RIO DE JANEIRO-The United States reaffirmed their status as gold medal favourites blowing away Argentina 105-78 on Wednesday to storm into the semi-finals of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament.
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Argentina is the last team to have beaten the US in Olympic competition, in the Athens 2004 semifinal en route to the South American country’s only basketball gold.
But it won its next two and on Monday pounced on Argentina with an early 22-3 run and never looked back.
The Americans have won 23 straight in the Olympics since Argentina beat them in the 2004 semifinals, and this was how they usually do it: too much firepower, too much defense, and way too much talent. It was the efficient Kevin Durant we’ve come to expect.
The world’s top teams meet again Friday in the semifinals, with Spain getting another chance to finish the job against the USA after being oh-so-close in the last two gold-medal games. Torrens said this is huge for Spain, which has worked so hard to bounce back after missing the 2012 London Games. Fueled by length, athleticism and versatility, the USA should have made good on Coach K’s contention a long time ago. “I really think we can do it, but we have to have the ideal game”.
“All of those guys are pros and they have played together for a while so they have some experience”.
But once play began, the USA rarely played up to those expectations, with one narrow victory after another as the competition toughened.
Now they have to stay there two more games.
When in doubt – and you don’t need to be US women’s basketball Geno Auriemma to call these plays – get the basketball to Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore. “I thought we did”, USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
The rosters have changed, but the last two gold medal games were so evenly played that another close USA-Spain contest seems likely.
Better late than never.
As Collins said, this is the Paul George we see in the National Basketball Association, and especially when he was in the game, the USA looked much more like the world beaters they should be.
Age hasn’t slowed Spain down, either. The Americans will play Spain in the semifinals Friday.
Second-ranked Spain made a poor start to the tournament with losses to Brazil and Croatia before shifting into top gear with four straight wins, including a 92-67 victory over old foes France on Wednesday to ease into the last four. “The longevity, the way we played the game, all the things we accomplished, the friendships and the camaraderie we created”. On the other side, Matthew Dellavedova-led Australia crushed Lithuania in the quarterfinals and will face the victor of Serbia and Croatia in the semis. So the Spanish arrived in Brazil a little more disjointed than precise, but that’s over with now. “We’re going to try and play our best basketball possible, no matter who we play”, Ginobili said.
The United States of America had struggled the last three games but recovered in their quarterfinals match-up with Argentina on Monday.
“We’ve got to be serious and really get this because it is going to be a different game this Saturday”, said forward Angel McCoughtry. “We need to focus on the opportunity we have rather than the opportunity we lost”.
Team USA held off Spain largely thanks to Klay Thompson’s shooting and DeAndre Jordan’s two-way dominance.
The Americans were buoyed by a dynamic performance from George who enforced his will on both ends of the court.
“They congratulated me and I’m very proud of their words”, said Ginobili, who scored 14 points. Other people are making comments. The X’s and O’s were good, but we played with passion and energy.
Added Krzyzewski: “They show up and they show up big time”.
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“I know for us, it’s one game or nothing”.
