United States’ redemption is complete. The story is over and they did what they needed to do. Now let’s look at the results of this competition that pitted NBA teammates against eachother.

Preceding the Olympics there was a lot of talk about NBA players heading east to Europe. Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and even Lebron James said that they would consider playing in Europe. There’s more money to be made there and a completely different atmosphere, something that they may easily welcome.

Now, I don’t know whether there was any validity to the comments but if there it’s not there any more. The rest of the world is in no competition with American basketball. Not only that but the international rules are not condusive to a successful career. The game seems to be sloppy, choppy, and reckless. A career ending injury is basically imminent.

I appreciate what international players have brought to the NBA, but the last thing I want to see is NBA players going to Europe. David Stern and the NBA need to do whatever they can to prevent this. Call me selfish, but I want these guys over here so I can watch them, too bad Europe.

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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.

Technorati Tags: 2008 Olympics LeBron James, Australia Basketball, Australia Basketball Olympics, Australia vs. USA, Carmello Anthony, Defense US Mens Basketball, Deron Williams, Deron Williams 3 point shot at end of half, Deron Williams buzzer beater Australia, Deron Williams Olympic Buzzer Beater, Deron Williams Olympics, Deron Williams Olympics Three Pointer Buzzer Beater, Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant Olympics, LeBron James, LeBron James Olympics, Mike Krzyzewski, Mike Krzyzewski USA Olympics Basketball, Mike Sheshevski, Mike Sheshevski Basketball Coach, Offensive Rebounding US Mens Team Olympics, Olympic Basketball, Olympic Mens Basketball, Olympics Stats Basketball, Rebounds Mens Olympics USA, Sean Connolly, Sean Connolly Basketball, Sean Connolly Sports, Sean Connolly Writer, Shooting Basketball US Mens, Team USA, Team USA Basketball, Team USA Beats Australia, Team USA Carmello Anthony, Team USA Gold Medal Beijing, Team USA Kobe Bryant, Team USA Lebron James, Team USA Victory, Team USA Victory Over Australia, US Basketball, US Mens Basketball, US Mens Basketball Australia, US Mens Basketball Olympics Stats, US Mens Basketball Results, USA beats Australia, USA wins Gold Medal Olympics 2008 Beijing

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.

Technorati Tags: 2008 Olympics LeBron James, Basketball Rumors Olympics, Beijing Olympics, Beijing Olympics 08 Mens Basketball, Chris Bosh, Chris Bosh 08 Olympics, Chris Bosh Bench, Chris Bosh Bench Olympics, Did Greece lose to USA on purpose?, Duane Wade, Duane Wade 08 Olympics, Duane Wade Basketball, Duane Wade Olympics, Dwayne Wade, Dwayne Wade Defense, Dwayne Wade Defense against Greece Olympics, Dwayne Wade Defense Gamble Olympics, FIBA Championship, FIBA Championship Greece, FIBA Championship LeBron James, Greece, Greece Basketball, Greece Basketball Argument, Greece Losing on purpose basketball olympics, Greece vs. USA Basketball, Greeks vs. Americans Basketball game, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant 2008 Olympics, LeBron James, LeBron James Olympics, mens basketball olympics fotos, Mens Basketball Olympics Photos, Mens Olympic B-ball photos, Olympics, Olympics 08, Olympics 08 Basketball, Olympics Greece vs. USA Basketball, Redeem Team, Sean Connolly, Sean Connolly Basketball, Sean Connolly Sports, Sean Connolly Writer, Unethical Play Basketball, US Mens Basketball Team, US Mens National Team, USA, USA Basketball, USA Basketball Olympics, USA Basketball Olympics Rumors, USA Mens Team Olympics 08 Gold Medal

If you forgot how great Michael Jordan is, just watch this video please. He’s at a basketball camp and a kid asks Jordan who would win in a one-on-one game between him and Kobe Bryant. Jordan responds, “in my prime, not even a contest.” It’s Jordan being Jordan.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqlBUj9bFC4&feature=related]

How amazing is that. I know he’s not up against NBA players but it’s obvious that he still has it. You know after that he was thinking…hmmm, maybe my Bobcats need a guard.

I just love how confident he is when he’s playing, there’s no doubt in his mind that he’s going to miss, even with his eyes closed. Earlier this season when Kobe was on a tear, I began to wonder…maybe he is good as Jordan. I’ll tell you this right now, Jordan at 45 years old is better than Kobe is now or will ever be.

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Levels of Defeat in NBA

0-5 Point Loss- Respectable

5-15 Point Loss- Disappointing

15-25 Point Loss- Bad to Awful

25-35 Point Loss- Horrible, New York Knicks Territory

35+ Point Loss- Disgraceful, Team Should Disband and Begin New Careers

The Lakers lossed by 39 points last night in a deciding game in the NBA Finals which means Kobe should be announcing on TNT next season.

How a team can play as poorly as the Lakers did last night is beyond me. The Celtics defense was impenetrable and their offense ran as smoothly and as efficiently as possible and the Los Angeles Kobes, excuse me, Lakers could do absolutely nothing about it. This was by far the most convincing win in NBA Finals history.

As I said in my last post(Pierce May Be Too Strong For A Laker Comeback) Pierce and the Celtics would be too much for the Lakers to handle. No where in that post did I predict a victory of this magnitude though. Every single Laker all the way to upper management should be thoroughly embarrassed. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, and the almighty Kobe Bryant sucked. Plain and simple.

It wasn’t the Lakers sucking that lost them this series, but more the Celtics playing their best basketball at the right time. Seeing them go 7 games with the 8th seeded Atlanta Hawks gave me reason to believe they would never make it out of the East. But they persevered and got better as the playoffs went along. I routed for the Lakers this entire playoffs and routed against the Celtics this entire playoffs. Still, I can say that the team that won the title was the best team every night on the floor in this series. The Lakers should be ashamed that they were beaten this badly. Coming into this series they were the better team by far and leaving the series they look as if they shouldn’t have been in the playoffs. Every Laker performance was pathetic.

This beating was highlighted by the great play of the Celtic’s big three. Throughout the year I tried to play down the significance of this three playing together. But now I realize that when they play together, anything is possible (foreshadowing, pay attention). Ray Allen tied an NBA Finals record with 7 three pointers last night. Kevin Garnett fueled the team and ended whatever small hope the Lakers had with his circus shot. A shot in which he stayed in the air for what seemed like an hour, gets fouled and banked the ball off the backboard right before he hits the ground. As soon as he made that shot I knew the Celtics had the championship. No one can come back from a demoralizing shot like that.

And what else can you say about Paul Pierce? He stepped up his defense throughout the entire playoffs and made the best offensive player in the world look like Chris Dudley. He showed the world that Pierce not Kobe is more deserving of Jordan comparisons (but, still don’t even bother comparing him to Jordan, no one will be as good as Michael).

Coming into this series I was all gung-ho on Kobe and the Lakers winning the championship. I was convinced that it was his time to prove that he could be mentioned along with Jordan. I now want to take a moment to publicly apologize to Michael Jordan…Dear Michael, you’re the best and no one, and I mean no one comes close to you. Now, having that said I despise Kobe for what he did in this Finals. He won my heart this season and then broke it in the Finals (Sad, huh?). And I never, ever, no matter what Kobe does for the rest of his career want to hear the words Kobe Bryant in the same sentence as the one Michael Jordan. Jordan would never let his team lose in an NBA Finals, the biggest stage in the world for basketball. Never would you see Michael Jordan on the bench in a deciding game in the NBA Finals with his team down by 40. Never. If anybody even thinks about bringing this argument up again of Kobe being as good as Jordan, all of his or her comments about the sport of basketball should be considered void from thereafter.

Finally I would like to say a little something about Kevin Garnett…I hate him. Throughout this season he has changed my view of him completely. What sealed it was his odd, moronic, disrespectful celebration when he was interviewed after the game. When asked about how he felt, he began weeping like a baby, then filled the air with expletives and began screaming, “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!” at the top of his lungs like a fool(see the foreshadowing from earlier, pretty clever). All I can say thank God for the delay that the ABC network used so that they could prevent his f-bombs from reaching air. Does he not realize that he is idolized by thousands of kids who are watching? Does he have no respect whatsoever? The best part about it was how after he filled the Garden with f-bombs he goes over and shakes Bill Russell’s hand. Russell is one of the most honorable men in basketball who you tried to mirror yourself after throughout the season and you behave like that? You’ll never be one tenth of what Russell was and still is and you don’t even deserve a ring. Honestly, who’s over 7 feet tall and shoots mid-range jumpers all day? Call me bitter but this guy is a disgrace. But, congratulations to Paul Pierce and the rest of the Celtics who actually deserve this. This was the best turn around in sports history and Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, and company should be proud. As Garnett would say, “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!” Idiot.

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Never has Jordan disappointed any of his fans in a Finals game like Kobe did last night. With five minutes to go in the fourth quarter after the Lakers squandered a 24 point lead, the game was tied. The Lakers were shooting just awful, and the game was just begging to be taken over by Kobe. He did not takeover. The Lakers ended up losing in what will go down as the biggest collapse in NBA history.

Everyone calls Kobe Bryant the best “closer” in the game. That superlative deemed untrue last night when Kobe failed to take his team under his wing in the biggest game of his life. Throughout the entire game Kobe was no where to be seen, but players such as Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol were stepping up enough to give the Lakers a 24 point lead. At halftime the Lakers had an 18 point lead and looked to have the game easily in hand. The scariest part was that Kobe hadn’t gotten going yet. He never did either.

Kobe just straight up didn’t play up to his potential. In no way should a player of his status allow his team to give up such a substantial lead in a game of this magnitude. It’s shocking really how he never took over this game. I’ve always seen parrallels in both Jordan and Kobe. The way the shoot, the way they drive, and their desire to take over a game late when their team needs them the most. But after last night’s performance I have to say he is no where near Jordan’s level. This just makes me think that there will never be another player like Jordan, and it’s really disheartening.

Sure Kobe is the scapegoat for this loss. And people can cry and moan that the team around him didn’t help, but whenever Kobe has a great game, no body talks about his teammates then. It’s just Kobe this and Kobe that, so he gets it both ways. But who really has kind of flown under the radar for this loss is Phil Jackson. Now I’ve heard Jeff Van Gundy announcing the game and forever praising how Phil Jackson takes time outs at the perfect time to stop momentum. When ever Van Gundy would say this I always agreed and was shocked at how correct he is. But yesterday, Jackson just wasn’t the coach he used to be. How do you allow the Celtics to come back into the game like that? He took timeouts at the right time but it seemed as if nothing was being done in the timeout to change the forecast of the game and I think Jackson should receive as much or even more blame then Kobe for this loss. Laker fans, Kobe Bryant fans, and NBA fans deserve better and now we might not get to see an epic game 7 that everyone was praying for.

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Kobe says he can take over a game whenever he wants. So why would he wait until his team is down 24 points in the fourth quarter. Kobe and the Lakers nearly mounted the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history but came up short tonight and for the second game in a row, Kobe is to blame.

Throughout this entire game the Celtics had the heart, determination, and sure fire offense that compiles a championship team. An unlikely hero in Leon Powe who put up an astonishing 21 points in just under 15 minutes. Powe looked unstoppable as he dunked his Celtics to what looked like a blowout early in the fourth quarter. I have to say, Powe looks like a huge X-Factor coming off the bench for these Celtics who already have the best threesome in basketball in Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. If Powe could just stay out of foul trouble(he had 4 tonight in his 15 minutes) he is going to be a huge help in this 08 Finals for the Celtics.

Powe was just one of the players for the Celtics who came off the bench to solidify a Celtic win. Both P.J. Brown and James Posey put in quality minutes for the Celtics who are now up 2-0 on the Lakers. Coming into the finals, the Lakers bench was considered its most crucial facet. The Lakers’ bench was outscored by the Celtics’ bench 35-23. The Celtics’ bench also played extremely smart. No one coming off the bench for them turned the ball over and shot 68.7% from the field. Not only has getting to the line affected Kobe and the Lakers’ starting lineup but the trend has gotten to the bench as well. No one had a free throw from the Lakers bench while the Celtics bench piled up 15 free throw attempts, more than the entire Lakers team with 10.

If you’re a Lakers fan you can blame the bench for not putting up numbers or poor defense from Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, but the blame in games like these will always rest on Kobe’s shoulders. It’s a little unfair but it’s true. Kobe waited too long and took too many outside shots early in the game and allowed the Celtics to run away with the game. He got into foul trouble early, leaving him on the bench where he becomes absolutely useless. He turned into the Kobe of the past couple years in the 3rd and 4th quarter, forcing shots and trying to make the superstar play. Whenever there was a scoring run by the Lakers, it was fueled by excellent passing and smart decisions by Kobe. But he quickly got away from that when the Celtics countered with a run of their own causing the Lakers to fall in too deep of a hole.

If Kobe completed the fourth quarter comeback, in which the Lakers were down 24 and brought in down to two, I probably would be singing Kobe’s praises and I would have forgotten all the mistakes he and the Lakers made. But they didn’t come back.

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It’s the series the NBA has been waiting for. Lakers, Celtics. What more could you want? This series though won’t even be competitive, because it will belong to the best player since Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and there’s nothing Garnett can do but scream, yell, and hit his head on the hoop like he always does.

This series is a match made in basketball heaven. You’ve got the best player in the game playing on a team with a bunch of average to above average players in Kobe and the Lakers. You’ve got the most talented threesome in recent years in Pierce, Allen, and Garnett in the Celtics. So, the series should be great, right? I’m afraid not. The Celtics don’t stand a chance against Kobe. Although Pierce’s defense has improved considerably, he will be no match for Bryant.

Watching Kobe in the series between the Lakers and Spurs showed me just how talented he really is. Throughout the series Kobe stayed out of the paint and continually put up jumpers. He barely got to the free throw line and still was able to average 29.2 points a game in the series. He only averaged 2.2 free throws a game throughout the series and was still able to control the game. He shot 53% and took over when ever he wanted.

Whenever Kobe plays you just know he is going to take over. It’s just a matter of when and against the Celtics in the Finals, it will be every game. Kobe is to close to a title to try and take it away from him. Sure, people say the same about Garnett but Kobe’s fire and desire to win the game just seems so much more natural to me. When the time comes for him to step up, he isn’t yelling or hitting his chest. He looks calm, composed and eerily similar to Michael Jordan. Garnett on the other hand fades away and allows others to take over the game, which is fine and he played well enough to get the Celtics to the Finals, but the Celtics need him to take over in late game situations like that if Pierce isn’t shooting well. In the final game of the western conference finals, Kobe had 39 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds. Garnett in the final game of the eastern conference finals only put up, 16 points, 7 rebounds, and had no assists. That isn’t enough out of someone who was being claimed as the MVP during the season.

The best example of Kobe’s Jordanesque appearance and was in game 7 when he was isolated at half court against Ginobili. Right before Ginobili stepped up to him he calmly let the ball bounce in front of him while he adjusted the sleeve on his arm. Manu began badgering Kobe a couple feet from the half court line trying to rob Kobe. Kobe simply turned his back shielded him off took some time off the clock and then turned around and got space. With the shot clock running out he began to approach the basket, he sped up, hesitated to make Duncan, who was behind Ginobili commit and he took the space and laid the ball up for two points and ultimately the game. When I saw that entire sequence I just laughed and said this is Kobe’s year.

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