Continued from page 71
Career Academy/Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 10 points apiece. Dakari Johnson grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go with six points and Jones dished out a game-best five assists and scored eight points.
“Australia really came out hot,”
said Showalter. “They played really well. We were fortunate to be up by two at the end of the first quarter. There are some things that we need to work on to get better and starting out with more intensity is one of them. “Our second quarter defense was
really good. We brought guys like Stanley (Johnson) and Justise Winslow off the bench. When you bring in those two, it really helps us with the defensive intensity level. I thought that when Stanley (Johnson) came in, he really changed the complexion of the game. “Jahlil (Okafor) was voted the MVP
of the tournament, and I thought he really played well offensively and defensively.” Australia came out firing on all
cylinders and jumped out to an early 14-4 lead in the first 2:42 of the contest. Showalter called for timeout to
regroup, and his team responded. “We have a tendency to start off
flat,” said Stanley Johnson. “We started off flat again in this game. Coach called a timeout really quick, told us what to do and we got after it in the second quarter. We knew we had it in us. It was just the fact that we had to turn it on. Coach was really adamant about us turning it on, and we responded to him really well.”
Continued from page 66
their trap and scored off of it, it took a little bit organization from our part. We knew it was coming, so to get organized against it was a big thing for us.” Australia again tried to change up its
defense to start the second half and closed the margin to 10 points, 40-30, and at 4:34 Australia hit a pair from the line and was still within striking distance, 51-39.
The USA quickly expanded the lead
to 21 points, 62-41 and by the time the third-quarter buzzer sounded, the margin was still 21, 64-43. The United States outscored Australia
72
Nunn swished in a
3-pointer at 6:55, but Australia countered with two more quick buckets and owned its largest lead of the game, 18-7, with 6:02 to play in the first quarter. The Americans came to life
and powered by seven points from Okafor, outscored Australia 19-6 over the remain- der of the period to pull in front for good. In fact, it was a go- ahead Nunn 3-pointer that sailed in with about four seconds to go in the stanza that gave the U.S. a lead it would never relinquish. Opening the second quarter
on a 9-0 tear during which Williams scored all six of his points on the night, the USA distanced itself by double digits, 35-24, at 7:53. Australia called a quick time-
out and the Aussies responded with a 6-0 run that closed the gap to five points, 35-30, with 6:17 to play before the half. That was as close as the Aussies
Stephen Domingo got the starting nod in seven of the USA’s eight games and averaged 7.8 ppg. and 3.6 rpg.
29-17 in the third quarter and 13-9 in the fourth for the eventual victory. Due mainly to its intense pressure
would get through the remainder of the contest. Nunn scored inside with a second remaining before halftime to up the USA’s lead to 47-38 at the break. “The communication picked up
(in the second quarter),” said Winslow. “From there, the bench really helped us out. Once the bench got in we really picked up the intensity, the scrappiness on defense, going after loose balls and stuff like that.” The USA picked up where it left off at the break and outscored Australia
31-19 in the fourth quarter, including 14-2 in the final 3:35, to claim the gold medal. Overall the USA outrebounded
Australia 43-23 and held the Aussies to just 32.3 percent shooting from the field and 21.4 percent from 3-point. The Americans nailed a red-hot 60.3 percent of its field goals and netted 44.4 percent of its tries from beyond the arc. The USA bench once again proved key as it outscored Australia’s bench 57-19, while the red, white and blue outscored Australia 46-18 in the paint. “It was very exciting,” said Berry, a
USA Basketball newcomer. “This was the first time being a part of USA (Basketball) I kind of felt like I was on
defense, the U.S. was whistled for a total of 26 fouls, with Nunn, Okafor and Winslow finishing the game with four apiece. That helped Australia stick around as the team from Down Under made 32 trips to the line, converting on 20 of them (62.5 percent). The USA made 48.1 percent (39-81
FGs) of its shots from the field, while Australia hit 36.5 percent (19-52 FGs). For the second game in a row the Americans won the rebounding battle, this time by a 50-29 margin.
top of the world. It’s just a great opportunity. A lot of kids don’t get a chance to get this opportunity. Im just so glad I can come here, represent my country and play with players around the country that’s in the same class as me, as good as me, some of them are better. It was just a great opportunity.” “Words can’t describe it,” said
Winslow on the feeling of winning a world championship gold medal. “We played some great countries, but just to know that USA is the best country in the world, there’s no better feeling. I never felt that before, to have that confetti falling down with all the teammates that I love. It felt really good.”
USA Basketball News
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