MANILA, Philippines — The first required step at the Basketball World Cup for the Americans is now complete. They're going to the tournament's second round.
An achievement, technically — but one barely worth acknowledging.
Winning gold is the only goal for the Americans on this end-of-summer trip to Manila, and Monday was just another step, they hope, toward getting there. Austin Reaves led a balanced scoring effort with 15 points and the U.S. topped Greece 109-81 to clinch a spot in the second round that starts Friday.
''There's only really one thing that gets us excited out here,'' U.