The Association

Why It Got a "Little Dusty" After Team USA Won

By Craig Kwasniewski

I gotta admit, I love me some USA Basketball.  Sure a lot of it is because I love bonus content to my normal NBA schedule (and who doesn't like a little extra deleted scenes), but also it's basically our World Cup.  Allow me to explain...

I went to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.  It was an unreal experience.  I'm guessing the Olympics are basically the same thing, with people from all corners of the world coming together to watch games, drink A LOT, eat, dance and chill all for the same cause.  If your not watching the games in person you're at a bar or cafe watching with a ton of people, talking up the game or just hanging out (beer in hand, of course).  I was there for almost a week and will never forget it.

I also got to root on the US Soccer team as they played the Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen.  The tickets weren't easy to come by.  You had to apply through the ussoccer.com website months in advance and hope against all hope you won the lottery to sit with a few thousand USA fans in the corner of the stadium.  We geared up in USA digs and belted out the national anthem louder than I ever had in my life on this little expat island in the middle of Germany.  We had Landan Donovan and a team 4 years removed from a respectable Quarterfinals elimination to Germany in 2002.  We were well on our way...

Until the game started.

GOAL!  Czech Republic up 1-0 at the 5 minute mark.

GOAL!  Czech Republic up 2-0 at the 36 minute mark.

It's not even halftime and the game is over.  The Czechs were clearly better then our boys.  And everyone in the stadium let us know about it.  From then until the whistle came the taunting and front running that follows much of European futbol.  To make matter worse, the ugliness didn't end...

GOAL!  Czech Republic up 3-0 at the 76 minute mark.

Ballgame!  And now comes the slow long walk back to the train station. Past the bars with Czech and German fans laughing, chanting and dancing.  In the sweltering German summer heat that was easily the longest mile walk ever.

I still rememeber that hot miserable day every time I watch the USA Basketball squad roll on through to the Gold Medal.  This is what it looks like when the US fields a team of our biggest, brightest, fastest and bestest athletes against the world.  Basketball might not have the same worldly pull like futbol but it's slowly moving up the ladder.  And as long as our first, second and even third best athletes are playing other sports, we'll never compete with the footy elites and near-elites.  But we sure as hell can kick ass in basletball!

And with every Team USA Gold Medal victory I get flush in patriotism and things turn a little... (cough, cough)... dusty.

U-S-A...U-S-A...U-S-A!!!

Photos: Reaching for the Gold?

by Craig Kwasniewski

Chris Bosh gives his own impression of "going for the gold" while boxing out Spain's Rudy Fernandez during USA's very impressive 119-82 win over Spain. A rumor going around the Olympic Village is that Fernandez was caught wearing a "I went to the 2008 Olympics and all I got was this lousy tee shirt and a prostate exam" shirt.

USA Rolls Over Angola and How I'm Not a Fan of Olympic Kobe

by Craig Kwasniewski

Team USA easily beat Angola 97-76 early Tuesday morning. Several minor takes on the game plus player grades below but let me quickly get to my point...

I'm not a big fan of Olympic Kobe. In fact, I'm very close to saying that Olympic Kobe might be... this is tough to say especially as a nine-year Lakers season ticket holder... Olympic Kobe might be overrated.

We heard last summer how much of an influence Kobe had on Team USA. Players raved about his tenacity and training regimen in practice. We especially heard (and continue to hear constantly) about his defensive intensity and that he dove for a lose ball in the first minute of the Tournament of the Americas last summer in Vegas. Kobe was supposed to bring a type of swagger and confidence that Team USA has lacked over the past six years. He was to dominate Team USA on their way to the gold.

Frankly, after two games I'm not seeing anything like that from the NBA's reigning MVP. Olympic Kobe is playing like it's the Paul Pierce Wheelchairity Invitational or whatever crappy All-Star exhibitions that NBA ballers do in the summer.

So far he's shooting an atrocious 1-15 from beyond the arc against Angola and China. And instead of driving the lane and establishing some sort of offensive rhythm with a few easy hoops, Kobe simply passed off many uncontested layups and dunks.

Plus his defense has been worse. Instead of breaking out a "not while I'm on the floor" lock-down defense that was hyped last summer, Kobe's been sagging heavily off his man and cheating in the passing lanes (a lazy defense in my opinion). This may work in the NBA but not against teams like Spain, Germany and Argentina where players 1-12 can hit outside J's with consistency. And the few times Kobe did choose to man-up the ball-handler, he was too close and got beat off the dribble. Basically he underestimated his opponent's skill with the ball.

Now I know we're only two games into the Olympic tournament and it's against the two worst teams in USA's pool. So maybe Kobe's just pacing himself like a regular season game in November. But I was expecting Kobe's famous competitive drive to take over and lead Team USA, establishing him as the ultimate alpha male on a team of alpha males. But instead we're seeing Dwyane Wade, Lebron James and possibly Dwight Howard play with an aggression and dominance not seen the last six years.

Anyway, I'm just disappointed to see Kobe not bring that famous playoff intensity so far. Now a few other thoughts on the Angola game:

No Lawler's Law: LA Clippers announcer Ralph Lawler has a rule: The first team to 100 points wins the game. There's no excuse for Team USA to not drop a c-note on Angola. Instead of intimidating the rest of the field by rolling through everyone, Team USA took much of the night off in the typical look-ahead fashion with Greece coming up on Thursday. Still no excuse against a team with a stated goal of not losing by 40.

Dwyane Wade continues to dominate play.

Defense cranked up a notch at the end of the half: Led by Lebron and Wade, USA blew the game open at the end of the half with defensive pressure and quick transition points. Both Wade and Lebron have thoroughly impressed me with their intensity. Maybe it's motivation from losing in 2004 (especially for Lebron as Larry Brown inexplicably kept him on the bench for long stretches), all I know is that they are clearly the leaders on the floor for Team USA.

Angola has the coolest flag: I first noticed it when I was in Germany watching Angola face Portugal in the World Cup. At a quick glace you think you're seeing the Communist hammer and sickle but alas... it's a machete crossed over a cog wheel. According to wikipedia, "The symbol in the middle is of a crossed cog wheel (representing workers and industry) and machete (representing the peasantry) with a gold star." A nation that has suffered greatly from war over conflict diamonds and has the balls to put a machete on their flag is a nation not to be messed with (well unless it's basketball).

Looking ahead to Greece and still bricking threes: Two weak opponents down and Team USA continues to struggle from three point range. So expect a lot of zone defenses for the rest of the tournament by teams with a lot of size. I'm not worried about Greece, it's Spain and Argentina with their NBA-experienced bigs along with quick and very capable backcourts. How is it that a team with 12 of the best players in the NBA can't shoot a damn 20'-6" jump shot? Coach K better find a way to fix this or look at a very similar loss like in the World Championships.

The Grades:

USA Beats China and I Discover the Best Thing About Olympic Hoops

by Craig Kwasniewski

Team USA's depth and defensive ferocity overcomes extremely poor three point shooting as they beat China 101-70. China shot the lights out from beyond the arc to keep it close for a half but USA eventually wore down the hosts going 12 deep with constant on-the-ball pressure. It was an awesome/dominant display by both LeBron and Wade... but who cares?

The best part about the game...

It wasn't on ESPN!!!! No Stuart Scott doing his "look at me" routine and killing the broadcast (I can't stress it enough, the guy is killing basketball on TV for me!). No retarded ADD announcers calling Team USA (Seriously, Rick Kamla needs to stop doing 27 lines of blow and 5 cans of Monster before every game, USA Basketball is not the WWE). No interviews or commercial leads by ABC celebrities promoting their crappy shows. And no crowd shots of people cheering the action.

I got goose-bumps literally seconds into the broadcast when they broke out the old school NBA on NBC theme song. And with Mike Breen and Doug Collins calling the game you knew it was something special.

Anyway, here are a few other thoughts on the game:

The NBC Olympic Basketball Channel is the greatest thing in the Olympics: Hoops junkies will love the wall-to-wall basketball coverage on the Basketball Channel. I was able to see the USA game live and without any BS feature pieces. You can watch all the games there with no commercial or in-studio interruptions. I've already watched Argentina lose to Lithuania and Dirk Nowitzki dominate against Angola. It's on Channel 754 on DirecTV in HD.

Three Point Shooting Woes: China's not a medal contender and USA still couldn't hit from beyond the arc. What happens when USA plays quality teams like Argentina and Spain? Will opponents start packing the lanes, closing down penetration and daring the USA to shoot from distance? It's painful seeing Kobe, LeBron and Melo (they shot a combined 2-12) brick shot after shot. This could be a problem later in the tournament.

China with the best possible start: Seconds into the game, Yao Ming, China's flag bearer in the opening ceremony and most popular athlete, hits a three from the top of the key to open the scoring. That might have been the best moment in the history of basketball in China. China's marquee athlete, opening against arguably the best team in the world, at home with both the Chinese and American leaders in the house... it was a cool moment.

Yao after opening with a three to give China a 3-0 lead.

LeBron and Wade... taking back their future: Last season was about turning-the-clock back with the Lakers and Celtics in the Finals. But the two best players this summer have clearly been LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. They both took turns slicing down the lanes for sick dunks and they both were very effective on the defensive end (especially LeBron with several highlight blocks, including a sick two-handed swipe). Maybe this will be a preview of next season as they both remind us they're still the future of the NBA.

The Grades:

Photos: My Favorite Photo of Team USA (So Far)

by Craig Kwasniewski

From Yahoo.com: Basketball player LeBron James of the United States adjust the tie of Olympic teammate Kobe Bryant during a visit by US President George W. Bush on the opening day of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

There's something very honest about this photo. Take away the millions of dollars, the present and many future awards, the NBA titles... take away everything and you have one dude asking another to help adjust his tie. I just think it's really cool.

Kobe Will Guard You 80 Feet From the Action

by Brett Edwards

Here's a news flash for all of the teams attempting to take down the USA in the FIBA Championships: You have no freaking chance. Kobe Bryant will not let team USA even come close to losing. He is bringing an insane intensity level that the team has lacked in recent years, first by working out like a madman, and now by playing full court defense on every opposing team's best player.

Kobe completely shut down Leandro Barbosa during USA's 113-76 beatdown of Brazil. Barbosa was previously leading the tournament in scoring at 27 per game, but ended up with just 4 points on 1-7 shooting with Kobe all over him. Chris Sheridan explains how Kobe locked down Barbosa from the very beginning:

The tone of the Kobe Bryant-Leandro Barbosa matchup was set just a few moments into the first quarter, but you had to look 80 feet away from the action to see it unfold.

As a player from Brazil shot two free throws at one end of the court, Barbosa stood beneath the basket all the way at the opposite baseline, trying to get a clear view.

Every second or so, however, Barbosa had to move a step or two to clear his line of vision from the obstruction that kept moving in his way.

That obstruction was Bryant, who was gluing himself to Barbosa at that very moment and stayed attached to him like white on rice all night ...

"He don't guard like that in the NBA, but he did tonight and I was impressed," Barbosa told ESPN.com.

Kobe did point out that he's dropped 20 pounds since the end of last season, so maybe we will see him guard like that in the NBA. But that's a couple of months away. For right now, teams playing in this qualifying tournament against the USA should be prepared to sit back and enjoy their beating, because with Kobe bringing this type of intensity, they have absolutely no shot.

Why USA Basketball Finished Third

By Craig Kwasniewski

The World Championships are over and USA Basketball didn't make the final for the third straight international tournament. Is it time to panic? Has the international game conquered USA Basketball? Is Spain the new hotbed for basketball?

All right, stop right there... the answer is an unequivocal NO, NO, NO!!!!

Basketball "experts" will throw out the typical excuses for the non-championship: poor perimeter shooting, lack of international experience, international referees and lack of team cohesion. These experts are wrong. There are other reasons why USA Basketball lost besides the aforementioned excuses. I'll list just a few and based on my rage (or interest by you the reader) I may follow up with a part 2 next week.

1. David Stern: The question needs to be asked, what is the purpose of USA Basketball? Is it assembled to win the biannual international tournaments? Or is it another NBA promotional vehicle? I think Stern looks at USA Basketball as a chance to test the international waters with respect to name brand recognition. All during the tournament I passed across hundreds of photos of USA ballers attending promotional events. The team is flat out exhausted. As ESPN's Chris Sheridan pointed out last Tuesday:

Approaching Wade to ask him about fatigue, I began my question: "You've been over here in Asia now for more than three weeks ...

Wade interrupted me and said "Three months," which is as good an indication as any that all this time away from home is taking a little something out of at least some of the Americans.

Sitting with his knees and right wrist wrapped in ice, Wade said he's feeling more exhausted on this trip than he did two years ago in Athens...

Some of the players like Wade are still recovering from an extended playoff run, but they are also pulled in many promotional directions throughout the tournament. Besides Ginobili and Gasol, I haven't seen or heard much of the other participating teams involved in such a hectic schedule.

Stern needs to figure out the true goal of Team USA. If it's to win a tournament, then the players need to get more down time throughout the tournament.

2. Apathy from the States: Outside of the hardcore hoops fan, nobody really cares about a summer international hoops tournament. First they're competing with chemically enhanced baseball players and the starts of college and pro football. There's no chance to fit in a 3:30 AM USA - Angola basketball game. Even using Tivo, I found it hard to find the time to watch all the games.

I'm not sure what's the solution here. Many people felt that the NBA Finals and Wade's freethrow fest just ended days ago and it's too soon to focus on another tournament. Maybe on solution is to add a few more exhibition games in the States in non-NBA cities. It gives a chance for cities like Atlanta who don't have a professional team a chance to see the stars of USA Basketball.

Unfortunately this conflicts with the my first point of a hectic schedule. USA Basketball needs to improve it's promotional skills, I still had a hard time finding out who or when the games aired on ESPN.

3. David Stern, Part 2: Somewhere in the second round of the playoffs, the commish decided that ball handling swingman are the future of the NBA and proceeded to parade them to the freethrow lines. Wade and LeBron started shooting an uber-MJ amount of freethrows for the smallest about of contact. Plus, the league allowed a generous portion of carrying and traveling along the way.

Could you blame Stern? He's looking for the next Bird-Magic rivalry and that April ridiculous regular season game showed that Wade and LeBron can raise each other's games to such a special level.

The downside is that the future of the NBA is not the present of the international game. What you had was Wade getting whistled for traveling several times a game while begging for the ticky-tack call he was given in the Finals. Lebron seemed to adjust to the international game, but Wade had some ugly moments in the tournament.

4. Team USA's Youth: Dwight Howard will be a monster! D. Wade is still a raw slasher with room for improvement. LeBron is still 5 years from his prime! Chris Bosh is on the brink of stardom.

That's the thing about this team, Melo, Wade, LeBron, Bosh and Howard are still going to improve. This USA Basketball team is assembled to win the 2008 Olympics. In two years those five players will be entering their prime and ready to wreak havoc on international hoops.

Forget that the likes of Kobe and Chauncey Billups were absent, they're not the future of Team USA. The key to 2008 is the development of those five players. To me the 2006 World Championships were more a test of the "new" system for USA Basketball. And considering that they finished with one loss and a bronze medal, I'm not all that disappointed.

I saw how much Melo has improved his offensive game, how big Dwight Howard really is and how quickly LeBron can cater his game to fit with such a talented roster. This is a team on the rise and as long as the same roster (or very similar) plays in 2008, I see USA Basketball bringing home the gold.

Now if only some people actually gave a damn!

USA vs. Puerto Rico: Quick Recap

By Craig Kwasniewski

There's no repeat of Athens as Team USA beats Puerto Rico 111-100. Making sure I didn't miss out on the World Championship fever (???), I watched the game. It was a tale of two halves and USA played poorly in the first half but clamped down in defensively the third quarter, taking a 20 point lead, ending any chance of repeat of the 2004 Olympics when Puerto Rico beat USA 92-73.

Here's a few observations from the game:

First Half Ugliness: USA came out with the worst first half of the summer. They came out disorganized, confused and listless. Basically it looked like Athens 2004 all over again. I think they dedicated the first half to Larry Brown. All they needed was LB whining constantly on the sidelines about poor team composition.

Anyway, poor fundamentals reigned supreme in the first half. Missed freethrows, a technical foul for six players on the floor, many traveling calls (and not all on Wade), a five second call on an inbounds play... it was awful to watch. Maybe it was the jitters from the opening game for the World Championships or there's a killer casino/strip club scene in Sapporo, Japan. Whatever it was, they got out of their funk by playing hard nosed defense in the third quarter.

Carlos Arroyo is the Puerto Rican Tim Thomas: Let me explain... First, let's ask the fans from Toronto, Denver, Utah, Detroit and Orlando how good of a player Arroyo is. In the NBA, he's a back-up point guard at best. So, how does a guy who's played for five NBA teams in five seasons average 22.6 ppg. against Team USA? (22.6 in three competitive games, not exhibitions) Tim Thomas was a waste for the Sixers, Bucks, Knicks and Bulls yet for two months with Phoenix he's All-Star material. If only Arroyo brought his Puerto Rico game to the NBA...

Zone Defense? With every Puerto Rican guard blowing by his man and getting to the hoop for a bucket or foul, Team USA might want to consider mixing in some zone defense. The help defense was slow to rotate and Puerto Rico was isolating the guards at the top of the key and aggressively taking it to the hole with ease. The bigs need to improve their rotations and not worry too much about their man hitting the mid-range jumper if they helped on the drives. I know one of Team USA's defensive principles is strong on-the-ball defense, but this also leaves the defense vulnerable to penetration. Mixing in a some zone could confuse the opposition and slow down the penetration.

Carmelo Anthony: His game is continually improving. There was a stretch in the second half when he dominated on the offensive end. He scored in the post, off pull-up jumpers and off drives. Of carryover players from Athens 2004, he's playing with the biggest chip on his shoulder. I'm looking forward to his matching up with Argentina.

USA vs. Korea: Quick Recap

By Craig Kwasniewski

USA Basketball rolls South Korea 116-63 in its final warm-up to the World Championships. There was no let-up as USA led the entire game and continued it's hard-nosed defensive-based gameplan. As much as this was a good sign, playing against a sub-par opponent could prove fools gold as the real games start this weekend. Here's some observations from the game:

South Korea Sucks: Like I mentioned, playing one of the worst international teams prior to the World Championships may provide a false sense of confidence for Team USA. Korea flat out sucked! First came the out-of-control defense that actually led to two Korean players hurting themselves in collisions with their own teammates. Then you had the poor ball handling skills as LeBron and D-Wade were constantly stripping the Korean backcourt for breakaways. However, the crappy offense was the final straw. Bill Walton put it best when he said:

It appears that the strategy for Korea is to throw up these WIIILD ill-advised shots from the perimeter and then race down long rebounds that nobody can get a read on!

Well said Big Red! Still, the ESPN announcers were making so many excuses for the poor play of the Koreans (young team, rebuilding, looking to the future, etc.), I felt like I was listening to the Lakers radio broadcast.

Ha Seung Jin: One of my favorite stiffs in the NBA, Ha Seung Jin, played for South Korea. He brought his A-game with him: dropped passes, small feet, giving up a TON of lay-ups (see the photos). I'm happy to see that his skillz haven't diminished this summer. Have fun Milwaukee!

Dwight Howard Block: Defensive highlight of the night! One of the Korean players scooped up that ball and fired up a three pointer from the corner. Dwight Howard flew at him from the lane a swatted the three pointer five rows behind the shooter.

D-Wade's Adjustment: I've been cracking on Wade for all the traveling calls, but I have to give him credit; he's adjusted his game to the international refs. He didn't get called for walking at all. On drives to the hole, Wade is either taking an extra dribble or jumping off sooner. I guess it's time to lower the over-under on traveling calls on Wade.

Bruce Bowen Scores! It only took five exhibition games against below-average opponents, but Bruce Bowen scored his first points on a flying lay-up in the fourth quarter. Then he dropped in another bucket a minute later carrying Team USA to the victory. Gosh, without Bowen's efforts, Team USA might have only won by 51 points... America thanks YOU, Bruce Bowen!

Wednesday Night Rec-League Moment: Bringing the noise, Korean "baller" Kim Min Soo threw down a thunderous dunk and slapped the backboard with both hands in celebration...

cutting USA's lead down to 112-62 with 51 seconds left in the game. Did I mention that Korea sucked?

Plenty of Seats Available!

By Craig Kwasniewski

Here are a few cool pics from Team USA's 111-88 victory over Lithuania last Sunday. I TIVO'ed the game and plan on checking it out later this week. However, the win tells me that squeaker against Brazil last week had more to do with the typical NBA back-to-back factor than the world catching up to USA Basketball.

The win also shows the relative lack of interest home and abroad of USA Basketball. Just look at the photos... plenty of seats available for the game. How is this even happening? You have a loaded USA squad with the best young stars in the game in Wade, Lebon, Melo, etc.; the smallish arenas in China and Korea; and a limited schedule of two games in each country, these games should be sold-out.

Being a hoops junkie, I find this very disappointing. I understand the general lack of interest here in the states as baseball is in full roided form, football is around the corner and people are melting enjoying the summer heat. But how is this team not selling out in Korea and China?