Ledecky pointed to a U.S. trials format that sets up the team to perform well at the Olympics. Over eight nights in Omaha, just a month before the games and following the same schedule of even

HOUSTON -- After dominating five opponents for an average margin of victory of 43 points, the USA mens basketball team left for Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday night as the No. 1-ranked team in the world and remained set on winning another gold medal.They are in a good position, and just to get to know one another, I think its helped us, Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said after Mondays final exhibition game, a convincing 110-66 victory over Team Nigeria. People [ask] what challenges you live by when you win by 40 or 30 points. [Id] rather have those questions than you eked it out by eight. Hopefully, we can keep that going. The competition is going to get better, really good.Krzyzewski canceled Tuesdays scheduled practice to allow the players to work on individual drills at the Houston Rockets practice facility. There was also a weight-lifting session for players who wanted it.The only concerns are two minor injuries to point guard Kyrie Irving (quad) and forward Paul George (calf), who didnt play in Mondays game but are expected to be ready for Rio.During the five exhibitions, Krzyzewski worked on different rotations, which allowed big men DeAndre Jordan and DeMarcus Cousins to get accustomed to playing on the perimeter. He used Jimmy Butler, normally a shooting guard with the Chicago Bulls, as a point guard at times and employed a three-guard alignment during some games. The defense has been strong, as Team USA forced its opponents into 19.6 turnovers per game.All thats missing is superstars such as LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and current NBA MVP Stephen Curry. The current team has its own superstar roster in former MVP Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Carmelo Anthony and DeMar DeRozan.Durant said this group is having fun but is getting ready for the challenge of winning a gold medal after the grind of an 82-game NBA regular season and postseason games for some players such as Green and Thompson, who played in the NBA Finals, and Durant, who played in the Western Conference finals.Ive been having fun, and now were at a different level of having fun, Durant said. Its been sweet here. Everything is easy when you feel like you have so many guys who you can rely on and lean on. Every time you get here, you dont have to worry about anything. Coach K does a great job of protecting us. USA does a great job of protecting us as a group. Its easy, and its fun.In the previous two Olympics, Team USA went 16-0 under Krzyzewski, with two gold medals to add to his legendary coaching career. If the USA wins a gold medal again, it will be a fitting end to Krzyzewskis run as Team USA coach. San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will take over next year.Another gold medal-winning performance would give Anthony three gold medals as a member of Team USA.Theres an excitement knowing what were trying to do, and were all locked in, Anthony said. We have a new location now, and were focused on playing basketball. For me, its a very exciting time. Custom Raptors Jerseys . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Tracy Mcgrady Jersey Large .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. http://www.customraptorsjersey.com/ . 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And when the Olympics are done, theyll be remembered as the latest in a long line of U.S. swimming powerhouses.So much for all those dire forecasts.Turns out, the less-than-glittering times at the U.S. trials were no indication of how fast they would swim once they got to the big stage. And all those who thought they were too inexperienced to shine on the international stage totally missed the mark.The Americans went into the final night at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium with a shot at their biggest medal haul in the last three decades.No matter what, Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky & Co. made sure the U.S. stayed firmly atop the swimming world.We all know were part of a really special team, Ledecky said Saturday, five medals hanging from her neck after one of the greatest performances in Olympic history. We have such great depth in the U.S. in swimming, and its something we take great pride in. This is kind of our stage to show the world that.With four events still to come in the final late-night session, the Americans already had 14 golds -- their most since the Sydney Games -- and 29 medals overall. They were just one off their total from four years ago in London and eying the 33 medals put up by the team that dominated Down Under in 2000.Phelps, of course, was among those leading the way. In what he again insists will be his final Olympics, the 31-year-old piled up four golds before settling for silver in a stunning upset by Singapores Joseph Schooling in the 100-meter butterfly. The 4x100 medley relay was still to come.But no one was more dominant than the 19-year-old Ledecky, whose four golds included two world record-shattering performances. She joined Amy Van Dyken and Missy Franklin as the only American women to capture as many as four golds in a single games, matched Debbie Meyer as the only females to sweep the 200, 400 and 800 free, and also won silver anchoring the 4x100 free relay.What shes doing in the sport is ridiculous, Phelps said.Theres something to be said for the camaraderie displayed by the American team.During their final training session in Atlanta, a host of swimmers -- Phelps and Ryan Lochte among them -- took to the streets to record a James Cordin-style carpool karaoke video . Even Ledecky took a turn behind the wheel, even though she still has just a learners permit.I was only at a gas station, she quipped, so I didnt think I was going to hurt anyone.When the swimmers got tto Brazil, they received a history lesson from one of the coaches, Greg Meehan.dddddddddddd. At a meeting with the female athletes on the eve of the games, he told them about the Homestead Act, the 1862 law that encouraged Americas westward migration by providing free land to settlers.Well let Ledecky take it from there.We each had American flags and they printed out each of the events, and the people that were competing in each of those events came forward, had a little moment together, took the flag and stuck it through the paper and into the grass in the Olympic village, she said. We were just kind of staking our claim in Rio, and I think we kind of did that in the pool as well.In addition to Phelps and Ledecky, the biggest U.S. stars were Maya DiRado, who turned in the ultimate one-and-done with two golds and four medals overall; Ryan Murphy, who extended U.S. mens dominance of the backstroke; Simone Manuel, the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in the 100 free; Lilly King, who backed up her brash diatribe against doping; and Anthony Ervin, the oldest member of the team at 35 and a gold medalist again in the 50 free -- 16 years after he first won the event in Sydney.Even with a hugely disappointing performance by Franklin, who didnt even make it to the final of her two individual events, the Americans still blew everyone away.There are several factors that go into the success of the U.S. program, starting with some simple numbers. The Americans have far more swimmers and resources to draw from than most nations, so its only natural they would dominate.Beyond that, Ledecky pointed to a U.S. trials format that sets up the team to perform well at the Olympics. Over eight nights in Omaha, just a month before the games and following the same schedule of events, swimmers earned their way onto the team before sellout crowds of more than 14,000 at every session.That was bigger than the crowds in Rio, where there were plenty of empty seats each night.Its an overly easy environment for us to swim fast in because weve been through our Olympic trials, which is way more pressure-filled than the Olympics, Ledecky said. Obviously the crowd here hasnt been that intimidating to us.Nothing was too intimidating to the Americans.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '