Serbia, which missed the 2008 and 2012 Games, never found their rhythm of typical teamwork and failed to pose real threat in the remaining time. “The more interest in basketball on all levels, I’m for”.
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On Sunday, August 21st, in the Olympics’ final sports competition, the us, who have dominated the medal table since the Games began seventeen days ago, fittingly won the last gold medal of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
A Serbian team that tested the U.S. squad before falling 94-91 in a group stage game – the closest call in the Americans’ Olympic win streak – stayed close for barely a quarter before the National Basketball Association playmakers began going wild.
Would the US men win by more than the 29 the USA women won by against Spain a day earlier?
The U.S. women rubber-stamped their credentials as an Olympic dynasty when they claimed a sixth straight gold on Saturday with a 101-72 rout of Spain that ran their Games winning record to a staggering 49-0. He had already become the leading scorer earlier in the tournament, capping an Olympic career that began with disappointment as a member of the US team that finished third in 2004.
Cousins had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the first half, which ended with the Americans ahead 52-29 and playing like the flamboyant side most expected to see once the roster was named.
“The main thing is the memories”, Krzyzewski said.
As the Americans linked arms to step onto the medal stand, they left no doubt about how much they cared.
The U.S. men have always been an unstoppable force, taking gold in 15 of the 18 Olympics in which they have participated.
The nation desperately needed something to celebrate after demoralizing World Cup and Copa America failures and a host of economic, political and health woes that dominated the lead-up to South America’s first Olympics.
They dropped three games in the group stage but had the look of a team that could challenge the Americans after almost knocking them off earlier in the tournament and overwhelming Australia in the semifinals.
A far cry from the 91 points that Serbia scored against the U.S.in group play, in the gold medal final, the club could only muster 43 points after three quarters, leading to the inevitable 96×66 win. “They did a great job”, Djordjevic said.
A challenging year for the Americans started long before they boarded the cruise ship they stayed on while in Rio.
MIXED BAG: Brazil managed to pull off South America’s first Olympics under hard economic and political conditions, with the competitions, venues, athletes, friendly hosts, TV images and Rio’s scenic backdrops all rising to the occasion.
“The US coaching staff may be the best in the world, so some of our guns were not loaded as in the first game”. The Americans averaged a 22.5-point winning margin in the tournament.
Yet on Sunday, the Americans did.
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Pau Gasol scored 31 points in perhaps his Olympic farewell and Spain added a bronze to its collection on Sunday with the win over Australia, painfully denied its first medal inside the rings. Patty Mills scored 30 and David Andersen 15 for the Aussies, who played nearly the entire second half without Andrew Bogut.
