Carmelo Anthony: American hero

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

A HERO LIES IN YOU: Carmelo Anthony saved Team USA from a defeat at the hands of the Aussies. Australia led at the half and were tied late ... but Melo hit a couple of late shots, finished with 31 points and became the all-time leading American scorer in the Olympics. (Here is video evidence.) Team USA won by 10. Kyrie Irving (born in Australia, by the way!) hit a dagger that was a little too déjà vu for Draymond Green.

But the template for how to beat Team USA is right there: make a bunch of threes, hope Team USA is cold, keep the Americans off the offensive glass. For much of the game, that’s what happened. Having a bunch of NBA players (if not stars) helps.

HO HUM: The Team USA women smoked Serbia by 26. Speaking of which ...

BETTER: As it turns out the Team USA women have been more dominant than the men’s basketball team in the Dream Team era, and we have the chart to prove it. The American women haven’t lost a single Olympic game since 1992.

IN OTHER ACTION: France beat Serbia in a barn-burner.

TODAY: Group B is back in action on the men’s side. Argentina vs. Lithuania is the early game and could decide who wins the group and avoids Team USA until a potential final. Spain needs to beat Nigeria in the second game of the day. Croatia and Brazil will tussle in the late game. Should be some fun basketball all around.

BLESSINGS: Chance The Rapper wrote a song for USA Basketball and Nike put it in a video and this has been a great summer for American patriotism, hasn’t it?

SHOCKING: Wichita State was playing a summer game in Canada. Coach Gregg Marshall got ejected so he charged the refs. This is a very throwback display of anger from a Midwestern college coach.

YOUR TEAM HANDBALL NEWS SOURCE: There is no U.S. Handball team at the Olympics because frankly there’s no serious team handball program in our country. Here’s an excellent Washington Post story on the issues that keep team handball invisible in the United States. It includes the U.S. coach claiming that LeBron would be the best player in the sport within six months and a couple of Europeans pooh-poohing the idea that a basketball player could just step onto the court and dominate. Meanwhile, Frank Kaminsky is volunteering for team handball duty. Let’s do this.

REST IN PEACE to John Saunders, beloved by many who didn’t know him, but just appreciated his presence, his calm demeanor, his thoughtful impressions on their TVs.

Be excellent to each other.