DeAndre Jordan added nine points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. But after some early defensive failures, the US has been a cohesive, well-rounded, athletic juggernaut.
“We always were on their tail”. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Serbia beat Australia 87-61 in the second semifinal.
“I am 28 years old, I am still a little young”, Jordan said.
Spain played the USA close.
“This is where we wanted to be”.
“We expected the same today, and we got it”.
“If we would have been a little sharper with our shots, moved the ball a little better, boxed out a little more – it s a two or three-possession game”. In the first quarter, Spain’s Rudy Fernandez ran into a hard screen set by DeMarcus Cousins and struggled back to his feet, clutching his chest and wincing in pain.
Both teams were called for multiple technical fouls in the tense first half.
“It was the most “different” game I’ve ever coached for the United States”, Krzyzewski said. It’s the sixth time in the last seven Olympics that the U.S. will play in the gold medal game. “But we didn’t. They took advantage of their strength”.
“But it became very sensitive”. He will probably never be the best player on his National Basketball Association team. “It was just a real different game today”, said USA coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The second half (37 points on 39 possessions) was particularly ugly.
The Los Angeles Clippers’ big man dominated the boards, pulling down a U.S. Olympic record 16 rebounds, had nine points and kept Spanish center Pau Gasol from doing more damage in a scrappy contest.
“It’s an wonderful feeling now”, center DeAndre Jordan said. Jordan earned Gasol’s respect, with the Spurs forward/center hugging Jordan afterward.
“DeAndre played a great game”.
The American women said they are taking Spain seriously even though they defeated them by a resounding 103-63 in their second game here.
In pursuit of a sixth consecutive gold medal, the world No. 1 United States encountered more resistance from feisty fourth-ranked France than it had from other opponents here.
Said Jordan, “I have one job on this team and that’s to come out and play with as much energy as I can on both ends of the court”.
“I tried to push him off the block and just play him with length”, he added.
Spain will play Australia for the bronze medal Sunday.
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“Our hearts are bleeding”, said Sergio Scariolo, who coaches Spain but whose penchant for drama marks him as indelibly Italian.
