U.S. slips past Aussies, Bogut

ATHENS, Greece — In a game that by its recent Olympic standards qualified as a blowout, the U.S. men's basketball team kept its tenuous gold-medal hopes alive by overcoming Australia — and University of Utah center Andrew Bogut — at the Helliniko Indoor Arena on Thursday afternoon, 89-79.

On the same floor where the U.S. began the Olympic tournament four days earlier with a 19-point loss to Puerto Rico — its first defeat in the professional era — and only defeated Greece by six points in its second game, the Americans promptly slipped to a 12-point deficit before the first quarter ended. At the half they were still behind by four points and at the third quarter break by two. But an 18-5 run in the fourth quarter sent the Aussies to a 1-2 won-loss record in Group B while the United States improved to 2-1.

The top four teams in a group that also includes Angola, Greece, Puerto Rico and Lithuania qualify for the medal round.

The American team, loaded with NBA millionaires, has quickly become a marked team after a lackluster pre-Olympic warmup tour and the opening loss here to Puerto Rico. With Bogut and former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Shane Heal leading the charge, the Aussies went hard after the United States from the opening tip. Positioned against two-time NBA MVP Tim Duncan, the 7-foot Bogut acquitted himself well, outscoring Duncan 9-8 and matching him with a floor-high five rebounds in the opening half.

"He's strong, but not the strongest player I've ever played against. New Zealand has some very strong guys," Bogut said of Duncan, specifically mentioning 286-pound Kiwi center Pero Cameron. "But it's obvious why he's MVP. At least I can see I can play at that level. If I keep playing against this kind of competition and keep learning, it's got to help."

Duncan ended the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs.

Bogut finished with 11 points and eight boards. The 19-year-old Aussie center, the second-youngest player on the floor (NBA Rookie of the Year LeBron James, who had eight points, is one month younger), picked up his third foul, against Duncan, early in the third quarter when Australia had stretched its lead to nine, 58-49. Bogut was taken out and Duncan made both free throws, starting an 8-0 U.S. run that paved the way for the fourth quarter blitz that broke open the game.

"We ran out of our prime plan that we set out to do," said Bogut, who will return to Utah and his

sophomore year at the U. of U. shortly after the end of the Games, "we let them have some easy baskets."