So much for being the only Olympic men’s basketball superpower – Team USA has been less than the sum of their parts after winning their last two games in Rio de Janeiro by only three points apiece.
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Make sure to watch the quarterfinal games starting at 11 am Brazilian time on Wednesday and check back for more Olympic basketball coverage.
Argentina is the last team to have beaten the US in Olympic competition, in the Athens 2004 semifinal en route to the South American country’s only basketball gold.
It’s a far cry from last month, when the USA beat Argentina 111-74 in an exhibition game in Las Vegas, back when even rival teams seemed to be conceding gold to the Americans. Instead, Spain’s poor group play and quarterfinals win over France put them on an early collision course with Team USA.
Kevin Durant has big say in the outcome, leading the USA on the scoresheet with a game-high 27 points, while George had 17 and eight rebounds.
It also spells the end of global play for Argentina’s golden generation, which was led by Ginobili and included Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino, and Andres Nocioni.
When Ginobili, who plans to play one more season for the San Antonio Spurs, was replaced by coach Sergio Hernandez with 1:52 left, Argentina fans screamed one last time for a player whose impact will be felt for years. After the teams headed to their locker rooms, Ginobili returned and was presented the game ball by an Olympic official.
“We managed to raise our level of play to get to theirs”.
The Americans eliminated Argentina for the third straight Olympics, this time ending not only a tournament run for the Argentines but also a couple careers. The Americans, with four players from that team who are here in Rio, went on to win the gold against Serbia in the final. Now, whoever wins today’s quarterfinals will face off against the victor of the Spain-France match on Friday, August 19.
It was Argentina that handed the United States of America its first post-Dream Team loss, beating them in group play during the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis.
Australia started out hot and never looked back, scoring 26 points in the first quarter and then blowing the game open in the second quarter. Kevin Durant’s 27 points helped United States of America put Argentina away.
Luis Scola led Argentina with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“You know, when I get the ball, look to be aggressive whether that’s to score or pass”.
But once play began, the US rarely played up to those expectations, with one narrow victory after another as the competition toughened.
After all the talk about how Australia, Serbia and France had pushed the Americans all the way until the end of their last three wins, this was different.
They were finally in top form Wednesday.
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Maybe it sucks for DeRozan to sit, but really, can you think of anything more fun than being in Brazil for two weeks as the Jake Voskuhl of the likely gold-medal victor?
