After beating a Tony Parker-less France team by only three, it will be hard to outlast France if Team USA sees it again, especially if Parker returns.
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The U.S. won its 50th straight tournament game, but the last three have been nothing like most of the previous 47. “A win is a win”.
“We didn’t play to our expectation, but this young team played pretty good in some moments”, said veteran center Chen Nan.
The game against France was cause for concern for Team USA fans where they again only won by 3 points.
Group B is up for grabs Monday with all six teams separated by a mere two points. United States of America will play the fourth-place finisher from Group B on August 17. “There’s talent around this world and they’re showcasing it”.
This U.S. team is hardly flawless, but it’s still immensely talented and has more than enough to win the gold medal in a landslide manner.
GOLDEN SIMONE: The USA’s Simone Biles added a third gold medal to her Rio hail, easily capturing the women’s vault final. “We’ve been together for a while”.
As the United States scraped its way through group play, undefeated if uncomfortably, the question remains: Will the Americans come full circle, back to the disappointment of 2004? Despite their critics, Team USA completed the preliminary rounds with a 5-0 record. The Americans have never done that in the Olympics and are on pace to break the 102.4 points a game the 1996 team averaged en route to their gold medal that started the run of five straight that the U.S.is now on, the victory was the 44th straight in the Olympics for the Americans.
Banished to the bench earlier in the tournament, he rejoined the starting lineup Sunday and came out firing – and this time, making. Most recently, Coach K’s group outlasted France by just three points thanks to a 30-point outburst from Klay Thompson.
The United States had a chance Sunday to avoid grinding it out, up 16 with 2:23 left in the third, the kind of opportunity it hasn’t seen often in these games. “We have to learn from it”.
Nicolas Batum (FRA) of France in action with Zhou Peng (CHN) of China and Yi Jianlian (CHN) of China as Boris Diaw (FRA) of France watches.
French coach Vincent Collet said Parker was resting, but teammate Joffrey Lauvergne said the San Antonio Spurs guard had minor injury on his ankle. The few times in his life when he’s not shooting well he always plays defense well.
Parker was hardly missed because de Colo and Heurtel kept carving up a USA defense that was expected to be the team’s strength but has been vulnerable against the crafty worldwide offenses. Thompson shot 9-for-16 from the field, 7-for-13 from the 3-point line and 5-for-7 from the free throw line in a brilliant all-around performance. That’s symptomatic of a bigger problem-Krzyzewski doesn’t seem to have his rotation worked out yet, and seems uncertain about whom he can trust on both ends of the floor.
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“I feel good with that (reserve) group that I’m with”, George said of the change. I don’t care if I shoot 10 percent if we win the gold medal. “But it’s something I can build off and it helps”.
