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Jay C. Upchurch
8/5/2005, 09:20 PM
AR DEL PLATA, Argentina — With the help of 14 points from Oklahoma's Taj Gray, the 2005 USA U21 World Championship Team (1-0) got off to a roaring start at the FIBA U21 World Championship after posting a 117-50 victory over China (0-1) in opening day action in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on Friday evening.

Curtis Withers (Charlotte), who was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, led six U.S. players in double digits with 19 points.

Withers' shooting percentage tied Wesley Person's USA U21 single-game record 7-of-7 from the field, which dates to the 1993 tournament. Additionally, Rajon Rondo (Kentucky) doubled the USA's former single-game steals record after being credited with eight, while the team eclipsed the previous single-game marks for steals with 21 (former record was 15), as well as most 3-point field goals made and attempted with 14-of-31 from 3-point (former records were 12 and 25).

"I didn't realize I had that many, but the thing is, that's what I do," said Rondo. "That's the reason I'm on the team because of my defensive ability. That's what I do at the University of Kentucky so I just try to bring it here. Pressure their point guards as much as I can, get as many steals as I can."

"I thought it was really improved play," said USA and Saint Joseph's University (Pa.) head coach Phil Martelli. " In particular I thought our point guards did a terrific job. Marcus (Williams) had eight assists, Rajon had six, we got multiple steals from that position. they really got us into some things. The sharing of the ball is always good to see, especially when you have guys who are, quote-unquote, all-star type of players. I was pleased overall. It wasn't a competitive situation athletically or talent-wise. But certainly the idea that the ball was moved and there was situation recognition, I thought all of that was positive for us."

The U.S. continues play on Sunday, Aug. 7, against Lithuania (1-0), which beat Puerto Rico (0-1) Friday evening, 97-81. The game, slated to tip-off at 1:30 CDT, will be a rematch for the two U21 national teams after the United States eked out a 91-86 victory over Lithuania last Friday night at the 2005 Global Games in Frisco, Texas.

Jumping out to a quick start, the young Americans led wire-to-wire after Withers took a Justin Gray (Wake Forest) pass inside for the game's first basket at 9:28. China got on the board at 8:29 with a Qingpeng Zhang 3-pointer, but by 7:44 the United States owned a 10-3 advantage. Following a Chinese field goal at 6:11, the United States went off on a 9-0 run to open it up 19-5 with 3:41 still to play in the first period. By the end of 10 minutes the USA's lead was 23-11.

"I didn't think this game was going to be (one-sided) like it was," said Taj Gray, who started the game and was 4-for-6 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line. "But Coach said that when we play together we're a really good team. We tried to focus on going out there, sharing the ball and just play our game."

Justin Gray and Rudy Gay (Connecticut) hit back-to-back threes to open the second quarter and spark a 14-0 run that saw the U.S. advantage balloon to 37-11 with 6:02 before halftime. By the time the midway buzzer sounded, the game was well in hand, 52-19. At the end of three periods the USA was ahead 82-36 and continued to pad its lead through the end of the contest.

"We didn't want to come out in the second half after being up by so much and then let the game slip away," said Allan Ray (Villanova). "We came out with the same intensity in the second half as we did in the first half. Maybe even a little bit more. We came out strong. You can say that this was pretty much a statement game."

In addition to Taj Gray's 14 points and Withers' 19, the U.S. received 18 from Gay and 14 from Ray. Rondo scored 11 and J.J. Redick (Duke) tossed in 10. With the exception of Marcus Williams (Connecticut), every player scored no less than five points each. However, Williams had his hand in at least 16 points after passing off for a game-high eight assists, while also being credited with three steals.

China's Zhang scored a team-best 15 points in 38 minutes of action, while Yi Liu and Ke Hu contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The U.S. outrebounded China 41-26, thanks in part to eight boards apiece from Glen Davis (Louisiana State), Nick Fazekas (Nevada) and Withers. Forcing 32 Chinese turnovers, while only coughing the ball up 15 times, the United States had a total of 21 steals and also passed off for 22 assists.

Despite the blow-out, the fans seemed to enjoy the highlight reel dunks, superior steals and all-around athleticism of the U.S. players.

Acting as Martelli's assistants are collegiate head coaches James ‘Bruiser' Flint from Drexel University (Pa.) and Dennis Felton from the University of Georgia.

In other Group B action, Slovenia (1-0) came from behind for a 63-54 victory over Nigeria (0-1); while in Group A, played in Cordoba, Australia (1-0) defeated Greece (0-1) 94-81 and Argentina tipped-off against Israel at 9:00 p.m. (local). Canada was off Friday.

The 2005 FIBA Men's U21 World Championship originally consisted of 12 national teams split into two groups for preliminary round-robin play. However, Iran was unable to secure visas and therefore was forced to forfeit the tournament. The top four teams in each group will still advance to the medal quarterfinals, while the 5th and 6th place finishing teams in Group B and the 5th place team in Group A will compete for 9th-11th place.

Initiated in 1993 as the FIBA 22 & Under World Championship, the USA captured gold in the inaugural tournament with a perfect 8-0 record. In 1997, the Americans compiled a 5-2 record and finished fifth. Most recently in 2001, with the event known as the FIBA World Championship For Young Men and Martelli assisting on the sidelines, the USA was impressive, rolling to an unblemished 8-0 mark to capture gold.

The USA men are not only defending FIBA World Champs at the U21 level, but the U.S. squad last summer dominated its FIBA Americas competition in striking gold with a 5-0 record under Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson. Overall, in the three previous FIBA World Championships for this age group, the USA has won gold twice and compiled a 23-2 record through Friday's game.


OU Sports Information

Ruuuuuufus
8/5/2005, 10:19 PM
Oddly enough, Taj had zero rebounds.

GoOwls
8/5/2005, 11:29 PM
In Taj's defense, I believe he only about 15 minutes, so the lack of rebounding isn't totally unbelieveable.

GottaHavePride
8/6/2005, 11:54 AM
Holy cow, they have players named Gray, Gay, AND Ray? How confusing.

critical_phil
8/6/2005, 12:23 PM
Holy cow, they have players named Gray, Gay, AND Ray? How confusing.


now just imagine bob barry sr. calling the game.........

GDC
8/6/2005, 03:30 PM
http://www.nndb.com/people/269/000030179/salugax.jpg

You can call me Ray...

stoopified
8/7/2005, 12:29 AM
now just imagine bob barry sr. calling the game.........



Oh man do not even go there.The humanity oh the humanity!

tulsaoilerfan
8/7/2005, 10:16 AM
Oh man do not even go there.The humanity oh the humanity!
LOL, for real; that would be a disaster of biblical proportions. :D

Big Red Ron
8/7/2005, 11:51 AM
Poor Bob. I love the guy but he's been here an additional five years after he made his "retirement tour." He's really gotta go.