Australia also rolls out top perimeter players in Matthew Dellevedova and Patty Mills, who’s the second-leading scorer in the tournament at 21.2 points a game. The Serbians can claim that their most recent medal was in the 1998 Seoul, Korea games when it was Yugoslavia.
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“This is where we wanted to be”, Kevin Durant said.
The Americans were tested once again, but held off rival Spain on Friday afternoon, 82-76, extending the Olympic win streak to 24 games.
“We got one game, and that’s what we came here for”, four-time Olympian Carmelo Anthony said. And by the end of the game, he had 16 rebounds. “We’re still not there”.
“We always were on their tail. He played a great game, and we wouldn’t be playing for the gold medal if DeAndre didn’t play that well”. Jordan went up to contest the shot, as he had all day.
Coming here, Spain figured to be the American’s worthiest foe.
Jordan, 28, might not have even won a place on the team if not for the decision of several higher-profile players to bow out of these Games. Team USA was disqualified from the event because of a baton mishap when it passed the baton outside the zone.
Spain made just 8-of-26 three-pointers (31 percent). U.S. led 26-17 after the first quarter as they grabbed six offensive rebounds in the quarter, compared to Spain’s one.
Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo credited Jordan and the US defense with throwing his team off its game. “It’s like when somebody has 50 times your budget and you still manage to compete, which is acceptable”.
“Our hearts right now are bleeding”, Scariolo said. “It’s painful. But I’m really proud of our team”.
Of course, the Americans are favored to win Gold and they already hammered the Spanish in group play. But despite the fact they never trailed, they also never truly took over.
It’s a young US team with precious little Olympic experience. They thought it would be Cirque de Soleil on hardwood, a breeze. “So we’re looking forward to playing”. Still not a finished product, but close enough.
“We understand it won’t be easy”, U.S. guard Kyrie Irving said. “We know what’s at stake”. “We’re really focused on the game at hand and not what lies ahead after that”. That’s what this feels like.
I was high on Australia until what I saw Friday. “Expect a great effort from all of us”. “We just have to keep our poise and not worry about it”. Adjustments while learning to play with one another.
That came in part because the officiating crew, which Krzyzewski called one of the best the United States has dealt with, called no fewer than six – six! – technical fouls in the first half. The Americans got hit, the Spaniards got hit. So take the eye test and assessments of whether they have achieved a particularly aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball here.
Before the start of the second half, the officials called the teams together and told both to “Just play basketball”. You looked at them amusing, they T’d you up. “We were too happy to be in the final”, Teodosic said. But when you get older, it’s little bit harder.
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So play time is over for the Americans. “We have revenge to take against Serbia who beat us past year at the European championship final, so we really want to go get this medal”, said captain and center Isabelle Yacoubou. He deserves, and needs a break. And then PG can go home and get back on his beloved boat and fish for crappie and whatever else he can hook.
