Five-time defending champion United States seeks a 48th consecutive Olympic women’s basketball victory and a Rio finals berth Thursday against a France squad trying to avenge a 2012 Olympic final defeat.
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But when you’ve been the point guard for the U.S. national team dating back 16 years, running the show at every major global competition since 2002, and the team has not lost an Olympic game in all that time, it’s not surprising that the sight of Bird on Thursday would be disorienting for the U.S. The sight of Bird walking out in her navy team warm-up suit unable to play in the American team’s semifinal against France because of a sprained right knee capsule might have even felt like an unprecedented opportunity for France, which had five or six players and coaches standing and watching the U.S. layup line before the game as if they couldn’t believe their luck.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – It’s rare to see the USA women’s basketball team struggle during the Olympics. With the USA national team clinging to a three-point lead over Spain Saturday, Geno Auriemma deployed an all-Husky lineup.
“I think that (practice) helped us”, said coach Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke legend who took over the national team in 2005, is 58-1 since (including 51 consecutive wins; 23 in the Olympics) and will retire as national team coach after this game.
Bird, of course, is one of the best point guards in WNBA (and women’s basketball) history, which makes her impossible to replace, but the rest of Team USA is so talented – and so well instructed by UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma – that it’s still hard to imagine the Americans losing, whether Bird – who is listed as day-to-day – plays or not. The U.S. outscored France 25-8, extending a 40-36 halftime lead to 65-44 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Basketball is cyclical, Auriemma said, praising the teams from France, Spain and Serbia by name, and predicting Australia, Russia and Brazil will rise up again.
France hung tough in the first half, keeping it close as US led just 40-36 at half-time. But even if she plays, she won’t be at 100 percent, and point guard is the one position in which the U.S.is lacking.
There never really was any doubt that the US would win the gold in Rio.
The U.S. had cruised through its first six games, winning by almost 42 points a game and scoring at a record pace. “I mean, when you think, that’s 20 years of 20 years”, Auriemma said. But once we got a little bit comfortable there in the third quarter, we got some separation.
Those questions were answered in the form of a 105-78 rout against Argentina as the US extended their Olympic winning streak to 23 games.
For Taurasi and Bird, it was probably their final game as teammates and the their final game under their former college coach.
The gold medal was the sixth straight for Team USA and its Olympic winning streak is now 49 dating to a semifinal loss in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992, two years before first-time Olympian Breanna Stewart was born.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Leaning over, hands on her knees and cheering at every chance, injured US star Foluke Akinradewo could only watch.
Griner said she learned a lot from the three veterans. France controlled the quick tempo of the game, but Team USA kept its momentum going with yet another three-pointer from Taurasi and seven points from Maya Moore.
“I’m just really happy”, Bird said. The trio drew even with United States of America legends Teresa Edwards and Lisa Leslie with the four gold medals. With her or without her, the US women just keep rolling on.
Taurasi led the way with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
“We had to do it in a shorter timeframe but the players that we have are maybe the most versatile group that we had in a long time”, he said.
Bird and Lindsay Whalen are the only true point guards on the roster, and while Whalen is one of the world’s best, she can’t play the whole game.
Bolt has eight Olympic gold medals and the chance for a ninth as part of Jamaica’s 4×100-meter relay today, when he’s aiming to complete a triple-triple of golds at the Summer Games. The French cut the lead to 11 in the fourth, but could get no closer. He also had some role in the exclusion of UT great Candace Parker from this team, though he laid that responsibility on the selection committee. “You know the first one was ’96 and here we are 2016”.
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BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Brazil’s Alison and Bruno won the men’s beach volleyball gold medal on Thursday night, rallying from deficits in both sets to beat Italy in a steady rain.
