RIO DE JANEIRO -- Gold-medal favorites?Heavy favorites, even?Yes.Still.Both of those tags, at least for the moment, continue to be applicable for this incarnation of the United States mens Olympic basketball team.Best Defensive Team that USA Basketball has ever fielded in the Coach K/Jerry Colangelo era?Dont print those T-shirts up just yet.The raves these 12 players were generating with all that length, athleticism and enthusiasm on D in their first seven games together gave way to some candid and uncomfortable conversation in the Team USA locker room at Carioca Arena 1 late Friday night, after Serbia immediately followed Australias lead and made the Americans look frequently lost in trying to keep up with their worldly opponents constant ball and player movement.We were talking about it in the back, Team USA swingman Paul George said after this 94-91 escape against the same country that a far-less-decorated USA roster at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain routed by 37 points in the championship game.You dont ever sit still [in the international game], George said. In our [NBA] game, there are moments where youre sitting still, you can have a rest period. It might be an action that a guy runs on one side. [Here] youre constantly moving from side to side. Its like they dont get tired. Thats new to us. Thats very new to us.It should be clear by now, after a second successive close shave for Mike Krzyzewskis squad, that its coping with a lot of newness.Over the past few weeks, Krzyzewski has been warning anyone who would listen that countries with years of polished teamwork and established continuity -- or corporate knowledge to use the term preferred by Team USA successor-in-waiting Gregg Popovich -- could hang with his uber-talented roster of NBA All-Stars because this team has been together for a total of only 27 days.I think we play as a team, too, Krzyzewski said of the relieved Americans after they gratefully watched Bogdan Bogdanovics potential overtime-forcing triple from the left wing sail long in the waning seconds, unable to commit the foul they wanted to take before the ball got to Bogdanovic.We do have more talent and we have to get our talent playing even much better as a team. Our guys are playing as a team; they just havent had the experience of playing together that long.Yet what made the Serbia scenes so exasperating is the way Team USA started the game. The Yanks scored the first nine points, stretched the lead to as high as 18 and appeared to be assembling the perfect response to the Australia scare, with no shortage of their own ball-sharing on top of the expected defensive focus to put the Serbs in a quick 27-9 hole.What happened from there, though, has Team USA forward Draymond Green convinced that our offense is hurting our defense as well.We stopped moving the ball and we stopped defending, Green said. Those were the two things that had us going in the first quarter. Once we stopped doing those things, anybody can beat us. If you dont play the brand of basketball that youre supposed to, it makes everything tougher.When we were moving the basketball early on and everything was flowing, our defense was great. Once we stopped moving the basketball, everyone stagnated and it transferred over to the defensive end.The response, from here, will be fascinating. Krzyzewski canceled Saturdays scheduled practice with a Sunday afternoon game looming against France to finish off Group A play, but the coach has booked a team meeting, video session and walkthrough on the cruise ship USAB is using as a home base.The film review wont be pretty. Serbian backcourt maestro Milos Teodosic set the tone with his wonderful first-half passing in the face of heavy U.S. pressure to get Serbias comeback start, before young?Nikola Jokic took over in the second half and finished with 25 points after star center Miroslav Raduljica picked up his third and fourth fouls in a potentially fatal spell of just three seconds early in the third quarter.Today we played our game, Teodosic said. Extra pass.Any time we make one extra pass or two extra passes, we have easy baskets.Said Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic, surely wondering how the Serbs are mired at 1-3 in the group after a performance like that: We looked pretty good tonight. Pretty good.According to Team USA star Carmelo Anthony, Serbia ran their offense fluently.Magnificent and spectacular, meanwhile, were the words Krzyzewski used. He went to make the case that the likes of Australia and Serbia dont get enough credit for the talent theyve brought to Rio, but Coach K is realistic, too.He knows the drill by now.The United States is expected to win every basketball games it plays internationally. And win them handily. Narrow victories -- two in a row decided by 10 points or fewer after only six such games in Team USAs previous 70 -- are treated like crises back home.Were going to get [every teams] best shot and its kind of free money, because you play a game like this and youre going to be celebrated, win or lose, Krzyzewski said. For us thats not the case. Ever. You just have to understand that.Can we play better? I hope. I think we can.Said George: Once again, we relied on our natural talent to get us over this one. This is why these [foreign-born] guys are special in our league. These international guys, they really know how to move. They really know how to cut. Its more so about how theyre running their offense thats wearing us down.I think in our game there is movement, obviously, but these guys ... its constant movement. Again, well figure this out. Its good that were finding ways to win these games right now. Hopefully these will be the ones that help prepare us for later on in this tournament.It was the losing coach, on this night, who had the privilege of exiting the building with the greater sense of sureness about what his crew will deliver next.Once you move the ball, theyre always chasing something, Djordjevic said. Once you stop the ball, they just go one on one and thats very tough to beat if we have to play that way against athletic players. Thats what Id like to achieve with any of my teams.After he stepped down from the interview podium, Djordjevic was intercepted by ESPN.com at the door and asked if he really expected that game plan to work so effectively against all those big names from the States.Actually yes, Djordjevic told me. Why not?Why not?You guys are better, of course, but you have to prove it on the court.Who knew that would ever be so tough for a gang that opened these Games as a 1-to-20 favorite in Vegas to scoop up all the gold medals? 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Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Cheap MLB Jerseys . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Theres an infectious quality to newly crowned WWE cruiserweight champion?Rich Swanns?entrance song, Around the World, which perfectly mirrors his high-energy style and?positive aura.The songs constant refrain of Can you handle this? has become something of a mantra for Swann -- and its a fair question to ask of fans at live events who may be unprepared for the wave of electricity that follows when Swann appears, transforming any arena into a dance party.From the #RAW #Cruiserweight division to #WWENXT, @GottaGetSwann is all over the place! Can you handle it?! @WWENXT pic.twitter.com/mSH6TVs71K- WWE (@WWE) October 7, 2016But regarding the pressure that comes with being the face of WWEs newest division, the question becomes moot when applied to Swann himself. In fact, if theres anyone perfectly equipped to handle it all -- the fame, demand and responsibility that come with the title -- its him.You know I can handle the pressure, Swann told ESPN.com. There aint no sleep, there aint no breaks and thats what I love about this business. Thats what I love -- Im always on the go, baby!Swann, who captured the title from?Brian Kendrick?during the premier episode of 205 Live on Nov. 29, has the kind of feel-good comeback story that resonates with WWE fans. His?journey through tragedy and the obstacles hes had to overcome are only made more relatable by Swanns refreshing willingness to share his stories so openly over the years.The 25-year-old grew up in a rough section of Baltimore. His father was an alcoholic, and his mother battled lupus. Domestic violence was a constant theme. When Swann was 14, his father was murdered. Two years later, his mother died due to complications from the disease that dominated the latter stages of her life.At just 16, Swann found himself living alone, and he fell into a bad crowd. He began using drugs to cope with the emotional toll of his trauma, and the darkness he experienced is something hed like to help others avoid at any cost.The reason why I feel like I should share something like that is because its going to inspire people who have gone through things like that, Swann said. I feel like people should know that side [of my experience] -- it brings out the vulnerable side in the person.Pro wrestling -- the wild spectacle that first caught his eye at age five, when a televised match between Psicosis and Rey Mysterio Jr. brought his love for the acrobatics of the Power Rangers to an entirely different level -- ultimately provided him salvation by allowing him to pull himself out of the darkness.Already enrolled in the Combat Zone Wrestling school in nearby York, Pennsylvania, where his aunt lived, Swann decided to take his training more seriously and slowly pushed away the more negative elements in his life. After high school, he began to tour on the independent scene.The support of his brotherhood in pro wrestling after he first turned pro raised his spirits and provided the feeling of a family that hed sorely been lacking. But above all else, in his mind, it was Swanns first trip to Germany that he credits as the true turning point in terms of getting his life on the right track forr good.ddddddddddddThat really opened my eyes, to see that there are other things in the world, he said. The experience helped Swann walk away with nothing but positive thoughts, inspiring him to really take your shot at this, really try your best, really try and see. To take nothing for granted -- thats just how I felt.Swann quickly became a darling of the indies, adopting Lionel Richies All Night Long as his entrance music, which helped forge an almost instantaneous connection with fans. Years later, when he made his WWE debut in August at the Cruiserweight Classic, Swann entered the Full Sail University Arena in Orlando, Florida, to his new theme song and enjoyed a moment with the crowd that reminded him of how far he had come.To hear the crowd chant All Night Long and to get [chants] of Can you handle this? -- it became infectious, and I got with it, and the people got with it, he said. It was just a connection from the people there, and its never going to go away.The reaction of the CWC fans to hearing his new theme song for the first time wasnt that different from Swanns initial response when the WWE first approached him.The first time I heard that I was like, Man, thats hot fire! Thats something else. Thats hot soup right there! I mean, yes! Swann said. Thats what I thought. Apparently everybody else thinks its pretty hot fire too.Thanks to WWEs decision to not just showcase the cruiserweights on Raw, but give the division its own weekly show on Tuesdays following SmackDown Live, Swann quickly became a fan favorite on the main roster. He takes that responsibility seriously, in terms of sharing his positive message and being open about his past.[My story] shows that anybody can make it in anything that you do and anything you want to succeed [in], no matter what is in your path, Swann said. And Im not ashamed of it. These are things that have happened. I would never change anything.Swann says his parents would be equal parts proud and shocked if they could see him today. And he remains the rare superstar in WWE who competes under his given name, which makes sense, considering how close he says his character is to his true personality.Being billed of late as The Outlandish Rich Swann is something he says suits him well.I feel like I have to go out there and keep on entertaining, keep on dancing and keep on being me, he said. Keep on doing things that I do -- Beat It dances, splits, excitement, keeping the smile going. Thats what I got to do to keep up with that Outlandish nickname, because I am outlandish, after all.As he becomes a household name and continues to put out the most entertaining product he can possibly produce on a day-to-day basis, Swann realizes how far hes come and how rare an opportunity hes been given. Its what keeps him motivated to become that much better as he maximizes on the spotlight cast upon him as the WWE cruiserweight champion.This is an opportunity that so many people would do anything for, and I just dont want to take that for granted, he said. ' ' '