2008 Olympics Blog: Day 9

The last days of the Olympics are approaching, and that means we are in the medal-rounds. The pressure intensifies, the games get tighter, and everything basically gets more exciting. It's win or go home. Good thing I get to watch every game and blog about it.

Everyone I talk to, Chinese, American, European, boy, girl, kid, adult, cannot stop talking about the United States basketball team.

People who I didn't even knew liked basketball are saying how much they've loved watching this team play. Today, while talking to a taxi driver, I was treated to a reenactment of how the Americans are able to dunk the ball, when the driver took his hands off the wheel while driving to slam an imaginary ball into an imaginary hoop. Good times in taxis!

I'm a tall person, and normally I get asked jokingly if I play NBA basketball by Chinese people. Now, I don't get asked that question anymore. When a team dominates like this, it's real hard to confuse any tall guy with world-class players. If the Redeem Team gets gold, they may go down as the best team ever.

Here's some links to get us started:

For those who were craving a quarter-finals preview yesterday, and are bummed that they didn't get it, here's a great preview from the guys at The Painted Area:

http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2008/08/2008-olympic-quarters-preview-part-i.html
NBA-sponsored league in China? David Stern likes the idea: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26282725/
ESPN's new guy, Rick Reilly, scathingly writes about the Beijing Olympics:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3542649

As we see, it's fun to bash China! I've read too many articles like this one to really care. I love it when people come to a country for two weeks and think they've learned everything there is to know about the government, the culture and the people.

Team USA isn't afraid to yell at each other: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/olympics/story/1185474.html This article has particular relevance to tonight's game. Dwight Howard had some questionable defensive decisions tonight, and Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant both let him know about it. These guys seem to be pretty buddy-buddy, but it's definitely good to see that they're holding each other accountable.
Spain 72 - Croatia 59

Spain is good, and I don't think they played their best against the US. If Spain were to beat Lithuania on Friday, I think the rematch would be more competitive. I think Calderon would play a little more and Rubio would play a little less, and I also think that they'd try to assert the Gasol brothers a little more than they did.

Box score
Lithuania 94 - China 68

   

Team China
  China's "dream" run ends, as they crashed out to Lithuania today. Four guys scored in double figures for the Lithuanians, as they bounced back after their shock loss to the Australians on Monday. Lithuania hit 13/31 from three and forced the Chinese to shoot 36% percent from the field. Lithuania will meet the Spanish in the semi-finals

Yao Ming looked overwhelemd. Lithuania double-teamed the big guy all night, and he struggled to a 19 point performance.

More about this tomorrow, but I think Chinese basketball can take a lot of positives out of this Olympics. People like to say that the world has improved greatly in basketball over the last decade, and I totally agree. We talk a lot about Europe and South America to an extent, but we rarely talk about how much China has gotten better. This is a country who couldn't qualify for anything ten years ago, and were lacking in almost every department. Now, they're in medal rounds and putting scares into world-class teams (Spain is a recent example). I think the future is bright for this team.
Box score

United States 116 - Australia 85

Team USA didn't let a slow start get to them. Playing as individuals in the first half, the Americans struggled to separate themselves from a capable Australian club. The second half, however was a different story. A 14-0 run to start things in the 3rd quarter put the game beyond reach, and the United States cruised to another large victory. Kobe Bryant showed that he's better from three when he backs up about three feet, and scored 25 points to lead the Americans. LeBron James had 16 points, 9 boards and 4 steals, and Carmelo Anthony chipped in with 15 points. Team USA grabbed a mind-numbing 57 rebounds, 19 offensive, and enjoyed a +29 advantage in that area.

Here's what can be taken away from this game: The United States is going to wear you down eventually. The Aussies put together a solid half of basketball, but the Americans kept forcing tempo, applying pressure, and they kept playing hard. As a result, the Boomers just broke down in the second half and couldn't do anything about it. Team USA only forced 11 turnovers and yet won by this large margin. That to me shows the effectiveness of relentless defense. You may not get many steals, but you're going to force misses and you're going to make the other squad get tired.

Patty Mills can flat out play. Those who question his height aren't looking at the full picture. One of the quickest, fastest guys in the NBA, Chris Paul, couldn't stay in front of him. He raced ahead of everyone in the open court, and when somebody did catch up to him, he finished several tough layups over bigger opponents. I mentioned it before in my first stock watch, but I want to reiterate how much I like his confidence. He's playing on a huge stage against the world's best competition, and he isn't fazed at all. He even got into with LeBron James under the hoop after the Aussies committed a hard foul on Carmelo Anthony. I like the kid's game, and I like his attitude.

Box score

Argentina 80 - Greece 78 A superb game from start to finish. If I had written a preview, I would have said that this game was going to be the tournament's best. And it was. Manu Ginobili had 24 and Carlos Delfino had 23. The two combined to shoot 21 of Argentina's 32 three point attempts, but despite the volume of shots, they were still able to hit clutch shot after clutch shot to stave off the Hellas. Argentina barely escaped with the victory after Greece's Vassilis Spanoulis barely missed a three in the game's final seconds, and danced in the middle of the court in celebration once the game was over. Ginobli showed why nobody wants to play this team right now. Dude simply refused to lose tonight, making countless clutch plays, including a ridiculous block to thwart a lay-up, and an equally ridiculous left handed floater while driving to his right. This is a guy who has ice-water in his veins. He looked unguardable at times tonight, and I can't say I am feeling overly confident about the US - Argentina semi-final match. Box score

That'll do it for today. More to come tomorrow, including an in depth semi-final preview.