USA 101, Argentina 81
Phew!
I knew Argentina was going to give Team USA a run for their money, so it was probably good I wasn’t able to watch the game. It started when I was in the shower and I didn’t see a score until I got to work: 70-55 with over three minutes left in the third. I looked at the box score and could tell the game had been tough. After leading 30-11 at the end of first quarter, the Redeem Team was outscored 29-19 in the second. Despite losing Manu Ginobili, the team talisman, to an ankle injury in the first, Argentina played strong.
But LeBron and company proved too much. This win sets up a rematch with Spain for the gold medal. Remember what I said about the Spanish in the first meeting? This will be interesting.
A couple things I noticed about the box score: Carlos Boozer was starting. What? The bench is so deep it doesn’t really matter who’s on the court at tip-off, but at first glance I thought Coach K must have been nursing a crack pipe when he penciled in his starting five — Boozer, Kidd, Anthony, Bosh, and Bryant. No Howard, no Wade, no Paul, no James. Not to diss any of the starters — there’s a reason each made the team, and Chris Bosh is my favorite NBA player — but it’s not what I would have done. (Despite my love of the game, I know little about strategy because I never played it on a competitive level.) But it worked. ‘Melo dropped 21 on the Argentines, and Kobe and Bosh were good for 12 and 11, respectively. But the meat of the offense came from the bench. LeBron had 15, Paul and Wade each had 12, and Superman had 10. The other starters, Kidd and Boozer, combined for three attempts and two points. The Boozeman was probably in for defense, and Kidd is as unselfish as a basketball player can be (he had seven assists), so K knows what he’s doing.
A good stat from the box score: Team USA shot 27-36 — 75 percent — from the free throw line. Much better, but not as good as the 15-16 — 93.8 percent — the Argies shot. Despite that, the American’s were 10-31 from behind the arc. Good thing Argentina shot 6-23.
I knew Argentina was going to give Team USA a run for their money, so it was probably good I wasn’t able to watch the game. It started when I was in the shower and I didn’t see a score until I got to work: 70-55 with over three minutes left in the third. I looked at the box score and could tell the game had been tough. After leading 30-11 at the end of first quarter, the Redeem Team was outscored 29-19 in the second. Despite losing Manu Ginobili, the team talisman, to an ankle injury in the first, Argentina played strong.
But LeBron and company proved too much. This win sets up a rematch with Spain for the gold medal. Remember what I said about the Spanish in the first meeting? This will be interesting.
A couple things I noticed about the box score: Carlos Boozer was starting. What? The bench is so deep it doesn’t really matter who’s on the court at tip-off, but at first glance I thought Coach K must have been nursing a crack pipe when he penciled in his starting five — Boozer, Kidd, Anthony, Bosh, and Bryant. No Howard, no Wade, no Paul, no James. Not to diss any of the starters — there’s a reason each made the team, and Chris Bosh is my favorite NBA player — but it’s not what I would have done. (Despite my love of the game, I know little about strategy because I never played it on a competitive level.) But it worked. ‘Melo dropped 21 on the Argentines, and Kobe and Bosh were good for 12 and 11, respectively. But the meat of the offense came from the bench. LeBron had 15, Paul and Wade each had 12, and Superman had 10. The other starters, Kidd and Boozer, combined for three attempts and two points. The Boozeman was probably in for defense, and Kidd is as unselfish as a basketball player can be (he had seven assists), so K knows what he’s doing.
A good stat from the box score: Team USA shot 27-36 — 75 percent — from the free throw line. Much better, but not as good as the 15-16 — 93.8 percent — the Argies shot. Despite that, the American’s were 10-31 from behind the arc. Good thing Argentina shot 6-23.
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