Roadblocks to Gold: Spain

As an aside, I think the interviews went well on Saturday. I won't bore you with the details. Hopefully I get a callback, but if you know me, I downplay everything. Lowered expectations.

Went to the Battle in Bejing at the Toyota Center yesterday (thanks Brooke, you're the best!). For $50, it was admission, breakfast for two, two tickets to New Jersey vs. Houston during the regular season, and a Chinese New Year's event. Not a bad deal. USA looked a bit concerning at first. THEY CANNOT GUARD 3-POINT SHOOTERS. Too much collapsing on the ball handlers, as previously stated. China exposed (I don't know if it's really exposing if everyone knows) this problem, knocking down a ton of threes. The US's lead dwindled on more than one occasion because of timely threes. It was clear that China could not continue this pace of play into the second half. And they did not. Team USA waxed China by 31 in the end. Yi did absolutely nothing except committing a loose-ball foul (which wasn't called) on a put-back over Carmello's back/neck/head/etc. China is not the worst of our concerns though. Spain is.

Spain has a plethora of NBA talent. Pau Gasol and Jose Calderon are the two biggest names that have come over from Spain and played extremely well in the NBA. In addition, Rudy Fernandez (Portland) is a highly touted prospect that will finally come over and play this year. Juan Carlos Navarro played with Memphis and did well, but jumped ship to return to Europe, which he has said he enjoys more. Ricky Rubio (who I've shown on here before) is a 17-year old prodigy, who draws numerous comparisons to Pistol Pete. Marc Gasol is a seven footer, as well as Pau's brother, whos is coming over to play with the Lakers (I think). This is a team littered with legit NBA talent. In addition, these are guys that have grown up playing together, unlike Team USA who is thrown together. Chemistry on the court is everything. Lets hope we can outplay them when the time comes. It will be tough.

Speaking of Court, mock trial starts today. First round is in the federal courthouse. I'm extremely nervous. Wish me well.