CHINA: OLYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - U.S. basketball coach says team faces tough opponents

Record ID: 402196

  • Title: CHINA: OLYMPICS BEIJING 2008 - U.S. basketball coach says team faces tough opponents
  • Date: 7th August 2008
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (AUGUST 6, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE TRAINING CENTRE FOR UNITED STATES OLYMPIC TEAM JOURNALISTS VARIOUS OF U.S. BASKETBALL COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI (WHITE TOP) TOURING NEW TRAINING FACILITIES (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. BASKETBALL COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI SAYING: "Well first of all we are playing against good teams. T
  • Embargoed: 22nd August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA1PTS60RYDEOZ7RL75C6E9Z45K
  • Story Text: U.S. men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski attended the ribbon cutting ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday (August 6)for a new training centre for American athletes at the Olympics and said his squad faced a tough task.
    Krzyzewski's team ended their Olympic preparations with an 87-76 win over Australia the previous evening for their fifth straight warm-up victory.
    The Americans thrashed Canada, Turkey and Lithuania, but did not do so well against Russia.
    Asked about the opposition in Beijing, Krzyzewski said: "Well first of all we are playing against good teams. The last three teams we played are all in the Olympics: Lithuania; Russia; and Australia. That's how you get prepared and the last game we played, Australia played us very well. We could play better, but I think Australia had a lot to do with the fact that we didn't play up to our potential. That's good for us in our preparation and now the real thing starts."
    Krzyzewski also said Argentina and Spain were two of the toughest teams in the tournament.

    "Well, Argentina and Spain --- once before Argentina an Olympic champion and Spain is the world champion. So both of them have teams that have been together for probably at least 10 years and so they have a lot of familiarity, a lot of talent, a lot of NBA players and they'll be tough opponents for us," he said.
    The Olympic basketball tournament begins on Sunday (August 10).
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