Men win Gold……..Wow, what a tournament!

The 2008 Olympic basketball tournament has just concluded and quite frankly,  I am not quite sure how I can survive until London 2012. This was my first Olympics that I have covered live as the basketball commentator and I had an absolute blast. The games were fantastic; we had close games that were spirited and  and we had blowouts that came as the result of near basketball perfection the stories were compelling andNBCOlympics.com allowed me to be able to be a part of something revolutionary and record breaking. I am just starting to get a grip on just what an impact this new online technology has been able to accomplish.

Here is a portion of a note sent from our executives at NBC Sports and NBCOlympics.Com:

1.3 billion pageviews
50+ million unique visitors
70 million streams
10 million hours of video watched
35 million mobile page views
5,000+ clips viewed every day last week
Hundreds of highlights produced every day, delivered to every possible platform

The numbers are astounding. In a mere 17 days, you have crushed every U.S. digital record for a major event. Nothing even comes close. Your work establishes a new technological and creative benchmark for digital production–and it captivated and fascinated tens of millions of users across the U.S. You delivered the Olympics where the audience wanted it, how they wanted it–for the first time in history.

So I got that going for me….which is nice. It was fun to be a part of something so unique and so well received, but my true joy came in simply covering the games and sitting in a studio watching game after game after game of basketball being played at the absolute highest level.

The Men’s Medal Games were fantastic, starting with the Bronze Medal Game. Argentina, despite being without superstar Manu Ginobili, was able to defeat Lithuania 87-75. Luis Scola was fantastic over the last couple of games for Argentina, picking up the slack for an injured Ginobili. The Argentines have played very good  basketball over the last 4 years and constitute the most experienced and cohesive top 5 of any International team in the world. Lithuania has been the model of International basketball consistency, having made the semifinals in 5 straight Olympics. Lithuania was full of a group of players largely unknown to American fans, but they were a deep and talented squad that played very well throughout the tournament.

Spain has a team that features many players familiar to American hoop fans, (Calderon, Gasol, Garbojosa, etc) and a few players that everyone now knows after their wonderful play in this tournament. Rudy Fernandez had a ridiculously good game in the Gold Medal Game and I am sure that my buddy Kevin Pritchard in Portland often times fell out of his chair while Fernandez was alternating between hitting guarded, step-back rainbow 3’s with putting it on the floor for tomahawk jams over a paint full of defenders. Everyone now knows of the teen sensation Ricky Rubio, a.k.a. “The Spanish Pistol Pete”

(…by the way, we will know International Basketball has truly arrived when a U.S.player someday is known as “The American _____”). In this tournament we have had “The Spanish Pistol Pete” and “The Baltic Pippen” amongst others.

But I digress….getting back to Rubio….I am having a little trouble evaluating Rubio and his potential right now. On the one hand, I love his poise and his fearlessness and his pass first/true point guard mentality. He also is a pesky defender As a 17 year old kid playing against the best of the best of the world, he performed remarkably well, especially being thrown into a starring role because of Calderon’s injury. However, there are a few things that I have questions about. I don’t like his shot at all…it is flat and he doesn’t use his legs properly. It is mostly a set shot and I don’t see his ability to get his own shot very well. As a smaller point guard he will need to be able to come hard off of screens or into seams and be able to stop on a dime and explode up for jumpers over bigger defenders. I don’t see that as part of his game right now. I am also a little concerned about his quickness, or lack thereof. Against slower players he is crafty and nifty enough that he can get shots off and passes through without any problems. But going against NBA players on a night in and night out basis, I don’t know yet if he is quick enough. With all of that being written, he is only 17-freakin’ years old! I may be totally nit picking and most likely he will continue to develop. He very well someday soon known as “La Pistola”, El primer escogimiento del giro de la Asociación Nacional del Baloncesto de 2010″ roughly translated to mean, ” The Pistol, the #1 NBA draft pick in 2010.

Getting back to the Gold Medal Game….Spain played their heart out and never gave up. There were moments when I felt that the game was slipping away for them and that this would be another blowout, and every single time this was about to happen Spain would come up huge and make a run…usually led by Fernandez or Gasol, who had 22 and 21 points respectively. Spain was down only 2 very late in the game and I don’t think anyone expected that to happen. The U.S. had their poorest defensive game of the tournament. They allowed Spain to score 107 pts on 51% shooting from the field and 47% from three point range. Their interior defense was not good,  turning both Pau and Marc Gasol loose time after time on basket dives and offensive rebound efforts. They were slow to get to their spots on weakside rotation assignments.  On the perimeter, they lost their men at times giving Spain wide open 3 point shots. Often I have seen teams that are so athletic and so good at pressuring teams into turnovers that they get too anxious to cause immediate turnovers and end up being less than solid defensively. No doubt that this happened with the U.S. against Spain. They wanted to put this game away so badly that they started gambling and reaching and leaving their men to double and Spain did a fantastic job of handling the front line of pressure and exposing the secondary line.

All in all it was a fantastic game. It was an offensive display by both teams that Paul Westhead would have been proud of. The U.S. team handled themselves well all tournament and showed that they are capable of acting like normal human beings. I think Dwayne Wade was the most valuable player for the U.S. throughout the tourament. I think LeBron is, and will be for quite some time, the most ridiculous combination of size and speed and athletic ability that we have ever seen. He doesn’t always play for 48 minutes (or 40 minutes) and he hasn’t had the teammates over his career that Wade and Kobe, etc have had. But Lord Almighty is he a scary, scary athlete to go up against. Kobe remains the best all around player in the game in my opinion. If you combine scoring ability with defense and with the assasin mentality, he is still the guy.

I am happy for the U.S. Men’s and Women’s teams, for their accomplishments on and off the court.  The entire Olympic tournament, for both men and women was something that made me happy as someone who makes a living in the sport but mostly as someone who is first and foremost just a fan of basketball.

Thanks to all of you who have been reading the blog and watching our online coverage on NBCOlympics.com. I have had a blast providing commentary for you and I can’t wait until the next International Event.

Please check back regularly to this blog as I will be posting throughout the basketball season. I now look even more forward to my job as television analyst for Fox Sport Net as I cover the Minnesota Timberwolves for FSN North and the Milwaukee Bucks for FSN Wisconsin. The game is healthy right now!

Cheers!

Women win Gold

Things went perfectly as expected as the U.S. Women were just too deep, too quick, too good for Australia this morning (evening in Beijing). The women beat Australia 92-65 behind 15 points from a perfect Kara Lawson (5-5 FG, 1-1 from 3FG, 4-4 FT) and 14 from Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker, and 13 from rapidly emerging Sylvia Fowles (who led the U.S. in scoring this tournament at 13.4 ppg). Speaking of perfect, Leslie finishes up the tournament as she has the last four Olympics, having not lost a single game. Tears flowed from the U.S. Captain after the game, showing the emotion of someone who is going out on top, most likely having played in her last Olympics. For much of this tournament Leslie has deferred to some of the younger players, but today she was an important part of a team that was explosive as ever on offense, going over 90 points yet again. Leslie was 7-9 from the field while grabbing 7 boards as well. That makes it 33 Olympic wins in a row for Leslie and for the USA Basketball…..Wow!

Much like their male counterparts, Team USA was just too deep for Australia, who never really were in the game. Australia was held to 25% shooting from the field, including rough games from Harrower (2-14 FG) Batkovic (3-14 FG) and even from WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson (5-14 FG). The U.S. team has depth that was valuable in so many ways. Foul trouble to Taurasi and Leslie didn’t slow the U.S. one bit as players like Lawson, Fowles and Parker stepped right in. Depth kept the U.S. fresh as they pressured AUS with physically and mentally draining defense. Depth allowed for players to have off games while being picked up by one of their teammates on any particular day. Taurasi was brilliant in the semifinal game exploding for 21 pts. but today she had nothing going (but foul trouble), making only 1 shot from the field today. They didn’t need her offense today as the rest of the team picked up the slack to shoot 59% from the field. Starters and bench players were equally as impressive this tournament (today the U.S. bench outscored Australia 59-11).

The Russia women won the bronze defeating host nation China. The hoop crazy Chinese had to have been proud of their showing for both the 4th place women and the men, who were Medal Play qualifiers.

In attendance at the Gold Medal game today were many members of The Redeem Team, who have their shot at their own Gold Medal game tomorrow at 2:30 a.m. EST. The U.S. men will face Spain who, according to all early reports, will be without their star point guard Jose Calderon. Even with Calderon, this was going to take an almost perfect game from Spain and a poor game from the U.S. in order for Spain to have a chance. Now that Calderon is out, I don’t think there is any chance that Spain can win.

Speaking of The Redeem Team…..Much has been made about who is better, The Redeem Team or The Dream Team. This kind of question (and the inevitable long winded ensuing argument) has always bothered me. I won’t dignify this discussion by spending more than one sentence on it:

You can never, ever judge or compare fairly teams or individuals from different eras.

Tomorrow morning will be my last day here at the NBCSports.com studios in Stamford, CT. I have very much enjoyed my time covering my first Olympic basketball tournament. The technology that we were able to bring you was incredible. I can’t imagine how I made it through life as a kid without live streamed video coverage with live text commentary of every U.S. basketball game on demand for your immediate viewing by a click of a mouse. Lord knows I would have been right in front of the computer watching and reading every minute of it. I feel very privileged to be the one who was behind the computer providing that commentary to some young kid out there destined someday to be a player or a coach or a broadcaster himself or herself. Thank you NBCSports.com and NBCOlympics.com for giving me this once in a lifetime job. Thanks to Fox Sports Net for allowing me and encouraging me to moonlight on this project.

I will be back on the blog tomorrow with a recap of the Gold Medal and Bronze Medal games for the Men.

Until then, congrats again to Team USA Captain Lisa Leslie and the rest of the Gold Medal winning women’s basketball team. Well done, ladies!

Semis Sweet

Spain beats Lithuania and Team USA beats Argentina to set up the Gold Medal match on Sunday that we all expected. The results were as we expected, but there were certainly some surprises in getting those results. The first is that Spain played without Jose Calderon, who injured his adductor muscle and is questionable for the Gold Medal game on Sunday. Calderon just signed a huge contract with Toronto, who have had their share of injury issues with their International players, including just last year with Spain and Jorge Garbojosa. You can be sure that Bryan Colangelo, who is there in China watching his players and also cheering on his dad Jerry, is all over trying to make sure that Calderon is being taken care of in the way that is best for his future. It is an unusual and awkward position for Colangelo, because of the relationships he has with Toronto, Team USA, and also the Spanish Federation.

Argentina just announced the Manu Ginobili, who re-injured his foot and missed most of today’s game against Team USA, is out for the Bronze Medal Game on Sunday. The Spurs have a similar situation with Ginobili that Toronto has with Calderon. They are trying to protect their interest in their star player who is part of the winningest franchise in the sport over the last 10 years. They had their doctors managing Manu and I am sure that part of them did not want him to play. Ginobili was offered the honor of being the flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony and Spurs G.M. R.C. Buford has said that he knew that there was no way Manu was not going to try to play for his home country.

Personally, I think these guys should give every effort to play on their homeland team. I know that their economic future lies with their NBA teams and that they owe a debt to the organization that provides their salary. Playing with your fellow nationals for the honor and glory of your country is too neat of an opportunity to miss, in my opinion.

Argentina tried to hang around today and fought their way back after being down 21 early on to close it to 6 late in the first half. The U.S. kept fouling ARG and sent them to the line to make 12 free throws over a 5 minute stretch. Scola was fantastic and Nocioni and Delfino (along with role player Quinteros) all had their moments in keeping ARG alive for a time in the first half.  ARG made a huge mistake when they fouled Carmelo Anthony on a 3 Point attempt with just a few seconds left in the half. ‘Melo hit all 3 F.T.’s to change the lead from only up 6 to up 9 and a lot of the air was taken out of their sails as they went to the locker room.

Lithuania lost out to Spain but had a wonderful tournament. They have been an amazing model of consistency in Olympic play, seemingly reaching the semifinals every single time they play. They have such an amazing array of big guys that can play and shoot and run. They can just keep them coming at you one after another. Kleiza did not have a big game today like I thought he would need to in order for LIT to win. Jasikevicius to me is the Colin Montgomerie of basketball. “Monty” has never reached the expectations in the Majors that people have had for him. He is “0 for his Life” in Majors, but when the Ryder Cup rolls around, he is absolutely as good as anyone has ever been. Sarunas has a very similar story. He never reached the potential in the NBA that many, including myself, thought he would reach. He has been, however, a monster in International play over the years and I think that the U.S. is glad that they don’t have to see him on Sunday.

• Viktor Khryapa, former NBA player who plays for Russia, has a brother Mikhail who is also good basketball player. What is unique is that his brother plays for Ukraine not Russia. By the way, Viktor missed all the preperation period but still was able to play the tourney on one leg, basically. Russian coach David Blatt, who is an American with dual citizenship, played for Pete Carrill at Princeton. He is very high on Khyapa.

• Dan Doyle is an old friend of mine; a fellow Irishman and fellow former coach who shares a lot of my values and beliefs. He is a lot smarter than I am and a much better person, which is why I chose him to be our next guest in our “5 Questions with….” segment. The Olympic Games, long thought to be the ultimate celebration of amateur sports and all that is right with sport in the world have changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The state of sports in the U.S., has also changed dramatically over the last 20 years (as well as it having changed internationally over the last several years). I thought it would be good to check in with one of my moral compasses, especially since we are out here at the NBC Sports studios in Stamford, CT, just down the road from Dan’s home turf of Rhode Island.

Dan is the  Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for International Sport at the University of Rhode Island, and author of “The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting.” He is the former head men’s basketball coach at Trinity College, where he led Trinity to national rankings, and was named New England College Coach of the Year

5 Questions with…….Dan Doyle

Q1: The US Men’s Hoops Team has been receiving a lot of attention for their seemingly new found   change in attitude this time around. They have been praised for their sportsmanship and their behavior both on and off the court. Some think it is fantastic while others think that you shouldn’t get extra credit for just acting like a normal decent person. Your thoughts?

A1:  In The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting, I wrote a section entitled, Ten Reasons Why Your Athlete Must Adhere to High Standards of Behavior.  Point #10 is as follows:  Considerate behavior by an athlete toward others produces a disproportionate amount of goodwill, just as inconsiderate behavior by an athlete toward others produces a disproportionate amount of ill will.

Coach K and his staff have created an admirable culture of “selfless ambition”…everything for the good of the team.  This culture has been reflected on and off the court, and has clearly helped to erase our tarnished hoops image abroad – not only as it relates to selfish play, but to immature behavior.  Whether or not the American men win the Gold, I am proud of the way our team has performed in all respects. They have played like professionals and behaved like Olympians. I imagine that many of the forefathers of Olympic basketball, Oscar, West, Russell and Bradley to name a few, feel the same way.

In this case, extra credit is in order.

Q2: The game of basketball seems to be growing in popularity in some areas of the world not known in the past for their basketball interest or success. Besides countries in this tournament like China and Mali, what are some countries that you have been to recently that might surprise our readers as having a love for and/or a new proficiency for basketball?

A2: Let me answer this with four points, beginning with a country I visited nearly three decades ago:

• In 1979, my Trinity Men’s Basketball team became the first American team to travel to Cuba since the Revolution of 1959.  We played the Cuban Men’s National team, and I also conducted a three-hour clinic with the Cuban Women’s National team.  During the trip, I became convinced that as soon as the fundamentals of the game caught up with the considerable athleticism which abounds in countries like Cuba, that we would see much greater parity on an international scale.  Obviously, parity has arrived on the men’s side, and will no doubt evolve on the women’s side in the next decade or two.

• In the 90’s, my Institute for International Sport initiated basketball projects in both Burundi and South Africa.  Each project included sending American coaches and equipment to the countries, and bringing the National Men’s teams of both countries to the United States for an exhibition tour.  With more teaching, facilities and strength enhancement equipment, Burundi, which is a land-locked country in Central Africa that has been overrun with violence between the Hutus and the Tutsis, could become a formidable presence on the international scene.  Over the two year span we worked in Burundi in the early 90’s, our “Project Burundi” made considerable progress in this regard.  Unfortunately, when the violence resurfaced, we had to shut down the project.  That said, there was no doubt in my mind that this small African country could produce some world-class basketball players, particularly from the Tutsi population, which has an average height of about 6’7”.

Through our basketball project in South Africa in the late 90’s, I saw similar potential.  Since we worked in South Africa, the sport has progressed quite well. I believe you will see this trend of improvement continue in South Africa.

• A key point to consider is that in many countries – including third-world countries – young players with potential are generally receptive to instruction on fundamentals, as they are diligent in their practice routines.  In future Olympic Games, both our men’s and women’s teams will be challenged…which makes the competition all the more fun and meaningful.  This reality suggests that we should stay on the track set by Jerry Colangelo; name the head coach and pick the American squad two or three years in advance of the Games, and develop 12 players into a true “team.”

• In the next decade or two, our chief rival, economically, technologically, and on the basketball court – will be China!

Q3: What are your thoughts about NBA players (and other professionals) playing in the Olympics compared to the days of college kids only?

A3: In the mid-70’s, I took my Kingswood-Oxford high school team to Europe. One evening in Spain, we attended a Real Madrid game.  Real Madrid featured two terrific American players, Walter Szczerbiak, father of current NBA player Wally, and Gene Brabender, who had played at the University of Minnesota.

The game pitted Real Madrid against the Yugoslavian National team, starring the late Kresimir Cosic, who is now in the Basketball Hall of Fame. I sat with a Real Madrid executive, who explained that every player on the Spanish National team – as well as every player on the Yugoslavian National team – was a “paid professional”.  It was during this conversation that I realized it would only be a matter of time before the Olympic basketball competition became open to all players, including NBA players.

As for the question of college players versus professionals, given the way that other countries have improved, all the while employing paid professionals, I do not believe that our college kids would stand a chance of even a Bronze medal.  For that reason, and many others, I have no problem with NBA players competing in the Olympics – for the U.S. or other countries.

Q4: As an career advocate of sportsmanship and good parenting in athletics, how has the parenting of young athletes changed for better or worse over the last few years?

A4: Deb Doermann Burch and I spent nearly eight years writing The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting to address this very important issue. We realized from the outset that there is much greater parental engagement than that which existed 15 to 20 years ago. A key objective of the book is to provide sports parents with a coherent philosophy that they can employ in dealing with a variety of issues. This includes the important issue of parent interaction with a coach, which is one of the biggest changes that has surfaced in the last two decades.

A core principle of the book is as follows:

On matters of playing time and strategy, parents should refrain from contacting the coach. By contrast, if it is a matter of ethics – or a medical issue – a parent not only has the right, but the obligation to interact with the coach.

The positive sports experience encompasses a child taking the journey toward self-reliance. When a problem surfaces, the good sports parent is one who acts as “counselor of wisdom” – guiding the child toward the solution, but allowing the child to work out the problem.

The intrusive sports parent – and there are far too many in American society – is the one who employs the “quick fix” but imprudent response of impulsively calling the coach to complain.

A wise sports parent is one who recognizes that the full sports experience is replete with lessons – both from success and failure. While it is difficult to quantify sports parenting improvement or regression, it is clear that responding proportionally to a problem is the mark not only of a leader…but of an effective sports parent.

Q5: There are a ton of athletes, in a wide range of sports, that are representing countries other than the countries that they were born in. Certainly there are many different stories and reasons for each athlete, but the basketball athletes (Chris Kaman, J.R. Holden and Becky Hammon)  have received a lot of coverage. How do you feel about this?

I thought that Harvey Araton of the New York Times had it right about Becky Hammon when he wrote, ‘she is representing the Russian Basketball Federation, not the government that sent troops into Georgia, stirring old Cold War tensions on the eve of the Games.’

I believe that an American athlete has the obligation to always try to represent the United States in Olympic competition. But if the door is closed to an American Olympic team, as appears to be the case with both Becky and Chris Kaman of the Los Angeles Clippers, and if the athlete has fulfilled dual citizenship requirements, then I have no problem with the athlete making the only competitive choice available.

One possible future problem is that an increase in elite athletes with dual citizenship could conceivably cause bidding wars for their services on Olympic teams. Up to this point, I see no evidence of this occurring. If it does surface as a problem, the IOC could deal with it by establishing a “country of primary residency” rule, similar to what we do in the United States with respect to paying State taxes. This is why you see so many wealthy Americans living in Florida for six or more months!

I do feel that if an American citizen has grown up here, and enjoyed the many benefits of being an American, his or her first obligation is to play for America.

Thanks go out to Dan for his insight and expertise. Please check out his work and his efforts at his website for his Institute for International Sport at:

http://www.internationalsport.com/iishome.cfm

Medal Play Recap (After Womens Semis and Mens Quarters)

This post was written Thursday evening, after the Womens Semi’s.

Greetings from the home stretch of the 2008 Olympic Tournament. This has been a tremendous event to be involved in. I have been having a blast covering these games despite the workload and time change issues that are wreaking havoc with my MoJo. Our days and nights have been running together and it is hard to remember which end is up. I have had my share of doubleheader games at 2:30 in the morning and at 4:45 in the morning. I don’t know how you Doctors and Emergency Room people can work those shifts on a regular basis. God Bless the support staff here at NBC for keeping us taken care of and keeping us sane as we’ve been pulling all nighters for the past 2 weeks. Special thanks to Melisa Mowry, Mike Lurie, Laura Harrington and Laura McGuire.

The basketball action has been fast and furious the last 2 days. I just finished covering the Women’s Semis this morning after covering a couple of brilliant Men’s games in the Quarterfinals the day before. What a great opening day of Medal Play for the Men! The Argentina vs. Greece game was International basketball about as good as it gets. You had 2 veteran teams that play very well together and who both came up huge time after time down the stretch. Manu Ginobili continues to prove that he is one of the best around….(.I could hear Barkley yelling “GIN – Ohhhh-BBBah – Lee!!!!!” all the way from Scottsdale or Vegas or Leeds or Monte Carlo or wherever he might be at the moment.)  Manu made big shot after big shot yesterday. Carlos Delfino was Kobe-like for a stretch when he scored 15 straight points for Argentina when they desperately needed him. Nocioni is banged up and we don’t know his status yet for the USA game. Obviously Argentina needs to be at full strength to have a chance against the U.S., but if they are healthy and if they shoot it as well as they did today they can play against anybody. Argentina usually does shoot it well, yesterday was no fluke. They shoot the 3 all the time and they consistently shoot a high percentage. They may die some times by it but they use it as a weapon so well and so consistently that it is a major factor in every game that they play.

The U.S. had a battle in the first half with Australia, who kept it close until the very last seconds of the half. AUS battled hard and got some good minutes from Brad Newley and Patrick Mills and others. Patrick Mills is going to be a monster for my old basketball camp friend Ranny Bennett at St. Mary’s in the WCC as soon as he develops a reliable 3 point shot. He is quick and strong and unafraid. He is getting a ton of valuable experience this summer and I am sure he will come into his second college year as a much better player than he was last year (and he was very good last year). With just a few minutes left in the first half, David Andersen missed an easy lay-in that would have put AUS within 5. A couple moments later Deron Williams went full court and pulled up and hit a 3 at the buzzer that put the US up 11 at half. They never looked back after that.

No amount of tired could keep me down when I get to do the commentary on a game like Argentina vs. Greece yesterday. What a fantastic game that was! Argentina is a tremendously fun team to watch. They make the game seem easy.  There can’t be a more clutch guy to watch than Ginobili. It is a shame that they have to play the U.S. in the semis because I think that those are the best two teams in the tournament. I think Spain is great and I think they have a bright future with a team of relatively young guys in Calderon, Fernandez, Rubio, Marc Gasol, etc. However, I think Argentina is still the present and I think they represent the best chance to play the U.S. well. Argentina is going to sorely miss Pepe Sanchez, who was a great guard for years on their team, including the Gold Medal team in Athens. Prigioni has performed very well so far but he has not ever faced the kind of pressure that the U.S. is going to throw at him. Greece played very well and had a great tournament. I thought that Spanoulis in particular was as good a player as anybody has been so far.

In the Women’s Semis, the US had a battle on their hands as Russia stayed with them for most of the game. It ended up being their closest contest, as you might expect from their most important game to date against the team most of us figured would be the bronze medal winners.

Team USA had been averaging 99.2 points as they went undefeated in the first six games, winning by 43 points a contest. The closest win was 38 (vs. Spain when they were only up by five at the half). But Russia played a very good game, especially in the first half. Russia had been up and down during the preliminary games. I wasn’t sure whether they were having some problems meshing with newcomer Becky Hammon, or whether they were playing Opussum a little by not playing their best, which is a regular tactic in International tournament play. Regardless of the reason, it was the best Russia had to offer against the U.S. They led by 5 midway through the 3rd quarter before the U.S. went on a 12-0 run to eventually end the quarter up 48-40. They continued to pour it on in the 4th as Russia could get no closer than nine.

Becky Hammon really struggled, scoring only 3 points after leading them with 17 in the Quarterfinals. Russia only shot 1-14 from 3 and Hammon was just 1-6. So it is on to the Finals again for the U.S.Women, headed for the showdown against Australia that was also favored to reach the Gold Medal game. AUS might be without their second best player Penny Taylor, which would be a huge blow to The Opals chances.

• I mentioned in a previous post that Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski, who is in Beijing along with the other members of Coach K’s assistant coaching staff from last year, played for me in Poland several years ago. Wojo was kind enough to make himself available for my “5 Questions with….” segment, even though he is unbelievably busy helping to prepare Team USA. Wojo is, and always has been to me, as good as it gets.

5 Questions with Steve Wojciechowski

Q1: If you had to pick just one, what aspect of your play so far are you and the staff most pleased with?

A1: Our defense. This group embraced being an outstanding defensive
team. Pressure defense has become the identity of this team and it has been
beautiful to watch.

Q2: What part of the International game has been the most difficult for
you guys to prepare for?

A2: International teams shoot the ball so well from all five
positions on the floor. There spacing and movement offensively is terrific and
causes a number of problems and tough decisions when preparing for them.

Q3: You have been around this group day and night for the last month.
Which player, either by their on court play or their off court
personality has surprised you the most?

A3: It is a great group of guys to be around. I hope that there
commitment is rewarded with a Gold medal and I have been impressed
with each of them both on and off the court. They are outstanding role
models for young players.

Q4: What non-basketball related happening has been your most memorable
experience in Beijing?

A4: There hasn’t been too much time for activities outside of hoops but
we did manage to make a trip to the Great Wall one morning and it is
spectacular and something I will always remember.

Q5: Has your coaching philosophy been reshaped at all with anything you
have observed or experienced through these games?

A5: The quality of coaching around the world is at such a high level.
Being a young coach, it has been an amazing opportunity to watch and
learn from them. There will be a number of thing I will take back and
use in the future.

Medal Play begins…Can anyone play with either U.S. teams???

Womens Tournament Action

I have just had the pleasure of doing the USA Womens opening medal game versus South Korea and the Russia versus Spain game in the same bracket. The U.S. Women continue to absolutely roll through their competition. They are the equal to the US men in their combination of size, speed, and skill. The biggest difference between the two right now simply lies in the fact that the US Women have less teams that have a legitimate shot to compete with them. AUS is really the only team that I think can play with the US and with AUS player Penny Taylor having just suffered a severe ankle sprain,  their chances look like they took a big hit.

Spain started out playing very hard and very well and Russia was sleepwalking early on as they have done during many stretches this tournament. Russia put on a huge run late in the game and ended up pulling away to win big. Becky Hammon played very well in the 2nd half setting up the very interesting matchup against her home country on Thursday.

I have done mostly Men’s games so far for our coverage on NBCOlympics.com, but I have been watching and following all of the Women’s tournament and I am very impressed with how well Team USA is playing. This team looks to be a fair comparison to the 1996 ” Women’s Dream Team” that kind of started the huge movement of women’s basketball at the professional and Olympic level. One of those 1996 team members was Americas basketball sweetheart Rebecca Lobo. Rebeccas happens to be married to my best friend Steve, so I was able to get Rebecca to be a part of my “5 questions with …” segment. Here is text of that segment:

5 Questions with Rebecca Lobo

Q1. Rebecca, what is your favorite Olympic basketball memory?

Just what you’d expect… being on the medal stand, getting the gold around my neck and hearing the anthem. It was an experience I’d dreamed about since I was a kid. There was also a sense of, ” I’m thrilled we won. I’m glad this is over.” We had trained as a team for the entire year leading up to the Games — traveled all over the world — with only a few days a month where we were allowed to go home. I was physically and emotionally exhausted after the Olympics and happy to take a break from basketball.

Q2. What was your favorite off the court Olympic memory (other event/outside tourist trip, etc?)

The opening ceremonies were unreal. As the host country, we were the last to enter the stadium. I distinctly remember thinking, “THIS is why guys play football” when I heard the deafening noise as we came into the stadium. Then, watching Ali light the torch… amazing.

Q3. Which non-American Olympic player that you played against or have watched since 1996 has impressed you the most?

Lauren Jackson is a stud. At 6′5″ she has an exciting and versatile game. I really enjoy watching her play. And — she’s got that Aussie attitude that is fun to watch on the court.

Q4. What do you feel about Becky and Chris Kaman/JR Holden, et. al. playing for other countries?

I’m torn. Becky was my teammate in New York for 3 years and I consider her a friend. But I don’t really agree with the decision to play for another country just because you want the Olympic experience. I don’t view the Games as a market for free agency. I think you play for your country’s team or you don’t play. Becky made the decision she felt was best for her — but, to me, the rules should not allow it.

Q5. Which coach who hasn’t yet been the Olympic Head Coach of Team USA do you think is deserving of the opportunity in London or a future Olympics?

Geno Auriemma was an assistant in Australia in 2004 but has never been an Olympic head coach.  CT Sun coach Mike Thibault is an assistant with this team and would be a great Olympic head coach. Dawn Staley is an assistant this time around too and is probably the leading candidate for 2012. If USA Basketball continues to ask coaches to make an extensive commitment during the winter, no college head coach will be able to lead the team. It is a bit ridiculous to think that Coach Auriemma might never get the chance when he is the best coach in the country.

Some thoughts heading into the Men’s action tomorrow:

• There is very little to be critical of with USA Basketball this time around. The leadership of Jerry Colangelo has been rock solid. He has run this organization exactly like a CEO does. He has had a blueprint for success. The organization reflects the tenets of what Colangelo believed was necessary to win the Gold and what and who was necessary to do it in a way that he and the rest of us all would be proud of. He has said that he believes that this event will the defining moment of his career and he has worked hard to make sure it is done the right way.

• The makeup of the team, when final selections were announced, was one area that had brought some second guessing from analysts and fans. The two areas consistently mentioned were concerns over whether there were enough 3 point shooters and enough size and depth at the center position. Tyson Chandler was the player most often mentioned as someone the team might have needed inside while there were a handful of shooters often mentioned when lack of shooting was discussed.

• Jason Kidd has probably been the player most often mentioned as someone who could have been replaced for either another big or another shooter. His age, his lack of shooting ability, his poor play for Dallas were all factors that had people questioning his selection. I think all of those question marks are fair topics of concern. It appears though that Colangelo and Coach K valued his “pass first” (and then pass second and pass third and only shoot it if you have a wide open layup) mentality. Kidd has never lost a game in International competition and he was named Captain of the team so I don’t think USA basketball was ever close to not selecting Kidd. Boozer, Prince and Redd have been the three players usually last to enter games so you might infer that those were the three most likely on the bubble selections. If you replaced Redd with a big guy, you would certainly have concerns about perimeter shooting. If you replaced him with another shooter, you would just be swapping shooters. The same thing applies to Boozer. If you replaced Boozer with a shooter you would have no depth whatsoever inside, and if you replaced him with Chandler or another big you would have just swapped one big for another and still been a little thin at that spot. Speaking of thin, Prince really seems to be the guy (assuming that Kidd was off the table) that would make the most sense to look it. Everyone values his length and his defensive ability, but this team is so incredibly athletic at every single spot that there just isn’t a need for another athlete. Coach K can trot out a lineup of Williams at PG, Wade at SG, Kobe at SF, LeBron at PF and Howard at C and there is not a team in the universe that can get up and down the floor, guard the perimeter and use their quickness, strength and leaping ability like that lineup. (If Bosh replaces Howard and Paul replaces Williams and Melo replaces either Wade or Kobe you certainly don’t have much off a dropoff). So in my opinion Kidd and Prince are the 2 guys who I would have had to look hard at when compared to adding a Chandler and a shooter.

• One of the interesting facts is that LeBron led the team in assists last year at the Qualifying play. He has the ball in his hands a ton and when surrounded by other great players he plays like a prototypical true point forward. In many ways you can say that the US has four distributors with Williams, Kidd and Paul, along with LeBron. This is even more reason why another big or another shooter might have made more sense than Kidd.

• Speaking of Kidd, I really wonder if Dallas isn’t headed for a dramatic downturn in wins over the next two years. Kidd is gobbling up a ton of salary cap space and looks to be losing a lot of his game, Dirk has played poorly at times in these Olympics (to be fair most of it is due to constant double and triple teams) and seems to still be having some permanent hangover from the soul searching Australia days. The off the court attention Josh Howard has been garnering can’t help make staff and fans in the Big D feel any better. It will certainly take some time with Carlisle coming in to have the new system operating at maximum efficiency. Dallas, especially Kidd and Howard, wants to run but there are those who think Carlisle will not give them the freedom they are hoping for. Certainly one of those who thinks that is Lithuania’s own Sarunas Jasikevicius, who played for Carlisle in Indiana and is a player who I really thought would be a better NBA player than he ended up being. He certainly doesn’t think Carlisle or his style of play helped his game. This is from the Dallas Morning News Basketball Blog:

Jasikevicius doesn’t mince words: He blames most of his problems on former Pacers and current Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle.

“Obviously, the (up-tempo) style of play Rick promised me was never there, the opportunities to play were never there, and the players who were supposed to be gone by the time I came were still around,” he said. “Rick did a great false recruiting job on me, like college recruiting where they say, ‘If you come here, we promise you the world.’

“But Larry (Bird) being such an honorable man, and (then-president) Donnie (Walsh), too, they hire the coach and let him coach the way he wants. Rick’s a half-court man, no question.”

• It will be interesting to see how that goes in Dallas. It could be that the Wild, Wild West isn’t as wild this year. Phoenix is getting older and now has Shaq in the middle calling for the ball and clogging up space. Portland is presumably going to have more of a post up influence with Oden in the middle. San Antonio and the Lakers are most effective in half court, Minnesota is most effective throwing it into Big Al and playing off of him. We might end up seeing a little shifting of styles and tendencies in the conferences this year.

U.S. gets an “A” on their Big Test

• Well, so much for Spain being a real test. Yesterday’s game was never in doubt. The only real question mark before yesterday was the perimeter shooting of Team USA. The U.S. came out yesterday shooting the ball very well from the perimeter (7 – 10 from 3pt line early in the game) and what’s more, they shot it the right way. By that I mean that they shot stationary shots in rhythm, with their feet set, off of good ball movement, when rebounders were in position. That has really not happened much at all during the exhibition season or the during the first few Olympic games. The NBA is so much different from the college game or the international game and bad habits are tough to break. In the NBA most of the offensive sets involve one of two things; either isolating individuals who are given the ball and expected to create their own shot through a post move or a one on one move OR the individual ballhandler creates shot for himself off of the dribble or by waiting for a screen. In college and in international ball, most perimeter shots are created off of ball movement and you always have two to three shooters that are constantly spacing up outside the line with both feet set and hands ready to shoot the ball immediately off of the catch. Initially, the U.S. players were shooting 3’s off of individual dribble moves or after slight hesitations. Kobe is so used to holding the ball and taking his time to make a move when he is sure that he has space and isn’t facing a double team. He is so physically gifted that often times he will just rise up and shoot a 3 with a defender on him but it isn’t usually a shot in good rhythm. The same holds true with LeBron. He just takes a dribble with a defender on him and just jumps up and shoots it right over him. Even though he can get it off fine, it isn’t a shot in good rhythm.

With all of that being said, I think most basketball purists would agree that the NBA game is becoming more and more pleasing to watch lately. The system run by D’Antoni and Nash in Phoenix the past few years and the continued influence of foreign players along with the changing of NBA rules to allow more of a zone defense look has made the game more free flowing. Things go in cycles and the era of “clutch and grab and wrestle” defense and coaches calling every single set every single time down the floor is hopefully ending.

• Carmelo looked the best he has looked all Olympics and preseason. He has appeared at times to not being enjoying the experience as much as others. Taking a backseat to LeBron and Kobe and D-Wade looks like it has affected him a little. He isn’t used to not being the focal point on offense (although you might argue that A.I. has been making him get used to it for the last year and a half!) but yesterday he got going early and had a smile on his face and a bounce in his step.

• Breaking News…..J Kidd got on the board taking and making his first shot! It was a throw ahead – breakaway layup and there was no way he could have avoided taking the shot but his teammates still half-expected him to pass it But Kidd did shoot it even though LeBron said he thought he was going to go all backboard pass on him again.  I think Kidd learned his lesson last game on that one.

• It might seem a little ridiculous to count your chickens before they are hatched but if Team USA continues romping to the Gold and we assume that most of the stars are not looking to play in 2012, here are some early team possibilities for the team in London:

Greg Oden, Al Jefferson, Kevin Durant, Brandon Roy, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler

• Up to this point, I have been doing most of the Men’s games, while initially many of the Women’s games have been in the incredibly capable hands of Steve Alexander,  Senior Basketball  Editor for Rotoworold.com. The schedule is starting to be less hectic, and both Steve and I will be bringing you the Men’s and Women’s action all of this upcoming week as Group Play is ending and Medal Play starts up. Steve and I have been watching all of the games for both the Men and the Women and we have been very impressed by both of the U.S. teams so far. There are a lot of similarities between the 2 teams. I am excited to work some of the women’s games as they make their run at Gold.  I will be posting some analysis of the womens tournament as it gets down to the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.

• Last but definitely not least………I wanted to make all of you aware of a great event coming up tomorrow in New York City. Actor Tom Cavanagh and his lovely wife Maureen are hosting a celebrity basketball game at world famous Rucker Park to raise funds and awareness for a tremendous cause, the Nothing but Nets foundation. Nothing but Nets is an organization that purchases insecticide treated nets that are sent to Africa to save people from the deadly affects of Malaria. Here is the web address to the information for tomorrow’s event:

http://www.nothingbutnets.net/its-easy-to-help/mvps/tom-maureen-cavanagh.html

Please come out and join us for this event or at the very least take this opportunity to search the Nothing but Nets site to make the very small donation of $10.00 to purchase a net to save lives. The Cavanagh’s are awful good people and you might be surprised at the hoops-playing chops of this talented actor!

Day 3 Summary – U.S. Train keeps rolling along nicely

So much for Greece having our number. So much for the pick and roll giving us problems. If you can’t advance the ball past half court you don’t have much of a chance to get into a pick and roll.  The US team is suddenly the unholy offspring of the old UNLV and Arkansas teams. We played the UNLV team of Plastic Man, Grandmama, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt, Moses Scurry and the gang in 89-90 when I was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State and we had a very good team that year (Dumas, Houston, Corey Williams, etc). In the second half when they turned up the heat (and when the effects of the night before at Richard Perry’s house wore off) we could barely enter the ball into our offense. The 40 Minutes of Hell squad at Arkansas was very similar.

Neither of those teams relative to their competition were as scary as this team. Greece was supposed to be the first big test and within minutes there were about 20 turnovers, about 30 dunks, and Jason Kidd was throwing absurd AND 1 Tour passes off the backboard (which thankfully to Coach K’s credit, got him yanked immediately out after it went 10 feet over the head of an unexpecting LeBron).

Pressure on the basketball is the absolute key to any strong defense. If a ballhandler doesn’t have the time to see openings or to relax for a second, then everyone else can gamble and over extend without getting burned. If a ballhandler can pick and choose without pressure where to enter the ball, no matter how good the other four guys are defending, there will be completed passes that lead to baskets. It is the advantage of the offense knowing where they are going. Just like in football, where if you can put the front four pressure on a quarterback, then you can blitz and take chances without getting burned and you can cause turnovers. If your quarterback (guard) has time to think and read and see the field (floor), then they will pick you apart (Hopefully even if your names are Tarvaris Jackson and Aaron Rodgers and you play for my local teams the Vikings and Pack).

Team USA shot the ball better from 3 today, a respectable 35%, which is a good sign. Kobe came out with a definite intent on getting going offensively, launching 3 of the first 4 or 5 shots, which is fine with me, cause he is still the best overall player in the game to me. But he may not be the best overall player much longer. I said on air last year (when we discussed the MVP vote as it came out). that it was ridiculous that LeBron didn’t get more attention for MVP. He is quickly closing the gap on Kobe and he is easily the most physically imposing asketball player I have ever seen. I know about Shaq and Yao, etc but the combination of size, speed and skill that LeBron brings is awesome. He has had more pin-on-the-glass, volleyball-spike, “lick your fingers and check the wind” ERASE jobs than anyone ever in a 3 game stretch against the worlds elite.

Team USA looks awesome and even though I really like the way that Spain and Argentina play, I don’t seem them losing.

Random Thoughts

by Jack not so Handy

• Coach K brought his Duke staff to be “assistants to the assistants” . Helping out are Johnny Dawkins, who just recently became the head coach at Stanford, Chris Collins, who is the son of former Olympian (and our NBC colleague) Doug, and my man Steve Wojciehowski. I brought Wojo over to play for me in Poland and I still owe him to this day for talking him into coming over to a bad situation. I had high hopes of Wojo being a dual citizen, in a situation similar to what we are now seeing with the likes of Chris Kaman for Germany, etc. Unfortunately, like has happened to me too many times in my life, I was ahead of my time on that one and we both faced incredible frustration that we couldn’t get through any of the hurdles at that time and couldn’t get his application approved. Oh, and did I mention the little fact that they forgot to pay any of us coaches and players??? So thankfully Wojo escaped and landed safely in the arms of Coach K. I thankfully didn’t permanently ruin the career of a kid who will be running a very successful program of his own one day. I know how much Wojo loves Duke and it would not surprise me at all to see him hang out there for a long, long time. I, and many coaching friends of mine, have all one time or another made the mistake of itching so bad to be a head coach that we have left great positions as assistants to be head coaches of bad programs or bad situations. Wojo was one of my all time favorites and I probably flatter myself too much by saying that he reminded me a lot of myself when I played. He certainly was a friend to my family and me when we were over there in a foreign country without knowing anybody and without speaking the language. We valued his friendship and his basketball opinions tremendously. I am happy for all of his recent success and I am sure he is having a blast with the Olympic team.
• David Robinson, as far as I know, is the only American to play on 3 Olympic teams (like the depth and committment of my research? As far as I know stands for I am typing this on the train and not connected to the internet and too lazy to follow through to research it). I remember in 1983 – 84,  when I was briefly being recruited by Navy, that then asst. coach Pete Hermann told me about a kid that was growing like a weed and that he was going to be great. I thought, “yeah, right…it’s Navy”…and it turned out to be “The Admiral”. Even I could have found a way to get some assists if all you had to do was throw it up to David. By the way, I sat next to David at The Final Four this year and he still looks like a million dollars. I actually think he was one of the most ripped players of all time (pre steroid-HGH-supplement era) but because he was so long and lean, his muscles didn’t look as big as they were. You put his guns on my 5’9” body and I would like Pocket Hercules.
• Is it possible that Spain continues it’s ridiculous run of sporting success by pulling off the upset and winning the gold? What a year so far…..Nadal at Wimbledon and French, UEFA Cup and Sergio knocking on the door of majors and now the basketball team….”Muy bueno Espana. Es excellente”

Analysis of the Men’s action after Games 1 and 2

After 2 rounds of Group A and Group B Pool Play, very little has happened to change my opinions and expectations from what they were going into this tournament. China, for all the hype surrounding this game and for the thoughts that the size of Yao and Yi and Wang ZhiZhi might present some problems for the US, really was overwhelmed in Game 1. China understandably came out with an incredible amount of energy and emotion, and played about as well as they could early. When Yao dropped in a 3 from the top of the key to start China’s scoring, the place went bonkers and there was a moment where you wondered if China could make a game of this. A few seconds later and a few dunk finishes on what has seemed like an eternal fast break drill and the US had established their overwhelming physical dominance.

God Bless Angola but it was even more of the same with them. They still are better at making sweaters, (or is that Angora ???) than they are at playing hoops. I don’t remember seeing a game where more layups were pinned on the glass or volleyball spiked into the third row. By the way, LeBron trails only Chinese gymnasts and Phelps in collective Oohs and Aahs moments in these games.

After the first few games, here is my scouting report of Team USA:

My breakdown of Team USA’s strengths and weaknesses:

Team USA Strengths:
1. Unmatched Athletic ability

In LeBron, Kobe, DWade, Carmelo, and Dwight Howard, the US team has guys that have a physical skill set (size, speed, jumping ability and strength) that no one else in the Olympics can match. Paul, Williams, Boozer, Bosh and Prince also are gifted, but not as dramatically as those others while only Redd and Kidd would be considered average athletes in this tournament. There are the occasional players for other teams with physical gifts (Yao’s size, the body control of Ginobili and Spannoulis, the height plus speed plus wiry strength of Kirilenko and Gasol, the foot speed and ballandling quickness of Ricky Rubio and Patrick Mills, etc) but there is no comparison to the combination of gifts the top 5 – 8 Americans have.

Yes, this is basketball and not the decathlon nor a running race. You still have to shoot the ball and pass the ball and use your mental capacity and manage your emotions, and play team defense, etc. I was a former player who was neither as tall nor as quick as the players I regularly went up against. Nobody wants to believe that you can make up for lack of physical gifts with guile, effort, preparation, shooting ability, etc. more than I do. Certainly this is true to a certain extent. But the overmatched person has to be THAT MUCH better and play a flawless game to overcome dramatic physical differences.

It can happen and does happen all the time, almost always in a “one and done” format like the NCAA tourney or Medal Play in an Olympics. You needn’t look any further back than Greece vs USA in last Olympics to find an example of this. You have your Villanova over Georgetown, your Team USA hockey over USSR in 1980 examples, and we all know that they can happen. Many times these happen because the other team also contributes to the upset by being overconfident.  I don’t think is going to happen to this team and I think this ends up being Strength 2 of this version of Team USA:

2. Focus and Effort

Having great focus unfortunately usually comes from losing games and losing Championships. The benefit ultimately is that no longer can the US come into tournaments and Olympic games going through the motions for long periods of time without getting burned. Coach K and his staff are the beneficiaries of what has happened before and believe me, it is a lot easier and a lot more fun to coach a team that is self motivated and one whose attention you have. I also think these guys are having fun, which makes it easier to stay focused. They are attending events, they are visiting tourist attractions, they are acting like normal people.  They should be acting normal,  of course, and they should be having fun, but we know that hasn’t always been the case.

* incidentally, LeBron might be even in a better mood with today’s breaking news:

http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/26919019.html?rss=true

3. Depth

Team USA can go 12 deep. They can withstand foul trouble, poor individual performance nights, and even injuries because of their depth. Especially at the 2, 3 and 4, but even at the 1 position as well, The 2, 3 and 4 positions are so good it’s a joke. The Americans are clearly the deepest team in the tournament. Give me any combination of Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, Williams, Redd, Bosh, Boozer or Prince and you would have a hell of a trio of swing players/forwards.

If Bogut or Yao or Dirk or Šarūnas Jasikevičius or Kirilenko, etc have off nights, their teams do not have enough other firepower to overcome. Two or three of those swing players for the US can be MIA and they can survive it. The depth of the US will really show up late in games where the US can stay fresh and late in the tournament where the US can stay fresh.

The only concern for the US is at the 5 position if Howard gets injured or fouls out early against a powerful inside team, like Greece or possibly Spain or Argentina.

Certainly there are some legitimate concerns for Team USA, and I would rank them as such:

1. Perimeter Shooting

This has been an issue for years and although the US attempted to rectify this by adding Michael Redd, I don’t think they still have as good of shooting team as I would like to see. I have always believed that you can never have too many shooters, especially in light of the shorter 3 point line. If guys like Ray Allen didn’t want to play, there was still a reason to consider adding someone like Mike Miller or Rip Hamilton or James Jones or Daniel Gibson or even a specialist like Kapono. I think you could have swapped out Jason Kidd for another shooter and you would have been a stronger team. I understand all of the things that Kidd brings to the team and I know of his undefeated record, but he is not the player he used to be and the US is playing better basketball with CP3 or Deron Williams at the point. After the first 2 games, the US is shooting only 27% from 3pt range, and remember that this is from a much closer line than in the NBA.

2. Rebounding

Lack of traditional post player/type size would lead you to believe that rebounding will be a huge problem. It is hard to tell now after the first 2 games, but I think the US will be able to keep this from being a huge issue. When Team USA is going small with LeBron at 4 and Kobe at 3, both of those guys have to resist the urge to leak out early and they must stay at home until Howard or Bosh can control the boards.

The US will rebound by committee and probably will at times need their bigs to faceguard blockout (meaning just staying between the other big and the bucket by staying face up and not worrying about seeing the ball). When you just wrestle with and occupy the other teams rebounding threat, you at least keep him from crashing the boards. Thus you rely on having your 2’s and 3’s do much of your rebounding. LeBron and DWade are tremendous rebounders at their spots when they need to be.

3. Chemistry

Chemistry has been talked about a lot as a potential weakness of this team. The fact that this team has not been together as long as most of the opponents, the fact that they don’t have that “chip on our shoulder” mentality that unifies teams from less successful countries, the fact that the previous World Championship and previous Olympic teams haven’t seemed to have great chemistry has all been considered a concern.

I like what I see so far and I don’t really see that as a problem this time. This team is made up of a lot of good kids and solid citizens. I coached Chris Bosh in Toronto and he is a super kid. You will find him touring the Great Wall and supporting the US Women on off days, not helicoptering over to Macau to get in a few $10,000 limit games of baccarat. I did over 40 Milwaukee Bucks games last year for Fox Sports Net and know Michael Redd to be a quiet, religious, no-nonsense guy. Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Dwight Howard are all especially high-quality guys. LeBron has set a tone for this team with his early enthusiastic commitment to play for the team and Kobe has always been a Coach K guy, which has him acting on his best behavior. Kobe’s insistence on making defense his priority has been a huge asset to the overall team chemistry. The chemistry seems very good, partly because Coach K, Colangelo and staff went into building this team with a stated goal of having chemistry be an important part of this year’s squad, and partly because the reality of losing the last few big tournaments has made chemistry important.

Some additional random thoughts:

• D Wade looks like his old fearless self. He is ducking his head and bulldoggin’ his way to the basket like he has done most of his career. Personally I don’t think he had as off a year as everyone was saying. I did a game in Miami against Minnesota where I believe he went to the line 22 times (21 makes).

• If you could build a Frankenstein player, ‘Melo may be the best player for International Play (size , shooting ability, ball skills). He doesn’t have all the intangibles and his D is not up to snuff, but offensively he is a prototype of an International Competition player. (which reminds me of something I heard John Wooden say at a lunch….he said, and I am paraphrasing, “don’t ever tell me that someone who is a great offensive player can’t be a good defensive player. If you have the tools to be good on offense, like quickness, good footwork and hand-eye coordination, then you certainly have the abilities to be a good defensive player. It simply is a matter of effort!”.)

• The FIBA ball is considered slicker and slightly smaller than NBA ball.

• Michael Redd might be at his absolute best in this environment – with a specialized role as a shooter with the green light. Redd struggled at times last year with Bucks…he shot a low percentage, his ability to be a team leader has been questioned, he has not always shown the ability to make his teammates better. At times he and Mo Williams seemed to have a battle for the ball, (see * link to Mo being traded today), but I think he is at his best with this kind of situation and I think he will be important to the US chances of winning gold.

• In 2010, FIBA is going to the rectangle lane. Both FIBA and the NBA are trying to unify rules a little… (are you listening NCAA; with your 18 different 3 point lines??)

• Early 2012 Olympic coaching candidates (Pop, D’Antoni). My longshot candidate is Doug Collins.

Olympic Basketball Coverage – Opening Post

Greetings from the NBCOlympics Studios where we are finishing up Day 2 of the Mens Basketball Pool Play and about to begin Day 3 of the Womens Pool Play.

I am very excited to be the basketball analyst for this revolutionary project that NBC is rolling out. It has garnered a ton of worldwide publicity and all of our analysts here are amazed at the technology that we are able to be a part of. For us to be able to stream live (in high quality!) to any computer in the world every single basketball game and for us to be able to provide written analysis that time code syncs up with the action that you see at home on your computer is pretty darn amazing.

This is certainly a new world for me. I am a talker, not a typer. As a former coach and now as a basketball analyst on television for Fox Sports Net, I am used to watching and talking and that is it! I can chew gum and walk at the same time,….but barely. For FSN, I am used to doing studio shows or live game analysis where I am watching the game or dissecting video tape and just talking about what I see. In those instances, I am able to watch the game, keep an eye on coaches, read the players reactions on the court and on the bench, get the feel for referees, etc all the while only having to talk. I get a great feel for the game and I can feel confident about my analysis. I don’t have to do anything but talk and the sound guys and the microphone pick up my audio and I am good to go.

In this project, I have to type my comments without spell check and without any time to review syntax, grammar etc while watching the game on a smaller monitor without the aid of a play by play partner or a stat man, etc. Also, throw in the fact that almost every name I type is spelled something close to this” Vasylykinaillious Spirodokatpamchenykosaronova” and it all adds up to making this a little bit different than what I am normally used to. I have to glance at the text box before I send each comment to make sure that I haven’t completely misspelled or typo-ed my way in embarassment. It certainly presents a challenge unlike any I have had before as a commentator.

I am sure that those who have seen me on television probably would suggest that I have a face that is perfect for written commentary, but this is definitely something new for me. My wife Katie is a writer who has written a column for The Chicago Tribune RedEye, her father was a Senior Roving Editor for Reader’s Digest for over 30 years and my best friend is Steve Rushin, famous writer who as a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated was named National Sportswriter of the Year in 2005. Through Steve I became good friends with many of the great writers in this country. I have come to know and appreciate wordly talents like Alex Wolff of Sports Illustrated, John Walters of NBC Sports, along with greats like Grant Wahl, Jim Caple, Mark Beech and others. Every one of these guys are brilliant writers who are masters of the English language. I ask their forgiveness as I enter into their world for a few weeks in the name of basketball, technology and innovation.