360 degree view of the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. We play USA here tonight. 360.io/CpmhQX — Manu Ginobili (@manuginobili) July 22, 2012 The big game is not tonight. There is a game, yes, but it is not the big one. That’ll come Tuesday night when the Americans play Spain in Barcelona at the arena pictured in Manu’s tweet above. What is notable about tonight’s US-Argentina game is that it is the only friendly the Americans will play against a team they are
BARCELONA — The building pictured to your left is the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, which sits atop one of the highest hills in this Spanish coastal city. To get there from the plaza below, they have a series of outdoor all-weather escalators. You can use those, or you can climb about 500 steps. Behind the museum is the Palau Sant Jordi, the modern arena where Team USA will play Argentina on Sunday night and Spain on Tuesday night. From
Manchester Town Hall in Albert Square, seat of local governance, is an example of Victorian era Gothic revival architecture. MANCHESTER, England, July 19, 2012 _ Team USA is staying the night tonight. They will leave for Barcelona in the morning, refreshed or not. You don’t get many nights off on the way to the Olympics after 40-point wins, but Team USA got that rare treat tonight, and perhaps the paparazzi will tell us more tomorrow. This column is entitled
WASHINGTON — Someone has to say it first, so I’ll take the plunge. Team USA is in trouble unless changes are made. They are too small, they are bringing their best scorer off the bench and making him guard players much stronger than him, and they are brimming with so much overconfidence that they are practically blind to the reality of the situation. If they cannot impose their will on their opponents at the London Olympics, they will lose. They are a one-trick
LAS VEGAS –Team USA embarked on a quest for a second consecutive Olympic gold medal Thursday night with a 113-59 victory over a Dominican Republican team that in another era could have been confused with Cuba. The game concluded a day of concern and comedy that actually began on Wednesday when Kobe Bryant said the 2012 Olympic team could beat the 1992 Dream Team, thereby leading some to suggest the current team will now be called the We-Want-Esteem-Team. Bryant’s musings sent outlets
After beginning training camp with a couple of five-minute scrimmages that were open to the media, U.S. Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski has pulled the curtain shut. The last four days have featured games divided into four 10-minute quarters between Team USA and the select team, which consists of younger NBA players. Media has not been allowed to watch. Although statistics have not been made available, the message from those who are Coach K-approved is that there has been one player who has
Nigeria is going to the Olympics for the first time, and an NBA castoff led them there. Ike Diogu took over the game after it was tied with 5 1/2 minutes remaining, making four consecutive shots — two of which were 3-pointers — to lead the African nation to an 88-73 victory over the John Calipari-coached Dominican Republic. Nigeria will be grouped with Lithuania in Team USA’s bracket at the London Games, while Russia — the third team to qualify at the
Andrei Kirilenko is going to be visible to Americans this summer — even if it’s looking more and more likely he is headed back to Russia for another season with CSKA Moscow. (He has until July 12 to opt out of his contract), Kirilenko and the Russian national team qualified for the London Olympics on Saturday night in Caracas, Venezuela, by defeating Nigeria 85-77 behind 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals by Kirilenko. The Russians went undefeated in