With memory of Athens still fresh, gold isn’t a given
RIO DE JANEIRO — China won the opening tip.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, wraps up your highlight tape of the evening for the Chinese basketball team.
“The result of this game was probably expected before the game even started,” coach Gong Luming said.
Hey, what else can you say after your team has been routed 119-62?
“It is a pity that we did not do the things very well that we tried to achieve,” noted Coach Gong.
All right, you can say that, too.
The USA men’s basketball team opened Olympic tournament play Saturday night with a predictable rout produced by superior talent compared to any other team on the planet. China was merely the designated victim.
And for those Bay Area fans who are wondering, I can report that the Yankee Doodle Dubs — the three Warriors players on the United States roster — played strong contributing roles in the outcome.
In fact, the Doodle Dubs constituted two-fifths of the starting lineup put on the floor by coach Mike Krzyzewski here
at the main Olympic complex.
Krzyzewski sent Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson out for that initial jump ball with Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony and DeMarcus Cousins. Durant, the new Dub on the block, wound up as the game’s leading scorer with 25 points in slightly more than 22 minutes. Thompson had two points in about 19 minutes, but was a defensive presence on a team that aims to emphasize defense.
Before the first half was over, Draymond Green had also rotated onto the floor to complete the Doodle Dub trifecta. Harrison Barnes, the former Warrior who has been signed by the Dallas Mavericks, joined him eventually.
“It was great, a lot of fun,” Thompson proclaimed at night’s end. “We got a win and it felt good to break a sweat.”
Thompson must have added that last part because in fact, some people wondered if anyone in a USA uniform had indeed perspired.
But for anyone who says it’s a boring waste of time to watch another American basketball team in the Olympics cruise to the anticipated easy victory … well, just stop right there, citizens.
I am the wrong guy to argue with on that point. International basketball might be my favorite basketball. With fewer and shorter timeouts, plus a slightly shorter 3-point arc and other rule differences, the game’s pace flows quicker. Basketball genius and skill can shine more brightly. It is a joy to see the world’s best players wallow in that flow. Especially if they are from your own country.
Also, I remember Athens.
In 2004 at the Olympics in Greece, the USA sent another supposedly unbeatable team to the Games with big names such as Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade and Allen Iverson on the floor. And the routs did not occur. That team lost three games and left Athens with a bronze medal, not gold. The embarrassment caused USA Basketball to drastically restructure its method of choosing and cultivating the national team. This produced gold medals in Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
But you know who else remembers Athens? Kevin Durant. And the following story should give Warriors fans even more of a good feeling about the team’s newest acquisition.
Durant watched the 2004 ignominy as a high school player and desperately wanted to be on the 2008 team to show that America still was the best basketball country in the world. Instead, he was one of the last players cut from that roster.
“It was very inspiring to me,” he said Saturday night, remembering that moment. “I was upset that I didn’t make the team, not at Coach K, because I knew I had to wait my turn. But I just wanted to be part of that … It was upsetting watching 2008 at home but I told myself to just keep on working and at some point, my time is going to come.”
In 2010, Durant did make the national roster and in 2012 he did contribute to the London Games gold medal.
“I’m living my dreams out,” Durant said.
If this is of Durant’s dream, who are the naysayers who dare to label it boring?
Friday night, the socalled jaded NBA players were some of the giddiest humans who participated in the opening ceremony. That tells you something, too.
“It went by way too fast,” Thompson said of the ceremony.
“I felt like I didn’t get enough photos,” Barnes said. “And I had my phone on, taking pictures the entire time.”
Krzyzewski is honest about his approach to the Olympics with his team of stars.
“I just expect us to represent the country at the highest level, maintain our focus, stay away from injury and keep getting better,” he said.
In that sense, Saturday also went very well — although for Warriors fans, there was a brief scare in the first quarter when Thompson landed awkwardly after a drive to the basket. He banged up his right knee and favored the leg the next couple of times down the floor. But Thompson managed to walk off the pain and said he was fine the rest of the way.
That’s good for a lot of reasons. Because here’s another prediction: Before the end of the Olympics, at least one team will challenge the USA into the second half and even into the fourth quarter. That team could well be Australia, which earlier Saturday produced a stunning upset of France.
And of course, the Aussies’ sparkplug was Andrew Bogut, the ex Warrior whose status here was doubtful because of a knee injury he sustained in the NBA Finals. Australia and the USA meet Wednesday night. Bogut might spend time guarding Green and vice versa. That matchup, no one should miss.
Which is why Green said he’ll definitely watch video of Saturday’s game with a critical eye.
“We didn’t do everything right tonight,” Green said. “When you win by 50, you might be thinking you’re doing everything right. You didn’t.”
But they came close. Some of us enjoyed it quite a bit.