be severely tested by Brazil, and Brazil made impressive runs in the second and third quarters, but it had no answers in the fourth quarter. “One thing I have to say is that I am
really happy with the effort we have got- ten from our guys,” Krzyzewski said. “They worked extremely hard in practice and it carried over into this game. There were mistakes, but we played hard from start to finish.”
Irving. “I feel like we’ve had a lot of great days and just wanted to come out here and execute on both ends of the floor and I think we did that tonight.”
Rose didn't play as he rested his
knees and Krzyzewski emphasized that Rose's absence was more about taking a look at other players in game play and is not injury based. “We told a few guys that they just
weren’t going to play tonight so we could get extended minutes and that worked out,” said Krzyzewski. “We’re still evaluating the team.” Blossoming leader Harden also
made an impact by coming out aggres- sive and netting 12 points in only 15:45 playing time. “From the beginning I thought we
Above: Basketball fans worldwide were excited to see Derick Rose back on the court for the USA. Right: DeMar DeRozan, seeing his first USA National Team experience, helped lead the U.S. to a win over Dominican Republic with 13 points and six assists.
letting it go out of bounds, he launched himself head first and tipped it back into play as he fell hard into the second row. “Anthony played great for us,” said
Rose. “And when you see him diving, hustling and throwing himself all over to make a play, that’s really something. I’m so happy for him to contribute like that. It means a lot for this team.” The Chicago fans were clearly most
excited about Rose, who demonstrated explosiveness, athleticism and most important of all, good health in this game. His drive down the left side of the court in the final seconds of the first half was one of the highlights of the game. He banked that shot in off the glass at the buzzer, and it allowed the United States to go into the locker room with momentum and a 45-37 lead. He also made another highlight-film
play with a left-handed crossover in the third quarter. Rose scored seven points in the game and he also missed two dunks, but his signature explosiveness and ath- leticism was clearly back on display and the sellout crowd of 21,309 showed their appreciation. Krzyzewski felt that his team would
USA Basketball News
played extremely well,” said Harden. “Well means we played hard. It doesn’t mean we’ll make every shot, but the pressure can be there every single time. The guys did a great job these past two games.”
Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)
had the most worthy of the highlight reel plays of the night with a one-handed jam off a feed by DeRozan. Drummond made his best case for a roster spot on the floor, scoring 12 points and ripping down five rebounds.
USA 105,
Dominican Republic 62 It wasn’t much of a contest for the
USA in its exhibition against the Dominican Republic at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 20, but more of an opportunity for coach Mike Krzyzewski to toy with his lineup.
With the need to trim the roster for
the FIBA Basketball World Cup from 16 to 12, a different combination of players saw the majority of the action as the U.S. drubbed the island nation, 105-62.
DeRozan and Rudy Gay
(Sacramento Kings) were the high scor- ers for the USA with 13 points each, with the USA having a total of six players who scored in double digits.
Irving, who started in place of Rose,
was perfect for the night going five-for- five with 12 points.
“We wanted to set a standard tonight
and follow our absolutes that we’ve been having throughout the week,” said
USA 112, Puerto Rico 86 An upstart Puerto Rico squad kept it
interesting early against the USA on Aug. 22 at Madison Square Garden, but the world's No. 1-ranked team found its rhythm and pulled away for an imposing 112-86 win. Tied at 24 after the first quarter, the
U.S. went on a tear in the second half by going on a 16-4 run with seven players scoring double figures by the final buzzer.
Leading the onslaught was Curry
who was 6-of-7 shooting for 20 points. Curry also had four assists; one of them particularly pretty in the form of a behind-the-back no-look bouncer to Harden in the fourth quarter. Harden finished it off with a dunk to the roars of the sold out crowd. “It was a good test for us to deal
with a little bit of adversity and things not going our way the first half, and finally to be mentally focused in the second half and get the job done,” said
37
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images
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