Since the beginning of the FIBA tournament, all the experts and their mothers expected Team USA to meet their match against Spain for the gold in the final game. Just one problem: Spain will no longer play for the gold after a shocking 65-52 loss to France on Wednesday. Despite a valiant effort from Pau Gasol, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, the rest of his team struggled mightily against France’s tough defense, anchored by center Rudy Gobert and his game-high 13 rebounds.
On Wednesday, we took a look at the biggest winners of the NBA offseason, a baker’s dozen of players, teams, coaches and even an executive who had a spectacular summer. Today, we look at the NBA offseason’s biggest losers, a collection of an unlucky 13 players, teams, coaches and even an owner. Yeah, take a wild guess at that last one. We also felt the need to include one team’s fan base, which truly deserves better than it has gotten over the
The summer is winding down, and things are about to get interesting for Team USA as they depart for Spain and push forward toward a much-anticipated matchup with the host nation in the gold medal game. Unless, of course, the United States and Spain do not make it all the way to the final. Hey, a Spain-USA gold medal game is NOT a certainty. Strange things can happen along the way. Ask Paul George, who is out for a year with a
Fans who believe that Carmelo Anthony should have picked the Chicago Bulls over the New York Knicks can take solace in the fact that one of the best basketball minds of our time agrees with them. That would be the mind of Team USA assistant and head coach of the Syracuse Orangemen, Jim Boeheim. [Read more…]
Not much happening. Which leads us to a Sportswriting Etiquette 101 lesson: It is bad form for basketball writers who are covering a tight game to say: “Looks like it’ll go to overtime.” Same thing with baseball writers, who are forbidden in press boxes from mentioning the words “extra innings” prior to the start of the 10th. It s considered a jinx. OK, not forbidden. But it is frowned upon, heavily. Sportwriters like to go home to their families, especially those families with
Los Angeles Clippers president of basketball operations and head coach Doc Rivers will not be waiting patiently in regards to discussing a contract extension with the organization. It is believed that negotiations between him and the Clippers are set to begin soon now that it’s pretty much business as usual for the Los Angeles franchise. This report comes after the league announced that Steve Ballmer has officially gained ownership of the Clippers franchise. Rivers served as the voice of the Clippers team during the playoffs when
When LeBron James decided to leave the Miami Heat this summer, some still questioned if the Cleveland Cavaliers would be good enough to make serious noise next season with the current roster. James himself hinted a cast of doubt in his official letter, saying “we’re not ready right now”. Do they have the necessary veterans and role players it takes to be contenders? Can the young players on the team put aside their pride and mature quickly enough? The latter remains to be seen, but
This is the part of the summer when we wait … and when waiting can be divided into short waits, long waits and really long waits. In Category One, it’ll be a short wait before the Kevin Durant-to-Washington speculation takes on a life of its own. KD will be in Team USA training camp beginning Sunday, and he’ll be bombarded with questions about what he plans to do when he becomes a free agent in 23 months. The Wizards are a