Team USA Beats Argentina; Earns Spot In Gold-Medal Game
8/11/2001 12:31:16 PM | Men's Basketball
by Craig Miller, USA Basketball
It was the seventh win in nine days for the U.S. team and earned them a berth in Sunday's gold medal game versus Croatia (4 p.m. Tokyo time).
"Carlos was just immense on the boards the whole game and got the key rebound at the end of the game, without it they would have had a chance to win the game with the last shot," said USA and Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. "He was just huge all night, he made his free throws, and getting that last rebound won the game for us.
"This was our first test. I thought we played great. They made some unbelievably difficult shots from the 3-point line the whole game and yet we were able to get control of the game and get a 10-12 point lead. We just made a couple of real bad plays against their press," added Boeheim.
The USA did not make this win an easy one. With the U.S. holding a 90-82 advantage, Troy Bell (Boston College/Minneapolis, MN) was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 1:26 left in the contest. Bell made one of three freethrows to up the U.S. lead to 91-82, then disaster almost struck.
Argentina scored eight consecutive points as the USA turned the ball overon three consecutive possessions, and suddenly, with 36.8 seconds to go, the lead was down to a single point, 91-90. Argentina fouled the USA's Caron Butler (Connecticut/Racine, WI) with 32.1 seconds left and Butler missed both his tries from the charity line. However, Boozer came up with the critical offensive rebound, then was fouled with 30.4 to play. Boozer sank both free throws to push the USA lead to 93-90.
Looking for a three to tie the game, Argentina was forced into a turnover with 17.6 left. With 10.5 seconds to play, Butler was fouled hard to the face and eye and was unable to shoot his free throws. Substite Jason Kapono (UCLA/Lakeland, CA) sealed the win after calmly knocking down both free throws.
While Boozer carried a huge offensive load for the U.S., Butler and Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph's/Chester, PA) each tossed in 12 points, while Nick Collison (Kansas/Iowa Falls, IA) finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Chris Duhon (Duke/Slidell, LA) was outstanding too, accounting for nine points, a USA single- game record 12 assists and two steals in 38 minutes. Bell also was solid, contributing nine points and six assists.
The key to victory for the USA was its free throw shooting. Despite missing six of their last 11 free throws, the USA hit a team single-game record 42 of 52 free throws for the game, 80.8 percent. The USA also held a sizeable 42-29 advantage on the glass, and despite making just 1-of-11 3-point shots, shot 48.1 percent (26-54 FGs) overall.
Croatia is an unlikely gold medal game participant. Losing its first three games of the tournament, including an 88-69 loss to the Americans in their opening game on Aug. 3, Croatia regrouped and carries into the gold medal contest a four-game winning streak.
"Croatia is a completely different team then the first game," said Boeheim. "They're not playing their big guy, they're playing a smaller team and just playing much better basketball. They're shooting the ball extremely well from the 3-point line. I think Croatia made at least 11 3-pointers in the first half against Dominican Republic, you can't let then shoot the three. We have to do a better job defending the 3-point line. It will be a very, very tough game."
In Saturday's other medal semifinals game, Croatia (4-3) jumped on Dominican Republic (4-3) early and behind a strong third- quarter showing posted an 89-64 victory. In semifinals play to determine fifth through eighth place, Spain (5-2), behind a strong third-quarter rally, took control and held on to beat Israel (4-3) 76-68, and Slovenia (5-2) roared back from a 48-39 halftime deficit to knock off Australia (5-2) 99-89. Egypt (2-5) got the better of Qatar (1-6) 91-76 to finish in ninth place, while Japan's (2-5) strong second half lifted it to a 82-81 win over South Korea (0-7) and an 11th-place finish. The gold and bronze medal games, as well as final round games to determine fifth through eighth places will be contested on Sunday, Aug. 12.
