Ok, so the Oklahoma City Thunder are in the NBA Finals, and the knee-jerk reaction will be that they are doomed to lose because they’ve never before performed on the big stage like so many of the Celtics and Heat have. We’re here to tell you that knee-jerk reaction argument is fatally flawed. Unbeknownst to many Americans, the Thunder’s dynamic duo of Durant and Westbrook have not only performed, but won, at the highest level on earth. That happened at the 2010 World
Chris Sheridan chatted online with readers today about Team USA, the NBA playoffs, Jerry Sloan, Pau Gasol, Jim Dolan, Phil Jackson and a host of other topics. He will be hosting another live chat Friday to discuss the results of Game 6 of the Miami-Indiana series and Game 7 of the Celtics-Sixers series. Here is a transcript of Thursday’s chat. 10:35 Good morning, all. I will be live chatting NBA and anything else you want to talk about beginning at noon, EDT. You can
First up in the first round for Team USA at the London Olympics is France, and last is Argentina. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) today announced pairings and game times for the 2012 Olympic men’s basketball tournament. Two of the USA’s opponents will be determined following the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, scheduled for June 2-8 in Caracas, Venezuela, with the top three finishing teams earning the final three Olympic qualifying berths. The top 2 teams will be in the Americans’
Linsanity has continued into the offseason as New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin was one of the 13 players chosen for the USA Select Team that train against Team USA in advance of the Olympics. The players were revealed Monday by USA Basketball. The baker’s dozen includes point guards and top overall picks Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and John Wall of the Washington Wizards. Lin, whose rise from obscurity to stardom earlier this season transcended basketball, missed the playoffs while
// Carmelo Anthony will be reunited with Mike D’Antoni in early July when Team USA convenes for training camp in Las Vegas. But how long the two stick together remains to be seen. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported that Anthony’s role in D’Antoni’s departure as head coach of the New York Knicks “did not sit well” with USA Basketball officials, who have always pointed to “sweat equity” as one of the key factors in who will represent the United States on
Team USA doesn’t plan on taking the easy path to defending its Olympic gold medal. In advance of the 2012 Olympics in London, the United States has lined up five exhibition games, including showdowns with nemeses Spain and Argentina. The U.S. also will play Brazil, the Dominican Republic and host Britain in the lead-up to the Olympics, USA Basketball announced Friday. “We have again scheduled an extremely challenging lineup of exhibition opponents for our USA Men’s National Team,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo
Kobe Bryant failed to drop another 40 last night in an appallingly low-scoring victory over the Dallas Mavericks, which means one of Wilt Chamberlain’s other records (his mark for most free throws in a game fell last week when Dwight Howard shot 39) should remain intact for the foreseeable future. The record for most consecutive 40-point games is 14 by Chamberlain in 1961. He did it 63 times in the ’61-62 season. So although Kobe is not chasing Wilt, everyone else in
BARCELONA — Four days ago, this site was the first to publish Team USA’s preliminary roster, 19 names out of which Mike Krzyzewski is expected to whittle another Olympic champion. After winning golds at both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Championships with entirely different dozens, I’m in no position to question how the Jerry Colangelo regime at USA Basketball does business. But the problem with these 19 is that they don’t leave you with much firepower for friendly argument. Sure,