Meanwhile, in Vegas...

by Tom Ziller on Aug 15, 2007 1:04 PM PDT in Links

Some miscellany re: USA basketball and more:

Kurt from Forum Blue & Gold has a deep look at Team USA's critical problem: defense. For all the talk about the need for zone-busting shooters and unselfish players, the offense has been stellar. Kurt explains why (and how) the defense needs to improve for Beijing gold to come true.
Another friend of the site, Steve of Clips Nation, analyzes the whole Jerry Colangelo 'three-year program' ~~charade~~ philosophy. Needless to say, things haven't changed much.
StR community member DB just quietly launched a new site I've enjoyed greatly thus far: Movie City USA. DB had an older blog I read religiously; he really knows his film. If you're at all interested in the pictures, check it out. (Frances McDormand would top my 'Top 10 Best Actress Oscar-Winning Performances' list, though. And Madame TZ informs me her list begins with Vivian Leigh. Only John Hollinger can settle this.)

UPDATE: Reggie Theus was honored by the National Association of Black Journalists Sports Task Force last weekend. Gavin Maloof was there to congratulate Coach, says the Denver Post's Marc J. Spears. Don King was also given an award, which sparked a bunch of controversy.

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About team USA & article...

I thought one of the reasons team USA lost in the elimination game against Greece was because of Mike Krzyzewski's STUPID decisions in crunch time, for an example Sofoklis Schortsanitis AKA "baby shaq" was dominating team USA in the paint and instead of keeping all big men on the floor to try to contain this huge man named Sofoklis Schortsanitis.... Mike Krzyzewski made a decision to go small ball and as i remember he put 5 players on the floor : lebron, wade, carmello, battier, and i believe kirk hinrich i'm not 100% sure if it was that exact 5 but i do know that Lebron James was the biggest man on the floor and he was matched up against 6"10 310 pound Sofoklis Schortsanitis does that make any sense when you have Dwight Howard and Elton Brand on your team? even Chris Bosh would of made more sense and he's much skinner than Lebron but atleast he has the height..dare i say Brad Miller? enough said there.

About the defensive rotations and defending the pick and roll i think with Tyson Chandler there and also Chris Bosh who didn't play a whole lot last year and also Amare Stoudamire is very athletic|quick|explosive obviously for a big man so i think that will improve next season but Jerry Colangelo should of cut Brad Miller and kept Shawn Marion that was a BIG MISTAKE, Marion defends the pick and roll very well from what i have seen so he would of helped a lot and Brad's defense vs the pick and roll isnt exactly great as all of us Kings fans might know.A starting lineup of Kidd|Kobe|Lebron|Dwight|Chandler would be nice but god i wish Josh Howard and Tim Duncan didn't decline there invites because Kidd|Kobe|Josh|Duncan|Chandler would of been my official dream team today.

by rimrock101 @ Sactown Royalty on Aug 15, 2007 8:49 PM PDT reply actions

Re: Meanwhile, in Vegas...

I watched the game against Greece, and while the big man for Greece was somewhat effective, the USA lost that game because they couldn't control the Greeks from the perimeter. Those guys were busting threes from all over the floor - defended, undefended, didn't matter.

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by otis29 on Aug 15, 2007 9:49 PM PDT reply actions

Re: Meanwhile, in Vegas...

Quite frankily they could have played three more times and USA probably would have won all three. The Greeks shot roof off of the gym (0.625 FG% 0.444 3PFG%). Anyone gets hot like that and I don't think there is a chance to win. That being said Team USA's defense certainly had much to do with it, but as otis said, gaurded/ungaurded... didn't matter.

by Mityt on Aug 16, 2007 11:26 AM PDT reply actions