USA/ARG - USA win but Manu-less Argentina make life uncomfortable for them

BEIJING (Olympics) - The United States beat defending champions Argentina 101-81 on Friday night to earn a ticket to the gold medal game at the Olympics.

The Americans, who won the title in 2000 but lost in the semi-finals to Argentina four years ago, got a team-high 21 points from Carmelo Anthony.

The USA stormed out to a 21-point lead and Argentina then lost superstar guard Manu Ginobili to a foot injury.

Remarkably, Sergio Hernandez’s team fought back with inspirational leadership from Andres Nocioni and closed the gap to six but got no closer.

“We lost the chance to go for the gold medal game but today I believe we won the gold medal for the heart, the courage and the guts we put out there,” said Carlos Delfino to FIBA.com.

“We lost our top scorer, Manu Ginobili. We were down 21 points against a team made up of superstars.

“We fought back and we gave everything we had on the court. In the end, the lack of oxygen and the fatigue caught up with us.”

Bothered by a knee injury that he suffered in the quarter-final win over Greece, Nocioni didn’t start but came off the bench to score eight points in the first half and also play his customary tough defense.

The South Americans appeared to be headed for half-time trailing 46-40 as Anthony missed a three-pointer.

But Italian referee Luigi Lamonica called a foul on Juan Gutierrez, and Anthony took advantage by making all three free throws for a nine-point USA lead.

The Americans scored the first four points of the second half and Argentina, without Ginobili who failed to return to the bench for the second half, weren’t able to get the deficit under double digits the rest of the way.

When asked if he had been fouled at the end of the half, Anthony said: “They called it. But it was a big play.”

"We could not execute our plan in the first quarter and that left us with a huge deficit,” said Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez.

“If already it is difficult to play against a Team USA that has technique, incredible athleticism and unlike any other Team USA in the past – discipline - you can imagine if we are down 19 points.

“We paid the price in the final quarter because the efforts to get back in the game required a lot of energy.

“The zone defense worked at times, we tried everything. What I am left with is the character of my players, who play to the last minute and I am very proud.”

The game was extremely physical, with Anthony admitting he wanted to take an `ice bath’ after the press conference because there had been so much “banging” with Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto and Leonardo Gutierrez.

USA coach Mike Krzyzewski was happy with the 20-point win but also concerned that his team’s defense had not been good in the second quarter.

“Their zone gave us problems because we weren’t playing good defense,” Krzyzewski said.

“I think our defense leads to good offense, not just in turnovers but in us getting into an attack mode. I felt we didn’t attack the zone and we weren’t attacking defensively, either.”

If the Americans play good defense, Krzyzewski  says, they will be tough to beat in the final.

“The real heart of our team is playing defense,” he said. “That’s why we’re in the gold medal game.”

Argentina will now take on Lithuania in the bronze medal game and they will almost certainly not have Ginobili.

“I said hello to Manu and the only thing I know is that his foot hurts,” Hernandez said.

“Now is the issue of the doctors who will take him to the clinic. I know he has a lot of pain and is very sad.

“It's not the greatest thing that your best player in the semi-final gets injured. For me he is the best player of the tournament.

“We missed him and we decided to multiply our effort in order to pay homage to him."

Scola, the MVP of last year’s FIBA Americas Championship where Argentina finished runners-up to the USA, had a monster game.

He scored a game-high 28 points – 16 in the second half – and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Delfino also got hot in the second half by pouring in 15 of his 17 points.

The USA won the rebounding battle 43-32.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA