Category Archives: USA Basketball

Team USA exacts revenge on Greece 92-69

BEIJING (AP) -- The U.S. Olympic team stopped the pick-and-rolls -- and just about everything else Greece tried. These Americans, who looked so lost two years ago in the World Championship, appear to have found their Olympic defensive way.

Batting away balls or swatting shots on seemingly every possession late in the second quarter, the Americans broke open a close game and went on to a 92-69 victory Thursday night to clinch a spot in the medal round.

The Americans were also able to find the range on jump shots when the Greeks went to a zone defense to slow them down. Kobe Bryant, who entered the game shooting just 37 percent in the first two games, was 7-for-14 from the field and finished with 18 points.

Chris Bosh also had 18 points, Dwayne Wade added 17 and LeBron James had 13 for the United States (3-0), which moves on to a matchup of Group B unbeatens Saturday night against world champion Spain. The winner will earn the group's top seed for the quarterfinals.

Greece stunned the Americans two years ago in the semifinals of the 2006 world championships, shredding the U.S. defense for 63 percent shooting with clinical execution of its pick-and-roll offense in a 101-95 victory.

This time, the Greeks hit just 41.3 percent (26-for-63) from the field and just 4-for-18, 22 percent, from 3-point range as the Americans used a suffocating defense to extend a seven-point lead to a 19-point cushion in the final 51/2 minutes of the first half.

After the previously slumping Bryant finally knocked down a 3-pointer, James blocked a shot that led to Bosh's three-point play for a 44-30 lead with 2:31 remaining in the second quarter. James came up with a steal less than 30 seconds later and threw down a reverse dunk.

Bosh swiped at a ball that led to another Greece turnover, and James found him on the next possession for another three-point play and a 49-30 bulge. The Greeks then turned it over again, with James keeping his balance while nearly falling down to take an outlet pass and convert a layup, and Bosh blocked the final Greek shot of the half to make it 51-32 at the break.

And after stubbornly sticking to what wasn't working in the game two years ago, the Americans showed the Greeks different looks this time. They picked up full court on one early possession, then fell back into a zone defense on another.

Unlike their easy victory against Angola two nights earlier, the Americans kept up the defensive intensity after halftime. Dwight Howard smacked away a shot right into Kidd's head, leading to a shot clock violation, and James and Bosh had rejections on the same third-quarter possession a few minutes later.   The Americans still struggled from the free throw line and 3-point arc. They were 7-of-20 on 3s and just 13 of 23 at the line.

Greece (1-2), which lost to Spain in its opener, faces winless Angola before closing pool play against China.  Box Score Link  Next up - Spain

Wade leads USA to 97-76 win over Angola

[private]Team USA cruised to an easy victory to go 2-0 in pool play by defeating Angola 97-76.  Dwyane Wade led his team in scoring with 19 points.  Team USA struggled from the free throw stripe and hit just 23% of it's threes.  In the end, there was simply too much talent for Angola to overcome.  Team USA will need to play a bit tighter against their next foe Greece, a team that defeated them in the semi finals of the World Championships a mere two years ago.

Coach K on the upcoming game with Greece - Our team knows a lot about them.  I’m very close friends the coach.  He’s actually come to Duke and spent time with me.  One of the assistant coaches, Nick, has spent the whole year with us.  We have great respect for them.  They play as hard as anybody we can play against, especially on the defensive end of the court.  Their offensive schemes are well conceived.  I think their team starts with their guards.  They really have three point guards and all three of them can be in at the same time.

They value possessions.  You have to play them possession by possession.  You have to play them with great intensity for 40 minutes.  Our guys already know that but we’ll reinforce that.  It’s a great game for us to play too to get ready for the medal round because we feel Greece has a good chance as anybody.  That’s how much we think of them

Box Score Link[/private]

Team USA routs China down the stretch, K and company advance

[private]Team USA began it's quest for the Gold Medal today by choking China with it's defense on there way to a 101-70 win.  Of course, all Duke fans are paying more than a little attention to the games and we will continue to cover the games.

Lebron James

Coach K- It was an honor for us to be in this game.  I thought the Chinese team and our team both played extremely hard.  I was proud of our effort.  I thought that the attention we gave Yao early, he made some really good plays to get his teammates involved.  And they hit 3’s.  More than half their points in the first half were from 3’s.  We were like 1-for-12 … I think we ended up 1-for-15 before we starting hitting some 3’s.  I was proud of our guys.  I would hope that their coach would be proud of their kids.  I thought both teams really responded at a high level to the magnitude of this game.

Team USA coasts to win--Tight Defense stymies China's Bigs--A.P. Recap--Box Score

So, what was the pre game like?--USA savors experience--Silk Road-Tobbaco Road?[/private]

Friday Morning Links

Starting off with AAU Basketball and Las Vegas, Kenny Boynton and Brandon Knight have scored 33/26, 21/24, and 26/19, respectively over the past three days.  The two have combined to make 17 three point shots.  Jody Demling has an extensive update from Las Vegas posted on his blog at the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The Las Vegas Review Journal has written a positive article on the ability of lesser known athletes to achieve exposure via the AAU circuit.  Adam Zagoria and Dick Weiss also have updates on their blogs.

Turning to Duke football and Desmond Scott on his decision to play for Duke University: "I wanted to play in my backyard."  WRAL.com has more here.

Finally, here is Coach K with more thoughts on USA Basketball.

Team USA, Kenny Boynton and Duke Football

When Kobe Bryant mentions the "joy of the game," you get an idea of what Coach K has done to make sure the players are enjoying themselves in preparation for the Olympics.  Most of the players remember little of the last time the USA won Gold.

In this blurb, the author says Team USA has that special something that is missing from most NBA teams.   There is some worry about the overall team health.  And here is CNNSI's Chris Ballard on long range planning for the USA Basketball program.

Kenny Boynton has no shortage of confidence judging from his comments in this link.

With kickoff to football season just over a month away, Coach Cutcliffe caught the attention of coaches on Wednesday's Operation Football.  Here is ESPN's Heather Dinich on Duke's "Catch 22."  Richmond edged out James Madison in the pre season polls which is a departure from the pre season magazines which all have JMU on top.  TSN picks them #2 in the nation, Lindy's #3 and Phil Steele has them number one.

USA U18 Team comes up short against Argentina

Team USA fell to host Argentina, 77-64, in the championship game at the FIBA Americas U18 tournament in Formoso, Argentina.  UConn incoming freshman Kemba Walker scored 21 points in the defeat and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.

Argentina used two big runs to secure the victory: 14-2 in the first quarter and 11-0 in the third.  USA Coach Bob McKillop described the environment as hostile and credited the Argentina team with being very talented and deserving champions.  He said the experience will assist the players in their upcoming college careers.

In July 2009, the U19 World Championship will be held in New Zealand and the USA will have the opportunity for redemption against Argentina and other top international teams.