Nobody warned me that the first day of the World Cup coincided with the first day of college football. Instead of watching my Maryland Terrapins thump James Madison by 45 in a total mismatch, I could have watched Team USA demolish Finland by 59 in a total mismatch. Okay, maybe I made the right choice. Tomorrow, though, the US has Turkey, who weren’t gifted a tournament spot because the guy who made Angry Birds said he wanted them to be in
The 2013 FIBA Americas Championship is set to kick off tonight in Caracas, Venezuela, with 10 teams vying for four spots in the Basketball World Cup (formerly known as the World Championship) next summer in Spain. Who is going to win? Who are the players to keep an eye on? We’ve got you covered on both fronts. [Read more…]
Though it’s trumpeted as a launchpad for great big shiny heroics, playoff basketball’s cruel truth is that the no-shows have a particular, formative role to play in the maturation–or atrophy–of each series, as well. [Read more…]
So we’re all getting a reminder of how things are really day-to-day in the Olympics, eh? A couple days ago, Carmelo Anthony had the new U.S. Olympics scoring record (37) and Team USA was considered unbeatable after they out Dream Teamed the original Dream Team and beat Nigeria by 83. Then we get through Day 4 of the competition, and the world has turned upside down. The single highest-scoring game now belongs to Patty Mills of Australia, who dropped 39 on Great
I do not usually write our blog, leaving that task in the capable hands of our bloggers, Jim Park and Dan Malone. But I also do not usually watch the Olympics on TV, especially not on NBC. I haven’t been on by sofa watching the Olympics since 1992, and back then I believe my sofa might have been a futon. But here I am back in New York after ditching the idea of going to London as uncredentialed media in the
Russia’s done it with force, Spain with savvy, Team USA with unparalleled athleticism and Brazil with—well, Brazil’s undefeated, too. The South Americans barely snuck by the Aussies in the opener and withstood an indescribably impotent, four-point first quarter to keep Great Britain winless in game two. Thanks to that soft schedule and the even softer touch on Marcelinho Huertas’ floaters, Ruben Magnano’s squad are among the four teams with zeroes in the loss column. The ranks of the undefeated will shrink by
Andrei Kirilenko makes Russia scary. Luis Scola is the craftiest big man in London. Let Pau Gasol catch the ball inside of seven feet and you’re toast. Yi Jianlian is a better player for China than he is in the NBA. And you should probably get a hand in Kevin Durant’s face. Long before Durant circled Olympic Stadium with his newly shaved head underneath a Ralph Lauren beret on Friday night, we knew this about him. We knew all of these things
We’ve had a very positive preparation for the Olympics! Tomorrow we start competing! Let’s see if you like this video!youtube.com/watch?v=j1Q0H6… — Pau Gasol (@paugasol) July 28, 2012 The self-proclaimed “beast” of the London Olympics shared this 5-minute lovefest video with the world, and make no mistake — Spain is going into these Olympics supremely confident. However … Pau’s brother Marc has a bruised shoulder that kept him out of the final friendly against Team USA. Juan Carlos Navarro, the team’s best guard, has plantar