Presented by HARMON TRAVEL.
This Day In Sports…August 21, 2016:
After some close calls in the group stage in the Olympic tournament, the U.S. men’s basketball team blows out Serbia 96-66 to win the final gold medal of the Rio Games. The margin was the largest in a men’s final in 24 years. Kevin Durant, the new Golden State Warrior, led the Americans with 30 points in the final. But the ultimate triumph wasn’t representative of what they had to go through. The U.S. squad didn’t measure up to some of its Olympic predecessors (1992 Dream Team, anyone?).
One reason: some NBA luminaries weren’t interested—LeBron James, for example. The Americans returned only Durant and Carmelo Anthony from the 2012 gold medal winners in London. But new stars came aboard, like Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Harrison Barnes, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and Paul George. The U.S. went undefeated in their five group play games in Rio, but after a couple of routs, they had to grind to get past Australia by 10 points before downing both Serbia and France by only three.
Then it was on to the medal round, where the U.S. opened with a 105-78 romp over Argentina. In the semifinals, however, the Americans faced probably the best team ever assembled by Spain. The Spaniards took them to the wire before falling 82-76. Then the U.S. rolled over Serbia to claim its third straight gold medal and 15th gold overall in men’s hoops.
Anthony, sometimes maligned during his NBA career, was stellar in the Olympics. In 31 games over four Olympiads, he averaged 10.8 points and captured four gold medals. The Americans were coached by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who again did the best he could building chemistry with NBA players. It was Krzyzewski’s last stint heading up the national team. He ended with three Olympic gold medals and two world championships.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
