Sluggish tuneup for US
Wade (22 points) helps halt Australia
 Lebron James (center) blocks David Andersen of Australia in Team USA's pre-Olympic exhibition Tuesday. James scored 16 points in a 87-76 US win. (Afp/Getty Images Photo / Liu Jin) |
They couldn't shoot and occasionally didn't defend. Definitely a performance the Americans should be relieved came before they got to Beijing.
Undefeated, but no longer unchallenged, the United States Olympic basketball team wrapped up its exhibition schedule with its toughest test, pulling away to beat Australia, 87-76, last night in Shanghai.
The US led by only 4 points nearly halfway through the third quarter and was up by 7 midway through the fourth against an Australian team that was resting its best player, Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut.
The US players still feel like gold medal favorites, but they hardly looked like gold medal locks during this shaky outing.
"Nothing alarming for us. It's alarming when you lose," Dwyane Wade said.
"We're still growing. We're still going to get better as each game goes on, but I think tonight we learned something."
The Americans relied on an aggressive defensive effort to overcome a horrendous night from 3-point range and the free throw line, the same areas that proved costly in their semifinal loss to Greece in the world championships two years ago.
Wade scored 22 points and LeBron James had 16 for the Americans, who finished 3 of 18 from behind the arc and 20 of 33 (61 percent) at the foul line.
The US team won two blowouts in Macau but found things much more difficult here, starting with an 89-68 victory over Russia Sunday.
Patrick Mills and Chris Anstey, who had a first-half altercation with Wade, each scored 13 points for Australia.
Golf medalists?
If it were up to Phil Mickelson, golfers would be going for the gold.
"Having golf an Olympic sport is exponentially more important to the game of golf than the majors," Mickelson said from the site of the season's final major, the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, Mich. "The reason for that is it would bring in 168 different countries and their Olympic foundation and all those revenues and that would be going towards the growth of the game."
Mickelson said Olympic golf would get increased exposure around the globe, reaching people who may not watch the sport now.
"The majors are incredibly big as we know, but we still capture the same audience that is already interested in the game," he said.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, European Tour chief George O'Grady, LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens, USGA executive director David Fay, and Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson met in May with International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, making the case for golf in the Games.
Breathing easier
The IOC's chief medical official expressed confidence that air pollution will not pose a major risk to athletes and visitors in Beijing. Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC medical commission, said the committee is evaluating the city's air quality based on standards set by the World Health Organization.
"Those standards are fairly tough to meet, but in many respects the Beijing area does so," Ljungqvist said on the opening day of the IOC's three-day session.
Stuck at the gate
Two dozen horses due to arrive in Hong Kong by plane today for the equestrian competition have been delayed by severe tropical storm Kammuri. Equestrian event spokesman Mark Pinkstone said he didn't expect the bad weather to affect the Olympic competition starting Saturday, as wet conditions are common at equestrian contests and the Hong Kong venue's drainage systems are working properly . . . India's only weightlifting entry for the Olympics, Monica Devi, was stopped in New Dehli from boarding a flight to Beijing after testing positive for a banned substance. The Press Trust of India reported that Devi tested positive for an anabolic salt in a test conducted June 29. She has been withdrawn from the Games . . . IOC president Jacques Rogge renewed his call for governments and sports bodies to speed up implementation of global rules on fighting the use of performance-enhancing drugs. So far, 87 countries have ratified a UNESCO convention that binds governments to uphold the World Anti-Doping Agency code setting out international drug-testing rules and sanctions - far short of the target of more than 190 signatories.
