USA – James: `We are playing every game as if it is our last’

BEIJING (Olympics) – The United States are as focused as they’ve ever been in international basketball.
 
That was evident on Thursday night when two-time Olympians LeBron James and Dwyane Wade made sure the Americans didn’t lose for a second time in three years to Greece.
 
"We are playing every game as if it is our last,” said James, who had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists in the USA’s 92-69 win.
 
“We are going at it. We are going after every opponent. It's an opportunity for us to get better, to showcase how good we are.”
 
If James made a mistake in that last remark, it was by using the word good.
 
What he could have said, and probably should have said, was the Americans can showcase how AWESOME they are.
 
The US defense simply overpowered one of the best basketball countries in the international game.
 
The Americans have now won three games, and the victory over Greece was by far their most impressive because of the caliber of opponent, and the recent history.
 
Greece, the EuroBasket 2005 winners and silver medalists in Japan the next year, pride themselves on taking care of the ball, yet the Wade-led defense (he had six steals) forced them into 25 turnovers.
 
James was no slouch on defense, either, with two of the team’s 15 steals.
 
"We understand what it means to win, we know what it takes defensively,” James said.
 
"The last time they beat us. We knew we had to clean our pick and roll defense. “
 
Sofoklis Schortsanitis tormented the Americans in the pick-and-roll in Japan but this time the big center hardly made an impact in just under 12 minutes, scoring only three points.
 
"Communication is another big thing when it comes to defense and we just talk,” James said.
 
“That's what we did from the beginning. We forced Greece to make shots from the outside, we took care of business.”
 
After the decisive win over Greece in the Wukesong Arena, James showed how much he, Wade and the others have matured since the 2006 setback.
 
“That's only one ball game,” he said. “We (still) have to take care of business.”
 
FIBA