Team USA Continues Road To Gold HoopsWorld

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SWORLD Team USA Continues Road To Gold By Wendell Maxey Last Updated PM ET times read Comments Adjust font size With three straight wins in the preliminary round in Beijing Team USA moves one step closer to capturing Gold and further away from past Olympic frustrations. The history is well documented Two years ago in Athens a watered down version of the Dream Team gave up an average of . points per game in their three losses and went in competition. Fast forward to at the World Championships and the Americans tasted bitter defeat at the hands of Greece. In each of those heartbreaking cases Team USA displayed shoddy defense despite having sheer scoring ability. Talk about false advertising. This was not the Dream Team of old. Now in Beijing China Team USA has the best of both worlds a true team instead of an All Star concoction that plays equally aggressive on both ends of the floor and Dwyane Wade . points per game finds himself at that center of such success. Team USA exorcised the demons defeating Greece on Thursday remaining perfect with si! milar impressive victories over Angola and China. While Wade finished with points after going for two straight point outings he also helped set the defensive tone with an early steal and alley oop assist to Kobe Bryant in what will surely be the highlight of these Olympic men s basketball completion for years to come. After everything Wade has been through these pastfew years with Team USA he certainly won t forget his experience in Beijing this summer Wade remembers the disappointment of when the US won bronze even while admitting he doesn t know exactly where that medal is today. After being named co captain in and after losing to Greece that year Wade missed the entire Tournament of Americas with an injured left knee that eventually required surgery. Team USA went qualifying for the Olympics last summer. As for Wade he missed the Miami HEAT s preseason andlast games of the regular season with knee troubles and many debated if he d even make the trip to Beijing. Good thin! g he did. Knowing Wade s impact on the floor and how he s performed like the D Wade of old he s easily become one of the feel good stories for Team USA thus far. With the win over Greece Wade and company secured a spot in the medal round quarterfinals and that is regardless of the outcome of their two remaining preliminary round games against Spain on Saturday and Germany on Monday. And while there may be cause for early celebration Team USA is well aware there is some unfinished business to tend to capturing Gold. Undefeated Spain and Lithuania should not be a backstage story by any means however. Even though Spain needed overtime to put away China their overall talent with Jose Calderon and Pau Gasol anchoring the offense could give Team USA a run for their money. Look for Spain to rotate a fresh five often to compete in transition come Saturday. Lithuania who is physically imposing to say the least disposed of reigning Olympic champions Argentina thanks to Linas Kleiza s three pointer in their opening game as they remain perfect at . But wi! ll they be able to compete with Team USA While beating Greece has certainly helped eased Team USA s past pain it s not so much that the Americans are undefeated at this stage of the game. Many hoped they would run the gauntlet before advancing to the quarterfinals that begins August . Yet what is perhaps most impressive is how those wins have come. Strong team defense is now the trademark. Heading into competition on Saturday against Spain Team USA has forced a total of turnovers in their first three preliminary round games while in and Team USA s defensive intensity was suspect at best. In these Summer Olympics however defense comes only second to overall team unity a concept which continues to solidify the Redeem Team on the road to Gold. Also on HOOPSWORLD today The HOOPSWORLD team is doing a team by team analysis of the draft free agency and trades. Check out how your favorite teams currently rank and what still needs to be done in this exclusive story Reports out of Ch! ina have Yao Ming playing for his national team before he s truly ready to return from his injury. Is the time quickly approaching when Yao is going to have to choose between the NBA and China This is the time of year when there are a lot of ifs involved in discussions about who will be the top teams next season. Yannis Koutroupis takes a look a the Top Ifs for the East in this HOOPSWORLD exclusive Still a little confused about which teams in the international pool are going to challenge Team USA Jason Fleming breaks down the top players for the top teamsduring the first round of competition. About the Author WENDELL MAXEY Wendell Maxey is an NBA Writer for HOOPSWORLD and has appeared on NBA TV NBA Radio on SIRIUS and ESPN Radio. Wendell has covered the NBA for the past four seasons in New York New Jersey and Portland and is a member of the Professional Basketball Writers Association. Email to a friend Print version del.icio.us Digg this Comments posted Post your comment Please be respectful of the writers in your comments or they will be remo! ved There are currently no Comments available. Email to a friend Print version del.icio

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