I am absolutely thrilled that the US went undefeated and killed it in the gold medal game. We hosted a small get together last night, and it ended up being about 7-10 of us who stayed up to watch the game at 1:30 am. It was exciting. I lost my voice chanting, USA, USA, USA, USA, and then abruptly stopping.
D-Wade KILLED IT. Kobe finally showed up and did his thang BIG TIME. Hitting some majorly clutch shots. The intensity was so thick in the house that Mani and I even argued about Lebron vs. Kobe. I have no idea why. I think my point was that Lebron and Wade have been absolutely solid all throughout the games, whereas Kobe has been jacking and not really being the offensive force he normally is. If you know me, you know that rarely will I ever lobby for Lebron. But he has been an absolute beast throughout the games. (14pts, 7 rebs in the gold medal game).
Highlight though? Rudy Fernandez crowning Dwight Howard. This never should have happened. Due to copyright laws, you guys get the jpeg version of it. NASTINESS. Portland is gonna be a monster with him, Bayless, Roy, Blake.....nuts.
Also, Juan Carlos Navarro was killing it for Spain. Dude came over for a year, but jetted back to Spain or wherever because he likes it there more. Couldn't argue with that. Plus his buddy Pau left for "greener" pastures, stranding Navarro in Memphis. And on another note, Marc Gasol (a Grizzlie because of the Pau to LA trade) looks like a lunatic.
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.
It's another dope video with some pretty decent interviews and some fun moments.
All this being said, I know I'm not drinking the Kool Aid when it comes to this team. There are some legitimate problems. I've watched two of the tune up games, but since Silverman moved and took his TV AND they're broadcast on local China time, I've missed the Russia game, as well as the too-close-for-comfort-Australia game. In no particular order: The team defense can swarm the ball handler as he drives the lane. The problem is the internation game focuses on the outside in game. This means that when the ball handler drives the lane shooters are positioned on the perimeter. The ball handlers know to pass out for the open shot. This creates a TON of 3 point opportunities. Coupled with the fact that the 3-point line is shorter, the game can shift momentum in but a few possessions. Aside from the Australia game, none of USA's performances have highlighted this problem because the opposing teams have not been knocking down their shots. This will likely change in Olympic play. The team likes to run isos. Two years ago when I watched the FIBA games (where we finished 2nd or 3rd, I don't recall specifically) the team was highly focused on Isolations. This means one guy dribbles the ball for an absurd lenght of time and tries to drive the lane or forces a contested jumper. Needless to say, these types of plays have a high result of missed shots. The international game focuses on jumpshooting and ball movement which leads to open jumpers. Forcing iso plays is a quick way for the US to lose. Those guilty thus far: Lebron and Kobe We lack depth down low. Now a lot of people have highlighted this problem. But it's far more concerning than even all the attention indicates. NBA big men don't really have to deal with high-post centers. This style of play is much more European-esque. So guys like Zydrunis Ilgalskus, Yao Ming (sometimes), Mehemet Okur, and Brad Miller are really the very few that play at the high post position (I'm probably forgetting a few others). Thus, centers rarely get too far away from the hoop and are taught to protect the rim and not drift away. In the international game, however, big men drift from the hoop and can knock down an 18-20 foot jumper with ease. In addition, rebounding has been a problem. The bigs for USA? Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, and Dwight Howard. Howard is the only true center. Whereas Bosh and Booze are true power forwards. Rebounding will be a problem. Why we left Tyson Chandler at home is still a mystery to me. International rules are different. The court is shorter in both length and width. The free throw lane is more of a trapezoid than a rectangle. This means that on free throws the players have to move much faster to box out opponents for rebounds. It also changes how you have to move around to avoid a "3 in the key" violation. You can also touch the ball while it's still on the rim. In the NBA this is goaltending. In the international game, this is a no-call everytime. The 3-point lane, as previously stated, is also significantly shorter. While all of this might not seem like such a big deal, we're dealing with players who have grown up playing the NBA version of basketball. So changing life-long instincts isn't always something that's easy to do. The Zone. The international game is all about zone defense and not man to man. Again, this highlights the necessity of ball movement. I've faced a zone a few times and it is incredibly harder to play against if your opponent is running it. Quck ball movement around the perimeter is a must and penetration by a ball handler is insanely hard since the defense collapses on you so quickly. If I recall, the zone was not run in the league for many years because of the illegal defense rules. More importantly NBA teams don't run it quite as much as they run man-to-man defense. Passing and three point shooting is key. Problem? We don't have a lot of shooters on the team. Kobe, Carmello, and Michael Redd are the only guys who can knock down the 3-pointer with any type of consistency. Thus far, Deron Williams (who has improved his shooting) has been horrific. Chris Paul is alright sometimes....Everyone else is far less reliable. If Redd's shot isn't falling, we might be in trouble.
These are just the major problems with the team. I am hopeful, albeit skeptical. Come on GOLD MEDAL. And come on passing. And come on defense, and come on rebounding......
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