On the Olympics...

On the Olympics so far…

USA Basketball
I’ve put this off for too long. This team is done with its easy portion of pool play. They have Germany, Grease and Spain coming up in their next three games, yikes! The Germans shouldn’t be too tough to handle for the Americans. They’ll just have to keep the ball out of Dirk’s hands and keep the Caveman (Chris Kaman) off the glass.

What I’ve liked so far:
1. Dwayne Wade has been amazing for the US team off the bench. He looks to have that pre-shoulder/knee surgery quickness and explosiveness. He’s been getting to the rim at will and he’s been a lock down defender on the other end of the floor – well, at least when he’s been on the ball handler (but more on that later). Miami Heat fans and executives alike have to be liking what they’ve seen out of him so far. Baring any other wild injury (knock on wood) he should be back to old form in no time.

2. LeBron James is unstoppable on an all-star team. He has been the US Team’s best player by far in these games. When his weaknesses (ie. mid-range game, lack of post game, inconsistent shooting) cannot be exploited due to other all-stars being on the floor he can go out and do the things he’s best at (ie. getting to the rim, dunking on dudes, running fast breaks by himself) he’s pretty hard to tame. He’s been great playing help side (as you saw on three amazing blocks against China and that one mid-way through the second against Angola [yikes!]) and he’s been really jumping in passing lanes.

3. Chris Bosh has been great providing what Dwight Howard hasn’t been able to give the US team in the paint. If I’m starting an NBA franchise and I had a choice to build around Dwight Howard or Chris Bosh, I’m taking Howard every time, but this isn’t the case in international play. Chris Bosh is better for this style of play. He can bring out defenders and hit the mid range jumpers and has the quickness to get around defenders and get to the rim. He’s going to be a big part of their success (if any) against teams like Grease, Spain and Argentina.

4. The coaching staff’s full court press has been very affective, especially when teams have brought in their second or third point guards. The US team is obviously the quickest and most athletic team playing in these Olympic games and it makes for some crowd pleasing passes and dunks (that Jason Kidd to LeBron alley-oop early in the game against China made me yell Oh My God and I was quite pleased when Kobe smashed on Sun Yue, and I can’t wait to see what Yue can do in the NBA, he is a potential beast).

What I haven’t liked:
1. Seeing Coach K prowl the sidelines. I can’t stand this man. He’s the reason I’m rooting for Spain to win it all. I do not want to see Coach K succeed. My hatred for Duke runs so deep that I’d rather see Coach K fail in the Olympics instead of seeing the US Team pick up a gold medal. Oh, and Carlos Boozer has been terrible. No wonder he hasn’t been getting any playing time. Tyson Chandler should have been selected to this team, I mean, look at the chemistry he already had with Chris Paul (the lead the league in alley-oops!). I have more allegiance to North Carolina than I have with the US, so I’ll root for Spain.

2. Trapping in the half court sets. This is going to ruin the US Team’s hopes for a gold medal if they try to pull this stunt against some of the better teams (even Germany tomorrow morning). American basketball players are already lazy when it comes to closing out three-point shooters so leaving a shooter to double team another player is more than just pointless, it’s stupid. Not only do international players shoot better on average than American players, but the three point line is a few feet closer to the basket so the shots are going to fall at a higher rate anyway. There shouldn’t be a player in the Olympics that an American shouldn’t be able to handle one-on-one and if there is, let him beat you instead of letting his role players light you up from behind the three-point arch. Spain’s guards are going to destroy the Americans if they don’t figure this out (I’m looking at you Coach K, you too D’Antoni).

3. Carmelo Anthony is lazy and should not be playing power forward. He set a goal of 10 rebounds per game, he’s had 10 rebounds in the first two games combined. Bring him off the bench for some added bench scoring and start Chris Bosh. You don’t need anymore speed in the starting line-up with Jason Kidd running the point with this Kobe/LeBron wings. Actually, Deron Williams should be starting too, Jason Kidd has been playing like shit. He’s the second best three-point shooter on this team and can abuse any guard in the Olympics. Change the starting line-up to Williams, Kobe, LeBron, Bosh and Howard. That can’t be stopped, especially when you have Kidd, Melo and Wade coming off the bench.

4. Kobe’s shooting has been terrible. There isn’t much more to say about that.

5. Free throw shooting has been abysmal. Can’t really say anything about that either.

6. I don’t like their jerseys. So far, from everyone I’ve talked to, I’m the only one who feels this way.

Swimming:
Before I begin, let me just say Michael Phelps is a beast. Now that’s out of the way I can get into swimming’s biggest story so far, the 400-meter freestyle relay. Earlier this summer I posted this blog on the best sporting events of the year up until that point, well, the 400-meter freestyle relay has definitely fallen under that ‘will not soon be forgotten’ category. There were so many interesting sub-plots going into this race that put this race on my ‘must-see’ list for these Olympic games. Were talking about Michael Phelps going for 8 gold medals in these games alone and more gold medals than anyone else in Olympic history in one of the two events that Phelps did not receive a gold medal in during the 2004 Olympics in Athens. We’re talking about a dominate French team who were heavy favorites to win the event and an overly cocky Frenchman, Alain Bernard, talking about how his relay team was going to “smash” the American team. We’re talking about Phelps needing all three of his teammates to come through, not only to win the gold, but to also have a chance at breaking the world record, a feat he had already accomplished in his previous two events – and then there was the race.

Phelps led things off, but his lead was less than commanding. Things moved form Garrett Weber Gale to Cullen Jones, then Jason Lezak dove into the pool, trailing Bernard, Frances best swimmer and anchor. Bernard was on world record pace and looked as if he wouldn’t be caught. Then, after the turn going into the final 50 meters announcers moved from “Lezak is going to have to pick things up if he wants to pull this off for the Americans,” to “Lezak is closing the gap, he can pull this off.” Then, in those final 25 meters the announcers moved from “Bernard is tightening up! I can’t believe this is happening,” to “I CAN’T BELIEVE LEZAK PULLED IT OFF! THAT WAS THE FASTEST SPLIT 100 METER SPLIT IN OLYMPIC HISTORY!” Phelps screamed like a madman, Weber-Gale was screaming explectives at the top of his lungs and Jones just jumped up and down with that God damned smile on his face. It was moving, it was exciting, it was inspiring – it was what the Olympics are all about. You don’t see determination like what Lezak showed during every stoke of those last 50 meters. His finish – just .08 seconds before Bernards – is going to be one of those clips that we’ll see for years to come. It’s going to be something we were all glad we watched (well, those of us who actually watched it live) because it was the epitome of the spirit of sport. That race is why we watch sports, at least it’s why I watch sports. It was simply amazing to watch.

Gymnastics:
Let’s just be glad that Alicia Sacramone doesn’t live in China or Israel, where I think they kill any Olympic competitors who fail miserably. Maybe being murdered was a stretch, but we do live in a country where we give sympathy to failures. We all love the story of the Titanic, Bill Gates was a college dropout and our national pastime, baseball, is a game of failure. Now we have Sacramone, who, after China left the gate to an Olympic gold wide open, fell on the balance beam before her routine even started then, to add insult to injury, fell again during her floor exercise leaving her looking dumber than John Edwards during his interview where he admitted having an affair with that crazy lady. The thing is, since she’s only like 12 years old and fell apart on the biggest stage possible, people won’t go that hard on her.

What I thought was interesting about that collapse was the fact that the US Women’s gymnastic team finished better than the Men’s team, who are all going home with bronze medals, yet, it felt like the Men’s team finished with a gold medal and the Women’s team didn’t even get to the podium. Lack of clutch will do that to you. I watched the men’s team celebrate like they were on top of the gymnastic world when they pulled off that bronze then I watched the women’s team look like they just heard about Bernie Mac’s death when they realized that silver was inevitable.

Other Notes…
Track and field starts on Friday, I’m patiently waiting for that… the men’s volleyball team is wack… RIP to both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, both were legends in their respective fields. Those were two huge losses and they will be missed dearly…

Stay Hideous
-PB

(Word count to date: 57,010
32 days and 42,990 words to go)