“We would be naïve to think that they don’t face security problems, that they don’t face problems with sanitation, that their government is not in upheaval”.
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Although it certainly looks as though the men’s and women’s basketball teams are being flashy with their living arrangements, the federation’s chief media officer Craig Miller pointed out that it’s been almost 30 years since the basketball teams stayed in the Olympic Village, per NPR.
“This is the exciting part, knowing that we’re about to go to Rio”, men’s star Carmelo Anthony said. Of all the players who will lead this gold medal charge – from Kevin Durant to Kyrie Irving to Klay Thompson and those All-Stars between – only Anthony can offer that first-hand account of what it’s like to be embarrassed while the entire basketball world is watching.
If there was any thought the US might be ripe for an upset in Rio, Team USA removed a good amount of that doubt with a dominating run-in to the Games that saw them thrash China, their opening night opponents, by 50 and 49 points in tune-up games. Perhaps that’s why they’re staying on a luxury cruise ship, according to Bill Chappell of NPR.
“I want to win everything that’s out there”, the six-foot forward told CBC Sports, “whether that’s getting a rebound, making a shot, getting a steal, or cheering loudly for my team when I’m out of the game”. “I just want to continue in their footsteps and keep that standard of play the same”, US Olympic debutante center Brittany Griner said. They will have their first news conference in Rio on Thursday.
It was a gold medal sendoff for Team USA.
They went 5-0, averaged 102.8 points and overwhelmed their opponents by 43 per game. In 2012, that team – we had some guys from the ’08 team, the personalities were different, we had some more outgoing guys.
And then there’s fellow Aussie basketball player Andrew Bogut.
Australia, Brazil and France have significant numbers of National Basketball Association athletes. “We wanted to come out and really work on us”.
The U.S. crushed China, the opponent in its opener Saturday, 106-57 and 107-57. He did not, however, specifically mention that almost 80 percent remains American.
The women played higher-caliber opponents during their tour, which started in Los Angeles before moving to the Northeast for victories over France, Canada and Australia.
Team USA is 16-0 over the last two Olympic Games and has won 14 of 17 gold medals in Olympics in which it has competed.
Auriemma noted that the women haven’t had much time to gel, with its first real practice happening on July 23.
The Americans arrived in Rio on Wednesday from Houston, where they completed their exhibition tour. “Like when you go home, except on a boat”, USA guard Kyrie Irving said. “We know that there are great basketball players all over the world”.
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As the US prepare for their Olympic opener against Senegal on Sunday, Auriemma said the current squad may be the best yet with nine of 12 players having already won gold medals. “But now they have to prove it”. While others deal with incomplete or shoddy construction in some places in the Olympic Village, the American hoopsters will be living the good life aboard the Silver Cloud, one of the ships in the Silversea luxury cruise line.
