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
The Greeks are out, Bo McCalebb is out, J.J. Barea and Carlos Arroyo are out, and there won’t be any Angolans to elbow around at the 2012 Olympic men’s basketball tournament. On a day of wild swings and finishes at the quarterfinals of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, the field of Olympic contenders was reduced to four — Russia, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria and Lithuania. Two spots will be determined in today’s semifinals, with both of those teams going into
Kostas Papanikolau of Greece, the 2nd-round draft pick of the New York Knicks in 2012 Olympic basketball begins today … sort of. And all those New York Knicks fans who are wondering about their new draft pick, Kostas Papanikolau, will likely get a chance to see him later this summer against Team USA. Greece is one of the favorites in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that begins today in Venezuela, and there are more familiar faces for NBA fans
When Derrick Rose went down with a torn ACL in Game 1, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, “We have more than enough to win.” No one doubted him. After all, Chicago was 18-9 this season without Rose and his myriad injuries. And the Bulls were playing the Philadelphia 76ers, quite possibly the weakest of all the postseason teams. Then Joakim Noah went down with a severely sprained ankle in Game 3, and Thibodeau again said, “We have more than enough to win.” Again,
WHAT HAPPENED: The old man, and the C’s. Kevin Garnett turned back the clock to his MVP days and collected 28 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Boston Celtics past the Atlanta Hawks in a grinding Game 6. Boston got a huge break down the stretch when, holding a two-point lead with 3.1 seconds left, Marquis Daniels fouled Al Horford just as the ball was being inbounded, a foul to give for the Celtics. Had Daniels’ foul
Did you guys hear? Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is sick and may be questionable for tonight’s contest in Denver! Okay, so no one actually believes Bryant will miss the game in any capacity, including his coach. “If I were a betting guy, which I’m not, I would probably bet that he would play,” Mike Brown said. It’s still big news though, and worth keeping an eye on because he really is “sick as a dog.” Bryant’s Lakers, along with two other teams hoping to eliminate
Just when it seemed fair to come to the conclusion that the first round of the playoffs (with the exception of the Clippers-Grizzlies series) sucked worse than a broken Oreck … Just when it looked like Thursday might be a decent time to schedule a date night … Halt! It’s all good. We were ridded of the Orlando Magic and their soap opera season in the first game of the night Wednesday, and after that came dramatics and comebacks that made that early evening
