Team USA remains undefeated

In the last game of the first round Team USA didn’t have the same easy path as it did in the first three. Coach Bo Ryan’s squad narrowly escaped with a 68-66 win against Serbia, and Deon Thompson didn’t have the same type of game as he has had up to now, scoring just six points (and 5 boards). Another thing that was not the same was that the senior from Chapel Hill did not start, as he has for the whole tournament, but came off the bench. On the bright side, Team USA does go 4 and 0 and will face Bulgaria today in the Medal Round of the World University Games. Another thing that could truly be a positive for the American squad is that they won a close game where the U.S. highest lead was six points and Serbia’s was five. This game, from what I read on the UNC Athletic web site, was always close, and that means to me that this squad can win big, but can also win the tight ones.

This is what the head coach of Team USA had to say after the game:

“A game comes down to what seems like an eternity that last minute, the last 30 seconds, the last nine seconds,” said USA and University of Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan. “But it’s all the things that happened before that really are important. In order for us to get accomplished what we want to accomplish, we have to give ourselves a better chance by taking care of the ball and rebounding a little better. They struggled some and we struggled some because both teams were playing so hard against each other. We happened to be two points up, a little more than them, but there are still a lot tougher games ahead.”

The key is that while the game was close Team USA knew that they were going on to the next round. From now on the game will count a lot more, cause it’s win or go home. Will be interesting to see if the added pressure will make this talented team better or if it will make it a shadow of itself. My opinion is that both the coaching staff and the twelve players on the roster know that if they play as they can the gold is their to lose. Today’s challenger for Team USA will be Bulgaria, who has gone 3 and 1 in the tournament, with the winner advancing to the semifinals, which will be played tomorrow.