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United States 85-82 Spain

What a thriller of a game! After being down by 15 at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, and then down 7 with about 3 minutes left in the game, we rallied back and was able to pick up the close win! The game was pretty frustrating to watch, as it felt like I just kept seeing either an offensive rebound for them or a foul called on us. Our defense ended up winning us this game, holding them to just under 40% from the field. Chris Polk lead the team with an 18 point performance, but Donnell Ransom went 10-10 from the FT line, which proved to be crucial in a game decided by 3 points. A really good win against a top team.

Next week we have Hungary, who are the other undefeated team in the group at 3-0. They are coming off of an impressive win against Hong Kong, where Hong Kong used more effort but still could not come out on top. They have a very strong 114k salary big that tops their roster who will be tough to deal with for sure. It will be a great game to see who can stay undefeated!

Go USA!

United States 112-100 Hungary

We keep the undefeated streak going! The battle of the 3-0 teams goes to us as we come away with a 12 point victory today. We were incorrect on our inside guess, but our team was simply too superior for Hungary to match. Ransom started the game out shooting a perfect 8-8, but it was Polk who finished the game at the top of the scoreboard with 23 points. However there is always room for improvement, as we shot 19-28 from the FT line. We will certainly look to shoot better from the line going forward. Looking across the group, Israel threw their game today against Spain to drop to 1-3, which is very strange.

We will be finishing off this first group against Hong Kong. They currently sit at 1-3 in the group, but hold the 4th place spot over Israel after Israel's -50 PD from their throw. They are above them by 29 points, so they are likely the 4th team to move on as Israel plays Hungary and that is a lot of points to try and make up. We will be prepared for whatever they throw at us.

Let's close out this group strong!
Go USA!

United States 84-69 Hong Kong

What an ugly final game to the group but we came out with a win! I personally had to stop watching because I could not stand watching us continuously foul and turn the ball over, but as soon as the 4th quarter hit the team took off running and did not look back. We held them to 18-80 shooting, but one of their guys shot 7-13 so if you take that one player away they shot a total of 11-67. Just a completely dominant defensive performance, if it wasn't for all the fouling and FTs they made, this game would not have been even remotely close. Ransom did not shoot very well overall, but was instrumental to the 4th quarter beatdown we handed out. He was repeatedly grabbing rebounds, where he actually ended up tying the team lead at 14 with Penn. Despite the ugliness it is nice to come out on top.

And that does it for the first group! We finish 5-0 and will go into our next group with a 3-0 record. Our opponents will be Italy, Poland, Lithuania and Argentina for the next 4 weeks, but I am unsure who we will play first as the schedule has not yet released. Moving on undefeated puts us in a great spot looking ahead, and we are excited to keep pushing towards the playoffs.

Lets keep the success going!
Go USA!

United States 71-59 Poland

POLK! POLK! POLK! What a game from the man himself as he leads us on a historic 4th quarter comeback to pick up the victory over Poland. We were having a very tough game for the first 3 quarters, struggling to find our footing and had us at a 10 point deficit entering the 4th quarter. Polk went on a streak of 5 shots in a row in the 4th which got the team to rally behind him and complete an incredible 28-6 4th quarter performance. Polk led the team with 20 points, almost double the next closest teammate, as well as the by far best shooting percentage as the rest of the team struggled from the floor. Easily the MVP of the game, but we cant go much further without talking about the defense. What a lockdown throughout the whole game and especially the 4th. Anytime you can hold a team to under 60 points in the game is nothing short of incredible, and that is exactly what that was.

Looking ahead, we have Lithuania next. They currently sit at 2-2 but are in 6th place due to their point differential. They are coming off of a 13 point victory over Hong Kong, and are eager for another victory to get into the playoff picture. We are going to do everything we can to shut that down and stay undefeated.

Following our win and an Italy loss vs Spain, we are the current 1 seed in the group! I am expecting Italy the be in contention for the title, so our matchup with them in 2 weeks time will be an important one for seeding purposes. However, 1 game at a time and we are focused on Lithuania first.

GREAT TEAM WIN!!
Go USA!

United States 101-62 Lithuania

Questionable decision making from Lithuania as their decision to go all in and double guess an offense will put them at the bottom of a tiebreaker now since they got it incorrect. They double guessed motion with a 3-2 defense, so this was an absolute stomp. This game was over from the start and was not really close at any point. Very nicely balanced scoring from the team that saw backup SG Perry leading with 16 points. We were dunking all over their faces and dominated the rebounding category 56-27. Free throw shooting went from a perfect 18-18 last week to 57% this week, so that was not very nice to see. We will be working on that going into our next week matchup.

Next week we have our likely most difficult matchup of the group with Italy. Italy currently sits just below us at 4-1 with a close 2 point loss to Spain 2 weeks ago. They are coming off a comfortable win against Hong Kong, a team that is already knocked out of playoff contention. They have a complete roster from top to bottom, starting with a strong 112k big all they way down to their nice stretch of guards. It will be a great game but we will be coming out with the fire!

Go USA!

U-S-A

United States 101-92 Italy

MURICA, HELL YEAH!! We bring home the 9 point victory on Independence Day against a very tough opponent in Italy. Italy went up as much as 10 in the 2nd, but for the most part through the first 3 quarters they held a narrow lead over us. Once that 4th quarter hit, though, we took off. Completely dominant performance in the most important time of the game which propelled us to a nice win. Calderon was hard carrying the team in the first half keeping us in the game and went into the half with a double double already. Kelly had an incredible game, finishing with the most points, 2nd most rebounds and most assists on the team. He was clearly not going to lose today and made sure he did not. Could not be happier with the overall performance today from the squad.

A win today has officially secured us 1st seed going into playoffs! Next week we finish out this 2nd group with a game vs Argentina. Argentina currently sits at 1-5, eliminated from playoff contention and their only win coming against the 0-6 Hong Kong squad. I was expecting a bit more from them this season as I think they have a nice roster, but they just have not been able to put it together for some wins. We are going to come out next week and do our best to secure the undefeated record!

Happy 4th!!
Go USA!

Justice for Chewy!

United States 75-63 Argentina

With the expected CT effort from Argentina, we knew going into this game that is was going to be a battle despite have a massive GS advantage. Playing a game against a team going CT is always tough despite the circumstances, but the boys held strong and completed the dub. After trailing for the entire first half, we came out swinging in the 2nd half, putting on a show in the 3rd quarter that gave us a large enough lead to hold in the 4th. Bunn farmed these guys putting up 32 points on 50% shooting. The defensive effort today was outstanding, holding them to only 63 points on 26% shooting. Another thing to point out was the rebounding dominance from Penn and Calderon, but specifically Penn who put up 23 himself. Very nice win against a team trying much harder than us.

Even though this game meant absolutely nothing, it was nice to get the win to complete the undefeated pool play! This is only the first step though, as we are charging forward for that gold trophy. We start out in the semifinal vs Hungary. Hungary is coming off a narrow 4 point loss vs Italy today, and we played them way back on 6/6 where we came away with a 112-100 victory. They are a much improved team and this will surely be a great game, so we are going to come with the fire. It is time for the playoff run!!

Go USA!

United States 71-59 Hungary

WE ARE FINALS BOUND!!! After a defensive battle from both sides we are able to walk away with the 12 point victory. We knew going into this game that it was going to be a tough game and that is exactly what it was. We came out strong in the first half, winning each of the first 2 quarters by 7 points so held a comfortable 14 point lead at half. The second half was back and forth, where they ultimately outscored us by a total of 2 points which gave us the 12 point win. The defense held them to 59 points....what else even needs to be said? Completely suffocated them the whole game.

We have a finals matchup with Poland next week. I think many people around the community expected Italy to win this game today, but I knew Poland had a real chance to take this game. They end up taking a very convincing win after some very questionable tactic choices from Italy despite the missed GDP. Not quite sure what Italy was thinking this game but it costed them big time. It is going to be a fantastic matchup in the final, and you will not want to miss it! We are coming hungry for that gold.

We are at the final step in our journey, let's finish strong!
Go USA!

I’d like to know who the second dildo is who disapproves of Antwon (besides Oriole). The man has brought us to a finals and has masterfully navigated this team.

Well done Antwon. Let’s go USA