I need to apologize to Kobe
I have never liked Kobe, that he can speak lots of languages, that he was a prima donna, that he complained about not having a team when his ego was the driving force behind its break-up, that he sometimes does that LL Cool J "licking his lips" thing. I would often justify my dislike, thinking that he was a bad person and associate him with a crime he didn't commit, while I would give a free pass to people who were caught committing crimes (J-Kidd)
During his MVP campaign , I had to endure the talk about how he changed as a player, leader, etc. and was pleased to watch it unravel in the finals. But after watching him yesterday, my perception of him has changed.
I realized I really just didn't like him because he has more game in his left pinky than I do in my entire body, but he makes this team work. I didn't think a superstar would subjugate himself to the role of defensive stopper, but all he seemed to be interested in was playing shut down D. In the second half, he showed that he can still go off offensively at any time, but he seems to relish the challenge of playing Defense, and is completely comfortable letting others carry the offensive load. His willingness to play Defense changed the outlook of this squad. Instead of talking about 12 superstars each looking for their own shots, I spent most of the afternoon talking to my friends about the US D, and that all starts with Kobe.
The US is a team, and one that plays D
As stated above players like Kobe are accepting of their roles and excelling at them. Tayshaun Prince knows he is in for D, Michael Redd is comfortable getting limited minutes to be a 3 point specialist. There is also know me first attitude. No one seemed to care who was getting points, who was getting playing time, in fact it didn't seem to matter who scored at all, there biggest concern was not letting the other team score.
I can't remember a time when I associated Team USA for Defense and hustle, but that is how I am starting to view this team. They are going for steals on every dribble, overplaying passing lanes on every pass, contesting shots, its as if they have decided the other team will not dribble into the 3 point area. The hustle was outstanding too, I saw James and Wade both sprinting out of bounds to save loose balls (in an exhibition match)
Size isn't an issue
Because of this shut down D, a lot of possessions the other team isn't even getting a shot up, if you don't have to rebound what does it matter how big you are. If anything it has been a hindrance as Dwight Howard is picking up fouls because he is being forced to play outside the 3 point line. Though Dwight had 4 fouls, Coach K gave a lot of run to Chris Bosh who has the height and more speed than Howard or boozer to guard players on the outside.
Coach K read my emails
Once I figured out how to spell his last name it was easy to send him emails reminding him that just because Jason Kidd was grandfathered onto the Team doesn't mean he has to play more than the two point guards that are better than him. J-Kidd does look 5 years younger playing with these guys and he can still distribute, but he is no Chris Paul and Coach K finally sat him down and let Paul run the first team, to be spelled by Williams. (Though the Paul/Williams back court was awesome and one of the reasons why watching TEAM USA is so cool)
D-Wade is back
He looks like he did in the Finals, the Heat should be decent this year if Beasely can fill it up the way people think he can.
Melo should play in Europe
for some reason, he seems to excel in the international game. He should take the Euro's and tell anyone that will listen that his dream has REALLY always been to win a european championship.
CP3 is CP13
CP 三 is now CP十三. Why couldn't he get number 3 like he usually wears for the hornets. The only person who kept his normal number was Melo. Why can't they wear their normal numbers. Did Team USA retire all the original dream team numbers, Do the numbers only go up to 20?
Minghang district, where the game took place, is really far away
How is this part of Shanghai, the taxi's didn't even start out at the same amount. It took 3 subway lines and 50 minutes just to get there.
Chinese People love foul shots
Maybe they don't understand the game, or maybe they understand it so well that they see it as picking up points while the clock is stopped, but the most applause for both the US and Russian teams came when they were fouled and went to shoot, not when they dunked or hit a big 3 pointer.
Chinese People love superstars
Kobe was the story of the game, but not for the way he played, but for how many chinese were there just for him. THey love him. I thought they would like Lebron (his nickname is "Little Emperor" here) even more. And I don't think it is a case of KObe just being in the finals.
In general the chinese just love superstars. I think that is why the US basketball team is their favorite, even more so than any chinese team. It is a collection of famous names.
I feel confident about this squad
They are scoring, they are committed to D, they have adjusted to FIBA rules better than any other year (they are taking the ball as soon as it hits the rim) there style of play suits the players that they have on the team.
A lot has been made of other teams not playing their best players or trying to goad the US into a false sense of confidence, and maybe the games would have been closer with better competition and using all of their sets, but I am sure we have yet to see everything that the US is going to do, so far they have been winning with D and hustle, and winning big. I would say they are at about 85% to win the gold. I'm definately afraid of teams like Spain that can handle the ball, (because we have been feasting off turnovers), Argentina, (because they are built like us a bunch of versatile 6'3'' to 6'9" guys, with probably a bit more height) and maybe Greece.
Frankly all it takes is one loss from teams that no longer fear the US in the medal round and we won't be playing for the Gold. But I like our chances a lot more than I previously did.
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