At the end of the day, though, it’s not just about the 2016 gold medal.
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Whalen sank a fast break layup at the halftime buzzer to give the Americans their largest lead yet at 49-32 and Spain never trailed by less again.
But with a gold medal on the line, the Americans will still be the heavy favorites. “It’s not about one person, one coach, it’s about how can we make this the best basketballteam ever”.
“It’s one thing to do the unexpected, it’s another to do what you are expected to do year-after-year, game-after-game, quarter-after-quarter”, said Maya Moore. I don’t think they are playing as well as other times they have played [in the Olympics].
En route to the Olympic final, the United States defeated its two biggest Olympic rivals – Spain and Argentina – demonstrating why they entered the tournament at the gold medal favorites.
Only two other teams can claim such an undefeated run in an Olympic team sport.
The ride to get to the 2016 Rio Olympics men’s basketball gold medal game has certainly been anything but calm.
Where, when and how can you catch the Men’s Basketball Gold Medal Game between the USA and Serbia? The games that we do, we do.
Sunday will be Anthony’s final Olympic game. The whole tournament was so tough. “But unfortunately we’re not going anywhere”. “I think the attitude and example they set is probably one that the next group is going to benefit from more than anything else”.
“If you just took us out of the tournament, this would be an incredible tournament”. It’s a long time that Spanish basketball is working so hard. “I think it’s because women’s basketball just keeps getting stronger in the US”.
United States coach Geno Auriemma said even as global rivals improve, so does the U.S. committment to excellence.
“This medal pays off so much work these past years”. It was a rematch of the 2008 Olympic Final, which we will mention in a second.
For Spain, the silver was their first medal in Olympic women’s basketball. More relevant, these countries played in the group stage in Rio and Team USA won 94-91.
In the second half, it was only a matter of settling the final margin and seeing some highlight-reel USA moves, notably an alley oop slam dunk by DeMar DeRozan early in the fourth quarter. “Whatever Sue says, just having her on the floor, regardless the amount of time we can call on her, believe me the comfort level with our team and coaches went up 100 percent”.
“As far as the future goes, I feel really confident about it”.
The players took the criticism on board to prevail. But there may not be very much room for error; Serbia kept its last game against the United States of America to within three points, and the defense it played against Australia suggests that the Americans will have to fight hard for every open shot they get. The European champions, ranked 14th in the Olympic tournament, felt vast pressure to win a medal for a country where basketball is one of the most popular sports.
“The biggest moment will be when we come to Serbia”.
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“It’s made this journey a little sweeter now that we’re in the gold-medal game”, star forward Kevin Durant said.
