RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Up until Wednesday night, life in Rio was pretty good for players on the U.S. men's basketball team.
They stayed on a luxury ship, and cruised past a couple of badly outmatched opponents. They played tourist at the Christ the Redeemer statue, and went on a field trip to watch Michael Phelps win yet another gold medal.
Then an Australian team with a little pedigree of its own served notice that maybe the Olympic gold medal isn't such a foregone conclusion after all.
Banged about and taken out of their game, the U.