No slipping to Greece

Americans avoid upset this time

BEIJING - The United States' men's basketball team got revenge and a statement win all rolled in one last night. And if the Americans hope to win their first gold medal in eight years, they will need a statement win in every game the rest of the way.

The US improved to 3-0 by hammering Greece, 92-69, at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. The victory avenged a 101-95 upset loss to the Greeks in the semifinals of the 2006 world championships in Japan. But it will get more difficult for the Americans as they meet undefeated Spain (3-0), the 2006 world champions, tomorrow, before completing Group B action against Dirk Nowitzki and Germany.

"We wanted to make a statement that we were a better team than we were in '06," said US guard Dwyane Wade, who had 17 points. "Of course, we want to continue to get better. It's only Game 3. It's a win, another win. We have to learn from it. But we have to move on to the next one."

After wins over China and Angola - two countries not expected to medal - the Americans received a much-wanted challenge in Greece, which won the silver medal in the world championships two years ago.

After a slow start, the Americans responded to go up by as many as 25 points. Guard Kobe Bryant and forward Chris Bosh led the way with 18 points each. The Greeks allowed 28 points off 25 turnovers, shot only 41 percent, and made only 4 of 18 3-pointers.

"Even from the warm-up, they had a big motivation to win this game," said Greek guard Nikolaos Zisis. "It's normal. For them, it was a disappointment to lose to us, a small country overseas. I think the motivation was very [clear]."

Said US forward LeBron James, "We wanted to come out and play well. Of course, you wanted to play well because it's the last team we lost to. We didn't do so well. But they played better than us in 2006. It's something that we thought we had to get off of our back. And we did that."

Tony Ronzone, Team USA's director of international player personnel, last month projected Spain to be the team's toughest opponent. The Spaniards are led by Lakers forward-center Pau Gasol and have several current or former NBA players, including Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Rodriguez, and Jorge Garbajosa.

Calderon expects Spain to play loose against the favored Americans.

"We are not changing our style because we play against the USA," Calderon said. "The only difference is we don't have the pressure. We can be smarter than them and beat them."

Said Wade, "Spain is good. They're a good team. It's going to be a good game. They have a lot of weapons that they can throw at you. They know each other. They've been playing together for a while. They're a very good team. We look forward to the matchup."

But it sounds as if Zisis, whose Greek team also lost to Spain, has his money on the Americans against Spain, and eventually for the gold.

"The United States is a great team," said Zisis. "I think they are favored to win the gold medal."