The Olympic men's basketball group stage continued, Jones contributed 19+7+6, and the sixth Alvarado scored 26 points! South Sudan dominates rebound 90-79 against Puerto Rico to win its first Olympic victory!
South Sudan reversed Puerto Rico 90-79
In Group C of the Olympic men's basketball group stage, South Sudan and Puerto Rico face off. At the beginning of the game, Puerto Rico opened with an 11-2 offensive run led by Waters' back-to-back three-pointers, but South Sudan quickly adjusted its strategy and responded with a wave of 8-0 mini-surges by frequent inside attacks. Immediately, Puerto Rico's outside firepower continued unabated, and once again blasted a series of long-range shots, leading by 8 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, South Sudan's Chokri stepped up and led the team to an 8-0 offensive run to tie the score with a performance both inside and out. However, Puerto Rico's shooters immediately fought back with three consecutive points to maintain their slight advantage, while Alvarado left the game unexpectedly injured in the quarter, and Puerto Rico still held a six-point lead at halftime.
In the second half, a dramatic scene played out, Puerto Rico's attack suddenly went silent, and South Sudan felt hot, and the outside line won one after another, with a wave of 14-2 attacks to achieve a rebound. At the crucial moment, Alvarado returned from injury and led Puerto Rico to close the gap to two points at the end of the third quarter with his all-round performance. The final quarter was particularly intense, with the two sides locked in a tug-of-war, but Puerto Rico suffered a five-minute scoring drought as South Sudan took advantage of the situation to extend their lead to double digits. In the end, South Sudan successfully defeated Puerto Rico 90-79 and made a good start to the group stage!
For South Sudan, Jones contributed 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, becoming an important contributor to the team's victory; Omot and Kuhl each had 12 points to grab six rebounds and three assists, respectively, and both played key roles on both ends of the floor. Shayok scored 15 points to bolster the team's outside firepower; Saul and Gabriel showed excellent rebounding protection and interior defense, respectively, scoring 6 points, 7 rebounds, 6 points and 9 rebounds, respectively, and contributing 2 blocks; Jock was not far behind, scoring 11 points and grabbing six rebounds.
For Puerto Rico, Alvarado showed a core style, leading the team with 26 points, 5 assists and 2 steals, although he left the game due to injury, but he is still strong after returning; Waters followed with 18 points and four assists, and the two combined to pose a huge threat from the outside; Clavill and Candit contributed 11 and 13 points, respectively, while also contributing rebounds and assists; Howard scored four points.
Thoughts on the game
South Sudan is truly respectable! It seems that it is no accident that South Sudan beats the outside line of United States, and the inside line does not suffer losses, and it is indeed possible to be able to be inside and outside! Not to mention anything else, South Sudan's free throw percentage alone is a few streets behind the Chinese national men's basketball team! And South Sudan has also proved itself when playing the United States team, and can fight with the United States team to the end before dividing the winner or loser, I have to say that South Sudan is really too strong!! It is mainly produced by CBA that supports the table of South Sudan! Shandong's Shayok, Zhejiang's Jones, Ningbo's Omote, these three scored 46 points, half of South Sudan's points! The sixth Alvarado and the 4 "Wembanyama" on the opposite side fought in turn, and it was really difficult to beat four hands with two fists! Though...... But physical gifts are really different! However, one Ruhr Deng can change a country's basketball environment, and Ruhr Deng deserves to enjoy the Tai Temple of South Sudan! It can be seen that economic money is not the biggest factor in determining performance, but the heartfelt love for basketball, hard training, pure competitive environment and talent comparable to Wembanyama can change fate!
The latest standings of the Olympic men's basketball team are as follows!