that has been left on the track for Wednesdays match. T

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Go get him!Tom Thibodeaus booming, baritone voice knifed through the air inside sold out Carioca Arena on Saturday as the U.S. team dropped back to play defense early in its Olympic tournament opener against China.Stay home! he barked. Back, back! Get up! By yourself!Thibodeau didnt stop, and his commands could even be heard by fans sitting in top rows of the upper deck.From the opening tip to the final horn in the 119-62 blowout, Thibodeau, a hard-driving, hoops lifer who prides himself on teaching the old-school way, screamed instructions at the American players. They have quickly learned that their Team USA assistant coach -- and the new head man with the Minnesota Timberwolves -- is demanding when it comes to defense.Im used to Thibs, man, U.S. center Demarcus Cousins said with a laugh. Thats Thibs in walkthrough, so were used to it.And the rest of the world better get used to this U.S. team playing lock-down defense. Armed with unmatched offensive firepower, the Americans, seeking their third straight gold medal, are creating an identity with their backs to the basket.We get after it on that side of the ball, said forward Draymond Green.They got after China from the outset. Warriors forward Klay Thompson, one of the games elite perimeter defenders, made a steal on Chinas first possession and the U.S. finished with 15 steals, forced 24 turnovers and held China to 30 percent shooting.With another roster of NBA stars, there is a continuous red-white-and-blue wave of players flooding in from coach Mike Krzyzewskis bench. When the U.S. starters needed a break against China, Krzyzewski sent in a fresh group and Thibodeau made sure they knew what they were doing defensively from the moment they stepped on the floor.From his seat next to Coach Ks, Thibodeau pointed like a traffic cop at a busy intersection, and of course, made certain his demands were heard.Thibs is going to lose his voice by the time this is over with, four-time Olympian Carmelo Anthony said. I think everybody in the world can hear Thibs on the sideline. Its motivation for us, to know that we have somebody on the sideline thats in tune to it. Hes pushing us and hes keeping us uplifted.The U.S. plays its next game on Monday against Venezuela, a team it beat by 35 last week despite a poor shooting performance.Thibodeau, fired last year by the Chicago Bulls after five solid seasons and hired to help toughen the T-Wolves in May, is relishing his role as the U.S. squads minister of defense. This is what he lives for, and the chance to mesh a group this talented to play team defense is as good as it gets.And its already apparent that Thibodeaus message has gotten across as the U.S. players, some of whom are not exactly known for their defensive skills, are being more vocal on the floor. During the win over China, the Americans were calling out screens, switching and looking to help each other whenever possible. Theyve clearly bought in.During the first quarter against China, Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving poked the ball away before diving headfirst on the floor trying to come up with the steal. As he laid face down, Thibodeau clapped in approval.Floor burns are a badge of honor to Thibodeau, who feels the U.S. team is embracing his principles.The strength is our versatility, he said. We have 12 guys who play hard and play for each other and they are committed to doing that. It started the first day and theres no let up so when we go to our bench theres is no drop off. Every one of these guys is a great player and is s starter, so when we sub that pressure is going to remain and were going to keep coming for 40 minutes.Kevin Durant, who along with Anthony is the only returning player from the 2012 London team, said he and his teammates know that when the shots arent falling, they can always fall back on their defense.Defensively, were pretty good, he said. When we put Draymond out there and just start switching everything, that makes us even better and then we got two guys that are different rim protectors in Marcus, who takes charges and covers the paint, and DJ (DeAndre Jordan) who blocks shots at the rim. We just got every area covered. And we got long defenders on the wing and great point guards that use their hands, so we got to continue to lean on that.Thibodeau will make sure of it. Willie Brown Youth Jersey .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. 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Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. Match factsWednesday, 23 November Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT)Big PictureDespite West Indies big win in Harare, on paper, these are two well-matched teams with plenty to play for: the winner will be guaranteed their place in the tri-series final. The relative inexperience in both squads makes it hard to pick an out-and-out favourite, and conditions in Bulawayo should also be a leveller. West Indies tied game against Zimbabwe will at least have acclimatised them a little more to the pitch and conditions at Queens, as Sri Lankas first match was rained off.Sri Lanka also have some ground to make up against West Indies after their trouncing in Harare. Their middle order remains unproven, and if this series can be viewed as something of an audition for the upcoming tour of South Africa, there will be several young players hungry to state their case - particularly against the greater firepower of West Indies quicks.Youth and international inexperience are also in no short supply for West Indies at the moment. It is obviously very early days yet, but without a head coach, and with virtually all of West Indies established senior batsmen in the wilderness, young captain Jason Holder desperately needs his peers to gel into a new core for the side. Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaites promising form will give him something to build and bank on, while Carlos Brathwaites bowling has been fairly effective in Zimbabwe.Both for this team and for the immediate future of West Indies cricket, every win is an important one in these circumstances. Though still ninth in the ICC ODI rankings, they are just one point behind Pakistan, and a strong show in their remaining games will put them within touching distance of Bangladesh at No. 7. Between now and September 30, 2017, the cut-off date for direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup, West Indies currently have 11 ODIs scheduled (not including the final of this tri-series), but eight of those matches are against a resurgent England ODI side, and five of those are in England. Thats a tough assignment for what could still be a fairly inexperienced squad, and so West Indies have a lot more than a place in Sundays final to play for tomorrow.Form guide(Last five completed matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka: LWLLLWest Indies: TWLLLIn the spotlightShai Hopes good form will buoy West Indies, and make him a target for Sri Lanka, while Suranga Lakmal will have to be at his best behaviour after he was fined 50% of his match fee for aggressively throwing the ball towards Zimbabwe opener Chamu Chibhabha during Mondays wash-out. Yet, the spotlight might be focussed on what is happening above Queens, rather than on the ground.All three teams will have an eye on the weather on Wednesday. If there is another wash-out, Zimbabwe will effectively be out of the running, needing a massive bonus-point win to draw level and increase their net run-rate. The threat of rain also makes the toss important - inclement weather is more likely in the afternoon, meaning there could be Duckworth-Lewis permutations while chasing. Finally, the drainage issues at Queens mean that even relatively modest rain could rule a match out entirely.There are two main areas of concern on the outfield, should it rain again - on the northern side of the ground, and also near the sight screen at the Airport End.dddddddddddd Should there be any significant showers during this game, in the absence of a super sopper, drainage will be an issue, especially after the heavy rains of the last few days have saturated the soil.Teams newsSri Lankas XI barely got a look-in on Monday, and given that conditions are likely to be identical, there is no reason for Sri Lanka to fiddle with their line-up. The grip on this slow surface makes Dasun Shanaka a good pick.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dhananjaya de Silva, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Upul Tharanga (capt), 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Sachith Pathirana, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Jeffrey VandersayWith two wickets in his last five games, and none in this series, the form of Sulieman Benn will be a worry for West Indies. Aside from Ashley Nurse, the other spin option in their squad is Devendra Bishoo, and given his gritty performance in the Tests against Pakistan last month, this change makes sense. Another player they might want to give a game to is Jason Mohammed, the hard-hitting middle-order batsman, though West Indies may want to secure their place in the final before tinkering with their top-six.West Indies (possible): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Evin Lewis, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Jonathan Carter, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder (c), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Devendra Bishoo, 11 Shannon Gabriel.Pitch and conditionsThe heavy downpours on Monday morning were followed by sunny and dry weather in the afternoon as well as the following day. Yet, the rainfall patterns at this time of the year are difficult to predict, and though the forecast suggests that Wednesday should be sunny and dry, some sort of precipitation is out of the question. Weather aside, there should be some early movement for the seamers who will be aided by cloud cover, as well as what appears to be a shade more green grass that has been left on the track for Wednesdays match. The track will probably still slow down to help the spinners later in the day.Stats and triviaWith 148 runs from two innings, Shai Hope is the leading run-scorer of the tri-series as well as the only century-maker.Shannon Gabriel, Carlos Brathwaite and Nuwan Kulasekara top the wickets table with five each, although Kulasekara has played one more (albeit truncated) game than the two West Indians.West Indies have played six ODIs at Queens Sports Club, winning three.In eight ODIs against West Indies, Kulasekara has taken 12 wickets at 22.08.QuotesWe know were playing good cricket. We had a good win against Sri Lanka [in Harare]. These lads work very hard on their fitness, and we do a lot of fielding drills in the days leading up to these matches, and the combination of those two things is starting to pay dividends. Were looking like a good fielding side, and at this level of the game, every run you stop is a run you dont have to score. West Indies batting coach Toby Radford has been most pleased with the young batsmen on this tour, but he has also noticed improvements in the field. ' ' '