For 19 minutes and 59 seconds in the first half, Australia’s game plan was perfect. Nearly everything went like it was drawn up. But a demoralizing buzzer beater from Deron Williams ended that perfect gameplan and launched the US to a 116-85 win.

The plan was simple for Australia. Defend the paint, make open shots, hope that the US shoot poorly from the line and from behind the arc. Australia stayed back, defended the paint well, allowed the US to shoot and it seemed like it was working. They made a couple of big threes and nailed open shots. The US shot horribly from the line in the first half, and the threes just didn’t seem to be falling. Things looked positive for the Australian side that were rumored to be capable of upsetting the dominant US. So, with all this going Australia’s way, how did they lose?

How did Australia lose, or better yet how did the US win? Offensive rebounding. In the first half the US had more offensive rebounds,13, than Australia had for a total,12. When playing a team that includes Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Carmello Anthony, the last thing you want to do is give them second chances. Kobe and company cleaned up the boards, picking up second and even third chances that kept them ahead in the first half.

In a game like this, Australia just wanted to keep their head above water. And, towards the end of the 2nd quarter it seemed like the Aussies were doing so. They were until Deron Williams pushed their heads underneath the water with a buzzer beating 3 pointer at the end of the 1st half. With the US holding on to a 9 point lead, a lead that they didn’t deserve with the way they were shooting from the line, Williams put all that Australia upset talk to rest. Williams broke free with the clock running out and tossed up a three with the clock running out. He drained it and drained whatever hopes Australia had in beating the USA.

The buzzer beater by Williams catapulted the US to a 17-0 run in which they scored 14 straight to start the 3rd quarter. What at one point was a managable 9 point deficit with seconds left in the first half had turned into a 26 point deficit before the Aussies could get warmed up for the second half.

This win puts the US one step closer to the top level of the podium, which now seems inevitable. Redemption is imminent for this US squad and their no nonsense aproach instilled by coach Mike Krzyzewski is the main reason.

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It’s been two years since the FIBA Championships in which the Greeks picked apart the US National Team to win the FIBA Championship leaving LeBron James and US disappointed. In their first challenge in this Olympics the US National team defeated Greece, holding a Greek team that put up 101 in their last meeting to a mere 69 points.

This victory by the US is more about the Greeks beating themselves than the US beating the Greeks. Greece decided to play a one-on-one type game, a game that is no match to a team that has Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh off the bench. They failed to get going offensively as Wade’s defensive gambling paid off as he had 6 steals in the game. But, is this the true Greece?

After winning the first two games, it seems as if the Greeks will make it past the group stage easily. Now, European teams have been known to do this…under perform, resting their players making it seem as if they are worse than they really are and then when the elimination round comes around, a completely different team shows up. Now, this routine has been argued about as to whether it’s really done, and whether it’s smart, unethical, or just plain stupid. Either way it doesn’t matter if you’re USA.

No team is short of any tom-foolery but if the Greeks truly did this on purpose takes the cake. Whether it will pay off or not is yet to be seen. I like the idea of resting your players for the next round to a certain extent, but to risk putting them in a bad rhythm for the rest of the Olympics is beyond me. One thing’s for sure though, Kobe Bryant, LeBron, and company are playing too well right now to be fooled by this.

So far throughout this Olympics and even exhibition games leading up to them, it seems as though the mantra of the team is not to underestimate any team at all. So I don’t see how they will underestimate a team in the latter rounds. If this move was done on purpose by the Greece national team, it will be a move done in haste as the Redeem Team will have golds around their necks.

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Mike Krzyzewski said it best about developing an Olympic Basketball team…

We’re not ‘selecting a team’, you select people and hope they become a team.

Mike Krzyzewski on the USA Olympic Team

This year, I think everything is falling in place. It seems like there is a completely different demeanor on this Olympic team. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have taken the leadership roles and they have enstilled in this team, and many basketball fans (me being one of them), that USA basketball is going to be on the top podium come Beijing.

LeBron James and Carmello Anthony

An article in Sports Illustrated gave an excellent title to their article on this USA Olympic team that fits so well. “The Redeem Team.” It’s so true. They need to redeem themselves after the pathetic, unenthusiastic basketball they have played in the past decade. Sure Jordan and Magic left huge shoes to fill with the Dream Team, but if players like Carmello Anthony, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant can’t fit in those shoes, I don’t know who will.

This team is the closest to the Dream Team that dominated the 1992 Olympics and they cannot take this for granted. In an interview on the MIke and Mike show on ESPN Radio, Mike Golic asked Kobe Bryant where a Gold Medal from the Olympics would sit on the proverbial trophy case. Bryant said it would sit on top, above the NBA Finals trophy which shows just how important this medal is to him (plus, that trophy case was expecting a Finals MVP this season…). Bryant said there is nothing more rewarding than playing for your country and I hope the rest of this team feels the same way.

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Celtics got lucky, that simple. Throughout the playoffs they have done nothing but prove that they are not the team every one hyped them up to be. Yesterday they barely escaped with a 97-92 win against LeBron and the Cavs. Garnett, Pierce, Allen, and the Celtics have played 14 games already this postseason and have yet to prove that they’re a championship team. Oh yeah, they are 0-6 on the road in the Playoffs!!!

Yesterday’s game proved that the Celtics have no chance against their next opponent, the Pistons. The Cavs have absolutely no offense and no body on their team that can score other than LeBron James. James was the entire team yesterday putting up 45 points and nearly bringing his team back from a 15 point hole. The Celtics big 3 have yet to all perform consistantly with one of them stepping up on different nights. Yesterday, Paul Pierce saved his Celtics with a 41 point game and a bunch of hustle plays that ignited the crowd. After a jump ball, Pierce jumped on a loose ball and called time out just in time in a game changing play.

Garnett and Allen have yet to shine this postseason like they did in the regular season. Garnett is only pumped up and pounding his chest when his team has a 10 point lead or more and has only hit one big fourth quarter shot, which came in game 6. Garnett needs to show the heart and fire he shows when his team is down and desperate for points instead of when the team is comfortably in the lead. As soon as the Celtics are down or the lead gets tight, Garnett dissapears and quiets down. As for Ray Allen, he did nothing the entire series against the Cavs. Yesterday he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat, and he continually fails to create opportunities for himself. Allen’s pathetic four point game and 13 point game yesterday will not be enough when the Celtics face the Pistons.

Paul Pierce is the only true competitor on the Celtics when push comes to shove, and the Pistons are chock-filled of big time players. Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince have all proved that they are able to step up and make great game saving plays. If it wasn’t for Pierce’s amazing performance yesterday, the Celtics would be on vacation today with the lowly Cavs playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. Yesterday’s game was brutal to watch until the 4th quarter where it was basically Pierce vs. LeBron, which actually made the game one of the most exciting of the playoffs.

The Pistons will outplay them on the offensive side, defensive side, and most importanly they will be outcoached. Doc Rivers is not a good coach and people need to realize it. He had the easiest job this season by coaching a bunch of veterans. As for the Pistons, Flip Saunders knows what it takes to win and keeps his team disciplined. There is no way a team who won 66 games should go to a game seven against an eighth seeded Atlanta Hawks and a fourth seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, and the coach has to be blamed.

Watching the game yesterday made me realize that the Celtics don’t have a chance. The Cavs only had two scorers in double digits yesterday, LeBron James 45 and Delonte West with 15, and the Celtics barely escaped. The Pistons are a much more complete team and are capable of going into Boston and winning road games, something that the Celtics have yet to do. The Celtics have not won an away game and they still think they have a chance? I don’t think so. I am so confident that the Pistons will win this series that I might come out right now and predict a 4-0 Pistons’ sweep. But I’ll wait, for now I’ll go the safe route and predict 4-2 Pistons with the Celtics again failing to win on the road.

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You don’t tug at Superman’s cape, and you don’t ignite a fire under LeBron James. With some careless trash-talk, the Wizards have given LeBron and the Cavaliers more to win for this post season. “He’s overrated…and you can say I said that,” Deshawn Stevenson said of MVP candidate, LeBron James. First of all, Who the hell is DeShawn Stevenson? Stevenson is a nobody. LeBron showed that he’s a nobody by owning him in the first game of the playoff series, winning 93-86. In the game, LeBron scored ten times as many points as Stevenson. Stevenson put up a total of 3 points, compared to LeBron’s 30. Stevenson needs to shut his mouth very quick because already he’s been proven wrong. If you’re going to talk trash about some one, make sure they’re a worse player than you. Here are LeBron’s season stats next to DeShawn’s.

DeShawn Stevenson VS. LeBron James

PPG: 11.2 PPG: 30.0

RBP: 2.9 RPG: 7.9

APG: 3.1 APG: 7.2

SPG: 0.8 SPG: 1.8

BPG: 0.2 BPG: 1.1

FG: 38% FG: 45%

If that’s not enough to make Stevenson shutup than maybe these examples of “Jordanism” that LeBron displayed this season may. In a game against the Toronto Raptors, T.J. Ford had a few fans on the sideline who began heckling James. LeBron, noticing that they were there for his opponent Ford of the Raptors, went on a hot streak which brought the Cavs back to win. He yelled at the hecklers, “it’s your fault!!”

In yet another episode of Jordan-esque like performance, maybe more remniscant of Reggie Miller, LeBron scored 50 against the Knicks. Spike Lee was of course on the sidelines, jarring at LeBron. LeBron mouthed, “50″ to Spike, and then went on to hit a string of three-pointers which gave him a 50 point game in MSG.

Stevenson’s comments even startled Charles Barkley. Barkley went as far as saying, “I think the Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization.” That sounds about right, even coming from Chuck.

Stevenson isn’t the only one talking for the Wizards. Even Gilbert Arenas got into it. He didn’t gave the courage to talk openly so he decided to do it in blog form. “I think everybody wants Cleveland in that first round. They’ve been a .500 team ever since they made that trade and everybody wants a chance at that matchup. We want Cleveland for our own reasons, we don’t think they can beat us in the playoffs three years straight. It’s hard to beat a team three years straight. We want to try our luck.” Arenas said in his seasonal blog he posts on the NBA website. Arenas has posted more blogs this season than he has played games. Isn’t that something? And, just remember the old saying Gilbert, be careful what you wish for. So far, LeBron has made the dream of playing the Cavaliers a nightmare.

Technorati Tags: 2008 playoffs, Cavaliers, Charles Barkley, Cleveland, DeShawn Stevenson, Gilbert Arenas, Knicks, LeBron James, Madison Square Garden, Michael Jordan, MSG, NBA, New York, Playoffs, Raptors, Reggie Miller, Spike Lee, T.J. Ford, Toronto, Washington, Wizards