USA Eliminates Australia, 113-73
8/27/2006 9:06:24 AM | Men's Basketball
by USA Basketball
SAITAMA, Japan -- The USA claimed its sixth straight win in World Championship play with a decisive 113-73 win over Australia (2-4) Sunday in its Eighth-Finals game in Saitama, Japan. Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) paced the American offensive effort with 20 points and Joe Johnson(Atlanta Hawks) contributed 18 more as all 12 U.S. players scored, including five in double digits.
The win advances the U.S. (6-0) to the medal round quarterfinals of the World Championship where it will meet Germany (5-1) on Wednesday. Germany advanced with a narrow 78-77 win over Nigeria as Dallas Mavericks All-Star Dirk Nowitzki collected 23 points and nine rebounds in the victory. The winner of Wednesday's USA - Germany game will advance to the medal round semifinals to be played on Sept. 1 and will play the winner of the France - Greece/China (Greece-China play in a Sunday nightcap).
"We came out in the second quarter tonight and picked up our defensive intensity and as a result we got some easy baskets and kept going from there," explained Johnson.
Australia stayed with the U.S. for the first 6:10 and was leading 18-17 after Brad Newley connected on a 3-pointer.
Dwayne Wade(Miami Heat), who had 10 points in the first half en route to finishing with 15 points, scored off a pair of drives to get the USA going and by the end of the first quarter the U.S. had moved out to 27-23 advantage.
In the second period, the U.S. defense hounded the Aussies and limited them to just six points while piling up 32 points of its own. With Anthony scoring six and Johnson adding five points, the U.S. opened the second quarter with a 19-1 run that left Australia lagging behind 46-24 with 3:01 remaining to half. Then, over the second quarter's final 2:50, the U.S. outscored Australia 13-5 to take a 59-29 lead to the locker room.
The USA shot 58.8 percent from the field, made 7-of-9 3-pointers and committed just two turnovers. Australia was limited to just 28.1 percent shooting and was pressured into 11 turnovers.
"We were excited to play today and I thought we started the game very well," noted Shane Battier (Houston Rockets), who finished the day with 12 points. "Obviously, we turned the defensive pressure up in the second quarter and that really won the game for us. When we play defense like that, we feel very good about ourselves.
"I have a lot of confidence in my shooting ability. I think that if I'm open, I can make a few. My role on this team is just to play hard, be a good team guy. If the teams are focusing on LeBron (James), Carmelo (Anthony) and (Dwyane) Wade, the other guys around them can hit shots. That has been my mind-set every game," added Battier, who sank 4-of-5 3-point tries in the contest.
For a second consecutive game the USA also received a strong showing from Chris Bosh(Toronto Raptors) who finished with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds in 18 minutes.
Australia's Andrew Bogut, the 2005 NBA number one draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks, finished with 20 points.
"We will not take the next two days off. We'll study Germany and we'll prepare. We don't have time to take off," stated USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Next Sunday, if we're fortunate, we'll be playing for the world championship. It's not the time to take time off. It's the time to sprint, not rest. We have a lot of respect for the German team and you can be sure that we'll prepare that way. Hopefully, we'll play that way."
The round of 16 games on Aug. 26 saw Argentina (6-0) eliminate New Zealand (2-4) 79-62; Turkey (5-1) defeated Slovenia (2-4) 90-84; Spain (6-0) romped over Serbia & Montenegro (2-4) and Lithuania (4-2) nipped Italy (4-2) 72-69.
In Sunday's round of 16 action, Germany (5-1) defeated Nigeria (2-4) 78-77; France (4-2) bested Angola (3-3) 68-62; while the nightcap featured Greece (5-0) against China (2-3).
The eight winners of the Eighth-Finals games now advance to the medal round quarterfinals that will be held Aug. 29 and 30. Argentina will face Turkey at 4:30 p.m. and Spain will clash against Lithuania in the 7:30 p.m. game on Aug. 29. On Aug. 30 the USA will take on Germany, while France will go up against the winners of tonight's final game, Greece-China.
Winners of the quarterfinals games will advance to the medal round semifinals, while the quarterfinals losers will play in the consolation round semifinals and play out for fifth-eighth places. Winners of the medal round semifinals will advance to the gold medal game, while medal round semifinals losers will meet in the bronze medal game. All games from the Eighth-Finals to the Finals will be played on a one-game elimination basis for the gold medal. The games from the Eighth-Finals to the Finals will be played Aug. 26-Sept. 3 in Saitama City, Saitama, Japan.
