straight points punctu- ated by a dunk from Anya, the U.S. outscored Spain 13-2 before the Europeans called for a timeout at 5:43. However, the damage was done as the USA’s lead at that point was up to 82-56, and the Americans sailed in for the win. After shooting just
32.5 percent (13-40 FGs) from the field in the first half, the United States recovered and finished the game at 43.2 percent (35-81 FGs); while Spain shot 39.7 percent (23-58 FGs) on the night. Outrebounding Spain 54-25, the U.S. forced 23 Spain turnovers.
down the fast-paced Americans. That resulted in a 5-0 run and a pair of U.S. turnovers, including a shot clock violation. Showalter called for time following the second turnover to regroup. Coming out of that timeout the USA outscored Australia 12-5 and closed the half with a 14-point, 38-24, margin.
“We were expecting their
In leading the 2012 USA U17 squad to World Championship gold, head coach Don Showalter improved his record with USA teams in official FIBA and FIBA Americas competitions over the past four years to a sparkling 26-0 and earned a fourth-straight gold medal.
USA 95, Australia 62 Proving throughout the tournament
that defense indeed wins championships, the USA went ahead late in the first quarter and went on to repeat as FIBA U17 World Champions with a 95-62 victory over Australia.
The Americans were paced to the
win by Frankamp’s 22 points. Okafor scored 17 points and hauled in eight rebounds. Winslow finished the night with 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and four steals, while Parker, who missed three games due to a sore foot, hit 5-of-6 field goals and finished the night with 12 points.
“First of all, a lot of people had a lot
to do with this trophy,” said Showalter. “Not only our players bought into our system, but we had two great assistant coaches in Mike Jones and Rich Gray, and the staff here with USA Basketball has been outstanding. It takes more than just a couple people.
“This is almost a little more enjoy-
able than our win two years ago in the gold medal game, just because this team had to overcome some adversity, some injuries and various things. I was really proud of our kids for hanging in there. We really didn't have a star, because they all bought into the fact that they were all playing for USA Basketball. I think that
68
showed in the final game.” “It feels great (to win MVP),” said
Okafor. “Brad Beal (who was the 2010 U17 MVP) was a lottery pick, so it’s just an honor to be a part of that. I’m extremely happy, I can’t even explain. I’m on cloud nine. We started this in October 2010, and now it’s over. So, it’s a sad thing, but I’m very happy because we got the gold.”
“It feels really good,” said Winslow,
who had a team-best 21 steals over eight games, about being named all-tourna- ment. “It’s a real good individual honor, but I couldn’t have done it without my team and the coaches. The coaches really motivated me. Ever since I got invited, last year I didn’t make (the U16 team) and they just told me to keep working. That’s what I did. I just tried to play my role, get rebounds and get some hustle points and everything worked out.”
The game started with five lead
changes and five knotted scores, and with 3:20 to play in the first quarter the game was tied 14-14. The lead swapped hands for the final time as Anya deliv- ered the first two of his eight points to give his side a 16-14 edge at 3:08.
The red, white and blue went on to
claim a 22-14 margin at the end of the first stanza.
After the U.S. upped its lead to
26-14, the Aussies changed up their defense, started to trap to try to slow
trap, we just didn’t do a very good job of handling it to start with,” said Showalter. “I think after we got a little bit better organized and started getting baskets off of it, I think they felt they had to get out of it to stop us from scoring. Conner hit some outside shots and we got the ball to the basket and got some dunks off of it. That part of it, the fact that we broke
Continued on page 72
USA 95, Australia 62 July 8, 2012
AUS
Duncan 31 3- 8 3- 4 223 10 Djeric
Simmons 11 0- 2 2- 4 411 2 Exum
Purchase 18 1- 6 0- 0 244 2 Krslovic 15 1- 1 0- 0 211 2 Malone Martin
Derksen
2 0- 0 0- 0 000 0 16 1- 7 0- 0 211 3 5 0- 3 0- 0 000 0
Jackson 13 2- 4 0- 0 131 5 Luxford
6 1- 1 0- 0 101 3
Von Hofe 16 2- 8 0- 0 113 6 Totals 200 21-65 11-16 23 18 18 62
AUS Berry
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 14 1- 4 0- 0 121 2
Domingo 16 2- 5 0- 0 112 6 Winslow 30 5- 6 3- 5 11 30 13 S. Johnson 7 0- 0 0- 0 000 0 Okafor
Frankamp 27 7- 9 4- 4 111 22 Jones Nunn Anya
20 8-12 1- 2 804 17 26 1- 5 0- 0 460 2
Parker
16 1- 3 3- 4 722 5 14 3- 3 2- 2 201 8 14 5- 6 0- 0 100 12
Williams 16 2- 5 4- 4 712 8 D. Johnson DNP -- Injured Totals 200 35-58 17-21 43 16 13 95
Australia USA
14 10 19 19 22 16 26 31
-- 62 -- 95
3PT FGs-Australia (9-42): Djeric 2-8, Von Hofe 2-8, Exum 1-7, Martin 1-5, Jackson 1-2, Duncan 1-2, Luxford 1-1, Purchase 0-5, Derksen 0-3, Simmons 0-1; USA (8-18): Frankamp 4-6, Domingo 2-5, Parker 2-3, Jones 0-2, Nunn 0-1, Berry 0-1; TO-Australia 13, USA 16; BLKS-Australia 3, USA 1; STLS-Australia 6, USA 11.
USA Basketball News
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 33 2- 8 2- 3 231 8 34 8-17 4- 5 622 21
Caroline Williams/USA Basketball
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128