The United States made short work of Iran and grabbed the top seed in the knockout round of the world championship on Wednesday.
The starters played limited minutes en route to the 88-51 blowout, and the game served as a noticeably lighter tune-up than the “just barely” victory they had against Brazil two days ago.
The real question that spectators and fans should be asking, though, is: Why hasn’t it been this easy the whole time?
The Americans were led by big man, Kevin Love, who had 13 points in a limited effort. The team’s star, Kevin Durant, also chipped in 12 points in a mere 20 minutes of play. Aside from Derrick Rose, who scored 11 points, no other players ended up with double figures, due in large part to Mike Krzyzewski giving everyone nearly equal playing time.
After the game, Coach K said he wanted to get the reserve players some confidence back after the team’s strangely uninspired effort against Brazil.
Against Iran, the U.S. actually got off to a slow start, leading only 19-13 after the first quarter. However, the close score was in large part due to seven turnovers. By halftime the score was 42-28, and the Americans had pulled away 62-39 by the end of the third.
Team USA is now 4-0 in Group B, yet uncertainty surrounds their team. For some odd reason this team had been given the title of “not so good” by the media. This is a team that is composed of some of the brightest young stars in the league. Granted, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade aren’t on this roster. However, there are many stars, champions and an NBA Finals MVP. Losing should neither be expected, nor an option for this unit.
Whereas opposing teams are coming out with rosters composed of one or two NBA players, max, the Americans are trotting out top-25 level NBA talent. Combine that with a coach who has been heralded as an all-time game strategist and motivator, and you shouldn’t be seeing any close games (Example: Brazil).
The team will face Tunisia next on Thursday, and then rest until the round of 16 Monday. Team USA's opponent will be the No.4 finisher in Group A, which will be the loser of the Angola-Australia match-up this coming Thursday. From there, barring a shocking upset, the team will go on to face the winner of Greece-Spain in the round of 16.
Contrary to popular belief, this team has no excuses if it doesn't win gold. What do you think? Why has it become accepted that this team may not take the gold medal, when such a defeatist result was unthinkable during the 2008 Olympic games? How are expectations this low for a team composed of this many NBA greats?
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