Hola from Barcelona, where Team USA defeated Spain last night by 22 points. Their Olympic opener is Sunday against France. I have been with the team for their past four games, and will be doing a live chat today at 3 p.m. EDT. You can submit your questions now.
3:00
Good evening from Barcelona, where it is 9 p.m. Let’s get right to it. Gonna go 90 minutes, then have an early dinner, 10:30 p.m.
3:00
Comment From DK
What does Kevin Love have to do to get more run?
3:03
He needs to be a boards beast in his limited minutes like he was in 2002 in Turkey. He had nine of ’em last night in 13 minutes against Spain, and Ibaka stopped hurting them when Love came off the bench and began guarding him. That was a turning point. Coach K have Kevin a shout-out in the press conference, which is a rarity. Krzyzewski has always underutilized him, IMO. I wrote a column addressing the Love situation two days ago. Here is the link:http://sheridanhoops.com/2012/07/23/diary-of-the-uncredentialed-edition-ii/
3:04
Comment From vandal
do you agree that when Westbrook checks in, the flow of the offense of team USA takes a hit, at worst, it stops?
3:07
Absolutely not, Vandal. He has been the best attacker among the the point guards, and he is third in the pecking order. Deron has been shooting the ball well, CP3 has been rather ordinary. Remember something about Westbrook: Coack K absolutely loves him because he can play both guard spots. In 2010, Westbrook went from No. 3 PG when team arrived in Europe for friendlies to the No. 1 PG by the time USA beat Turkey for the gold. Consider him a 7th man who will be just as important as sixth man Carmelo Anthony, last night’s star:http://sheridanhoops.com/2012/07/24/melo-doesnt-like-fiba-best-anymore-but-he-was-best-for-team-usa-vs-spain/
3:09
Comment From wade
lebron will have to do, for team usa, an abundance of the same things he does for the heat.
3:11
Yes, but he difference here is that he’ll get enough offensive support from around him to compensate for the off-night he is bound to have. He was shaky at the line last night, missing 5 of 8. Other than that, he has been a beast and the team’s most consistent player. He’s at the same level he was at during the playoffs. They are starting to call the FIBA travel on him, so watch for more of that. If refs pick on the USA, they’ll do 2 things: Call the FIBA travel multiple times, and foul out Chandler.
3:20
Comment From Joe
Chris, what good nba podcasts are out there other than tbj, simmons, and the eson nba today thing?
3:21
Ours are pretty good. There is a tab on the front page where you can view all of them. Next season we will have a daily radio show.
3:28
This software is malfunctioning with now and giving folks an overcapacity message. We are working to fix it. While my Webby does that, I will give you this brief story: Bought a six-pack of disposable razors today at a bodega in the quaint neighborhood where I am staying, and they threw me a free fox of Frosted Flakes.
3:41
Gotta end this chat. Software is not working, I think because of Spanish IP address. Will fix the problem and schedule another one ASAP.Bottom line, since we’re being brief: These guys look ready to roll past everyone, but they could get a game from Spain or Brazil in the single-elimination round. Brazil is really a good team to keep an eye on. They are worthy of making it to gold medal game. French are playing poorly, Parker shooting below 30 percent, Batum has played only 2 of their 10 games. Does that transfer over to their opener against Team USA? We’ll see. I’ll be viewing from Paris for the Diary of the Uncredentialed.