The 2016 class under coach Mike Krzyewski may not have had quite the flair of past teams but overcame some testing group games with narrow wins over Australia, France and Serbia for another gold.
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Kyrie Irving also joined some elite company after the win, as he is now one of four players to win an Olympic gold medal and National Basketball Association championship in the same season. The U.S. especially cranked up their defense; opponents averaged 92 points against the U.S.in their last three pool play games, until the Americans clamped down defensively to allow just 73 points per game in medal play.
They were blown away though in the second quarter as the USA outscored them 33-14 to lead 52-29 at half-time. Nemanja Nedovic paced Serbia with 14 points.
There was no let-up in the third quarter as they defended sternly and attacked with intent, opening up a 36-point lead at the end of the third.
“It was a special moment for me”, Anthony said of winning his third gold.
Durant’s teammate, Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, made his own piece of Olympic history with the victory, becoming the first basketballer to win three gold medals. With his seventh rebound in the game, he surpassed David Robinson with 125 boards in his career. “It’s down to the players and I know they will leave it all out there”, Serbia’s team coach, Aleksandar Djordjevic told Serbian media in Rio.
“I committed to this in ’04”.
“I want to pass him, for sure”. The Duke University coach, a five-time National Collegiate Athletic Association title victor, will hand over to San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
“We’ve been helping in basketball around the world for 50 years”, Colangelo said.
The 10 Olympic newcomers seemed to be jelling slowly and the USA had a pair of three-point victories and came in winning by just 21.4 points per game, more than 10 per game fewer than four years ago and about half the 43.8 the Dream Team won by in 1992.
With Team USA’s win America closes Rio with a dominating performance garnering 121 over all medals with 46 golds, 37 silvers and 38 bronzes.
Paul George said he and his teammates took out their frustrations on Serbia after hearing all the talk about them being less talented than previous US squads and not blowing teams out. The 2016 men’s Olympic team always played hard, and stepped up when it counted most.
Would the US men win by more than the 29 the USA women won by against Spain a day earlier?
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Anthony, 32, brought the experience, and Durant, 27, the scoring as the USA capped their 2016 Olympic run by mauling Serbia 96-66. This wasn’t the medal they wanted, but after losing their first two games in Brazil, it beats nothing.
