U.S. Men Overcome Australia in Basketball

Posted on Aug. 20, 2004

The Americans, coached by Larry Brown ’63, are finally showing what they’re made of. They beat Australia 89-79 on Thursday.

During the first and second halves of the game the Aussies led by as much as 12 points, again because Team USA had trouble making 3-pointers.

But, in the fourth quarter the Americans pulled it together. Their shooting percentage and defense both increased dramatically, according to NBCOlympics.com reports. “This young kid (LeBron James) and Dwyane Wade started throwing the ball inside, and all of the sudden everybody on our team got better,” Brown said to Sports Illustrated. “Hopefully we’ve got to remember that. But we’re not dealing with Michael Jordans and Larry Birds and Magic Johnsons that have done that from the beginning, and it’s going to take time for some of these young people.”

The U.S. began the fourth quarter behind by two points, but managed to gain 10 points by the end of the game and prevented the Aussies from making any more points.

Team USA now has a 2-1 Olympic record.

---