The United States Olympic Basketball Team (5-0) plays the Australians (3-2) today in London at 5:15pm on the NBC Sports Channel.
Here is what you need to know about today’s contest:
The U.S. is coming off a 126-97 victory over Argentina, while Australia is riding a three-game winning streak including a dramatic 82-80 victory over Russia, giving the Russian squad its first loss in London.
After dropping its first two contests to Brazil and Spain, the Boomers rebounded to defeat China, Great Britain and the one-seed out of Group B, Russia. In a thrilling win over Russia.
The USA is 6-0 all-time against Australia at the Olympics, including a 3-0 mark
in games outside of the preliminary round. For the second straight Olympics, the U.S. is facing the Boomers in the quarterfinals as the Americans won 116-85 in 2008 to advance to
the semifinals.
Patrick Mills scored 13 total points against Russia and is Australia’s leading scorer at the Olympics, averaging 20.2 points per game. He scored 39 in the win over Great Britain, the highest amount by any player thus far in London. Joe Ingles contributes 14.2 points per game, while David Andersen has scored 12.2 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 6.4 boards per contest.
The U.S. has recorded the three highest offensive scoring games of the Olympics with 156 points against Nigeria, 126 against Argentina and 110 against Tunisia. The 156 point output
was the highest in Olympic history, and the 126 points against Argentina ranks as the fifth-highest (156 vs. Nigeria, 2012; 133 vs. China, 1996; 127 vs. Brazil, 1992; 127 vs. Lithuania, 1992).
With a victory over Australia, the U.S. will next play in the semifinals on Friday. The Americans would play the winner of the Brazil vs. Argentina quarterfinal. The U.S. defeated both teams in its exhibition tour prior to the Olympics, and topped Argentina 126-97 in the final game of pool play. A quarterfinals loss would eliminate the U.S. from competition.
Anthony Davis is the youngest player to represent the U.S. in men’s basketball at the Olympics. Three members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team were younger than Davis, however they did not compete in the Olympics.
[U][B]TODAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS[/B][/U]
[B]USA[/B]
NO NAME POS HGT WGT PPG RPG APG
5 Kevin Durant F 6-9 235 18.6 .5.6 .3.8
6 LeBron James F 6-8 250 11.6 .3.4 .4.4
4 Tyson Chandler C 7-1 240 4.0 .5.2 .0.6
10 Kobe Bryant G 6-6 205 9.4 .1.4 .0.8
13 Chris Paul G 6-0 183 7.6 .3.0 .5.8
[B]AUSTRALIA[/B]
NO NAME POS HGT WGT PPG RPG APG
7 Joe Ingles F 6-8 201 14.2 1 4.4 .3.8
13 David Andersen F 6-11 225 12.2 .6.4 .0.8
15 Aleks Maric C 6-11 276 3.2 .2.8 .0.2
5 Patrick Mills G 6-0 187 20.2 .4.2 .2.2
9 Matt Dellavedova G 6-4 196 8.2 .3.2 .4.6
[URL=”http://www.usabasketball.com/misc/12_moly_notes_06.pdf”]Source[/URL]
[youtube_sc width=430 url=2ggZU3g9ejo]
