Team Redeem beats Angola and heads for Greece

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The U.S. men’s basketball team beat Angola 97-76 on Tuesday night in Beijing. Here is a link to Mark Heisler’s story at LATimes.com. The U.S. will play Greece on Thursday and Spain on Saturday.

Here are a few quotes from the U.S. head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, as relayed by USA Basketball:

‘I thought we played with really good energy and in spurts, we played some really terrific basketball. Our goal wasn’t to win by a certain margin. It was to really work hard, keep up our pressure. ... But, the main thing was to keep some consistency. So overall, I was very pleased with tonight.’

‘Tony Ronzone, our director of international scouting, wrote up a report on (Angola) and he said they play with great heart and will never quit. They followed the scouting report. It was an honor to play against them and we wish them well.’

‘Our team knows a lot about (Greece). I’m very close friends (with) the coach. He’s actually come to Duke and spent time with me. One of the assistant coaches ... has spent the whole year with us.’

‘We have great respect for them. They play as hard as anybody we can play against, especially on the defensive end of the court. Their offensive schemes are well conceived. I think their team starts with their guards. They really have three point guards and all three of them can be in at the same time.’

‘All of these guy can hit shots. But, it’s like a real good hitter in baseball, sometimes you don’t get hits and all of a sudden, you break out. My feeling is as long as it doesn’t interfere with how they are playing defense, their energy, they just have to keep shooting. ... But if we start hitting threes, we are going to be a lot better.’

-- Greg Johnson