Olympics Basketball 2012: Deng struggles scoring points, as Brazil wins 67-62.
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1
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FINAL
Great Britain
11
16
16
19
62
Brazil
4
23
21
19
67
Leaders
Great Britain- Pops Mensha-Bonsu 13 PTS, 1 AST, 12 REB
Brazil- Tiago Splitter 21 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST
With their loss against the Russians behind them, Great Britain came into today’s game fully prepared learning from their mistakes in game 1. This is the second time Great Britain played against Brazil in the Olympics, as they first played against each other was on August 8th 1948. Brazil crushed Great Britain with a final score of 76-11 that year.
Onto today’s game, and right in the beginning of the first minutes of the first quarter, Brazil’s Anderson Varejao smashes into Joel Freeland. Freeland would have to sit down because of a bloody nose but would return into the game later. That was not only injury of the game.
Into the first quarter of the game and both teams were incredibly cold. Great Britain was shooting 0/7 field goals at the 7-minute mark while Brazil was just as, if not more out of sync. Finally Dan Clark got the first points for GB. At this point they were shooting 1 for 9. Clark would than go on a streak shooting all of Brazil’s 6 points in the beginning. To end the first quarter, Mike Lenzly would hit a 3 for Great Britain. They were 1 for 4 3-point shots. Brazil was just really bad. They had 4 turnovers, no offense thus far, no movement, and incredibly cold behind the arch. Just terrible offense production by Brazil. End of 1st quarter play and GB was leading 11-4.
Onto the 2nd quarter and GB did a better job on defense, but that didn’t stop Leandrinho Barbosa who hit the first 3-point bucket for Brazil. With 8 minutes on the clock, GB was shooting 5 for 18 field goals, and Brazil was shooting 3 for 22 field goals. Brazil still had sloppy offense, but they would eventually heat up. Joel Freeland would get the And1 for GB, but before that Mike Lenzly who just hit the 3-pointer ending the 1st quarter for GB, was down on the ground tweaking his leg. He had been suffering through a leg injury, just as Luol Deng was suffering trough a torn ligament in his right wrist. Unfortunately, Lenzly would not return to the game.
Back to the game and Brazil was still cold with 3s but they got the easy buckets off of GB’s turnovers. Jumpers weren’t working for Brazil. GB was still staying composed however turnovers were a problem yet again as they turned the ball over 12 times and Brazil had 8 points off those turnovers. Half time and it’s a tie game at 27-27.
Start of the 3rd quarter, and Tiago splitter was shooting 66% while the rest of the Brazilian team was cold. GB was starting off slow but than here comes Nate Reinking with a 3 and later on another 3. He’s heating up with GB shooting 3 of 19 3s. GB was getting into rhythm as Freeland hits a jumper. Still, turnovers were a problem as GB had 16 turnovers. End of 3rd quarter and Brazil was up 48-43.
The 4th quarter begins and Clark hits another 3! He’s hot from behind the arch. Perhaps Brazil got a bit overconfident after the 3rd quarter because Reinking hits another 3. However here come the Brazilians as Marcelinho Huertas scores in the paint with a floater. That’s been his specialty this game.
With GB trailing, here comes Deng with a hard 3 pointer as Alex Garcia was on him and again Deng hits another 3 with GB leading 57-56. Brazil’s Vieira Sousa Marquinhos would answer Deng’s 3 with one of his own at the 3 minute mark. Brazil was 3 of 22 3-pointers at this point in the game. Brazil would turn to fouling, which they have done a lot in the game and a goaltending was called on Brazil’s Haliro Nene. Alex Garcia is the first to foul out for Brazil as he bumped into Deng behind the arch and Deng would go on to make 1 of 3 free throws. Throughout the game, Deng was shooting 4 of 8 free throws. End of the 4th quarter and Brazil would go on to winning 67-62.
Overall, Brazil had been poor offensively but played better as GB had defensive lapses. Although GB lost this game, they did learn from their previous mistakes. Deng wasn’t the star as many expected he would be, but instead he was passing the ball quite often giving his team opportunities to shot more which in turn they did, contributing a lot of points. However Brazil won because of their great defense and by GB’s turnovers. At the end of the game, and it was clear that Deng struggled getting points as he finished the game with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. In the game against Russia he finished strong with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
For Brazil, their next opponent will be Russia on August 2nd and, as you may know Russia won against GB by 20 in their first game of the 2012 Olympics.
As for GB, the road gets tougher as they play against the Gasol brothers and team Spain. Spain will be perhaps be GB’s toughest opponent yet and in the tournament as they’re ranked 2nd in FIBA men’s basketball and they just defeated Australia by 12 points today. The game will be on Thursday August 2nd at 2:00 p.m. CT (8:00 p.m. local).