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U.S team criticized for ridiculing Nigeria, Mike Krzyzewski sets the record straight – NBA News

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U.S team criticized for ridiculing Nigeria, Mike Krzyzewski sets the record straight – NBA News
The U.S.A team shattered a list of world records on Thursday evening, defeating minnows Nigeria 156-73 in a group basketball game here at the London Olympics. The 156 points scored were the highest by any team in an Olympic game,
and the 83 point margin was all the highest margin to record a victory. In addition, the U.S team scored 29 three point shots for the night, another world record.
After the game, there were calls by some people in the media that the U.S team showed poor sportsmanship as they attempted to humiliate the Nigerian team by going all out even when it had become clear that the African team were
out of the running for good. The U.S team started the final quarter with a 57 point lead, and outscored the Nigerians 37-11 in the final period to increase the margin to 83.
However, U.S head coach Mike Krzyzewski has taken offense to the claims that his team was trying to be disrespectful.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports has reported that Krzyzewski said after the game:
“We didn’t play LeBron [James] and Kobe [Bryant] in the second half, and with Carmelo shooting like that, we benched him. We didn’t take any fast breaks in the fourth quarter, and we played all zone. You have to take a shot every
24 seconds, and the shots we took happened to be hit. I take offense to this question because there’s no way in the world that our program in the United States sets out to humiliate anyone.”
Even when Krzyzewski emptied his bench in the final period, the U.S team on the floor comprised of Russell Westbrook, Andre Iguodala, Deron Williams, James Harden and Anthony Davis among others. With a roster that is filled with
superstars to the point that even the bench players are All Stars, one cannot do much about the fate of the game.
Besides, Olympic Games are all about competition and the Nigerian team would have felt more disrespected had the U.S team given them some slack in the final period, suggesting that they are too good for them. When one plays at
the Olympics, it is the responsibility of that individual and team to bring their best to the game and surely, they cannot be criticised for playing too well.

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