Indiana University Athletics
GOODWILL GAMES TEAM DROPS OPENER TO DEFENDING GOLD MEDALIST PUERTO RICO, 84-76
7/20/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GOODWILL GAMES TEAM DROPS OPENER TO DEFENDING GOLD MEDALIST PUERTO RICO, 84-76
NEW YORK, N.Y. (July 19, 1998) -- After assembling a 19 point lead early in the second half, the1998 USA Basketball Goodwill Games Team (0-1) dropped its 98 Games opener to defending gold medalist
Puerto Rico (1-0), 84-76, Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. Elton Brand (Duke / Peekskill, N.Y.) led all U.S. players with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and was joined by fellow New Yorker Wally Szczerbiak (Miami, Ohio / Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) in double figures, as Szczerbiak checked in with 12 points in the USA's first of three preliminary round play games.
"(Puerto Rico) did a great job of executing and they're a veteran team and really proved that in the second half against a young, inexperienced team at times," said USA head coach Clem Haskins of Minnesota. "I was very, very proud of my players. I thought they did an excellent job. We played great basketball for 35, 36 minutes and I can't fault them. But the credit goes to Puerto Rico. They did a great job of executing down the stretch."
Sunday's loss dropped the United States' all-time Goodwill Games record to 15-6 (.714), including a 2-1 mark all-time against Puerto Rico. The USA is the only team to win a medal in each of the prior three Goodwill Games competitions, as it won the gold medal in 1986, the silver in 1990 and the bronze in 1994.
The USA assembled its largest lead of the first half, 55-36, when guard Andre Miller (Utah / Los Angeles, Calif.) buried a 12-foot jump shot with 15:07 to play in the game. However, Puerto Rico answered with an 18-6 run to pull to within nine points, 61-52, with 12:01 remaining. Puerto Rico then raced back with a 14-2 run and gained its first lead of the game, 72-69, with 5:42 left to play when Javier Colon converted a long three-pointer.
"Those guys had a lot of experience, a lot of moves in the post. It's just very hard to defend. They know when to set a nice pick and when to go strong and how to draw fouls. I say this is a greater level than what I am used to, especially in college. I felt we did our best and played pretty tough," Brand said.
Behind a balanced attack, the USA opened an early lead, outscoring Puerto Rico in the paint, 22-6. In fact,the USA's first 11 points were scored inside as the Americans charged ahead. But Puerto Rico veteran Jose Ortiz, formerly a member of the NBA Utah Jazz, scored 13 of his 17 points and gathered seven of his 10 rebounds after halftime, while teammate Eddie Casiano poured in 26 of his game high 31 points during the second half.
"I think, credit to Puerto Rico," Szczerbiak said. "They're an experienced team and they know how to make you do the things you don't want to do. We were doing that in the first half, but they shut that out with their match-up zone in the second half and we didn't get easy buckets."
Brand sparked the United States' early effort, scoring seven of the team's first nine points as the U.S. led for the entire first half. Additionally, Szczerbiak scored eight of his 10 first-half points in a 2:45 span midway through the opening stanza, enabling the USA to mount its first half lead. Keith Carter (Mississippi /Perryville, Ark.) drilled a three-pointer with 5:32 to play before halftime, giving the USA its largest lead of the half, 35-22.
The U.S. will take on China at 9 p.m. (EDT) Monday night in its second preliminary round play contest,before completing preliminary round play against Brazil Tuesday night at 9 p.m. (EDT). The top two teams from each of the four-team groups at the 1998 Goodwill Games will advance into medal round play, for which semifinals begin on Thursday, July 23. The bronze and gold medal games will be played at 7 p.m.(EDT) and 9 p.m. (EDT), respectively, on Friday, July 24.
In Sunday afternoon's other preliminary round game, Australia defeated Argentina 84-72 as 1996 Olympian Shane Heal scored a team high 18 points and fellow 96 Olympian Andrew Gaze added 17 points in the win.
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