I’m excited for me, but also for the other guys who have never experienced anything like this. They only failed to take the title three times, to the Soviet Union in the 1972 Munich Games and at Seoul in 1988, where they wound up third, just like in Athens, when Argentina won the gold. “When you have 12 superstars against you, you can not wait for them to attack. You just want to keep the legacy going”. Serbia, meanwhile, returned nine players from the team that lost to the U.S.in ’14. As if it would have sat any better here, these players certainly not thrilled by the prospect of sacrificing their summers and coming this far to be the Buffalo Bills.
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This year’s competition was not an easy one for the Americans, as they had numerous close calls with most of their opponents and criticism over the lack of key players, who were out because of rest or injury.
On the podium wearing his third Olympic gold medal, Anthony, who led this inexperienced US team from the moment it first gathered weeks ago in Las Vegas, pointed toward one end of Carioca Arena, to the spot where the American flag was about to rise.
OK, let me get this straight.
Serbia certainly had a chance Sunday. They have won 49 consecutive games in the Olympics with only one of those decided by single digits.
Sorry, but sitting here – even knowing the Serbs nearly beat the Americans in pool play – it was hard to believe this gold medal was anything other than a conclusion as foregone as the topic of God eventually coming up in church. All together. As a group, like a class at the YMCA.
“I know this is the end”. This is basketball, a game of the streets, not synchronized swimming, a game of the geeks. Team USA led Serbia by 36 points after the third quarter.
By the time Lindsay Whalen’s layup just beat the halftime buzzer, the USA led 49-32 and Spain had just two baskets in the final 6:55 of the half. “We said it was a learning experience”.
OK, he didn’t really say that, but how great would it have been if he had? Those efforts led to 46 gold medals at the XXXI Olympiad.
“I think the way these players have felt, they’re given an opportunity to play for their country and you make the most of it”. On Sunday, to round out the men’s basketball games, Spain defeated Australia in the bronze medal game.
The Americans had a rocky start to the game in the first quarter when Serbia mucked up the proceedings by fouling the U.S.in transition and keeping the USA from developing an offensive rhythm.
There were close victories against Serbia, France and Australia in pool play. They are Serbian, after all. I’m not saying (because of) margin of victory.
See what happens when a basketball game gets stretched out like the waistband on a pair of Charles Barkley’s boxers. We only beat these guys by three last time. The thing is, when one of those players is feeling it as Durant was Sunday, even that brand of basketball looks effective. Krzyzewski will take a step back into a special advisor role as San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich takes the lead for 2020.
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Meanwhile, I was left to lament my decision to watch our National Basketball Association players pound a bunch of meatballs when there was a helping of genuine Mongolian beef available, underwear – quite mercifully – included.
