USA 99, Lithuania 94

After going toe-to-toe with Team USA for 40 minutes, it is hard for me to believe the Lithuanians are just 1-3 in group play.

Dead tired from wrestling with Sweet Meat’s “power reclining” couch for four hours yesterday, I woke at ten o’clock this morning. When I walked upstairs, J-Rod was watching the early morning Olympic coverage and the big news was that the US men’s basketball team was in a close fight with Lithuania.

I was not surprise. I wondered if the blow-out of Nigeria would turn out to be a reverse trap game: instead of looking ahead and being caught unprepared, the game with the Suger Eagles seemed to lull the US into complacency. However, the Lithuanians provided a good dose of smelling salts to awaken the Americans.

Having eaten breakfast and hearing that Team USA was down two in the fourth, I turned on the TV downstairs and searched through the endless channels we receive with DirecTV. (It is thankfully provided by our landlord, though I had to “lease” the boxes.) It took so long to find the NBC Sports Network that the US had gone on a run to take a nine-point lead with over two minutes to go, which provided the final cushion.

Looking at the box score, the little things hurt the Lithuanians. They committed 23 turnovers (the Americans committed just nine). The Americans had a massive advantage in steals: 17 to 3. However, the Lithuanians won the boards (42-37) and all shooting percentage stats. They definitely provided a much needed test for the Americans, one which will be appreciated with Argentina next.