Taking care of business: US destroys Angola like we all know they should

At least the USA-Angola game delivered what it promised.

 

The Americans mopped the floor with the African champions, earning their second win in pool play by a 97-76 score. The Angolans kept it from getting embarrassing for part of the first quarter but then it, well, got embarrassing.

 

Some will ask what fans can take away from this and the answer is quite simple: NOTHING.

The Angolans play a style that no one else does (all very short, lots of athletes). Team USA didn’t look especially sharp but it didn’t matter. Only 23 percent on threes could be concerning had the game been competitive, but it wasn’t.

 

One entertaining play came courtesy of Carmelo Anthony in the first half. First he was posted up and scored on by a shorter Angolan (not much of a surprise since he is taller than anyone on their team). On the other end he tried to “get back” by forcing the action and attempting to humiliate the player who just scored on him. Anthony failed miserably in his bid to answer by turning the ball over and subsequently ending up on his back side.

 

Just to show how uncompetitive the game was, Tayshaun Prince, the team’s 11th man, played in the first quarter.

 

Kobe “the mamba or Doberman or whatever else he is” Bryant has a strangely awful day missing all eight 3-pointers he took.

 

The irony of this game is that it commemorates the first game a dream team played in the Olympics. That 68-point blowout in 1992 is still the standard for US dominance which this year’s team is unfortunately held to.

 

The Other Games

 

Iran, the second worst team in these Olympics, was soundly battered by Lithuania. The game has little value other than to highlight the emergence Linas Kleiza (22points) as the team’s top player and remind us that Sarunas Jasikevicius (20 points on 8-of-9 shooting) is still a force in the international game.

 

The host country, China, managed to build a 15 point fourth quarter lead over defending world champion Spain but gave it all back and lost 85-75 on overtime. The big men did surprisingly little for China as Yao was held to 11 points on 33 percent shooting. Pau Gasol did not disappoint however with 29 points and three blocks.

 

China’s main competitor for the knockout stage, Germanygot blown out but a Greek team that had struggled late against spin. The top three guards (Spanoulis, Papaloukas, Diamantidis) led the way for Greece, combining for 50 points but it was the defense played by the big guys that really stood out.  Chris Kaman, who looked excellent in the first game, was held to four pints and two rebounds and lost the ball five times.

 

Croatia staged the biggest upset of the night, building a lead against European champion Russia and holding on for a seven-point victory. The Croats got it done with blisteringly hot shooting and 29 trips to the free-throw line.

 

The win puts Croatia and very good position to advance past pool play. Entering the competition, it appeared that Croatia and Australia would be fighting for the fourth spot behind Russia, Lithuania and Argentina. With an upset of Russia and a win over the Aussies under their belt, Croatia is in the driver’s seat to advance, especially after…

 

The Aussies dropped a game to the Argentines. Luis Scola just ripped up the Boomer frontline early, scoring at will and staking his country to a big lead. For the second straight game Argentina rolled with in essence a six-man rotation, a tactic that could wear out the players in later games.

 

The loss for Australia means that they will need to beat Iran and upset either Russia or Lithuania to even have a prayer of advancing. More likely they would need to win their next three games, a long shot at best.

 

It’s too bad because the Aussies looked good in exhibitions and do have some nice talent. Their run has to be seen as one of the more disappointing in the tournament thus far.