USA Basketball: USA 92 - Greece 69

Coach Corey — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:05:49 GMT

United States gets Revenge against Greece

Two years ago, Greece surprised the USA men's basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championships. They took it to the Americans by shocking them 101-95 in the semifinals. This time, there would be no letdown for the Americans.

Greece was ahead 13-9 with four minutes left in the opening quarter, but less than two minutes later a steal by Chris Paul led to a Kobe Bryant bucket giving the Americans the lead for good. The United States forced 25 turnovers and outscored Greece by 28-4 off the turnovers.

The Americans’ best moments in this tournament have been with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, who both come off the bench, on the floor. Greece ran 42 of its trademark pick-and-rolls in the teams’ 2006 match-up. On Thursday, it did not get half of that number, with the activity of Wade on the perimeter and Bosh inside keying a disruptive defense.

After looking sloppy and uninspired at times in its first two games, the United States played its best game of these Olympics. The United States led by 19 at halftime and rendered the second half a formality. It was 51-32 at the half, and Mike Krzyzewski's team was in the driver's seat throughout the final 20 minutes. Greece couldn't get closer than 16 in the third and the U.S. led by at least 19 throughout the fourth.

Next Game Saturday vs. Spain

USA Basketball: Russia meets Kobe

Coach Corey — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:58:52 GMT

USA Basketball: Russia meets Kobe

Kobe Byrant scored 11 of his 19 points in the third quarter to lead the U.S. Olympic team to an 89-68 victory over Russia on Sunday. Carmelo Anthony added 17 points in what was by far the Americans' most competitive tune-up yet for the Olympics. Having averaged 118 points in winning its first three exhibitions by an average of 41 points, the U.S. found itself in a more competitive game against the Russians, who slowed the pace the entire contest.

The U.S built a 12-point lead after the first quarter and extended the margin to 46-31 at the break. The Americans remained in control despite scoring just 17 points in the second quarter. With Team USA leading 50-33 and 8:19 to play in the third quarter, Bryant scored his team's next 11 points on an assortment of dazzling moves.

"They had some gaps there and I just took advantage of them," Bryant said. "The ball found me and I was able to make them pay. In that kind of situation where the game is kind of see-sawing back and forth, we have so many weapons - it could be LeBron (James), it could be D-Wade, one of us is going to kick into high gear."

The sellout crowd of 14,523 clearly favored the United States, and Bryant clearly was the fans' favorite. They chanted "MVP!" when he went to the free-throw line, and generally oohed and aahed whenever he squared up to take a shot.

"It feels like home away from home," Bryant said. "It's great to be so far from Staples Center and still have so much support. I feel like I'm home." Bryant hadn't been looking for his offense on the tour, averaging only 11.7 points -- sixth-best on the team --while focusing his efforts on defending the top perimeter threat. But it was needed yesterday, since he's the Americans' best half court player.

Blog Posts From Active.com 2008 Olympics Tagged With kobe_byrant

USA Basketball: USA 92 - Greece 69

USA Basketball: Russia meets Kobe