U.S. basketball team defeats winless Angola

By KEVIN TRESOLINI

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - For one game, the United States was its former Olympic basketball self on Monday afternoon.

Considering the opponent, winless Angola, that shouldn't be viewed as a strong foundation for optimism as medal play approaches.

The African champions, with three starters out injured and two other players hobbled, were no match for the Americans, who coasted to an 89-53 victory at the Helliniko Indoor Arena.

"If the U.S. had lost three guards, they would not be able to win either," Angola coach Mario Palma suggested.

The United States finished 3-2 in Group B play and advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals. It tied for second with Puerto Rico and Greece but lost the tie breakers and is seeded fourth, meaning its quarterfinal opponent is Spain, led by Pau Gasol, which went unbeaten in five Group A games.

"I think guys are ready, but, I mean, we have to be," said Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson, the U.S. captain. "There's no tomorrow. We've got to win basketball games and that's it, regardless of who we have to play. I think the guys are up for the challenge. We already lost two games, so hopefully that's out of our system."

Four Americans scored in double figures as coach Larry Brown rested his starters most of the game. Tim Duncan needed barely 13 minutes to notch a team-high 15 points. LeBron James, who played a team-high 27 minutes, and Dwyane Wade scored 11 points each, and Iverson added 10.

The United States was coming off a 94-90 loss to Lithuania, its second of these Games and just the fourth defeat in U.S. Olympic history, which now covers 116 games.

"We improved from our first game (a 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico) to our last one, and I feel better now than after the Puerto Rico game," Brown said.

The U.S. outrebounded Angola by 52-17, led by Carlos Boozer's nine and Duncan's seven.

"We just came out aggressive," Duncan said. "We just wanted to attack. They came out in man-to-man, and we wanted to be aggressive against it and jump on them early.

"I'm really confident in the way we play. I think we've learned a lot in this tournament. We're in a great position."

The victory was aided by improved shooting from the floor (33 for 60), three-point range (3 for 6) and foul line (20 for 26).

"We just wanted to best prepare ourselves for Thursday, get a lot of things done and try to get a good run in," said James, whose second-half alley-oop dunk off Shawn Marion's fast-break pass was likely the most memorable moment for 12,000 spectators.

"We were able to do that and control the tempo. We've made progress being together for the last 27 days. We've got to keep getting better every day and be ready for Thursday."