Before Kevin Durant, 27, puts on a Golden State Warriors uniform, he’ll proudly wear the red, white and blue.
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While the USA Basketball Men’s National Team might be the odds-on favorite to win the gold medal at next month’s Summer Olympics in Brazil, it’s not going to be as simple as showing up on the court. The 2016 USA team will enter Rio riding a 41-game Olympic winning streak that dates back to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics bronze medal game.
[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images] It’s a small miracle George regained his status among the league’s elite following a destructive setback during 2014’s Team USA training camp.
With a squad boasting the starpower of probable starters Kevin Durant (game-high 23 points against Argentina), Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Carmelo Anthony and DeMarcus Cousins, there isn’t likely to be a repeat of that disappointment any time soon.
Against fellow National Basketball Association players Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola, as well as former National Basketball Association players Andres Nocioni and Carlos Delfino, Team USA couldn’t have looked much more dominant.
In Team USA’s 111-74 victory over Argentina in Friday’s exhibition opener, George had 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and two steals in 16 minutes off the bench.
Paul George led all scorers as he had 10 points on his own through one period.
The U.S. led by as many as 41 points and looked comfortable as these 12 teammates began to jell, even when it took a while to get into rhythm from behind the arc. We got to play everybody double-figure minutes, a lot of different combinations. Team USA set an early dominant tone by outscoring their 2004 Athens Olympic conquerors 32-14 in the first quarter. “Not only have we played together with USA Basketball, some of us play on WNBA teams together, some of us play on overseas teams together, and we all play against each other”, she said.
“I’m the defensive guy”. We’ve got three or four of them that can do that. “I’m really proud of some of my former players and the way they’ve stepped forward and spoken their conscience and expressed their feelings”. “I play this game because I love it, and you know I just play hard”. There’s really no reason they won’t and, if anything, Team USA should be crisper here than they were against the Argentinians. “Our young guys didn’t do that, so that was good”.
Team USA Basketball’s official Olympic opener will take place August 6 against Australia.
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Despite the lack of some of the NBA’s best talents, Team USA is now ranked No. 1 in the world, while China is No. 12. “This is definitely a huge step for me personally, but as a whole, it’s winning that gold”.
