USA Basketball chairman: Other nations need to be more competitive
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo says that other countries need to be more competitive in international competition after Team USA won its third straight gold medal at the Rio Olympics, routing Serbia by 30 points.
In the Rio Olympics, Team USA won its opening pool play games by an average of 50 points before struggling in the next three games, winning by a combined 16 points.
"I'm all for raising the bar for global basketball," Colangelo said, according to USA Today. "The more interest in basketball on all levels, I'm for. I'm a lifer in the game. I love the game. Basketball is the No. 2 sport in the world, [but] we just need to see these other countries get their acts together and become more competitive."
Colangelo said he is not making excuses for Team USA's dominance and says an official actually suggested that the Americans actually take the floor with four players.
"And I said, 'No, maybe the other teams better get their act together and compete.'" Colangelo said.
Since Colangelo joined Team USA in 2005, the United States has won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics to go along with seven other FIBA championships, winning 76 straight games along the way.
"We’ve been helping in basketball around the world for 50 years," Colangelo said. "We’ve taught the world the game. We’ve taught their coaches, players—look at the number of (international) players in the NBA, look at the number of international players in college today, in the states. So we’re all for that. I want to see the level raised."
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