Men's Game #5 vs. Poland

USA Handles Poland to Win Pool, Advance to Quarterfinals vs. Russia

Written By Colin Whited

In front of the largest crowd Globus Arena has seen this week, the United States Mens basketball team used a stingy defensive effort to rout home-crowd favorite Poland 91-42 to win their pool with a 4-0 record in the 1st Deaf International Basketball Federation Under-21 World Championships in Lublin, Poland.

"I thought defense was the key for us today", U.S. head coach Keith Westhoelter said afterwards. "We continue to improve day in and day out, and I like what I've seen up until this point."

The strong defensive attack for the Americans forced 29 turnovers and limited Poland to 10/56 (17.8%) from the field. The Americans used their size to force the Polish into taking tough, contested shots in the paint and out-rebounded them 61-38.

However, it wasn't always smooth sailing for the United States. The game started off sloppy, with USA turning the ball over on consecutive possessions. Despite outscoring Poland 26-8 in the opening period, they would soon find themselves being whistled for careless fouls and missing wide-open layups, which caused the U.S. to lose steam. This helped the Polish get the better of the Yanks, 20-17, in the second quarter.

At intermission, Westhoelter let his team know that he was disappointed with their effort.

"You are not playing USA basketball", he told them. "I expect you go out there [in the second half] and play like you're supposed to - like the best team in the world!"

It seems that the men responded, for they held Poland to without a field goal for the entire third quarter and won the battle of the boards 23-7. Instead making errant passes that were the norm in the first half, ball movement was quick, crisp and precise, and the U.S. finally looked like a well-oiled machine.

"We didn't play as well as we could have in the first half", Raymond Nelson (Riverside, Calif.) said after the game. "But when coach challenged us to play better, we rose to the occasion."

Leading the offensive charge for the Americans was Gabriel Paulone (Fishers, Ind.), who scored 15 points on 7/10 from the field. Alfred Wigley (Wichita, Kan.) added 14 points, and Josh Sisco (Spartanburg, S.C.) and Greg White (Centerville, Ohio) each posted double-doubles, scoring 14 and 13 points and pulling down 10 and 12 boards, respectively. Todd Bonheyo was the fifth American to score in double figures, chipping in 10 points off the bench.

"When we first arrived here, we were a team of 1 individually talented players, but as we bought into our roles, we've become a team with one purpose, and that's to win the gold", Paulone explained after the game.

Nelson, who scored eight points, also was quick to mention that the U.S. is far from satisfied. "It was great to win our pool, but our work here isn't done", he said.

Paulone also emphasized how Team USA's mentality will be crucial. "We have to stay focused on our ultimate goal", he said. "We cannot stray from the mindset of donning that gold medal."

The United States will have the day off tomorrow. On Thursday, they will play Russia, the fourth ranked team in Pool B, in the quarterfinals. Russia lost to Lithuania, the top-ranked team in Pool B, earlier today 125-46.

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