The toughest challenge of the Olympic tournament thus far for the United States is this morning against Greece.
It is a little disappointing to see how flat the team has come out in what should be an emotional game against the team that beat us in the world championship in 2006.Not a lot of fire being displayed early.
4-4 – Jason Kidd apparently offended the officials prior to the start of the game and proceeded to pick up 3 touch fouls in the first 90 seconds prompting analyst Doug Collins to “compliment” the Greeks for “selling the calls like you often see players do in soccer”.Curious early officiating continued with Kobe Bryant being called for an unsportsmanlike (flagrant) foul on a reach in foul 90 feet from the basket.
7-11 Greece – Most interesting to me so far is how much on our side the crowd in China is.I would have expected the big bad Americans to be cheered against vociferously, as we were in Athens, but the crowd is solidly in our corner, as they have been the entire tournament.
15-14 US – Chris Bosh just took a charge from what appears to be Robert “Tractor” Traylor’s twin brother but with about 50 extra pounds.
20-16 US – I love this Chris Paul, Derron Williams, Duane Wade combination.After a year struggling through the NBA season with injuries it appears that Duane Wade is back in a big way, he’s been the best player on team USA in the Olympics.
End First Quarter
22-16 US – Duane Wade knocks the ball away and while falling out of bounds on a dead sprint throws a beautiful alley-oop to Kobe Bryant causing me to yell out loud and scare the neighbors.
24-18 US – I don’t mean to belabor the point, but Wade is just making plays all over the place. Three U.S. dunks in a row off feeds by Wade, two of which came after steals he made. He has sparked his teammates who seem to be playing with a lot more emotion now.
36-26 US – Kobe Bryant can’t hit a jump shot to save his life.Also, I’m loving the lack of commercials in this coverage.
38-30 US – The Greeks are a very typical foreign team.Handle the ball well, shoot it well, knowledgeable, scrappy, and not particularly athletic. This is where our advantage is as a country.We don’t shoot, pass, or dribble better than these other top countries anymore.Our players are more athletic though, and that difference should be obvious on the defensive end. We should be out pressuring the ball at every opportunity.Forcing turnovers, upping the tempo.
46-30 US – Nasty steal and reverse dunk by Lebron.The Greeks are getting frustrated and have started complaining to the officials and arguing with each other.
51-32 US – Bosh ends the half by blocking the three point attempt of a Greek player, perfectly summarizing the last 3 minutes of the half where he dominated defensively both inside and on the perimeter.
End Second Quarter
US team is starting to play fast and loose with the ball, allowing the Greeks to climb back into it a bit.There’s a big difference between up-tempo basketball and reckless basketball, which is what we’ve been playing most of the second half so far.
65-47 US – Lebron is blocking shots left and right.The Greeks are starting to lose interest in driving to the basket, preferring to kick out for jump shots with less embarrassing possibilities.Bald referee continues to make curious calls on both ends. Dick Bavetta’s foreign brother?
74-54 US – Chris Paul drives and dishes to Wade for another basket to close the third quarter. Wade’s got 17, but it feels like more.
End Third Quarter
80-57 US – We’re getting into garbage time now with the outcome in the game not in doubt. Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd have come in for the last 7 minutes of the game. Derron Williams gets tackled to the floor and falls out of bounds with no call. Everyone, officials included, just wants to get this game over with quickly.
82-58 US – Wade checks out of the game and finishes with 17, 6 steals and 5 assists winning official Baksetball.org player of the game honors.
Final Score 92-69 US – I’m happy to see we didn’t just squeak by in this game, but rather sent a message that this team is not going to be satisfied losing to anyone.Next up is another top Euro team in Spain, featuring the Gasol brothers.
Image Source: *NBC
Comments:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Why is Jason Kidd on this team? I don’t care about his overall international record. Chris Paul is the best PG we have on this team. No one has better handle in traffic. I like Derron Williams better than Kidd too although he played horrible in this game. Kidd getting three quick ones was a benefit for Team USA.
D. Wade is back. There is no doubt that this guy wanted to show the world that he is not that washed up player that sulked around the court last season. No one on our team plays the passing lanes better or gets that “stand your ground and reach in” pluck better than he does. I think the young kids call it “cookies!” That alley oop to Kobe was ridiculous. Great timing to jump that pass, then to just toss it like that, perfectly, so that it wasn’t too precise so the dunk looked easy but then not too far off the rim so that it was impossible to catch. He has had a ton of tough finishes at the rim too. When Wade is at his best he is better than Lebron in my mind…he is just an assassin, a pure killer on both ends of the floor. Haven’t really seen that from Lebron yet.
Speaking of Lebron. This guy is hands down the most impressive physical specimen to play basketball. If he had that assassin in him, he would be even better. That reverse dunk he had where he was chasing down a ball he had deflected, shrugged off a Greek defender who tried to hold him, got to the ball and saw that he was an inch away from the rim, didn’t collect himself or get his steps right, and then just jumped up and dropped the ball between his legs (N.H) and reversed with some authority. It was just impressive athleticism. His ability to get to his peak jump at pretty much a standstill is ridiculous as evident by his follow up dunk off of Melo’s out of control layup and any one of his blocked shots. Seriously I don’t even think he bends his knees.
This is just some of my thoughts on Team USA. I really hope they destroy Spain. Especially after their team photo. Does Pau Gasol know how many Asians are in LA? Maybe that is why he did it…who knows. And don’t even get me started on Dwight Howard…
Spain will get crushed. We saw how soft Gasol is in the NBA finals. Bron Bron and Co will own them
On a side note, look at this video I saw today. Lebron doing his “gold medal dances”. Love it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4vXgwsxPM