On a day that opened with a surprise in the men’s Olympic basketball tournament – Australia upsetting medal-hopeful France – Team USA quickly set things right in its opener with a dominant win over China, 119-62.
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He will become the first USA man to play in four Olympics, and if the Americans medal he will leave Rio de Janeiro as the most decorated men’s basketball player ever.
Team USA will be in action again on Monday against Venezuela.
The last time the US men’s basketball team failed to win gold at the Olympics was in Athens in 2004, and that was the only time.
The U.S. women’s team are one of the great Olympic dynasties, going for a sixth consecutive gold medal and riding a 41-0 unbeaten run that stretches back to the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
“The warmup series helped us a lot, and gave more experience to our young players”, said Yi Jianlian, a former National Basketball Association player. Durant with the individual star with his 3-point shooting, but there were plenty of contributors beyond the Slim Reaper that helped United States of America run away with the victory. “Just because they haven’t been here before, or they might not be MVPs, or 10-time all-stars, that’s OK, we got some damn good players on this team”.
The United States never looked to be in danger, taking a 30-10 lead after the first quarter. Irving took over as a facilitator during the first half, finding Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant for multiple buckets. Of their 38 made field goals, 31 were assisted. “We can learn about how far we are away from those top-level teams”, said Gong.
There were flags waving and fans singing, the festive scene in the stands more interesting to watch than the game.
Not to mention the difficulty many basketball players must have literally fitting into the Olympic Village accommodations. The 2014 FIBA World Cup MVP started the game at point guard for the U.S. “We accept those responsibilities and move on”, said Anthony, a four-time Olympian and the elder statesmen of the team.
Krzyzewski did not address the situation during his postgame news conference. The players reportedly left quickly.
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“We’re a group of guys that range from age of 24 to, I don’t know how old Carmelo is, 40?” center DeAndre Jordan said.
