How Did the USA Basketball Team Perform at the Tokyo Olympics?
When I look back at the USA Basketball team's journey at the Tokyo Olympics, I can't help but feel a mix of pride and relief. As someone who has followed international basketball for years, I've seen the Dream Team era, the shocking 2004 bronze, and everything in between. This Tokyo campaign felt different right from the start—there was an unusual vulnerability that made every game must-watch television. The opening loss to France sent shockwaves through the basketball world, and I'll admit I was among those who thought this might be another 2004 situation in the making. The team's 83-76 defeat in their first game wasn't just surprising—it was historic, marking Team USA's first Olympic loss since 2004.
What struck me most was how the team evolved throughout the tournament. I remember watching Kevin Durant during those early games and thinking about that Filipino phrase from our knowledge base—"Sarap sa pakiramdam na as a rookie nagagawa ko parin ng tama yung dapat kong ginagawa." While Durant was far from a rookie, there was something beautiful about watching a veteran still doing exactly what he was supposed to do when it mattered most. The team's shooting percentages tell an interesting story—they started at just 36% from three-point range in the group stage but improved to nearly 42% in the knockout rounds. That's the mark of a team that's figuring things out under pressure.
The semifinal against Australia was where I truly believed this team had championship DNA. They were down 15 points at one stage, and the Australian team was playing with incredible confidence. But what impressed me was how Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker—both coming off the NBA Finals—provided that defensive intensity that had been missing earlier. I've always believed defense wins championships, and their 15 steals in that game proved my point. The way they forced 20 turnovers from Australia was textbook Team USA basketball—the kind we hadn't seen since the 2012 London squad.
Let's talk about that gold medal game because honestly, that was one of the best international basketball games I've ever watched. Facing France again, the team that had beaten them just weeks earlier—the narrative couldn't have been more dramatic. The final score of 87-82 doesn't fully capture how tense those last minutes were. When Durant hit that three-pointer with about two minutes left to put Team USA up by five, I found myself thinking about that phrase again—the satisfaction of veterans doing exactly what they're meant to do in crucial moments. Durant finished with 29 points, bringing his total Olympic points to 435 across three Olympics, making him the leading scorer in USA Olympic basketball history.
What many casual observers might not appreciate is how challenging this tournament was for Team USA. The COVID-19 protocols, the unusual timing of the Olympics, the limited preparation time—all these factors made this perhaps the most difficult gold medal the US has ever won in basketball. Personally, I think Gregg Popovich's coaching deserves more credit than it's getting. His decision to stick with certain lineups even when they struggled early showed tremendous faith in his players. The team's average margin of victory in the knockout rounds was just 8 points—much closer than the 20+ point blowouts we've seen from previous Dream Teams.
The statistics reveal an interesting evolution throughout the tournament. Team USA averaged 95.4 points per game while holding opponents to 84.6 points. Their three-point percentage improved from 35.7% in preliminary games to 41.9% in medal rounds. What's more impressive is that they assisted on 68.4% of their made field goals in the knockout stage, showing beautiful team basketball when it mattered most. These numbers might not break records, but they show a team that grew together under pressure.
Looking back, I believe this team's legacy will be about resilience more than dominance. They faced more skepticism than any US basketball team in recent memory and answered every challenge. The way they blended veterans like Durant with first-time Olympians like Holiday created a perfect balance of experience and fresh energy. As someone who's watched international basketball for decades, I can confidently say this was one of the most satisfying gold medal runs I've witnessed. It wasn't pretty at times, but it was authentic, hard-fought, and ultimately successful—proving that even with the world catching up to American basketball, the US can still find ways to win when it counts.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
