USA, seeking its third straight gold medal, will face Spain on Friday.
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It’s Team USA vs. Team Argentina in the August 17 men’s basketball quarterfinals at the Rio 2016 Olympics!
As Kevin Durant was alone in his room Wednesday, he made a decision to approach Team USA’s game against Argentina in an unorthodox way. Argentina is playing with same four players that were there during 2004, but U.S. isn’t the same team that trounced in battle in Beijing and London. They don’t have to play in that city or play for that team. With the preliminary games finishing up, and the semifinals knockout stage about to begin, can Australia find a way to deal a stunning blow to U.S., in the sport that the United States has lorded over for 20 years?
Spain, which won the 2006 FIBA World Cup and the European championship in 2009, 2011 and 2015, has never won gold at the Olympics.
The best part of the rematch? “When you have fans like that, it’s incredible, man, for both teams”.
“We brought the energy and the passion tonight”, said Kevin Durant, who led all USA scorers with 27 points, including making 7 of 9 attempts beyond the 3-point line. He also added three rebounds in his limited minutes.
It was anything but easy at the start.
Against Australia, Serbia and France, the United States is playing twice as much isolation hoops in the second half as it is in the first half.
In front of a chanting, flag-waving crowd of Argentines who came to throw a raucous farewell party for their Golden Generation, the Americans delivered their most complete performance in Rio.
Durant hit a 3-pointer early in the second quarter that helped the Americans start the period on an 11-0 run.
It’s serious now. The USA will take on Manu Ginobili and the old heads from Argentina.
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Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski made a big lineup change by flip-flopping DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan, but at first that didn’t pay dividends as the defense continued to struggle and Argentina ran out to a 19-9 lead. The intensity, no doubt sparked by desperation and the thought of global embarrassment that comes with not winning Olympic gold, spiked in a mesmerizing way. “They were very kind, very respectful and when legends of the game showed their respect, it has an extra value”. Ginobili was given a curtain call in the game’s final minutes, with fans, teammates and opponents all showing respect to a man who will certainly be a Hall of Fame inductee down the line.
