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Philippines, 23 Apr 2025 |
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Team USA clobbers Nigeria, 110-66 By Kristy Gonowon PhilBoxing.com Wed, 03 Aug 2016  HOUSTON -- There was no question whether Team USA would win its final exhibition game against Nigeria Monday evening at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. With one game left to fine tune the team's synergy before their departure to Rio, Team USA trounced the Nigerian national team, 110-66, with Carmelo Anthony leading the team with 19 points. With this win, Team USA swept all four games of their pre-Olympics showcase, thus looking to be the heavy favorites to take the gold in Rio. Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski indicated that in tonight's game, he wanted to play around with different player rotations and combinations. "We wanted to share the ball well and then try some people at different positions with different lineups. I thought we advanced today. I thought we got better tonight." However, the scene Monday night was more a celebration of basketball, to those players hailing from the state of Texas to those supporting their home countrymen of Nigeria, as opposed to any future medal aspirations. Home state favorites like DeAndre Jordan and Jimmy Butler played often and were cheered for loudly throughout the game, while Nigerian born fans showed up to the game dressed in green Nigerian jerseys and in traditional Nigerian garb. In addition to having a strong Nigerian fan base at the game, the Nigerian national team also had current NBA player with the Portland Trailblazers and member of the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors team, Festus Ezeli, on hand to boost the team's national pride and lend support to his fellow bretheren, besides Ezeli giving some love to his former teammates, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Harrison Barnes after the game. Because the Team USA athletes depart tomorrow for Rio, several other Team USA athletes from different sports were also in attendance at the game, including Team USA's women's basketball team, with current WNBA stars Elena Della Donne and Britney Griner, and several members of the men's and women's track and field teams. The party atmosphere at the arena displayed jumbotron shots of current NBA players Patrick Beverly from the Houston Rockets and Justice Winslow from the Miami Heat and former NBA stars Alonzo Mourning and David "The Admiral" Robinson, a 2-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs and a 2-time Olympic gold medalist who was a a member of the famed 1992 "Dream Team" who won the gold in Barcelona, Spain. Once the final horn sounded, the elder stateman of Team USA, Carmelo Anthony, who has been with USA Basketball since 2000, immediately started the line to shake the Nigerian players' hands. Not only did Carmelo shake hands, he greeted each player with sincerity and warmly embraced each player and coach on the opposing team. All this while James Brown's "Living In America" blared over the loudspeakers, followed by Team USA signing squishy balls and throwing them into the eager crowd. Team USA, one of six teams in Group A, plays its preliminary round opener against China this Saturday. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Kristy Gonowon.  |
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