Time for all the United States to chant along with me, “Were Number One! We’re Number One!”, because Team USA has officially clinched the Group C number one seed after defeating Dominican Republic by a whopping 35 points, 106-71. Ok so it’s not really a big surprise but being number one is always fun to chant. Dominican Republic kept it close for one frame when Team USA was up by just three points. That didn’t last long though as Team USA went up 44-29 by midway through the second. The afterburners turned on from there ending up with the 35 point win. Kenneth Faried continued his excellent play as he led all scorers with 16 points on 8 for 11 shooting, Faried also pulled down 6 rebounds in his 17 minutes of playing time. Anthony Davis played 20 minutes and scored 10 points off 5 for 10 shooting while adding 7 rebounds. Pretty much what we expect from both of those competitors but it was Demarcus Cousins who was the star of this game going a perfect 5 for 5 from the field, scoring 13 points, pulling down 5 rebounds, and racking up 6 steals in a svelte 12 minutes of play. Great performance from the Sacramento Kings star. Derrick Rose, who we’ve kept our eye on, went 2 for 5 in the game scoring 6 points. Rose is shooting 26% in the tournament so far, but the good news is that he’s playing an average of 17 minutes so far and seems to be fine with his knees.
Team USA had 17 steals but committed 16 turnovers, something that they need to work on before meeting tougher opponents. Team USA held a 66 to 28 point advantage in points in the paint over the Dominican Republic. They are just too big and strong down low for most of these teams. Team USA has clinched the number one seed for their Group, and their final game for the group play is tomorrow vs Ukraine, followed by a rest day on Friday before the round of 16 begins on Saturday.
Team USA plays Ukraine tomorrow, September 4th at 17:30 (GMT+2)