USA/RUS – Defense propels Americans past Russia

SHANGHAI (Olympics) – Mike Krzyzewski is always preaching the virtues of defense with the Duke Blue Devils, so it’s not surprising he’s doing the same with the USA team he is leading at this year’s Olympics in China.

The message is getting through with his American superstars buying into his philosophy and using defensive pressure to beat all of their opponents so far in the build-up to the Beijing Games, with EuroBasket 2007 winners Russia the latest to fall victim to Coach K and the US, 89-68, in Shanghai.

Kobe Bryant had 19 points to lead the Americans on offense but Krzyzewski highlighted the play of his defensive leader, Chris Bosh, after the game.

“I thought Chris Bosh played a great game,” Krzyzewski said.

“Chris’ defense away from the basket is outstanding. I think it’s been one of our strong points.

“When I look at Chris’ performance, a lot of it isn’t going to show up in the stats except the fact that they got 68 points and Chris Bosh had a lot to do with that.

“As a coach you can’t just judge this (the box score) you’ve got to judge what you see and what’s happening out on the court.”

Bosh, one of the star players of the Toronto Raptors, said: “That's how I play, that's what they want me to do when I come in.

“We have so many talented offensive guys I’m really not worried about offense, I feel I can help this team on defense being active, getting my hands on some deflections, rebounding the basketball and running the floor.”

The USA led 29-17 after the first quarter and opened up a 46-31 advantage by half-time but weren’t able to pull away from David Blatt’s team. The Russians trimmed the deficit to 61-51 with 3:34 left in the third period, only for Michael Redd to hit a pair of three-balls and Dwyane Wade to add a pair of baskets for a 71-51 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

FIBA