Toughest Challenge Yet
Posted on August 25th, 2006 by
I know it’s a day late but holy crap was Carmelo good or what!? Team USA faced its first challenge of the entire tournament, being down by 9 at halftime, and who comes to the rescue? None other than Carmelo Anthony. He scored a team record 35 points, the most ever, even more than the 34 by Kenny Anderson back in the day. He even scored 29 of those points in the second half when his team really needed it.
As his team left the locker room at halftime trailing Italy by nine points, captain Dwyane Wade broke into song.
“I was walking out and everybody was quiet and I just started singing something that came to mind,” Wade said Wednesday night. “I just came off the NBA Finals, where my team had been down a lot (two games to none). I don’t ever worry about being down. And I don’t want my teammates to worry about it, either.”
After the game, Wade couldn’t remember what he sang. But it proved to be the right tune, with the Americans surging back to beat Italy 94-85 in the FIBA world championships.
The U.S. rallied behind Carmelo Anthony, whose 35 points were the most by an American in the world championships. Kenny Anderson set the previous record of 34 in 1990.
Anthony scored 29 of his points in 19 electrifying minutes in the second half.
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Wade scored 26 points and Elton Brand added 16 as the U.S. clinched Group D. That means the U.S. will avoid Argentina or Spain, two of the tournament’s powers, until the final. The Americans will play the fourth-place team in Group C on Sunday.
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Midway through the third quarter, Italy’s Matteo Soragna was whistled for elbowing Anthony in the chest. Bad move.
Anthony responded by drilling a 3-pointer that cut the Italians’ lead to 52-51. Moments later, Wade took a feed from James and jammed on a fast break to put the U.S. ahead. Italy led for 14 seconds the rest of the way.
“Maybe they were trying it not because they think we’re soft but because they think we’ll lose our head or lose our cool,” Wade said. “But this team, we’re on a different path, a different mind-set. We’re out here to win ballgames. But we’re not going to be punked, either.” #
