United States finishes off pool play, braces for bigger challenges ahead

SAPPORO, Japan -- Now comes the hard part.

The United States closed a perfect week of group play Thursday by routing Senegal 103-58.

The United States will open the tournament's medal phase against Australia, the fourth-place finisher in Group C, on Sunday in Saitama. The United States is bidding for its first championship since 1994.

"We came over here to win the gold," center Dwight Howard said. "The first game is Sunday, and we can start off on the right note."

The reward for winning Group D is substantial: The Americans won't have to face Argentina or Spain until the final. But there's a lot of basketball to be played before then.

"There will be some surprises," said Senegal's Makhtar N'Diaye, who played in college at Michigan and North Carolina. "Argentina and Spain can bring a lot of havoc."

The United States faced one tough test in Group D -- beating Italy, which finished second. The competition will improve dramatically, although some teams aren't familiar to the Americans.

They know Australian center Andrew Bogut, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, and Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki, whose German team could meet the U.S. team in the second round. Nowitzki lit up Angola for 47 in Germany's 108-103 triple-overtime victory Thursday.

This is where the new U.S. scouting department, created by managing director Jerry Colangelo, should pay dividends.

"We're going to be familiar with some of the players but not the teams," scouting director Rudy Tomjanovich said.

Few teams are stronger than Argentina. Like the United States, the Argentines swept through their group but needed to rally for one win. They overcame an eight-point deficit to beat defending champion Serbia and Montenegro 83-79 Thursday.

With NBA players Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto of San Antonio, Carlos Delfino of Detroit and Andres Nocioni of Chicago, Argentina has loads of front-line talent. But it also has a solid bench, which saw plenty of action in the first round. Argentina won its first three games by an average of 37 points.

"Argentina, they're the favorite," Tomjanovich said.

Argentina is on course for a semifinal showdown with Spain, which also went 5-0 in pool play.

If the seeds hold, the other semifinal would pit the U.S. against Greece, which defeated Turkey 76-69 Thursday night to win Group C.