The Dream Team: Halfway there!
The knockout stages in the Olympic basketball tournamentt is starting tonight, and USA is facing off against Australia in the quarterfinals. Dream Team 2012 have been impressive so far, beating teams like France and Argentina, and crushing Nigeria with a record 83 points. The only team that has pushed them to the end was Lithuania, but every game can’t be a blowout. The competition is much stronger than the original Dream Team from 1992 faced, and the americans will have to play their best in the remaining matches to defend the gold from Beijing. From what we are seeing so far, they seem to take the task seriously, and look like they want to show who is still the boss when it comes to basketball.
Tonight’s game against Australia should be an easy one, especially since the Aussies are missing their star player Andrew Bogut due to injury. We are now into the elimination rounds though, so there is no longer room for error. The US has impressed me with how serious and motivated they appear on the court. Their defence has been excellent, and even though many have criticized them for lack of size, the americans are dominating their opponents when it comes to rebounding. Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and Mike D’Antoni seem to be a good fit for the players, and shooters like Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony have been red-hot So what are the few things that can go wrong to prevent Dream Team 2012 from defending the gold?
Coach K is trying to defend the gold from the Beijing Olympics
As mentioned before, the competition is much stronger than before, and they are now facing skilled and experienced NBA players. The Europeans and Argentina also play a very unselfish type of basketball, which is a good way to get open shots. The USA is without a doubt the most talented team though, and if they do the right things, they are unbeatable. One flaw I have seen so far is Kobe forcing tough shots. If he shares the ball more, he will create easier shots both for himself and his teammates (especially with shooters like Anthony, Durant and Love, and high flyers like Davis). Lebron James is the best player in the world but he hasn’t dominated as much as we are used to. It is only now that the opposition gets tougher that he is really needed though, and I am sure he will step up.
This year’s team is trying to bring back the magic of the legendary 1992 Dream Team
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At times this team in its current guise has been very complacent . Now that the tournament has reached the knockout rounds . Let’s see if they can act more professionally , rather than looking ” to showboat ” and be somewhat ill disciplined in their play.
They need to watch out, cause there is no longer any room for error. They are so talented though, that they do sometimes get away with not playing 100 %.
Well now that they have arrived in the knockout phase of the tournament . Any thought of remaining complacent must be just that ………. a thought . The pressure is on Team USA to win , and to win big . Anything short of that will be looked upon as a distinct and tremendous disappointment .
The American basketball team is a great basketball team, in the Olympic Games won the gold medal, wow! Strength and 92 dream team is really don’t know strength ah
The 92 team was on a crazy level
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