Team USA (Official Thread)

ScriptOhio · Aug 30, 2006

It is down to the "final four":

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=bg0><TD align=conter colSpan=4>2006 FIBA World Championship Finals Bracket</TD></TR><TR class=bg1 vAlign=top><TD width="25%">Round of 16</TD><TD width="25%">Quarterfinals</TD><TD width="25%">Semifinals</TD><TD width="25%">Final</TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Argentina «</TD><TD align=right>79</TD></TR><TR><TD>

New Zealand</TD><TD align=right>62</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD rowSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Argentina «</TD><TD align=right>83</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Turkey</TD><TD align=right>58</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD rowSpan=4><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Argentina</TD><TD align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD>

Spain</TD><TD align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Sept. 1, 6:30 a.m.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD rowSpan=8><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Sept. 3, 6:30 a.m.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Turkey «</TD><TD align=right>90</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Slovenia</TD><TD align=right>84</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Spain «</TD><TD align=right>87</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Serbia</TD><TD align=right>75</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD rowSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Spain «</TD><TD align=right>89</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Lithuania</TD><TD align=right>67</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Italy</TD><TD align=right>68</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Lithuania «</TD><TD align=right>71</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Greece «</TD><TD align=right>95</TD></TR><TR><TD>

China</TD><TD align=right>64</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD rowSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Greece «</TD><TD align=right>73</TD></TR><TR><TD>

France</TD><TD align=right>56</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD rowSpan=4><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Greece</TD><TD align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD>

USA</TD><TD align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Sept. 1, 3:30 a.m.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

France «</TD><TD align=right>68</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Angola</TD><TD align=right>62</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

USA «</TD><TD align=right>113</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Australia</TD><TD align=right>73</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD rowSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

USA «</TD><TD align=right>85</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Germany</TD><TD align=right>65</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg2><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Germany «</TD><TD align=right>78</TD></TR><TR><TD>

Nigeria</TD><TD align=right>77</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Final</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=bg4><TD colSpan=4>Rankings 5-8: Aug. 31 at 3:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. and Sept. 2 at 3:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

BuckWrestler141 · Aug 30, 2006

There are a lot of complaints about the U.S.'s performance today. I'm not one of those people, I thought that Team USA played one of its best games aside from the fact the shots simply weren't falling.

OSUBasketballJunkie · Aug 31, 2006

ABJ

Unbeaten Greece preps for U.S. face-off

BRIAN MAHONEY

Associated Press

SAITAMA, Japan - Now that Dirk Nowitzki is gone, the United States is headed for a gold medal game showdown with Spain or Argentina. Not exactly. It only seems that way around here.
For days, U.S. players have been asked about a potential matchup with one of those two international powerhouses in the final game of the world championships. Meanwhile, the other unbeaten team, which just happens to be the reigning European champion, has remained largely anonymous.
And Greece's players wouldn't mind at all if they stay that way to the Americans.
"I hope that's true. For me, it's good like this," Greek guard Theodoros Papaloukas said. "If the game goes wrong for them, they'll be stressed."
The U.S. and Greece meet in Friday night's first semifinal game, followed by Spain and Argentina in the nightcap. All four teams are 7-0.
After winning a balanced Group C, Greece has been just as impressive in its two wins here as the other three teams. Those victories over China and France still haven't made the Greek players very recognizable to those outside Europe.
Spain has Pau Gasol. Argentina has Manu Ginobili.
Greece has some big names, too - though only in length.
"The names are too long," Carmelo Anthony said. "The names are very, very long. I'm going to have to learn them overnight."
The U.S. earned its spot in the semifinals with an 85-65 victory over Nowitzki and Germany on Wednesday night. The Americans turned up their defensive pressure to break away in the third quarter, overcoming a horrendous shooting night in which they missed 30 of 40 3-point attempts against the Germany zone.
Greece didn't need to see that spurt to realize what the Americans can do when they can force turnovers to fuel their transition game.
"You do not want it in the open court because if the U.S. runs up and down the court it gets opportunity to play an easy game," Greek coach Panagiotis Yannakis said. "We have to play our game with defense and don't pass the ball to their hands. If you do this, you're in the game."
Defensively, Greece wants to play the same way. Using their big guards to key a trapping defense, the Greeks force 24 turnovers per game
They could have some success because none of the primary American ballhandlers: Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Kirk Hinrich, is big. However, Mike Krzyzewski could get around that by having LeBron James bring the ball up and initiate the offense, as he has done frequently.
Greece held France to its lowest point total in the tournament in a 73-56 victory in Wednesday's first quarterfinal. Now the Greeks can guarantee themselves a second straight medal in a top event.
"If it's USA and we have to beat them to get a medal, we just have to bring down the lights," said Greek forward Sofokolis Schortsanitis, who bears a strong resemblance to former Florida player Dametri "Da Meat Hook" Hill.
A victory would bring recognition to a team that has no current NBA players. Antonis Fotsis played briefly with the Memphis Grizzlies, and guard Vasilis Spanoulis is headed to the Houston Rockets. That's about the limit of Greece's ties to the NBA.
Still, the Americans have promised not to take their opponents for granted and assume a spot in Sunday's game is theirs.
"Our team won't look past Greece," Krzyzewski said. "Greece hasn't lost. You just watch them on tape, and if you're a player, coach who knows anything about basketball, you say, 'Those guys can play.'"
Papaloukas is probably Greece's best, having earned MVP honors at the European championships and the Euroleague Final Four last year. Now he tries to put his team a win away from its biggest title yet.
"I'm not stupid to say I know we can beat the United States. But I know that we're going to try very hard and give all our energy for this game," Papaloukas said.
"And you know, by the way, basketball is basketball. USA has the big advantage, but you never know. Basketball is like life sometimes. Don't make plans for life because life has different plans for you. That's what I say."

OSUBasketballJunkie · Sep 1, 2006

ABJ

LeBron on the defensive

Cavs' star is working on his defense, and it shows at tournament

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

SAITAMA, JAPAN - In the ebb and flow of last season, a steady stream of LeBron James stories explored the prospect of his future as a defender.
Fueled by Cavaliers coach Mike Brown's repeated comments that he believes James eventually will become one of the NBA's best, there was some belief that James made strides to improve a weakness during his third season.
Brown, an accomplished defensive coach, obviously has a respected opinion. Yet many scouts and keen observers still insisted James often struggled on the defensive end despite a handful of standout performances. The most common refrain was that he focused more of his efforts on making steals than stopping his opponent.
James never will be held too accountable, not only because he's one of the best offensive players in the game but also because Brown routinely played him nearly 48 minutes per game and sapped his energy level.
But don't think improvement on defense isn't on James' mind, especially during the FIBA World Championship. Asked to play fewer minutes and less of a role on offense than with the Cavs, James says he genuinely is focusing on becoming a better defender. His teammates and coaches say it's more than lip service.
It was easy to talk about Thursday after James played a significant role in stopping German star Dirk Nowitzki in Team USA's 20-point quarterfinal victory. But James' efforts on pressure and interior defense have been getting better during the tournament.
``He has really started to concentrate on that end,'' said Nate McMillan, a Team USA assistant coach and Portland Trail Blazers head coach.
``In our league, guys are labeled as scorers, and he's one of them,'' he said. ``But he is so athletic that if he focuses on defense, he'll be able to do it. It will be easy for him.''
McMillan isn't the first to express those thoughts.
Current University of Akron and former St. Vincent-St. Mary High School coach Keith Dambrot said the same thing when James was a sophomore at St. V-M. James says he's serious about making defense more than brief flashes in his game.
With Team USA, James has been asked to defend point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and, with Nowitzki, power forwards. He has pressured the ball, played help defense and used his size to prevent entry passes into the post.
James has gotten beaten in some pick-and-roll situations and when quicker guards have driven past him, but overall his intensity has been elevated.
``He didn't have the luxury of going to college and learning the fundamentals of man-to-man and pressure defense,'' Team USA forward Shane Battier said. ``He sort of got an NBA crash course, which is its own monster.
``He's working to get better, he is showing the desire to work and to get into good position.''
James always has been able to generate steals because of his quickness. Going beyond that pure talent is a tougher step.
He was part of the strong defensive effort the Cavs showed in narrowly losing to the Detroit Pistons in May's Eastern Conference semifinals. That ordeal along with this current challenge might provide maturation.
``If you want to be a true leader, it starts on defense,'' James said. ``I can't play this same way in the NBA because the game is different, but my plan is to carry over what I've been doing here.''
With all the other responsibilities on his shoulders in his role with the Cavs, whether James can follow through with those intentions might prove to be a key issue in the fast-approaching NBA season.
He has been making new believers.
``What the great ones do in this league is learn to pick and choose to play defense that can change a game,'' Battier said.
``Michael Jordan was maybe the best defender in the league at the end of his career, but he didn't do it on every single play. LeBron will work on it because I think he feels responsible for this team and his team,'' Battier said. ``That is pretty heady for someone who is so young.''

BuckWrestler141 · Sep 1, 2006

:(

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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td class="yspsctnhdln">Greece 101, U.S. 95</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="7"><spacer type="block" height="1" width="1"></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer
September 1, 2006
SAITAMA, Japan (AP) -- The European champions are playing for a much bigger prize.
The best the United States can hope for is yet another bronze medal.

Greece used a sizzling stretch of shooting across the middle two quarters to turn a 12-point deficit into a 14-point lead, and beat the Americans 101-95 Friday in the semifinals of the world championships.
The Greeks (8-0) can add a world title to the European championship they won in 2005 with a victory over either Spain or Argentina in Sunday's gold medal game. Those teams, also undefeated, met in Friday's second game.
The Greeks -- with no current NBA players on their roster -- danced in a circle at halfcourt after their victory over an American team put together after a series of recent failures.
Done in again by their inept 3-point shooting -- and they weren't much better from the foul line -- the Americans will fall short of a championship in a major international tournament for the third straight time.
The U.S. (7-1) will return to the court Saturday against the loser of the Argentina-Spain game, hoping to match the bronze medal it left Athens with in 2004.
Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points for the Americans, who couldn't overcome their 32 percent shooting from 3-point range or 59 percent from the foul line. Dwyane Wade added 19 and LeBron James had 17, but the three U.S. captains were unable to avenge their disappointment from Athens.
Vassilis Spanoulis, bound for the Houston Rockets, scored 22 points for Greece. Mihalis Kakiouzis added 15 and 6-foot-10 Sofoklis Schortsianitis -- nicknamed "Baby Shaq" -- added 14, shooting 6-of-7. The Greeks shot 63 percent (35-of-56) from the field and made 31 of 44 shots across the final three periods.
The U.S. hasn't even played for a world championship since winning the last of its three titles in Toronto in 1994. Mike Krzyzewski -- who was looking for gold after winning bronze with the 1990 team -- and a few American players walked to midcourt to congratulate the Greeks, while most of the U.S. quickly headed to the locker room.
The Americans, who put together a national team program this year for the first time after their recent failures, now will be forced to qualify for the 2008 Olympics next summer in the FIBA Americas tournament in Venezuela.
The U.S. seemed in control after Joe Johnson's 3-pointer gave the Americans a 33-21 lead with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter. It was around then that James told his teammates on the bench: "They don't know what to do."
Well, they figured it out in a hurry.
Greece scored nine straight points, pulling within three on Theodoros Papaloukas' drive with 3:51 left and forcing Krzyzewski to call timeout. Dwight Howard converted a three-point play, but the Greeks answered with a 13-2 surge, featuring eight points from Schortsianitis, to open a 43-38 advantage and force Krzyzewski to call a second timeout.
Greece hit nine straight shots -- its only miss in the last 5 minutes was a heave from halfcourt as time expired -- and led 45-41 at halftime. The Greeks shot 56 percent (15-of-27) in the half.
The Americans were 2-of-10 from behind the arc -- after going 10-for-40 in their quarterfinal victory over Germany -- and trailed at the break for only the second time in the tournament. Italy had a nine-point cushion in a group play game.
The U.S. also had nine turnovers -- about two below their tournament average for a game -- and was 11-of-17 (65 percent) at the foul line.
Greece kept it up in the third quarter, hitting 14 of its 18 shots, including all four 3-pointers in the first 5 minutes. Kostas Tsartsaris' 3-pointer with 5:45 left in the period gave the Greeks a 65-51 lead -- the biggest deficit the U.S. faced in the tournament.
After shooting 4-of-12 in the first quarter, Greece was 25-of-33 (76 percent) in the second and third and led 77-65 heading to the final period.
Anthony, Wade and James combined for the first 18 U.S. points in the quarter, and the Americans eventually got as close as 95-91 on Kirk Hinrich's 3 with 36 seconds to play. But the U.S. missed its final two attempts from behind the arc, capping a 9-of-28 night.

A tough loss for Team USA.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnQYFTNFc0zIyJU3D0..NS45nYcB?slug=ap-worlds-greece-us&prov=ap&type=lgns

scarletngrey11 · Sep 1, 2006

Greece is a tough team, they've been together so long and they play the European game as good as anyone.

akronbuck · Sep 1, 2006

:( how in the hell are they going to be WINNERS depending on outside shooting maybe, Team USA should try the NCAA TOURNAMENT NEXT. The inside game got punked again

kevin Garnett,Tim Duncan or the 2 wallaces would have been nice help

DaytonBuck · Sep 1, 2006

The Greeks shot 63 percent (35-of-56) from the field and made 31 of 44 shots across the final three periods.

The defensive effort in this game flat out killed us. I'm not upset losing to certain foreign teams but Greece is a major dissapointment in my opinion. Greece has a solid team but to let them shoot 63% to me just doesn't seem right.

tibor75 · Sep 1, 2006

Always nice when an overconfident team of spoiled brats get beat. Hilarious

ScarletBlood31 · Sep 1, 2006

Ben Wallace would have been a huge help against that monster that Greece had in the middle.

OSUBasketballJunkie · Sep 2, 2006

espn.com

Wade scores 32 as U.S. beats Argentina

SAITAMA, Japan -- Stuck in yet another bronze-medal game they never planned for, Dwyane Wade and his teammates could have come out with a lackluster effort.

<TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000"><CENTER>Sheridan: Team USA rebounds</CENTER></TH><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD width=194>

When they received their bronze medals after the best game they had played during the FIBA World Championship, the players on Team USA held their heads high and raised their arms to the crowd to acknowledge their cheers. They were not ashamed. They were proud. LeBron James even cracked a big huge smile as the photographers snapped photos of what will be remembered for the next two years as the world's third-best team. • To read more of Chris Sheridan's analysis from the FIBA World Championship, click here.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Instead, Wade treated the game as if it were the NBA Finals. Then he played like it.

Wade scored 18 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, helping the United States pull away for a 96-81 victory over Argentina on Saturday night in the third-place game at the FIBA World Championship.
"This game was everything it was pumped up to be if it was in the finals," Wade said. "I give credit to my teammates for playing their hearts out when a lot of people didn't think so. This was a big step. We gained a lot of respect and love for each other. This summer was not a waste. We learned a lot."
Playing one night after a 101-95 loss to Greece ended their title hopes, the Americans delivered a strong performance and avoided leaving the championships empty-handed for the second straight time. They finished sixth in 2002.
After collecting their bronze medals, LeBron James and Chris Paul threw their sneakers into the crowd of more than 16,000 at Saitama Super Arena.
"You never want to be satisfied, but I'm happy we didn't lay down," James said. "We didn't mope and moan about what happened yesterday. We moved on and played a very good team today and we played probably our best game of the tournament."
The championships end Sunday with Greece and Spain going for the gold medal. Pau Gasol, Spain's leading scorer and rebounder, will not play because of a partial fracture in his left foot. The Memphis Grizzlies star was injured in the semifinal win over Argentina.
James added 20 points for the U.S., which could only match the bronze it won two years ago at the Athens Olympics. The Americans (8-1) defeated the team that had beaten them in the semifinals two years ago.
In a spectacular performance similar to those he delivered while winning MVP honors at the NBA finals, Wade was 10-of-14 from the field and made all three 3-point attempts -- he was 2-of-15 behind the arc coming into game. He fell three points shy of the American record Carmelo Anthony set during the tournament.

AP Photo/Dusan Vranic
Argentina could only watch as Dwyane Wade carved his way to 32 points.

"It was fun for us to watch," Shane Battier said. "I don't know if he thought he was back in American Airlines Arena in Game 6 of the playoffs, but he was something special tonight."
Anthony capped a strong tournament with 15 points while James finished with nine rebounds and seven assists.
"We haven't been together very long and for these guys to show the character it took to come back the next day after a tough loss is terrific," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We built unity and handled adversity well."
Argentina (7-2) was trying for its third straight medal in a major event after winning silver in the 2002 worlds and gold two years ago in Athens -- with victories over the U.S. during both.
But the Argentines couldn't overcome foul trouble to Manu Ginobili, Fabricio Oberto and Luis Scola, the mainstays of those teams. All three spent significant time on the bench in the second half.
Though Argentina was called for 12 more fouls than the Americans, Ginobili refused to blame the officials.

"They probably had a better game than we did," the San Antonio Spurs star said. "They had nothing to do with the result."
Ginobili didn't make a field goal until midway through the fourth quarter and finished with 10 points. Scola led Argentina with 19 points and Andres Nocioni, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, scored 18.
<TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000" colSpan=4><CENTER>Most U.S. assists at single Olympics or worlds</CENTER></TH><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD>Year </TD><TD>Player </TD><TD>Assists </TD><TD>APG </TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD>1984 </TD><TD>Leon Wood </TD><TD>63 </TD><TD>7.9 </TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD>1976 </TD><TD>Phil Ford </TD><TD>54 </TD><TD>9.0 </TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD>1992 </TD><TD>Scottie Pippen </TD><TD>47 </TD><TD>5.9 </TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD>2006 </TD><TD>Chris Paul </TD><TD>44 </TD><TD>4.9 </TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD>1992 </TD><TD>Michael Jordan </TD><TD>38 </TD><TD>4.8 </TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD colSpan=4>Assist statistics have been kept since 1976 Olympics except for 1978 worlds </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Ginobili and James hugged as the game ended, while Nocioni shared a laugh with Kirk Hinrich, his Bulls teammate.
The U.S. trailed for most of the first half before finally beginning to pull away late in the third quarter. Then Wade took over.
Slashing to the basket or beating a zone from outside, he scored 14 of 16 U.S. points during one stretch. His back-to-back 3s gave the Americans their biggest lead at 91-75 with 2:52 to play. The U.S. outscored Argentina 46-32 in the second half.
"The last quarter was like NBA showtime with Wade and James dunking the ball all the time," Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said. "When you are tired like that, it's impossible to win."
Wade made his first start of the tournament, joining James, Anthony, Dwight Howard and Hinrich. They couldn't solve the Americans' defensive woes from Friday, as Argentina started 8-of-10 to lead 17-9.
Argentina was up 27-21 after one quarter and remained ahead much of the second despite playing with only one starter most of the period. The U.S. trailed by nine with just more than four minutes left before halftime, but rallied to take its only lead of the half when Anthony's 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left made it 50-49. The Americans were 10-of-15 in the second quarter, including 3-of-4 behind the arc.
Leading by two in the third, the U.S. finally got some breathing room with a 10-2 burst. James dunked on an alley-oop pass from Wade, then converted a three-point play that made it 67-57 with 3:33 remaining in the third. With Ginobili sitting the entire period, the U.S. led 69-62 entering the fourth quarter.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Pre

ScriptOhio · Sep 3, 2006

Congratulations Spain:

Spain overcomes odds, injury to win World Championship

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD noWrap>Sep. 3, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports </TD><TD width=10> </TD><TD align=right><SCRIPT language=JavaScript></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/sponsorships.spln.com/fs/stories/nba;arena=nba;feat=stories;type=psa;user=Anonymous;seg=nonaol;ctype=lan;lang=en-us;lang=en-us;vpmp=no;adv=d;cust=no;vip=no;u=RCFNMgq0C4cAAB@BFOM;sz=234x42;tile=5;ord=748365780787372?"></SCRIPT>

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<TABLE style="MARGIN: 5px 0px 5px 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 8px; BORDER-LEFT: #cccccc 1px solid">http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/customize/alerts/NBA http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/print/nba/story/9635789 http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/email...n, Pau Gasol, National Basketball Association http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/xml/rss

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>SAITAMA, Japan -- Pau Gasol's teammates kept their word, and he had a trophy for each crutch supporting him

Spain won its first World Championship without its star in a performance worthy of a Hollywood script.
With the injured Gasol cheering from the bench, Spain beat Greece 70-47 on Sunday night in an emotional victory some thought couldn't happen and few thought would be so easy.
Gasol led Spain (9-0) in scoring and rebounding throughout the tournament. When the 7-footer broke his foot with about a minute left in the 75-74 semifinal victory over Argentina, his team's gold-medal hopes dimmed considerably.
"Against Argentina that was a night of pain and happiness, and it has become happiness," said Gasol, the World Championship trophy on one side and the MVP award on the other. "It couldn't be any better today. It's hard to describe with words."
"My teammates today played an amazing game," he added. "They played with their hearts and together as a unit. It's no fun to watch. I thought I would suffer some more, but I am so happy to see the way they responded without me being there."
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=175 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=175>

</TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR><TR><TD width=175>The Gasol brothers, Marc and Pau, celebrate after leading Spain to the world title. (AP) </TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Gasol stood holding his head in his hands in the final seconds, openly in tears. It wasn't long before the Memphis Grizzlies star hopped to midcourt to join his teammates in a circle, sitting on the court wearing headbands given to them at the final buzzer.
"I was just super happy and couldn't contain myself from crying," he said. "It is so special to be a part of this team and not being able to be there really hurt me."
Spain's challenge seemed even more difficult considering a near perfect performance by Greece (8-1) in a 101-95 semifinal triumph over the United States. The European champions put on an impressive offensive and defensive display in getting to the final for the first time.
"Greece got to the final and played excellent," Gasol said. "I was a little afraid after the way they played together and on defense."
There was no reason to worry. Spain limited Greece to less than half the points it scored against the U.S. and kept its shooting percentage to about half (33 percent vs. 63 percent).
The United States won the bronze medal with a 96-81 victory over Argentina on Saturday.
Gasol averaged 21.3 points and 9.4 rebounds during the Worlds. He has a partial fracture in his left foot, and the Grizzlies say he will need surgery.
"He's the best player in this tournament. I wanted to win this for him," Jose Calderon, who plays for the Toronto Raptors, said as he held up his gold medal. "We are a team. We had Pau in our minds. I think it was a special day."
Felipe Reyes started in Gasol's place and he had 10 points in the first half, one less than he had in the whole tournament -- he was limited to three games because of back problems.
Gasol's younger brother, Marc, gave Spain big minutes early in the middle. He had three rebounds in the game's first 17 minutes. He averaged 1.9 coming into Sunday's game.
"I was happily surprised by the way my brother grabbed the opportunity he got," Pau Gasol said. "I was very happy for him because he was a big part of the gold medal."
Everything went Spain's way as it took a 43-23 halftime lead. Its other stars were playing at their normal level and the bench was playing well above its head.
Meanwhile, Greece looked nothing like the team that had received plaudits from around the world for the way it convincingly beat the United States.
There was no big push from Greece in the third quarter. Gasol's teammates wouldn't allow it.
The lead was 54-34 with 10 minutes to go. It got only bigger.
"It was surprising, yes, because the Spanish team was everything around Gasol," Greece forward Konstas Tsartsaris said. "But we see today that the Spanish team is 12 players and not only one. They played excellent defensively and on offense also. They gave a great defensive effort."
Gasol came out of the players' tunnel before the game on crutches, wearing his red warmup top and jeans. As he sat on the bench while the teams were warming up, Greece forward Sofoklis Schortsanitis and coach Panagiotis Yannakis came over for visits.
He was up and hopping on one foot for each huddle. Players hugged him or slapped hands with him at each timeout. They were winning this game for him.
Jorge Garbajosa, who signed with the Raptors this summer, and Juan Carlos Navarro each had 20 points for Spain, which was fourth in 1982. Reyes finished with those 10 points and Marc Gasol grabbed four more rebounds, but their play off the bench was much more than numbers.
"To lose your franchise player, even more a great friend like Pau, was a very hard blow," Garbajosa said. "We talked yesterday that if normally we give 100 percent we had to give 150 percent because of Pau's absence."
Mihalis Kakiouzis had 17 points for Greece, which finished fourth in 1994 and 1998.
This was Europe's third straight world title -- Yugoslavia won in 1998 and 2002 -- and it will have the home continent advantage in 2010 with the tournament in Turkey.
http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/nba/story/9635789
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RhodeIslandBuck · Sep 3, 2006

Kobe will be a huge difference maker for team USA.

OSUBasketballJunkie · Sep 6, 2006

ABJ

Team USA is still a work in progress

LeBron, others say they're taking steps to build up program

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

SAITAMA, JAPAN - Just 24 hours before taking on Greece in the FIBA World Championship semifinals, Team USA closed its final practice by installing completely new offensive plays.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski started 10 players in the nine-game tournament, rarely opened the third quarter with the same lineup as the first quarter and constantly churned his rotation and substitution habits.
Six weeks after mildly scolding reporters at training camp in Las Vegas that anyone who knows him knows he doesn't play zone, the Americans experimented with it in the bronze medal victory over Argentina on Saturday.
Some disappointed American fans don't understand why supreme athleticism cannot win at international basketball events and perhaps tire of hearing about the United States' disadvantage when it comes to other national teams' chemistry.
Those details of Krzyzewski and his constant tinkerings to find a reliable formula just hint at the actual challenge. It doesn't even speak of the difficulties the players have at learning their new teammates in just a few weeks of practice.
The three other top teams in Japan -- Greece, Argentina and Spain -- all have cores that have been playing together for three years or longer.
All in all, USA Basketball officials feel progress was made this summer with its overhauled approach to the team's construction. Even though it didn't lead to a gold medal, it did produce an 8-1 record and a chance to evaluate and correct mistakes.
They hope some consistency can be laid this summer, built on next summer at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Venezuela, and completed at training camp in 2008 before the Beijing Olympics.
The plan is to level the playing field when it comes to chemistry and use the talent advantage to reclaim gold.
``We've got to keep improving. We've got to keep coming together,'' said LeBron James, who averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists during the world championship.
``We've got to keep loving FIBA basketball. It is a whole different game and you just have to forget about the NBA.''
The average age of Team USA was just 24 years, and captains James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade are all under that. Some of the more experienced members of the roster who are expected to help were injured or forced to skip the tournament for family reasons. Players such as Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce may be able to rejoin the team next summer and in Beijing.
``We wanted to win this thing, so it hurts that we didn't and it will hurt for a while,'' USA Basketball Managing Director Jerry Colangelo said. ``But I think this was still a big step for us and our goal is to win gold in Beijing.''
Whether the challenging gaps can be closed and whether the U.S. players can truly make annual departures from the NBA style is yet to be seen. But after losing three games at the last world championship in Indianapolis in 2002, when they finished sixth, and losing three times in Athens at the 2004 Olympics, it does appear the trend is starting to be reversed.
Even if it wasn't as quick and efficient as the Dream Team standard.
``We're trying to build an international program for our country, which has never been done,'' Krzyzewski said. ``We hope we've started the foundation.''
<HR class=tagline color=#cccccc SIZE=1>Brian Windhorst can be reached at [email protected]. Check out Windhorst's Cavaliers weblog at http://blogs.ohio.com/cavaliers_blog.

ScriptOhio · Sep 7, 2006

Chemistry teacher

Bryant says team chemistry key to '08 U.S. hopes

Posted: Thursday September 7, 2006 10:59AM; Updated: Thursday September 7, 2006 11:00AM

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Kobe Bryant believes the U.S. basketball team will have to work on its chemistry if it wants to perform well at the 2008 Olympics.
The Los Angeles Lakers star, visiting Taiwan as part of a five-leg tour of Asia to meet with fans, said Thursday that a newly assembled team always needed some time together before starting to play with consistency.
Bryant did not play in the world championships because of a knee injury, and the U.S. squad returned home from the tournament in Japan last week with a bronze medal -- mirroring its performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Both results were widely seen as disappointments for teams loaded with NBA talent.
"Years playing together will jell us as a unit, (but) if there is no chemistry, it's going to be tough to beat all those talented teams," Bryant said, adding he was confident the two years leading up to the Beijing Olympics would be enough time to find that chemistry.
Bryant's Asian tour has already taken him to Japan and Hong Kong. On Friday, he was scheduled to leave Taiwan for South Korea, en route to China.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/more/09/07/kobe.worlds.ap/index.html

Team USA (Official Thread)

ScriptOhio

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.

BuckWrestler141

Legend

OSUBasketballJunkie

Never Forget 31-0

OSUBasketballJunkie

Never Forget 31-0

BuckWrestler141

Legend

scarletngrey11

All right, all right, all right.

akronbuck

Legend

DaytonBuck

I've always liked them

tibor75

Banned

ScarletBlood31

Buckeye in Blacksburg

OSUBasketballJunkie

Never Forget 31-0

ScriptOhio

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.

RhodeIslandBuck

This guy's a real jerk

OSUBasketballJunkie

Never Forget 31-0

ScriptOhio

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.