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| The USA Olympic team's forward
Shawn Marion (L) of Phoenix Suns dives with Turkey's centre Mehmet
Okur (R) of Utah Jazz for a loose ball in an exhibition game in the
Abdi Ipekci Arena in Istanbul August 10,
2004. (Agencies) |
The United States beat Turkey 80-68 in its last warm-up game for the Athens Olympics,
fighting off a serious
challenge by the largely inexperienced hosts in the first half.
Tim Duncan was the top scorer for the US with 25 points, followed by
Allen Iverson with 13, Richard Jefferson with 11 and Shawn Marion with 10.
Turkish star Ibrahim Kutluay was the top scorer of the game with 26
points, including seven three-pointers.
Striving to live up with
the high expectations which come with the "dream team" tag, the reining
Olympic champions dominated the second half after a neck-and-neck struggle in the first, in
which the hosts took the lead several times before coming down 37-36.
The US victory came largely thanks to Duncan and Iverson, whom the
Turkish defense failed to stop in the last period despite the
fervent support of an
electrified crowd at the Abdi Ipekci Arena.
Larry Brown's boys, however, showed a shaky defence of the three-point
line and -- just as in their first match against Turkey on Sunday, which
the US won 79-67 -- the Turkish side hit back with accurate shooting from
behind the line by Kutluay.
But with little input from their NBA players Hidayet Turkoglu and
Mehmet Okur, Turkey ultimately failed to counter the pace and the physical
strength of the Americans.
Though not without criticism of their performance ahead of the
Olympics, the US has recovered steadily from a stunning 95-78 defeat
against Italy last week.
Since then they have also beaten Germany 80-77 and Serbia and
Montenegro 78-60.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-08-11 10:25