Philippines, 16 Sep 2025
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


US Survives Serbia, France Stuns Germany; To Clash for Olympic Basketball Gold


PhilBoxing.com



L-R: Durant, James and Curry carry the USA Team to victory against Serbia.

When the US started to flaunt its professional superstars in basketball with devastating effect in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, one expert said that the only way the Americans could be defeated is through the zone and accurate three points shooting.

Up to the final two minutes, Nikola Jokic and his Serbian national team looked the part of realizing the dream of being the first squad to upend an American all superstars quintet. Until Stephen Curry and LeBron James rudely shook them out of the stupor on the way to a 95-91 US win in the semifinals.

To be accurate, an NBA-led US team had earlier been beaten in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. But the team featured just one All-NBA selection (Tim Duncan) and two All-Stars (Duncan and Allen Iverson) from the prior NBA season, which are both all-time lows for a U.S. Olympic team since NBA players were first allowed in 1992. The team likewise lagged behind the oppositions in outside shooting. A very young Lebron James played on his first US Olympic team.

However, after the US Redeem Team led by Kobe Bryant regained the Olympic gold in 2008, the Americans will not be beaten again since.

Jokic and his Serbian squad therefore were faced with a very tall order and they looked like they could pull it off, even enjoying a 17 points lead in the first half and a series of ten points lead up to the third quarter.

But then, the Americans never showed signs of panic and demonstrated why no sizeable leads were safe against a team composed of veteran superstars which was the norm in the NBA.

Led by Curry who shoot a team high 36 points, including 20 in the first half, the Americans staged a furious fight back to keep the game close and eventually snatch the lead. Curry and James conspired to clinch the match for the US team leaving the Serbs to rue a wasted opportunity.

In the other semifinals, host France played its best game thus far in upending FIBA champions Germany, 73-69, to arrange a finals meeting with the US

French twin towers Rudy Gobert and Victor Wenbanyama played instrumental role in the victory over the Germans who were bannered by Fritz and Moritz Wagner and Dennis Shroader who were likewise NBA stars.

France will be meeting the US in Olympics basketball finals for the fourth time since 1936 and the first since 2000.

The basketball team representing the United States is the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in all nineteen Olympic tournaments it has entered, including sixteen golds. In the professional era, the team won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016, and
2020.

The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh To headline historic “Legacy Nights” Inaugural Pro Boxing event in El Salvador
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Smarts over power
    By Joaquin Henson, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
    By Maloney L. Samaco, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
    By Dong Secuya, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • 21-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
    By Carlos Costa, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
    , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Undercard Inferno: Mbilli and Martinez Deliver a Super Middleweight War Ending in a Thrilling Draw
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Crawford to defy odds?
    By Joaquin Henson, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Clash of Titans: The Final Predictions for Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Weigh-In Results: Naoya Inoue vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev
    , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Inoue and Akhmadaliev Make Weight for Sunday's Battle, Watch it LIVE on Facebook!
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • IIEE North Cotabato and Metro Central are the Golden Champion on 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Chess
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Sydney Sy Tancontian is Female Awardee of Sports Hero of the Year
    By Lito delos Reyes, , Sat, 13 Sep 2025
  • Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford: Size Matters
    By Chris Carlson, , Sat, 13 Sep 2025
  • BOOTS TALKS SPARRING WITH CANELO IN ‘DAY IN THE LIFE’
    , Sat, 13 Sep 2025




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2025 philboxing.com.