Pau Propels Spain to Semis
Lakers forward Pau Gasol dropped 20 as Spain took care of business against Croatia 72-59 in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Games. Gasol added a game-high 10 rebounds as well, showing himself to be the top player on one of the best squads in the Olympics. Gasol was injured and cheering from the bench when Spain won the FIBA World Championship in 2006. Spain will face Lithuania in the semifinals.
Despite turning in some lackluster performances and eeking out some games against opponents they should have crushed, Spain is still very much in the running for the gold medal. They should beat Lithuania and reach the finals where they will be met by the winner of the other semifinals matchup between the United States and Argentina. They’ll most likely face the U.S. in the gold medal game, a team that bested the Spaniards by more than 30 points in group play. But the players did not play up to their ability and are definitely a threat to the powerhouse Americans. With a number of NBA veterans and plenty of future participants, this squad is as talented as any that the U.S. will face. Most basketball pundits have been expecting a U.S. vs. Spain gold medal game, and both teams are just one win away from making it happen.
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Kobe Leads U.S. Team With 25
Led by Lakers guard Kobe Bryant’s 25 points, Team USA defeated Australia 116-85 in the Olympic quarterfinals. Bryant chipped in nine points in a 14-0 U.S. run to start the second half, which allowed the team to pull away and seal the victory. Bryant shot 10-16 overall, hitting 4-7 from deep. Bryant has really found his touch in the past few games, especially from long range. The whole team had been struggling with three point shooting until recently, which had some basketball pundits skeptical about the U.S.’s shot at the gold. LeBron James chipped in 16 points of his own and added nine rebounds. Carmelo Anthony scored 15.
The U.S. team is just two wins away from a gold medal, which is the only acceptable outcome in these Olympic Games. Even if the squad comes away with bronze or silver, it will be considered failure. The U.S. took down a confident Australian squad here and did well not to take them for granted. They’re going to face two of the best teams before they can claim gold, but it appears that the U.S. team has remained focused. Chris Bosh was recently quoted saying that these games feel more intense than the NBA playoffs.
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Rematch?
Fans could very well see a rematch of Saturday’s game between the United States and Spain, and between Lakers teammates Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, before the Beijing Games are over. Bryant’s U.S. squad trounced Spain over the weekend on convincing fashion, making themselves the clear-cut favorite at this juncture of the tournament. But it’s a single-elimination format from here on out and anything can happen. Many international basketball pundits believed that Spain was the best squad entering these Olympic Games.
The Spanish team boasts NBA players Paul Gasol and Jose Calderon, not exactly lightweights. Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez are set to join the NBA ranks this upcoming season and 17-year-old phenom Ricky Rubio is projected to be a top five pick in the NBA draft in the next year or two. While Spain does have a really solid squad, they haven’t lived up to their potential in Beijing, while the U.S. has turned heads, winning all of their games without breaking a sweat. The defensive work of Bryant, Dwyane Wade’s return to Flash form and the whole squad’s long range shooting turnaround as the games progressed have all been paramount in the team’s success. While Spain has the ability to give the them a run, it’s hard to see the U.S. heading home with anything less than gold.
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Kobe Finds the Touch
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant finally got it going from long range this weekend in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s matchups with Spain and Germany, hitting five of his nine attempts from downtown in two victories. Bryant had been struggling to find his stroke from long range in the Beijing games prior to this weekend, missing on all eight of his three balls in one contest. The U.S. finished group play undefeated and now enter the single elimination portion of the tournament. The team’s quarterfinal matchup is against Australia.
The U.S. made a pair of statements this weekend. The squad handled Spain easily in a matchup that a lot of basketball gurus were predicting would go Spain’s way. There was never a point in that game in which the U.S. didn’t have it under control. The team followed it up with a trouncing of Dirk Nowitzki and Germany. Dwight Howard’s best performance of the games gave the U.S. a solid inside scoring presence and the team’s defense really stood out. The United States has done a great job on the defensive end in each game thus far. Led by defensive ace Bryant, the club has been successful in containing their opponents and the players are obviously listening to what Coach K says.
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Lakers Sign Powell
The Lakers have signed free agent forward Josh Powell. The 6-9, 25-year-old power forward spent last season with the Clippers and averaged five points and five rebounds per game. He’s bounced around the league quite a bit in his young career, playing for the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers and even overseas. Powell went undrafted out of North Carolina State but has played solidly in the NBA.
This is a great move by the Lakers. Powell is a solid frontcourt bench player who will do the dirty work inside. He’s a big body and adds depth to the Lakers. He will essentially replace departed free agent Ronny Turiaf. The terms of the deal are yet to be released, but it’s likely that the team will pay Powell something around the league minimum. This is a bargain considering Turiaf will be making an average of four million dollars per year in Golden State and the two had very similar numbers last season. Turiaf averaged one more point and pone less rebound than Powell in 2007-2008. Turiaf is a better defender and more of a high energy guy, but he’s not $3 million per year better than Powell. Solid move by the Lake Show.
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Kobe Leads Defensive Effort
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant tied for the game-high in scoring with in 18 points in the United States’ victory over Greece this morning. Bryant connected on seven of his 14 attempts from the field as the team cruised to a 92-69 victory. The defensive effort was led by Bryant’s smothering of Greece’s best player, Vassilis Spanoulis, holding him to 14 points on just four of 13 shooting. The U.S. players had revenge on their minds after Greece defeated them in the 2006 World Championships in Japan. But in Beijing, the Americans are looking strong and capable of winning the gold. Greece was the first true test for the U.S. team, but bigger challenges are still to come.
This was the first sign that this U.S. team is truly ready to win gold. After yielding more than 100 points to the same squad in Japan, the Americans held them to less than 70. Defense is a big part of these games. Even though the U.S. team is supremely offensively talented, they can’t just try to run and gun and outscore everyone. This team really has a sense of purpose and a sense of pride. At this point, the only team that this blogger could see giving the U.S. a run is Spain.
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Greece Next for Team USA
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team will face off against Greece in their first true test of the Beijing Olympic Games tomorrow morning. The Greek team is one of the most cohesive units in the games, though they lack the NBA star power that some other countries possess. Greece defeated the Unites States in the 2006 World Championship and the U.S. squad is seeking revenge. U.S. point guard Jason Kidd said he expects the Greek team to target Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony, two of the youngest and most emotional players on the U.S. team. Greece defeated Dirk Nowitzki and Germany already, shutting down Nowitzki to the point where he lost his cool.
Don’t expect the Greeks to be able to shut down all the U.S. players the way they hounded Dirk. Do expect Bryant to do a defensive number on Vassilis Spanoulis, Greece’s best offensive player. A primary goal of the United States has to be to stop the pick and roll. In ’06, Greece ran 42 pick and roll plays and the Americans were unable to contain it. The U.S. is favored by more than 20, but this is no gimmie.
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Kobe Struggles as USA Prevails
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant struggled to get it going offensively in Team USA’s game against Angola this morning. The U.S. squad pulled through though, winning the contest 97-76. Bryant connected on just four of his 13 field goal attempts, missing all eight of his shots from downtown. The team has struggled to find their rhythm from behind the arc, which is especially surprising because the international three point line is closer than that in the NBA. Most would expect Bryant, who shot 36 percent from deep during the 2007-2008 NBA season, to excel from a closer three point range. Bryant finished with eight points to go along with four boards and one dime.
As a unit, the “redeem team” has been lackluster in their long range shooting, going 5-21 from downtown against Angola and 7-24 in their first game against China. Dwyane Wade, perhaps the most questionable shooter from deep of all of the guards on the roster, hit two of his three attempts from long range this morning. He’s been the best player thus far in the Beijing games and the most efficient, connecting on 13 of his 15 field goal attempts in the first two contests. The U.S. team cannot afford a similar performance by Bryant against a tough Greek team on Thursday.
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Sun Signed
The Lakers have agreed to terms with Sun Yue, a second-round selection made by the team in 2007. The club selected Yue with the 40th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. The 6-9 Yue has spent most of his days playing the point guard position in China, but will probably be asked to play the two for the Lakers. The 22-year-old has the size to play small forward, but the team is pretty set at that position to it’s likely that he’ll be used as a shooting guard.
Yue has been likened to Boris Diaw, in that he’s a skilled passer for his size. His pass-first mentality will serve him well in the triangle offense. He’s an excellent ball handler for someone of his height and possesses range out to the three point line. He’s a good finisher at the rim as well. Yue will need to hit the weight room, as is the case with most international players that make the jump to the NBA. He’ll need to improve his lateral quickness on defense, a weakness that may contribute to him being moved from the point to the two. While he possesses the range to shoot from deep, he needs to improve his mechanics in order to become more consistent from downtown.
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Italy in Kobe’s Future?
Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant said that he’d consider playing in Italy if he were offered a contract of $50 million per season. Since American-born forward Josh Childress opted to play overseas for more money, there has been speculation that a European club would offer an NBA superstar a gargantuan contract in the next few years. Two players that have been mentioned as players who would command such an astronomical figure are Bryant and Cavaliers forward LeBron James. “I’d go. I’d probably go,” said Bryant, during a USA Basketball press conference. “Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up or something like that.”
Bryant grew up in Italy and speaks Italian fluently. Some of the transitional concerns that would worry other players would not be as much of a concern for Bryant. Fans have to remember that basketball is an NBA player’s job, and it’s a business. “Do you know any reasonable person that would turn down 50 (million dollars)?” Bryant rhetorically asked during the same press conference. This blogger still has a hard time believing that a true superstar would walk away from the best league in the world, even for that kind of money. It could alter the perception of their competitiveness.
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