# FIBA...



## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

*Gasol does enough to help Spain stay unbeaten, advance*
Aug. 26, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports 

SAITAMA, Japan -- Apparently it's tough to impress Spain coach Pepu Hernandez.
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Pau Gasol had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead Spain to an 87-75 victory over defending champion Serbia and Montenegro on Saturday night in the second round of the FIBA World Championship.

"I don't like to read statistics after a game and I know what kind of statistics he had this game," Hernandez said of his center. "It is very, very important the numbers, but not as important as the way he plays defense and draws fouls. I think he can improve every day and team knows the kind of Pau Gasol we need for the next game. He could be great."

Spain (6-0) will play Lithuania (4-2) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Lithuania beat Italy 71-68 to advance to the round of eight.

The 7-foot Gasol, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, won the matchup of NBA big men, outplaying 6-11 Darko Milicic of the Orlando Magic.

Milicic had 18 points and 15 rebounds for Serbia and Montenegro (2-4), which won the gold medal in 2002 as Yugoslavia, but only one player from that team was back to defend the title.

Pau Gasol overcomes poor shooting to score 19 points to go along with 15 rebounds. (AP) 
Pau Gasol overcomes poor shooting to score 19 points to go along with 15 rebounds. (AP) 
"They just play the best basketball I ever saw. Every mistake they make you pay," Milicic said. "Spain is a good team. They're playing the best basketball right now. Every mistake we made they make a 3-point shot. We didn't get lucky at all."

Spain opened the game with a 9-2 run and was never really tested, using its quickness advantage to get inside for easy shots or to get to the line. Spain was 21-for-38 inside the 3-point line and was 27-for-36 from the free throw line while Serbia and Montenegro was 11-for-12.

"We played defense for 40 minutes and Serbia played great for some moments," said Spain guard Jose Calderon, who plays for the Toronto Raptors. "We played with the lead and played like we want to play."

Gasol was 6-for-13 from the field, well off the 69 percent (44-for-64) he shot over the first five games as Spain went undefeated in pool play. He took his first 3-point attempt of the tournament -- an air ball in the first half. Spain led 43-31 at halftime.

"Spain played a great game, they were first in their group and are the favorite along with the U.S.," Serbia and Montenegro coach Dragan Sakota said. "We had problems in the first half and the game was decided in the first half. We had 11 players playing in their first World Championship and this was a good experience for them. We knew coming in it would be difficult because we had so many new players."

Milicic missed seven of his first eight shots from the field but finished 9-for-23.

"Darko had a very good player in front of him tonight," Sakota said. "We consider Darko a great player and we know he will get better with experience. He needs more time to get the respect of the referees."

Reserve guard Rudy Fernandez had 18 points for Spain, which led by as many as 22 points, the last time at 83-61 with 4:22 left.

Marko Marinovic had 15 points and Igor Rakocevic, the lone returnee from the 2002 gold medal team, added 11.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/9621168


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

*Re: FIBA: Gasol does enough to help Spain stay unbeaten, advance*

I am truely confused about FIBA because I don't know who to root for...

Team US? Team Germany? Team China? Team Spain?

The globalization of NBA has now.... lead to confused fans (at least for me).


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

*Greece warms up in second half, sends China home*
Aug. 27, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports 

SAITAMA, Japan -- Greece overcame a terrible first quarter with an impressive third period and advanced to the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Championship with a 95-64 victory over China on Sunday night.

Greece (6-0) remained one of four unbeaten teams left in the tournament by outscoring China 26-6 in the third quarter to take a 67-42 lead. That 10-minute performance was a far cry from the opening period when Greece missed 16 of its first 19 shots in falling behind 18-11.

On Wednesday, Greece will make its fourth quarterfinal appearance in the last five World Championship, facing France (4-2), which beat Angola 68-62 in the second round.

Theodoros Papaloukas had 19 points for Greece, which committed just three turnovers while forcing China (2-4) into 24.

"As the time was passing, I think we started to play our defense. And after, it was easy for us," Papaloukas said. "This is the way we play. We try to force the game in our rhythm by playing like this, by pressing. We have big guards, and all of our players are very clever so I think we played clever during the game and we won an important game for us."

Yao Ming, the 7-foot-5 center who plays for the Houston Rockets, had 10 points and eight rebounds for China. He was 3-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Yao, who entered the game as the tournament's leading scorer with a 28.4 average, was unable to get the ball down low because his teammates usually turned it over before they had a chance to even try to get it to him. He had eight rebounds.

"Today, it was a really frustrating game for us," Yao said. "We did much better against European teams this summer. It's all about experience. Our team doesn't have a lot of experience against the best teams in the world."

Greece coach Panagiotis Yannakis said his team did just what he asked in defending a player of Yao's size and talent.

"We knew if he got the ball they way he wanted every time he can make so many every way," Yannakis said. "We don't have enough big guys to bother his shots so we had to keep the ball away from him for better results."

Greece followed its 3-for-19 start from the field by making 14 of its next 17 shots in taking a 41-36 halftime lead.

Then as Greece started to play offensively -- the way it did in finishing undefeated in group play as did the United States, Spain and Argentina -- China fell apart.

China had six points and nine turnovers in the third quarter. Yao's dunk on an inbounds pass with 6:51 left in the third quarter were his final points of the game and brought China within 46-40. Greece closed the period with a 21-2 run with most of the points coming on breakaway layups after turnovers.

"We were confident before the game and proved it at the beginning, but after that we didn't do well against the press defense," China's Zhu Fangyu said. "When we were down by a big lead we lost our desire. We will have to work on coping with the press defense."

Greece finished sixth in 1990 and fourth in 1994 and 1998. It did not qualify for the 2002 Worlds.

China, which lost its first three games in this tournament before winning its last two to advance to the second round, was trying for its second quarterfinal appearance. China was eighth in 1994 and 12th in 2002.

China was hoping for a solid showing here as it prepares to host the 2008 Olympics.

"This team needs experience, like the game today," said China coach Jonas Kazlauskas, a native of Lithuania. "The players have to go to Europe and play great defenses like we saw today. That's the best thing for this team. Those guys need experience."
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2005-2006, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/9622461


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

I was rooting for Yao, but it looks like Yao can start focusing on NBA now.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

Theodoros Papaloukas, Panagiotis Yannakis.

I love those Greek names. I'm sure they call them Theo(!) and Panny. :clown:


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## Ninjatune (May 1, 2006)

I wouldn't mind seeing Dirk single handedly dismantle team USA..... actually, I would enjoy that quite much.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

Ninjatune said:


> I wouldn't mind seeing Dirk single handedly dismantle team USA..... actually, I would enjoy that quite much.


I'm sure there would be a lot of old-school pundits that would say, "Buy 'em books, send 'em to school - and they come back and beat your  ".

:nah:


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

That was for Robertas Javtokas, Member of Lithuania national basketball team since 2000. In the 2001 NBA Draft was selected by San Antonio Spurs as #56.


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## Ninjatune (May 1, 2006)

That video gives me crazy head.....


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## Saint Baller (May 3, 2006)

I dont know about ya'll, but I am rooting for Germany to beat USA


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## StackAttack (Mar 15, 2006)

Saint Baller said:


> I dont know about ya'll, but I am rooting for Germany to beat USA


Amen.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

I'd like to see the USA get tough - after Dirk beats them down. :banana:


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

*U.S. breezes; Dirk awaits*

By BRIAN WINDHORST
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

TOKYO -- With each passing game, Team USA's collective muscle flexing seems to get more impressive.

Further entrenching their status as favorites, the Americans smashed Australia 113-73 Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIBA world championships. They will play Germany on Wednesday (5:30 a.m. CDT).

Germany edged Nigeria behind Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki's 23 points and a key defensive play in the closing seconds, Wednesday.

Argentina and Spain looked like they would be formidable opponents after winning their round of 16 games by 20 points Saturday. But the U.S. team appears to be the class of the tournament despite doubts about its ability to come together.

Carmelo Anthony led the Americans with 20 points in the win, but he was far from the only hero. Sunday, seven players scored eight points or more, and every team member scored.

LeBron James was not one of them, scoring a tournament-low five points as he took only five shots. But he was very much involved, handing out four assists and grabbing four rebounds.

"We don't feel overconfident because we haven't won anything yet at all," James said. "But we do go out there and try to blow teams out. It is fun winning like that."

The game was decided in the second quarter, when Australia was held to six points and the United States reeled off a 20-1 run.

The Americans hit 14 of 27 3-point attempts, their best shooting display of the tournament. Eight players made 3-pointers, leaving the huge crowd at the Saitama Super Arena feeling that the U.S. looked pretty unbeatable.

"I think our biggest opponent is ourselves right now," said guard Joe Johnson, who had 18 points. "When shots are falling or when they're not falling, we feel unbeatable."

Bucks center Andrew Bogut led Australia with 20 points.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/basketball/nba/dallas_mavericks/15379807.htm


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## StackAttack (Mar 15, 2006)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/marty_burns/08/29/worlds.usa/index.html

I had no idea Donnie was assistant coach of the Lithuanian team...


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

*Anthony leads U.S. into worlds semifinals  * 

Associated Press 
Posted: 13 minutes ago 



SAITAMA, Japan (AP) - Carmelo Anthony scored 10 of his 19 points in the third quarter and the United States went on to beat Germany 85-65 Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the basketball world championships.

LeBron James added 13 points for the United States, which broke away from a one-point halftime lead by using a flurry of steals and blocks to outscore Germany 16-2 over a nearly six-minute span in the third period.
The Americans (7-0) remained one of the four unbeaten teams and advanced to face European champion Greece (7-0) Friday night in the semifinals. Greece beat France 73-56 earlier Wednesday.

But this was unlike the other American victories in Japan.

Instead of looking like the team that came in averaging 109.3 points, the Americans looked like the ones that have come up short in recent years because of a lack of perimeter shooting. They shot 37.6 percent (32-of-85) and were 10-of-40 from 3-point range.

*But they kept it from being costly by pressuring Germany's guards and preventing them from getting the ball to superstar Dirk Nowitzki, who finished 3-of-12 with five turnovers.*

Nowitzki and Ademola Okulaja each scored 15 points for Germany, the bronze medalist in the 2002 world championships. The Germans (5-2) will face France in a classification-round game on Thursday night and can still finish fifth.

Leading 40-39 at the break, the United States came out of the break with a new lineup - Anthony, James, Joe Johnson, Kirk Hinrich and Dwight Howard - and forced three turnovers in the first 1:01 of the third quarter.

The Germans were still within a point before Anthony followed a 3-pointer with a steal a dunk. Elton Brand's follow shot made it 51-43 with 6:41 remaining in the period.

Okulaja made a jumper, but Anthony drilled another 3, Dwyane Wade made a free throw, Johnson had a basket and Chris Bosh converted a three-point play on an alley-oop that extended the Americans' lead to 60-45 with 1:53 left in the quarter.

The United States had five blocked shots and seven steals in the quarter, taking a 67-52 lead on Chris Paul's jumper as the buzzer sounded.

Sitting back in a zone that featured Nowitzki, Patrick Femerling and 6-8 Okulaja along the back line, Germany forced the United States to shoot from the outside. And unlike Sunday's rout of Australia, when the Americans were 14-of-27 from 3-point range, they were woeful behind the arc Wednesday.

The Americans were 5-of-20 in the first half, including one miss when Wade appeared to try to bank one in and it missed the rim entirely - and that was while he could still see straight.

Wade went to the bench a few minutes later after taking a shot to the eye from Pascal Roller while going for a loose ball. He sat the remainder of the half and returned 4 1/2 minutes into the third quarter - and promptly threw up an airball on his first shot attempt.

But Germany could never take much of a lead because of foul trouble. Both Nowitzki and Okulaja were on the bench in the final minute with three apiece, and the United States took a 40-39 lead when Anthony made a 3-pointer with 47 seconds to go.

That was one of the few highlights in the first half for Anthony, who missed his first eight shots and was 2-of-12. Wade - who came in combining with Anthony for nearly 40 points per game - was 1-for-7.

Shane Battier started on Nowitzki, and James and Chris Bosh would get cracks at the Dallas Mavericks All-Star later in the period. All did a good job, forcing Nowitzki to miss his last five shots as the Americans took a 23-21 lead.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Now Dirk can get back to concentrating on his NBA career and a contract extension. LOL...


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

I'm liking Carmelo more and more everyday. Believe it or not, he reminds me of a poor-man's Dirk more than a SG.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

*Moderate quake rattles Tokyo area during world championships*
August 31, 2006

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) -- A 4.8-magnitude earthquake jolted the Tokyo region on Thursday during halftime of the Lithuania-Turkey game in the FIBA championships.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, the Meteorological Agency reported, and there was almost no reaction from the people in the Super Arena in Saitama, 17 miles north of Tokyo.

The quake shook buildings in central Tokyo and outside the capital.

The teams had just left the court at halftime of the classification game when the building shook for a few seconds. No announcement was made and the second half started without a delay.

The quake came about two hours after the U.S. team finished practicing at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences in central Tokyo. USA Basketball spokesman Craig Miller said some staff members said they felt something, though there was no damage at the Four Seasons hotel where the Americans are staying.

The quake was centered in Tokyo Bay off the coast of Chiba Prefecture, just east of the capital, at a depth of 43 miles below sea level, the Meteorological Agency said.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Av0nHDjrLDHkdW_hTXaZRoG8vLYF?slug=ap-worlds-earthquake&prov=ap&type=lgns


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

*Greece Shocks Team USA With 101-95 Win*

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.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

bray1967 said:


> *Greece Shocks Team USA With 101-95 Win*


Kind of remind me of the NBA Finals. More talents + horrendous shots = tail between legs (see bray's avatar).


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

Now, will America come out and dominate in 08?

Greg Oden
Dwight Howard
Carmello Anthony
LeBron James
Dwyane Wade
Chris Paul


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

*American players must learn team basketball*

FOXSports.com 

Team USA's 101-95 loss to Greece was distressingly familiar. 

The flashbacks to the same shortcomings that were exhibited by the Americans in Athens were alarming:
An abundance of missed free throws. 

Perhaps the Americans were distracted by the barely restricted movement allowed by those players who lined up along the trapezoidal lane. Perhaps they shot too quickly. Or maybe they just choked. 

Inept 3-point shooting. 

Too many 3-balls were launched precipitously and not within the context of team-wide ball movement. Why settle for treys so early in the shot clock when those same shots are always available? 

An over-reliance on one-on-one play against man-to-man defenses. 

This has been the case throughout the tournament. Coach K and his staff basically took the easy way out here. Instead of installing some kind of motion-oriented offense, USA relied exclusively on isolations and the attendant drives-and-dishes. And why were there so few screen/rolls?

Heads turned on defense. 

Team USA got away with the same ball-centric focus against lesser foes, but not against the wily Greeks. As a result, Greece repeatedly cashed in on back door cuts and "extra" reversal passes.

A marked impatience on defense. 

Most NBA players have trouble playing defense for more than 17-20 seconds per possession, and these guys were no different. The longer Greece worked the ball, the better the shots produced by their meticulous offense.

An inability to contain dribble-penetration. 

The Americans were so intent on creating turnovers that they were routinely beaten by cross-over dribbles. 

Poor offense-to-defense transitions. 

Greece's big men ran themselves into layup after layup because of the lop-sided court-balance, lack of awareness, and (most importantly) lack of hustle on the part of the Americans.

Too many forced shots and forced drives. The scoreboard in this category lists one such transgression for Chris Paul; two each for LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kirk Hinrich; and four for LBJ. Young players all.

Nothing short of helplessness in trying to defend screen/rolls. 

When Team USA's bigs showed, Greece's hefty screeners rolled hoopward for layups. When Team USA switched, Greece took fullest advantage of every mismatch. When USA's guards went under the screens, they were burned by 3-pointers. When Team USA managed to control the initial S/R movement, Greece took advantage of the weak-side defenders' penchant for following the progress of the ball by sliding a weak-side wing to the top. After a clever against-the-grain pass, these sharp-shooting wings were wide-open. 

Overall, Team USA's defensive rotation was awful — which was why they were also hurt whenever they aggressively double-teamed the S/Rs. Being able to play some kind of zone (a 1-3-1) would have worked wonders.

Yes, these guys played harder and more unselfishly than did the crew in Athens. Yes, Coach K was a much better fit than was Larry Brown. But there are still too many continuing problems with the way basketball is played in the NBA.

The most basic of the cultural factors that is destroying the beauty of basketball-as-we-should-know-it is America's obsession with numbers: The stock market and its fluctuations. The GNP and the unemployment rate. Ubiquitous rankings and poll results. Test scores. Gross and net worth. Ledger entries in red or black ink. What's your APR? Your IQ? Your credit rating? Who's Number One?

In virtually every aspect of our society, value is expressed in numerical terms. This makes us unwitting captives of a linear mode of thinking that doesn't truly honor the mystery of the human spirit — or the complexities of the games we play and watch.

No wonder that, in the wonderful world of the NBA, the players, the fans, and the media are infatuated with statistics. Points scored, shots taken, rebounds corralled, assists distributed, and so on. However, except for games played and minutes played (and sometimes Personal Fouls), these numbers are concerned only with what happens when a player is in the immediate proximity of the basketball. 

That's why so many of us are mesmerized by the ball/spotlight. 

That's why American hoopers have such brilliant ball skills and particularly excel in one-on-one and two-on-two situations.

That's why a team of smart, experienced, and cohesive players, who can't come close to matching our athleticism, beat us so consistently in top-flight international competition.

It's also much too easy to excuse Team USA's disappointing performance(s) by moaning about the lack of practice time. For sure, had these guys played together as long as the Greek players have, the result might have been different. But three weeks is sufficient to install a defensive system to counter S/Rs, to create a more free-wheeling half-court offense, and to refine the necessary defensive rotations.

How much longer than three weeks are the NBA preseason training camps? Especially with the veterans exempted from reporting when the rookies and marginal players do?

No, no. The same old problems call for the same solutions that I proposed two years ago after the Olympic debacle: What's needed is a total re-education of the players, the media, and the public. Instead of concentrating on the moments when one of the ten on-court players has the ball, our attention must be expanded to see the whole game.

As our atrocious performances in Indianapolis, Greece, and Japan prove, the difference between gold medals and bronze medals (or no medals at all) is how a team plays off-the-ball. Even by the numbers, this is where 90 percent of the action is.

Too bad this "secret" game remains such a mystery in American sports.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

*Team USA beats Argentina for bronze  * 

Associated Press 
Posted: 17 minutes ago 



SAITAMA, Japan (AP) - Dwyane 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 in basketball world championships bronze medal game.

LeBron James added 20 points for the Americans, which could only match the bronze it won two years ago in Athens. This victory gave the Americans some measure of revenge from that disappointment, coming against 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 earlier in the tournament.

Anthony capped a strong tournament with 15 points as the Americans bounced back from their 101-95 loss to Greece a night earlier. James finished with nine rebounds and seven assists.

Argentina (7-2) was trying for its third straight medal in a major event after winning silver in the 2002 world championships and gold two years ago in Athens - with victories over the United States during both.

But the Argentineans 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.

Ginobili, the San Antonio Spurs star, 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.

Ginobili and James hugged as the game ended, while Nocioni shared a laugh with Kirk Hinrich, his Bulls teammate.

After collecting their bronze medals, James and Chris Paul threw their sneakers into the crowd of more than 16,000 at the Saitama Super Arena.

The United States trailed for most of the first half before finally beginning to pull away late in the third quarter. Then it was time for Wade to take over.

Slashing to the basket or beating the Argentina zone from the 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.

Wade made his first start of the tournament, joining James, Anthony, Dwight Howard and Kirk Hinrich. They couldn't solve the Americans' defensive woes from a night earlier, as Argentina started 8-of-10 to take a 17-9 lead.

Argentina led 27-21 after one, and remained ahead for most of the second quarter despite playing with only one starter on the floor for most of the period. The United States trailed by nine with just over 4 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 United States 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 gave the Americans a 67-57 lead with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter.

With Ginobili sitting the entire period, the United States led 69-62 heading to the fourth quarter.

Greece and Spain will play for the gold medal on Sunday.


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

YES Team USA lost!!


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

This is so goofy. We wanna revamp everything and make millions of changes off of one loss. Did anyone else watch the first few games when we were dusting teams? How come they aren't allowed bad games like other teams?


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