RIO DE JANEIRO -- Theres one team that has lived up to high expectations -- even surpassed them -- at the Rio Games in mens basketball. Camiseta Andres Iniesta .Its the one with a roster loaded with skilled and experienced NBA players, an overall No. 1 draft pick, a backcourt featuring two guards with championship rings and a strong belief it can capture gold in Brazil.The favored U.S. team, to this point unbeaten but shockingly underwhelming, had better be careful.Australia just might win it all.Bonded by a deep commitment to the national team and each other, the Aussies have been the most impressive team in this tournament, which many expected to be dominated by Team USAs super-squad trying to win a third straight title. However, Australia, seeking its first Olympic medal with a program aided by players developing their games on college teams in the U.S., is focused on ending Americas run.No disrespect to the U.S., but we dont want to go into an Olympics aiming for second or fourth, center Andrew Bogut said after the Aussies put a fright into the Americans in group play before losing 98-88. We have a goal of being first.In some hoop circles, Australias performance has been a surprise. Not to the Americans.They play aggressive, said U.S. forward DeMar DeRozan. They execute extremely well, and thats a team thats been playing together for a while.International basketball observers have seen this Australian ascension coming.With Bogut, the 7-footer selected first by Milwaukee in the 2005 draft and four other players currently on NBA rosters, the Aussies, as fans in the U.S. have learned, play with a street-tough tenacity. Add in that guards Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova, and big man Aron Baynes have won league titles, and its no wonder the team from Down Under is on the way up.Its been rising for a while, said Australian assistant coach Luc Longley, who played on three Olympic teams and won three championships with the Chicago Bulls. I dont think this is a flash in the pan.It shouldnt be. Australia, which has finished fourth three times and will play Lithuania in Wednesdays first quarterfinal, has depth. Missing from the 2016 Rio team are forward Ben Simmons, the former LSU star picked first in this years draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, and Thon Maker, selected No. 10 by the Bucks. Also, Utahs Dante Exum was unable to play while recovering from a torn ACL suffered with the national team last summer.Three-time Olympian Joe Ingles, who has spent the past two seasons with the Jazz, sees bright days ahead for Australia.Were not all 18 years old anymore, but weve been together a long time and obviously with Ben and Thon and Dante and all these kids coming through. Dellys still young, weve still got a pretty young group -- apart from David, the forward said, referring to 36-year-old center David Andersen. But the rest of us are all 28 and under. I think we can sustain it for a little while, and the junior development of what we have in Australia is really good and we can continue to produce good players.Theres something else about the Boomers, as theyre known back home. They are a close-knit group, which grew tighter last year when Mills organized a team trip to Uluru, the iconic rock formation in central Australia considered sacred by the indigenous Aboriginals.The experience was life-changing for Mills, who has Aboriginal roots. He said the time spent together helped the Aussies better appreciate what it means to play for their homeland.Just to get to know everyone on the team and the meaning behind doing that was to find that deeper meaning of why we play for Australia and why we represent our country, said Mills, who has been with the San Antonio Spurs since 2011. I think everyone found that individually and as a team as well.As a reminder, the Australian team has a banner from its trip to Uluru hanging in the athletes village in Rio.To five-time Australian Olympic guard Andrew Gaze, the possibility of the Aussies stepping up onto the medal podium in the next few days, isnt all that surprising. Gaze has been impressed with this Australian groups resolve and its ability to crystallize in a short period.The flag bearer for his country at the 2000 Games, Gaze, who remains the second-leading scorer in Olympic history, was a win from a bronze in 1988 but ran into a U.S. team smarting from a loss to the Soviet Union.The Aussies came up short again eight years later in Atlanta, losing to Lithuania, which beat them again at Sydney.Weve been knocking on the door for a long, long time, Gaze said.If the green-and-gold can get to the gold-medal game, the U.S. could be waiting.Were not intimidated, Ingles said following the teams matchup in the preliminary round. Were not scared of anyone. We hope we can get another crack at them. Camiseta De Messi Barcelona . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Nueva Camiseta Del Barcelona 2017/18 . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. http://www.tiendacamisetadebarcelona.es/lionel-messi-camiseta.html . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. Charlie Whiting considers the matter of Sebastian Vettels abusive language towards him at the Mexican Grand Prix to be closed, saying hes willing to forget it and move on after the German personally apologised to him.An irate Vettel told the FIAs race director to f--- off twice over his radio in the closing laps of the grand prix following Max Verstappens refusal to give up third place. Vettels language was later investigated by the FIA but he was spared punishment after he sought Whiting out after the race to say sorry, before writing a letter to the governing body the following week.In an unusual step this week, the FIA invited Whiting to sit alongside the drivers in Brazils Thursday press conference, where Vettel was one of the drivers in attendance. Whiting was addressing the various controversies to come out of the race, including Vettels foul language.When asked for his personal views on what was said about him, Whiting replied: Its not the first time bad language has been used, of course, and the fact it was directed at me was uunfortunate. Camiseta Lionel Messi Barcelona. I think there were a number of mitigating circumstances which led up to Sebastians obvious frustration.But the fact he sought me out very shortly after the race to apologise... for me, that was enough and Im prepared just to forget it and move on. I think thats really what we should do. Things happen in the heat of the moment and I think youve seen the FIAs position is and I personally feel that thats enough.Vettel reiterated his regret at what was said, pointing out that the comments were made in the heat of the moment.I have no problem saying it again -- Im sorry for what I said, he said. When you are racing, you are fighting, you can understand why I wasnt so happy at that point. For sure I regret what I said.I certainly didnt mean it, it was very clear for me to look for Charlie right after, I wrote a letter as well. Im happy Charlie accepted the apology and Im happy to move on. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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