Real German Dirk Nowitzki and fake German Chris Kaman were no match for the U.S. men’s basketball team, who trounced Deutschland, 106-57.
The U.S. is three wins away from its first gold medal since 2000. First up is Australia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
The U.S. didn’t wait to dispose of the Germans. The U.S. jumped out to a 20-3 lead, with LeBron James capping the run with a dunk, a bucket and a 3-pointer.
The U.S. led 53-29 at halftime, and the rest of the night was garbage time.
Asked afterward what it will take to beat the U.S., the American-born German center Chris Kaman replied, “No one’s gonna beat ’em.”
Once again, defense was the story for the U.S. The Americans limited Germany to 30 percent shooting from the floor and forced 18 turnovers.
Team USA shot 42% from long range, which is encouraging, but they need to take that accuracy with them into the medal round. They still make careless passes at times, and their 13 turnovers against a team like Germany are too many.
On a side note, Chris Kaman has been criticized for deciding to play with the Germans in these Olympics. Even his dad isn’t happy about it. I’m not happy about it either. I think, in a way, he’s betraying his country. It’s a positive for Chris Kaman the basketball player to have the opportunity to play against good competition in the summer, but he’s working against U.S. interests. If you’re born and raised in the U.S., you’re not good enough to make the U.S. team, and even your dad says you shouldn’t play for another country, then you should probably just stay home.
U.S. begins the round of eight against Australia at 8 AM ET Wednesday morning (on the USA Network). The Aussies gave the U.S. men a tough game in a warm-up match, and they didn’t even have a healthy Andrew Bogut in that game. Argentina and Greece square off in the other quarterfinal on the Americans’ side of the bracket.
