Olympic Basketball Highlights 2012: Team USA Start Poorly, Still Crushes Tunisia
Team USA started out slowly against an inferior Tunisia squad, but they finished the job more impressively than a David Tyree catch at the Super Bowl.
Despite the overwhelming amount of criticism Kobe Bryant took for saying this year's team could beat the Dream Team from 1992, the Americans reassured the rest of the world that they don't have to be that good to dominate.
Team USA stumbled early, only leading by 13 points at the half.
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After that, however, the voices of Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan must have rang through their heads, as the Americans put on a clinic and finished with a 110-63 win.
As deep and talented as Team USA is, there is no possible way they should have played as sluggish as they did for the first 20 minutes of the game.
Just when the Tunisians thought they could make the contest interesting, Team USA stormed out of the locker room with a 21-3 run, dashing any hopes Tunisia might have had about a monumental upset.
Even though they've struggled early on for the majority of their games, Team USA saved their best basketball for the second half once again.
In the two pool games they've played in these Olympics, Team USA have outscored their two opponents 65-29 in the third quarter.
Despite what Nicolas Batum or any other player may say, this team is clearly the best in the tournament.
Was there really any doubt that this team—a team that features Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony—would not win the gold medal?
Once Team USA threw down an arsenal of slam dunks in the second half, you had to feel sorry for the Tunisians.
They played their hearts out in the first half, but there was no way Team USA was going to let them get any more comfortable.
What's more impressive is that Bryant and James only have a combined 28 points in the team's two games.
Although the rest of the competition may think they have what it takes to beat the Americans, that seems highly unlikely.
This isn't 2004. It's 2012.
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