And four years later vengeance was wrought.
The US Men’s basketball team advanced to the gold medal game with a 101-81 win over rival Argentina. The game had an odd back and forth pace but much like in the quarterfinal win over Australia, a big play before halftime set the stage for the US win.
The Argentines stayed with the US four about three and a half minutes and then the USscoring machine went to work. The broke off an 18-0 run during which Argentina’s best player, Manu Ginobili, left with an ankle injury and fouls. He never returned while his countrymen could hardly stem the tide of the US, trailing by 19 at the end of the quarter.
Argentina’s bench had not been a factor in this tournament, as they basically played a six-man rotation, but in the second quarter they finally made their mark. Led by injured star Andres Nocioni, who did not start the game, the reserves unleashed an 11-0 run of their own and pushed Argentina back into the contest.
The established starters then cut the USlead to six and had a chance for more with 35 seconds left in the half. Carlos Delfino was given the job of running the end of half, dribble for 15 seconds and then make a move play, but instead of going to the basket, pulled up for a 25-foot jumper that predictably missed.
The US got the rebound, pushed up court and Carmelo Anthony got the chance for a three-point shot at the buzzer. What happened next is a matter of interpretation. Argentina’s Juan Gutierrez attempted to block the shot and tipped the ball away but subsequently made contact with Anthony’s hand.
The refs called the foul, all three free throws went down and the US led by nine. In the second half the game settled into a situation where Argentina was always threatening to make the game uncomfortable for the US (i.e. a single digit defect) but the North Americans had an answer at every turn and rolled to the 20-point victory.
Nocioni and Ginobili combined for only eight shots in 26 injured minutes so the scoring onus fell on Luis Scola and Delfino. Scola was a monster, scoring on mid-range shots and in the post while Delfino was always a threat to hit a big three. If he had been shooting as well as he had against Greece, the game would have been closer.
Argentina overall shot just 26 percent from beyond the arc, a number that all but assures a loss against the talented US team. They did manage to keep the turnovers low, no easy feet, but the US defenders were playing outstanding man-to-man defense.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete