U.S. basketball team shows ability to execute . . . opponents

More like extreme team.

Think of it this way: The U.S. men's basketball team romped past Australia, 116-85, Wednesday at Wukesong Arena in the quarterfinals of the Olympic basketball tournament.

That 31-point difference cut the team's average margin of victory from 32.2 points over its first five games to a mere 32 as it cruised into Friday's semifinals against Argentina.

How is anybody going to beat this team?

"If we don't approach every game like it's our last, we can be beat," said LeBron James, who continues to settle into the leadership role he began to assume last summer.

"If we don't come into it and offensively make that key pass, if defensively we don't help each other and we start reverting back to individuals, then we could lose. But it's going to be tough."

And Mike Krzyzewski, one of the few coaches with the credibility to get a group such as this to play sound defense, isn't going to let them break down at this late stage.

"I'm not going to let that happen either," James said. "Coach K is one of the greatest coaches that we have. I try to lead on the court. So it won't happen."

Australia had played the U.S. reasonably well in a pre-Olympic exhibition game Aug. 5 in Shanghai, if reasonably well is defined as an 11-point loss.

The Boomers, who went 3-2 in pool play here and finished fourth in their group, were expected to pose a tougher challenge Wednesday because Andrew Bogut had returned to their lineup after missing the Shanghai game because of to an ankle injury.

Keep waltzing, Matilda.

Australia was within one point after the first quarter, 25-24, but the U.S. dominated the boards and took off on a 14-0 run to start the second half, using its bottomless bench and relentless star power to turn the game into a runaway.

Kobe Bryant revived after an eight-point first half to score 17 in the second half and lead both teams in scoring. James had 16 points and nine rebounds. Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points after averaging 8.6 over the first five games.

"What happens is, we're up one at the end of the first quarter and everyone probably says, 'We knew this was going to happen. What's next?' " Chris Paul said.

"This team here, we understand it's a 40-minute game. Sooner or later we'll impose our will and I don't know if you can keep up with us for 40 minutes."