The USA wins Gold medal behind Durant's 30

Image from sportige.com

It was a tough game throughout, Spain gave it all, but ultimately Kvin Durant, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and some clutch plays by Chris Paul were too much. The USA defeats Spain 107-100 in what could possibly be coach Krzyzewski's last Olympics.
The first half was played at the tempo that Spain wanted it, they did not turn the ball over and were led by Navarro's 19 points who had a dismal tournament until the gold medal game. Of course USA wanted to get out and run, but you cant get out and run if you don't create turnovers. Durant had 17 points in the first half, and Lebron 8 points and 6 rebounds. The third quarter was dominated by Pau Gasol who scored 15 points in the third quarter and kept the game close. During the fourth quarter, Lebron sat with 4 fouls, and Spain went to a box and 1 defense on Durant, but after being up 6, Lebron came back into the game and scored a quick 5 points, that was followed by a Chris Paul layup and that all but sealed the gold medal for the US.
Durant finished with 30 points and the most points by an Olympic player in one olympics. Gasol was clearly the best player on the floor today, finished with 24 points 8 rebounds and 7 assist and another silver medal. Navarro finished with 21 points, Marc Gasol with 17 points but he had 4 fouls in the first half and that was definitely a factor as he sat on the bench for the whole third quarter. Lebron James now caps his amazing year with a gold medal, leaves the Olympics second all time in scoring and if he chooses to come back 4 years from now, will become first on that list. Kobe Bryant leaves international play with a gold medal, and reiterated that he will not be back 4 years from now.
On a side note, Russia defeated Argentina in the Bronze medal game with a controversial ending, Alexei Shved scored 25 points, and Russia won a medal for the first time in Olympic basketball. Argentina's players left the court in disgust after they felt the ref's didn't call a late foul.

Dwight Howard drama finally over (apparently) as he's traded to the Lakers

Image From sportsgrid.com

After months of drama and saga, it seems that Howard finally will get his wish. According to sources, the 4 team proposed trade is as follows: the Lakers would of course receive Dwight Howard, the Denver Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia (coming from Philadelphia) will get Andrew Bynum (coming from the Lakers) and Jason Richardson (coming from the Magic), and the Magic would get a first round draft pick from each of the other 3 teams,  and Rookie Moe Harkless from Philadelphia.
Now several key notes to consider, first Dwight Howard will still NOT sign an extension with the Lakers, he would still seek to become a free agent next summer and it is  perceived that the Dallas Mavericks would be his preferred destination should he not return to the Lakers. Secondly, notice that Kobe Bryant got his wish, Pau Gasol was not traded. The Lakers now catapult themselves into immediate championship contenders alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder and the defending champions.
The Philadelphia 76ers here are the surprise winners, they have been looking to trade Iguodala for some time now, who could have thought that they would land the second best center in the league in Bynum???? If this trade goes through, there is no reason why Bynum would not sign an extension with the 76ers, they are a already a playoff team without him, they have great young talent and Bynum grew up about an hour away. Could you imagine a backcourt of Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Nick Young, alongside Thaddeus Young and Andrew Bynum? They will be scary, perhaps not tittle contenders, but trouble in a first or second round series.
The Denver Nuggets acquire Iguodala and George Karl will put the swift army knife to good use, they are young and exciting. Ultimately, the Magic will now be very bad for a few years as is usually the case when a team trades their superstar away. As for the Lakers, the success of this trade (SHOULD the trade go through) depends on two things, the first their ability to win a championship right away, and two, can they manage to convince Howard to stay in LA.  There are still many questions to be answered, will Kobe and Nash make it work in the backcourt? How will Howard's back hold up coming off surgery? And finally, Will David Stern pull a "Basketball reasons" excuse to cancel this trade just as he did with Chris Paul's trade to the Lakers?

Team USA destroys Argentina 126-97, but they shouldn't take much from this win

image from the sportsdesignblog.com

As the pre elimination round ends, Olympic basketball has some interesting stories developing. Team USA and Russia have clinched the top  seeds in their respective groups. USA will face Australia in the quarterfinals and we expect no surprise there, USA will roll through Australia. Now, Brazil defeated Spain today in a very odd game. The winner would fall into USA's group and would have to face them to get to the Gold medal game whereas the loser would fall in Russia's bracket and therefore not have to see the US until the gold medal game. Tanking the game was obviously one of the story lines coming into the game. However, both teams competed and had their marquee players out on the floor at the end of the game. Brazil edged out in large part to Leandro Barbosa who had a monster second half and finished with 23 points (Barbosa is still a free agent by the way, and should be helping his stock with his performance in the Olympics). That means that Spain falls out of USA's radar and into Russia's, Spain will face a France team led by Tony Parker in the quarterfinals.  Spain, who was viewed as the US's biggest threat has now lost twice after holding big leads.
They were up 20 to 2 against Russia and lost, and led most of the game against Brazil until Brazil's bench came in the fourth quarter and just swung the momentum into Brazil's favor. Some will suggest that perhaps Spain Tanked, but it didn't seem like it, with Both Gasol brothers out at the end of the game.  So now, is Spain still the biggest threat to USA? sure they have the Gasol brothers and Ibaka, but they are counting heavily on Juan Carlos Navarro who right now isn't looking like himself because of a foot injury. Then there's the US bracket side, and a possible rematch in the semi finals with today's opponent Argentina. USA destroyed Argentina in the second half, with the final score being 126 to 97. They scored an incredible 42 points in the third quarter. Kevin Durant was playing back in rucker park New York, as he shot 8-10 from the three point line and finished with 28 points. The game got chippy, and there will be no love lost should they meet in the semi finals.
Argentina will play against Brazil in the quarterfinals, and that game will be a goody. Both teams have NBA talent aplenty, and Brazil's coach happens to be the same coach who was with Argentina in their 2004 Gold medal run in Athens. Argentina is savvy and have Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola, who have proven they can play against the USA and score at will (not to mention Delfino and Nocioni). Brazil will be led by Huertas, the best pg outside of the NBA (he makes too much money in Europe and therefore has no reason to come to the NBA), Barbosa, Splitter, Varejao, and NENE. Whatever the outcome, one notion is certain, the USA will face a tough challenge in the Semis. Don't look so much into today's game against Argentina, team USA wont score 42 points in the third quarter again like they did today and Argentina clearly rested their main guy because ultimately outside of competitive drive and egos, today's game meant nothing.
As for the prospect of playing Brazil again, remember that in the exhibition game, Brazil was up 10 before Huertas came out the game. Once Huertas came out the game, the US turned Brazil's young backup pg over and over with pressure from Paul and Westbrook. Should they play again, Huertas wont be out the game much, and that wont happen as often.
All in all, the #USA are still the favorites, but as the first half of today's game showed you, they are beatable, it's in the air and the other team's know it. The question is, should the USA falter at some point, can the other team take advantage of it?
Like what you read? Feel free to comment and leave questions

top PF going into 2012-2013, #4 Pau Gasol

Image from thesportsbank.net

We continue our countdown of the Top power forwards going into the 2012-2013 NBA season with Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers at #4. Pau Gasol, is in our minds a very underrated player (kind of Like Chris Bosh), his style of play which is more finesse than anything else gives the casual viewer a believe that Gasol is "soft" or not that good. Yet, Gasol is one of the most skilled players in the league, not amongst bigs but amongst EVERY player in the league. Let's look at Gasol's numbers last season, Gasol had a very disappointing postseason by his standards. Over 12 playoff games he averaged just 12.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 2.1 Blocks but still an impressive 3.7 APG. Now, Gasol was playing his first year under Mike Brown who featured Andrew Bynum as the main post presence instead of Gasol. Yet, look at his regular season numbers (which many considered to be an "off" year for him) 17.4 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.4 BPG and 3.6 APG. How many players in this league can average those numbers and considered to have an "off year"?
Gasol is dominant on both sides of the floor, lets begin with his offense. He has a full arsenal of post moves at his disposal. He can finish with both his left and right hand around the rim, and uses his 7.0 feet to perfection. He's not overly athletic, nor does he need to be, Gasol's baby hook shots around the rim are unguardable, and its more problematic when you consider that his left hand hook is just as good as his right hand hook. Against stronger defenders he faces up and uses quickness to go around them. Gasol also happens to have a GREAT jumpshot, he has range up to the three point line and his form and quickness release are as good as anybody's. He run's the floor extremely well, look at this play, Gasol runs the floor down the middle, this is fundamental basketball that most bigs now a days don't do. After not receiving the ball he stays in the middle and as the play rolls on it ends up with a Gasol "and 1" basket. "Fundamentally Sound" is what Gasol is, if you look at the play again, not only was he fouled but as soon as he catches the ball he goes straight up and DOES NOT bring the ball down. This is something that almost no big remembers or learns at any level of basketball ( have you ever seen Dwight Howard doing that?)
His last quality, and our favorite is his passing ability. Steve Kerr (TNT analyst and former player) says that Pau Gasol is the best passer on the Los Angeles Lakers squad, and we tend to agree. (Kobe bryant averages more assist, but that doesnt make him a better passer, after all he has the ball in his hands all the time) Bynum loves to play with Gasol because he knows that Gasol will give him 4 to 6 points a game just on big to big passes. Look at this great shovel pass to Bynum, 95% of bigs will shoot the ball once they have position that deep, Gasol is a willing passer whether its from the high post, low post or "high to low" passes, he will deliver it on target.
Now on the defensive end Gasol uses his length to be a factor. He does not fall for pump fakes and uses the most simple of defensive rules: "stand straight and keep your hands up",his pick and roll defense is also great, he shows strong on the guards and his lateral quickness allows him to recover to his man.
Gasol had an off season by his standards, it was his first year in a new system that did not premier him as the second scoring option on the team and thus he struggled a bit. He often wondered too much to the perimeter and wasn't aggressive enough. We expect that to change, Gasol will have a full training camp with new coach Mike Brown, and the addition of Nash will benefit him GREATLY. Expect gasol to have another terrific year and stay high on this list. Gasol's finesse style of play gives fans the impression that he's soft and has been the subject of a lot of trade rumors. He wont give you 25 points a night, but he will give you 18 points 12 rebounds 5 assist 3 blocks a steal, and great defense. He's a stat sheet stuffer and there's a reason why Kobe will not allow the Lakers to trade him. Bottom line, Gasol is one of the best in this business, and one of the last rare big men with fundamentals.
Like what you read? Feel free to comment and leave questions