First Australia attempted to beat Brazil, who had taken the US to overtime on the previous day, to win the Bronze Medal. After the first quarter, things looked grim, but the Aussie crowd continued to cheer for its team, and the Aussies caught up by half time. The game came down to the wire with the lead switching constantly. Eventually, the game went to overtime, and the Brazilians scored a last second shot to win the game by one point.
It was disappointing for the home crowd, but it was a terrific contest. We had second row seats on the side of the long portion of the court. We held a big poster board that we made cheering on the US. The US coach saw it before they went out to the stadium and came over and gave us some Team USA paraphernalia. He was the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach. We were on the side by the Argentinean bench.
The US took on the Argentinean team which had beaten the Aussies on the previous day. After one quarter, USA was starting to run away with the game, and it only got worse from there. USA eventually won by almost 30 points as the young team really came together with excellent play by Battier, Marion, and Serbiak. It was a great game filled with athleticism and slam dunks!