Alot has been made recently of whether the 2012 edition of the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team is better than the iconic 1992 Dream Team version, or vice versa. The debate isn’t going away anytime soon and the result of today’s game may add fire to it.
Team USA defeated a helpless Nigeria team by 83 points. The largest margin of victory by the ’92 team during their gold medal run was 68 points over Angola. The 156 points scored established a new Olympic record. In 1992 the Dream Team scored 127 points twice. The U.S also set the Olympic record today for points in a half with 78. In each half.
The star of the point parade was New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who set a U.S. Olympic record with 37 points. In just 14 minutes. He hit 10 of 12 shots from behind the three-point line, breaking Stephon Marbury’s U.S. Olympic record for made threes.
Here are a few other marks the 2012 team established today.
Team USA set all-time USA Olympic records for points (156), margin of victory (83), 3-pointers (29), FG pct (71.1), and 3-pt FGA (46).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 2, 2012
The understatement of the day comes from Kobe Bryant:
“When we get hot, it’s a big problem”
Image via @bubbaprog
