RIO DE JANEIRO -- Diana Taurasi has been there, done that, and won literally everything there is to win in womens basketball -- no, really. Everything.NCAA titles at Connecticut. WNBA titles with Phoenix. Three Olympic gold medals (and counting....). Pro and college most valuable player awards and European titles in Russia, where she pulls down a $1 million-plus annual salary. She was actually paid by her Russian team not to play for the Mercury last summer, the better to rest her body for this years overseas run all the way to -- are you kidding? -- a seventh European title. So it was no surprise at all really when Taurasi -- the ultimate winner -- seemed to take it a little personally Tuesday when Serbia, the U.S. teams third-round opponent at the Rio Summer Olympics, had ambitions of muddying this pretty picture. Serbia actually took a one-point lead with eight minutes gone in the first quarter -- a rarity against this U.S. team -- only to see Taurasi answer by scoring 11 of the United States next 15 points.Nine of them came on three consecutive 3-pointers that left her shoving her hands straight down each side of her shorts as if she was putting them back into imaginary holsters by the third one she made.The U.S. jumped back out to a 31-21 lead, and the Americans never looked back on the way to a 110-84 win. Taurasi had 22 of her team-best 25 points in the first half. The six three-pointers she made broke her own Olympic record of five.We knew what was up -- theyre European champions for a reason, Taurasi said of Serbia after the game. Its good for us to be challenged.The U.S. has now won 44 straight Olympic games and is chasing its sixth straight gold medal.Taurasi, now 34, could score in the mid-20s any time she wants, but shes smart enough to realize she doesnt have to do that for this talent-laden team. Like a lot of stars, she knows its often when you score that matters most, not necessarily how much. She keeps a close eye on the emotional temperature of the team, whooping when they make a steal, barking when they miss a screen, keeping everyone engaged.Tuesday, the U.S. hit a little scoring drought after a hot start. Olympic first-timer Elena Delle Donne, the reigning WNBA MVP, picked up two quick fouls almost as soon as she came in the game and went back to the bench when Taurasi -- who has never been timid about shooting, anyway -- seemed to get all Shakespearean and decide: If not noweth, then when?It was mostly about the group we had in the game at that time, she stated. We said, We need to get on a run. And so she shot -- one, two, three 3-pointers in a row. The net barely twitched. She bounced up and down and let out a little woo-hoo after the last of them. She was enjoying this. And her teammates were enjoying it too. If not Serbia.Wheeew, she was hot, wasnt she? swingman Angel McCoughtry said. She just had that look.The way Taurasi is willing to switch between taking this team on her shoulders and deferring to her enormously talented teammates doesnt make her unique on this squad of wall-to-wall stars. But shes still the best at demanding the ball, and shes the most fun to watch, if only because of her swagger and attitude. One of her nicknames is White Mamba, which can sound a little silly until you realize it was Kobe Bryant, the original Mamba, who gave her the name.Taurasi, of course, loved it. She plays like she thinks shes the biggest bad ass on the court. But off the court, say the other players, shes the best teammate you could ever want.Brittney Griner, the 6-foot-8 former Baylor center who now plays year-round with Taurasi in Russia and the WNBA, smiled the other day when asked if Taurasi has drifted away from the surprise motivational phone calls she used to make to her before games, skipping pleasantries like hello and getting right to the point -- Are you going to show up tonight or what? -- then hanging up before Griner could get a word in.She still does it, Griner says, laughing, but now she just says that stuff to my face.Taurasi often seems to be channeling U.S. coach Geno Auriemma, her mentor and alter ego at UConn, when she dissects games the U.S. has just played and nitpicks about what needs to be cleaned up.Much like Auriemma, she got a little impatient after the United States past two games and gave a Geno-esque answer when asked a spin-off of the perennial UConn question: Is the U.S. womens teams dominance in Olympic play bad for the game?When Taurasi was asked this a few days ago after routing Spain, she said, If you dont like watching good basketball, go watch rowing.Tuesday, asked the same bad-for-basketball question again, she laughed wearily and said, I dont even know how to answer it anymore. Would it be better if we lost by 50? ....We have 12 women that dedicate their lives to the game of basketball year-round -- overseas, USA, the WNBA. So theyre knocking us for doing that?Its a bit disrespectful, I would say.The U.S., now 3-0 in Rio, plays Canada Friday, then has one more game before its on to medal-round play. Said Taurasi: We just need to come out of that locker room, and do what we do.Adidas Eqt Kengät . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. Adidas NMD R1 Ale . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. http://www.nmdhalvalla.com/adidas-nmd-cs2-halvalla.html . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Myydään Adidas NMD . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. Adidas Prophere Suomi . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night.HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Mike Holloway went 12 of 14 from the field and scored a career-high 25 points and Fairleigh Dickinson rolled to a 96-48 win over Division II FDU-Florham on Tuesday night.Holloway, who only played 17 minutes, had 20 points in just 12 first-half minutes as the Knights (1-1) shot 60 percent to open a 48-22 lead at the break.Darian Anderson opened the second half with his second 4-point play of the season for a 30-point lead and Holloway followed with a dunk off a Stephan Jiggetts assist to top his previous career high.ddddddddddddAnderson finished with 19 points in 23 minutes, making 7 of 8 shots.The lead reached 50 with 11:14 to play. Sophomore Nadi Beciri had his first double-figure game, getting 13 points in 10 minutes.Darren Davy had nine points for the Devils (0-1).At halftime the Knights unveiled their 2016 NEC Championship and NCAA Tournament banners. ' ' '