I’m here today three gold medals later.
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It was a close contest to start, as the US led 19-15 after one, before Kevin Durant came to life.
Kevin Durant gave Golden State Warriors fans goose bumps, showing he still belongs among the NBA’s elite.
Overall, the Americans outscored Serbia 33-14 in the second quarter of action.
He described his third Olympic gold as “a special moment”, adding: “I’ve seen the worst and I’ve seen the best”.
Cousins had 13 points and 15 rebounds in the game.
They won by almost 40 points a game, but fell short of the record 102.4 points the 1996 team averaged.
Although it went unbeaten, the U.S. was played a little too close for comfort in most of its Rio Games.
After the game, Anthony told NBC’s Rosalyn Gold-Onwude that the Rio tournament would be his last. I knew (a backlash) was coming. “I committed to something”. Anthony said. “I’ve seen both sides of it”. The Americans won 46 gold medals.
Of the newcomers, DeMarcus Cousins provided the USA a big spark off the bench. Anthony, 32, chose to play with the USA team in a summer in which close friends LeBron James, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade either passed on the chance to play or were sidelined by injury.
He now hands the reins over to San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, the longest tenured active coach in both the National Basketball Association and all United States major sports leagues.
One of Colangelo’s first moves was to hire Mike Krzyzewski as his head coach, and since that point USA Basketball has strengthened its position as the best in the world.
The victory was the 53rd consecutive for Team USA, including 25 in a row in Olympic play.
Earlier in the day, Spain won the bronze medal with an 89-88 win over Australia. This team was often criticized for its lack of its lack of ball movement and a propensity for too much 1-on-1 basketball on offense. The one color of Olympic medal he lacked in his illustrious career finally is his. The Serbian women’s basketball team won bronze on Saturday.
Nemanja Nedovic scored 14 points to lead Serbia to the silver medal.
Throw in two-time gold medalists Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Angel McCoughtry – who should all be back in 2020 – and there is another strong nucleus to build on for the Tokyo Games. With DeRozan’s medal, USC athletes earned a total of 21 medals in Rio, including nine gold medals.
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2016 marks the end of the line for Anthony and Coach K, but not the end of USA Basketball. The coach will be different, the roster will be different, but the goal always remains the same.
