AY CHAP 2012 OLYMPICS IN LONDON (BASKETBALL EDITION) CHEERIO

the olympics!

so, let's recap: the U.S. will be without dwyane wade, derrick rose & dwight howard. some interesting guys could get added to the team.

lamarcus aldridge is also hurt. bynum reportedly has no interest in playing. anthony davis has been added to the pool recently.

of the 12 roster spots, these guys seem to be locks to return:

- lebron
- kobe
- melo
- CP3
- d will
- bosh

that brings back half the guys from 08. the six who will not be returning: wade (out), howard (out), tayshaun prince (old), kidd (old), michael redd (old), boozer (sucks)

durant is also a lock to make the team, which brings us to 7.

the other five seem to be more or less up in the air tho, but this seems to be the pool (in no order): westbrook, harden, chandler, gay, igou, griffin, love, davis

there's been some speculation surrounding cousins, hibbert & monroe, but those guys seem unlikely.

anyway, this should entire thing should be fun even if the team will likely be less invincible than 08.

if you follow the model of how they built the 08 team and want to find analogous players to the guys not returning, you'd end up with something like this:

westbrook in for wade
chandler in for howard
igou in for prince
gay in for redd
griffin in for boozer

not sure there's anyone to replace kidd's role, which means they could go with harden or love for the last spot? or maybe they just drop gay on account of not being all that great and take both harden and love.

Harden should be a lock! He fits perfect for international style ball.

Put Anthony Davis in there for fun imo

westbrook in for wade
chandler in for howard
igou in for prince
gay in for redd
griffin in for boozer

These are almost all improvements

a roster of

pg: paul, d will, russ
sg: kobe
sf: bron, durant, melo, igou
pf: bosh, griffin, love
c: chandler

seems pretty stacked. i guess i fucked up my math in that last post cuz i forgot about durant. so they only need those five guys. my guess would be that they go with four big men and choose a wing stopper like igou over harden bcuz they figure they prob have enough scoring and lebron gives them some versatility all over.

the interesting thing i think will be seeing if they try and add a more defensive minded big guy and only take one of griffin/love. not sure who that person would be, but i'd be mildly terrified about going up against the gasols with my four big men being the four i have up there.

harden is the tough one to leave out but it's hard for me to see him being added because the end of bench guys usually aren't scorers and also he doesn't have much (any?) international experience.

i could see them leaving off both russ and harden and going with gay as your redd-esque shooter and igou as your prince-esque stopper.

not sure i'd agree with those, but just going off the old team.

i'd love to see davis added and personally i'd probably choose him over whichever you didn't want of the griffin/love duo

if i personally was making the team i'd go with the following:

pg: cp3, d will, russ
sg: kobe, harden
sf: lebron, melo, durant
pf: bosh, love
c: chandler, davis

Would like to see like Anthony Morrow or some nonsense like that, a pure shooter like Redd was sposed to be.

Thats a good roster xp,

yeah. i think harden and davis are coming into the process too late to actually make it. i'd expect griffin & igoudala to take those spots.

wd want griffin to play only 10 minute in the first half for dunks
what chance does bron play some 4 after his finals pwnage?

btw lmao at this thread title btw

i'd imagine he'll see a lot of time at the four esp with the emergence of durant but i don't think they'd want him (or lebron would want to) do much back to the basket defending

whoa whoa whoa ibaka is playing for spain? i had no idea. it's too bad spain can't trade one of their three big men.

bosh is out now too, seems to make it certain that both love & griffin will make the team

Bosh was a good fit, thats a bummer.

love seems like an adequate replacement for him tho he's prob a bit worse defensively.

cp3-kobe-durant-lebron-chandler

^this has to be the crunch time lineup right? durant supplants melo, clearly.

melo should see 2nd unit time only imo

like im cool w him quarterbacking the offense against the world's benches

he was great in beijing but i don't see any room for him in the crunchtime 5

there's no dominant all around big man on the team this year so it will be fun to see if they throw out some lineups with lebron at the 5 and melo at the 4

i think that will work against any team except spain

i want spain to throw out a lineup where no one on the floor is smaller than 6' 8"

haha except rubio!
but otm, ibaka and the gasols need to all be out there

rubio is out!

BUMMER rip spain

was hoping he'd be healthy in time

i can't imagine he'd risk it. that would be an insane turnaround for a torn acl.

but for COUNTRY
even if it is stupid spain

haha shit i'm watching highlights of the 08 gold medal game & i forgot that the gasols had their first names on the back of their jersies

MARC

^ this needs to be added to the nba imo

rudy fernadnez was unreal in that game

as was juan carlos navarro

yeah nicknames need to be on nba jerseys too #hoopideas! how tight would it be to see:

BRON
6

MELO
7

BIG BABY
11

bloody 'ell guv ; )

I think you gotta push minutes toward dudes who didn't just finish the playoffs in the most grueling season in NBA history. Like, let Love start over Bosh, for example.

perfect for kobe, then

burnnn

if i personally was making the team i'd go with the following:

pg: cp3, d will, russ
sg: kobe, harden
sf: lebron, melo, durant
pf: bosh, love
c: chandler, davis

― J0rdan S., Thursday, June 28, 2012 5:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

iggy for melo, blake for bosh, gold

spain's gonna be nuts obv

bosh is better than blake

he's also a better fit for that team. not like it matters now anyway.

well, bosh isn't better than blake, but he IS a better fit for the team. i made that knowing he was out tho

as an all around player i'd still take bosh, at least for next season. maybe the next two.

haha shit i'm watching highlights of the 08 gold medal game & i forgot that the gasols had their first names on the back of their jersies

MARC

^ this needs to be added to the nba imo

― J0rdan S., Friday, June 29, 2012 1:07 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

would be pretty sweet if nba players took the habit of south american footballers and changed their names to just one word

btw can somebody point me to where I can get a big bottom bird and a blood sausage, cheers

http://media.whosay.com/199031/199031_la.jpg

NERD

good friend of chris brown

greece just got knocked out of olympic qualifying by Nigeria!

apparently Diogu has been awesome for Nigeria, as has Aminu

Nice to know they're good somewhere.

DIOGU CAN BALL... if he's healthy

He's been injured for the past 5 years or so?

Yep.

IIRC Diogu's per 36 numbers were ridic one year. I think he's had at least 3 serious knee injuries.

LAS VEGAS -- Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala and James Harden have been chosen for the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

nice

so

guards: cp3, d will, harden, kobe

wings: lebron, durant, melo, igou

bigs: griffin

so that leaves three guys. probably two bigs and one other player. russ, chandler & love?

that sounds about right, yeah. thatll put a lot of okc guys in the games, though.

i'm really happy for harden tho

espn currently listing the roster as:

C: Chandler
F: James, Anthony, Durant, Love, Griffen, Iguodala
G: Bryant, Paul, Williams, Westbrook, Harden

so sarge otm.

dope

ok Diogu will be back in the league now. Nigeria qualifies. He even hit 2 threes!

re: official list w people who will miss olympics:

Australia - Bogut (Irving too)
GBR - Ben Gordon & Mullens
Brazil - Rafael Hettsheimeir
Spain - Ricky Rubio (Rudy Fernandez? hes in the list tho) / also Garbajosa retired
USA - lol lots of ppl
França - Noah / Pietrus
Russia - Vorontsevich & Bykov
Argentina - Sanchez / Oberto (both retired last yr)

Who can hang with us this year? Argentina and Spain?

yeah spain can get it done. We only sent one center and they sent the Gasols and Ibaka

Argentina's too old I think, but they looked really good in an exo this summer

who are dark horses to medal...brazil, Lithuania?

Turkey is somewhat feisty.

Brazil has Nene, Splitter, Varajao, Barbosa...

Brazil always disappoints

brazil is trained by ruben magnano, who won the gold medal with argentina in athens. theyre finally a good team, medal tho... long shot

team usa practice on nba tv right now, kinda fun

colangelo says they consider blake a 5

haha he would

james harden is gonna drop bombs in this tournament

Yeah harden is such a great fit for international ball.

Hopefully his balls don't invert when it matters tho.

here's carmelo anthony teaching blake griffin how to be worse at offense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PjBPm3y9c0&feature=player_embedded

lol, "step back, step back... you got to get away from him!"

"at no point in any of these moves should you consider passing"

hahahah can you guys imagine ginobili teaching some argentinian kid?

USA Basketball has summoned Anthony Davis to report to Las Vegas for training camp immediately, sources tell Y! Sports.

Griffin twisted his knee, apparently

ruh roh

Isn't Davis gimpy from his ankle? Sad state of American big men.

w/e bron is gonna start center and avg 15 boards a game

so Blake is apparently out which means THE UNIBROW ERA is officially here. I'm elated.

LAS VEGAS -- Kevin Durant picked up where he left off in international competition, scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the U.S. Olympic basketball team to a 113-59 victory over the Dominican Republic on Thursday night in an exhibition game.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/basketball/story/_/id/8162397/kevin-durant-scores-24-leads-team-usa-dominican-republic

Watched this game. I love this team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uG8ubgvSSQ&feature=player_embedded

"fifty grand to a bawse is nuthin"

missed this game but KD ALLEY OOPS

<3 kobe

Yeah Kobe is great in that. Love those kind of videos.

the cult of kobe can obv get a bit tiresome but dude is a hilarious person

this photo is awesome

https://yfrog.com/Himg825/scaled.php?tn=0&server=825&filename=oz97.jpg&xsize=480&ysize=480

wait did they effing play or what?

Yeah last night against Dominican Repub. MOnday they play Brazzzzil

no i mean kyrie and kobe!!

Oh, no they set up a time to play next year.

wow lebron that dunk

paul looks like he's in great shape

i wanna see davis

shit I had no idea this was being broadcast

game is getting chippy

Barbosa looks washed up

The way the US looks so far, the olympics won't be a gimme

they have those runs tho when brazil couldn't even get the ball past halfcourt. melo's playing too much tbh

the perimeter D is feisty but these backdoor layups are very 2004/2006ish

god every year there's like 4 guys on the US team who don't know the goaltending rules

is the restricted area larger than in the NBA?

it looks to be the same size, did they get rid of the trapezoid?

yes. Part of the slow push to have all top tier and international basketball use similar rules. The 3-point line is further out now, too.

I think this is one of the reasons Stern wants international goaltending rules - a move toward FIBA that might help the NBA get some traction with it's lame "World Cup of Basketball" malarky.

Stern still wants European expansion teams!

world cup of basketball would be dope tho

tho fuck euro expansion lmao

the basketball world championships are already awesome enough imo. For some reason americans only care about the Olympic competition.

the world cup of basketball is the olympics.

euro expansion is just the silliest idea imo

for a lot of countries the world championships>olympics. Debatable which one is the real world cup of basketball.

the important thing is always the one americans care about tho

I'm saying
it should be a fuckin cup

we are the deciders

man, great perimeter D by Nene on LeBron!

was the crowd chanting "4 more years" for a sec at the end?

yeah as Obama was walking out

Huertas: potential NBA player?

andy looked good

i think i'd like to see the US rely less on its wing rotation & more on its guards. westbrook & harden should be getting a lot more minutes than they are. and of course if davis is gonna be on the team, he should play. or else they should get another center.

Is Davis recovered from his ankle sprain yet?

he played the other night

had a four point play!

Cool. This was the first game I watched.

Huertas' buyout with his Spanish team is 7 million.

huertas is awesome y, but its hard to nba teams to give the pg slot to a foreigner

if NYK match lin, HOU could try Huertas...

McCalebb is better anyway and his buyout is only 2m IIRC

Anderson Varejao, Nene Hilario, Tiago Splitter. The Brazilian frontline was NBA-tested and active around the rim -- just the kind of matchup that could give relatively undersized Team USA problems at the Olympics in London. But when the two national teams met in Washington DC, it was a 6-3 point guard, Marcelo Huertas, who really gave Team USA headaches.

To fans of European basketball, Huertas is known as one of the world's great passers. Last night, he had more assists (13) than did all of Team USA. But it wasn't the total that was astounding, but the way it happened. Even against sweltering pressure from USA's athletic, aggressive wings, Huertas dazzled, repeatedly shedding tight coverage to slip the ball to cutters or push the ball up court and finding open shooters in transition.

Marcelinho, -- who has never played in the NBA -- plays professionally for Barcelona, the top club in Spain and former home to Pau and Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio and fellow Brazilian Anderson Varejao. And maybe the NBA is not for him: He lacks the explosive quickness associated with most of the NBA's top point guards and has a cost-prohibitive buyout clause in his Barcelona contract. But Huertas is strong, and, as they say, can get where he wants to go -- a fact he made clear on Monday night when, on a fast break, he baited Deron Williams all the way onto his left hip then casually spun past him for a layup, never touching the ball with his off hand.

Team USA is still coalescing defensively, but the general plan seems to be to apply as much pressure as humanly possible all over the court. That swarming strategy was effective in forcing Nene to cough up the ball five times, and Team USA's guards abused Brazil's backup point guards for easy steals when Huertas sat. But when Brazil's top ballhandler was in the game, Huertas was able to use that aggression against Team USA, as when he lofted a divinely weighted one-handed pass that perhaps only four or five players in the world would make -- off the dribble and over the outstretched arms of the defender, right into the hands of his cutting teammate.

The rap on Team USA is that quality "bigs" could slay them, but here's a new worry from a quality "little." They don't make many point guards with that kind of feel, but Huertas may have exposed a greater worry for Team USA than pure size: point guards who can handle, and exploit, pressure. As NBA.com's John Schumann Tweeted, Brazil scored 79 points per 40 minutes with Huertas on the floor and 37 points per 40 minutes with him on the bench.

Spain, widely acknowledged as America's chief competition for gold in London, will roll out Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez. Not exactly murderer's row, but all players with NBA ability who won't be intimidated like 19 year-old Brazilian backup Raul Neto was.

It was a turnover-strewn second quarter, much of which Huertas sat, that spelled Brazil's defeat. But excepting that period, which the US dominated 20-5, Brazil controlled the glass, found good shots and shot 50 percent from the field for the game. Of course, Tyson Chandler, the US's lone 7-footer, only played 20 minutes, so the US looked even smaller. But Team USA's philosophy seems clear: surrender size in the interest of intense pressure.

Facing a solid Brazil squad and still very much in the "working out the kinks" stage, Team USA's plan worked. But Brazil also revealed that a steady, heady point guard could do damage.

this is from the painted area, one of the few sites that actually sees fiba bbal

its big, sorry

With the completion of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament on July 8, the field of 12 nations was set for the men's basketball competition at the 2012 London Olympics, which tips off on Sunday, July 29. Last year, we offered an early take at 2012 Olympic basketball power rankings; here is our update with the Games less than two weeks away.

GOLD TIER
1. USA
(Group A: Qualified as FIBA World Champion)
Winning the 2010 world championship was the most impressive Team USA achievement of the Jerry Colangelo/Mike Krzyzewski era, in our opinion. The type of roster which the U.S. brought to Worlds - inexperienced in the international game and in playing with each other - was similar to the American teams which had faced the most adversity in the NBA era, but the 2010 group won gold impressively, powered by the unconscious scoring of Kevin Durant.

More than anything, it was a testament to the quality of the national-team program created by Colangelo and Coach K, which has fostered a strong sense of continuity despite significant roster turnover, through regular summer training camps and the continual integration of new players via the U.S. Select Team.

Now, with overwhelming perimeter talent - headlined by the two best players in the world, LeBron James and Kevin Durant - Team USA is deservedly a heavy favorite to win gold. We'll be surprised if the U.S. loses in London, though last week we outlined how an upset might happen, by exploiting the Americans' lack of defensive depth on the interior beyond Tyson Chandler.

Actually, it's been fascinating to watch how Coach K's addressed his team's lack of traditional bigs in the early warmups, often going with lineups featuring only points and wings - it's been almost like watching basketball from the future, and we're very much looking forward to seeing these units in action in London.

On the popular topic of how the 2012 edition compares to the 1992 Dream Team, our two cents is that we think it would've been a good matchup if the 2012 squad had been closer to full health, but since they've lost the likes of Howard, Wade, Rose, and Bosh, we don't think it's a contest. The decisive factors are in the quality of the bigs - huge advantage to '92 Ewing and Robinson there - and also, 29-year-old Jordan would dominate 33-year-old Kobe, in our opinion.

SILVER TIER
2. SPAIN
(Group B: Qualified as EuroBasket Champion)
After following up its 2008 Olympic silver medal with dominant performances at the 2009 and 2011 EuroBaskets, Spain remains a formidable world basketball power. Most notably for 2012, Team España will have the best collection of bigs in London, with the combination of Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.

Stateside, the most celebrated injury for Team España has been Ricky Rubio's torn ACL, but we actually think that won't really hurt Spain, mainly because they generally don't take advantage of Ricky's strengths, too often asking him to merely initiate the halfcourt offense and then stand in the corner as a spot-up shooter. Also, the Spaniards should still get solid point-guard play from Jose Calderon, whose steadiness might be better suited for a matchup vs. Team USA.

Rather, we think the serious Spanish injury concerns revolve around Juan Carlos Navarro, who had an up-and-down 2011-12 season while battling plantar fascitis throughout, and Rudy Fernandez, who is recovering from back surgery in March, because Spain can't really adequately replace what those two provide. Navarro is a point machine whose scoring bursts won him the 2011 EuroBasket MVP and nearly put Team USA on the ropes in 2008. Fernandez plays with a more attacking style for Spain than he did in the NBA.

In our opinion, the health of these two players will determine Spain's fate in London. If they're close to their normal selves, Spain should be a lock for the silver, with an outside chance to pull the mega-upset vs. Team USA. If they're not, Team España runs the risk of falling off the medal podium entirely, as they did at the 2010 Worlds.

BRONZE TIER
While the U.S. and Spain are clearly slotted in as heavy favorites for gold and silver, respectively, it gets a bit murkier from there, as the bronze medal position is really up for grabs - not much separates these five teams.

3. BRAZIL
(Group B: Qualified as FIBA Americas 2nd Place)
In the 2000s, Brazil's national team sometimes underachieved due to horrendous coaching. So it was a solid upgrade in 2010 for Brazil to hire Ruben Magnano, the architect of Argentina teams which won an historic gold at the 2004 Olympics and silver at the 2002 World Championship.

Under Magnano, Brazil advanced to the final 16 at the 2010 World Championship, losing a heartbreaker to Argentina (after nearly knocking off Team USA in group play), and then lost another tight one to their continental rivals in the final of the 2011 FIBA Americas tournament.

With Argentina's golden generation nearing the end of the line, Brazil is poised for a South American changing of the guard in 2012, especially because they have finally corralled their full complement of NBA players - Nene, Anderson Varejao, Leandro Barbosa and Tiago Splitter - onto the national team at the same time. With Nene, Varejao and Splitter, Brazil has one of the best combinations of bigs in the tournament.

And, as seen in Monday's exhibition vs. Team USA, Marcelo Huertas is unquestionably an NBA-caliber point guard. Brazil outscored the Americans by three in the 30 minutes Huertas was on the floor as the maestro of the offense. All in all, Brazil's competitive performance vs. the U.S. on the road in D.C. should have left no doubt that this is a major medal contender in 2012.

4. RUSSIA
(Group B: Qualified via Qualifying Tourney + EuroBasket 3rd)
The Russians are powered by three men: the uber-versatile two-way forward combo of Andrei Kirilenko, coming off a 2011-12 Euroleague MVP season, and Viktor Khryapa, who fills up the box score playing as a Kirilenko Jr., plus coach David Blatt, as good a coach as any in the tournament, probably the best with the X-and-O's.

Russia has been known for its exceptional defense in the Blatt era. They have good team size (only one player under 6-5), and good depth of talent, including six players from this year's outstanding CSKA Moscow team. Also, as opposed to most ballclubs on the list, who are dealing with significant injury absences and/or questions, Russia is in better shape with a mostly healthy roster.

NBA fans will get a look at Alexey Shved, a flashy 6-5 point guard who is likely to join the Timberwolves this season.

5. LITHUANIA
(Group A: Qualified via Qualifying Tourney + EuroBasket 5th)
Lithuania looks to bounce back following its disappointing 2011 EuroBasket, in which they were knocked out in the quarterfinals in front of their boisterous, faithful fan base at home. They'll come to London with two key additions - Linas Kleiza and Jonas Maciulis - who both missed the EuroBasket due to injury.

Kleiza in particular is a game-changer - a FIBA beast who gives Lietuva a player who can create his own offense, whether in the post or via isos. Linas led Lithuania to bronze at the 2010 Worlds, averaging 19 points and seven rebounds per game. With Kleiza back in tow, the green-and-gold's offense looked sharp at the qualifying tourney - definitely expect them to have one of the most potent offenses in London.

Lithuania's frontcourt depth is questionable, especially with the late scratch of Robertas Javtokas due to a stress fracture. Darius Songaila is getting too old, while promising 2011 Raptors lottery pick Jonas Valanciunas is still a bit too green - he's quite a foul magnet in his young career. Sarunas Jasikevicius is nearing the end at age 36, but he can still knock down big shots, such as one which clinched LTU's Olympic bid at the qualifying tourney.

Regardless of whether they medal, Lithuania is sure to retain the title of greatest per-capita basketball nation on the planet, with a population of just over 3 million, easily the smallest in the Olympic field - no one else in our top 7 here is under 40M.

6. ARGENTINA
(Group A: Qualified as FIBA Americas Champion)
Four years ago, Draft Express wrote this in previewing Argentina's chances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics:

"Age is catching up with Argentina, as there are no talented young generations to infuse alongside the veterans. Still featuring an outstanding six-man core with Pablo Prigioni, Manu Ginobili, Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola and Fabricio Oberto, this team severely lacks depth, especially at the point guard position and inside."

Four years later, not much has changed. Argentina is reliant on the same core, except it's now down to five with Oberto retired, and no significant reinforcements. Further, Ginobili and Prigioni are both 35, Nocioni is a shell of himself, Scola (who has been the team's go-to guy ahead of even Manu in recent years) is coming off the worst of his five NBA seasons, and Delfino (who stepped up with 20 ppg at the 2010 Worlds) is struggling to return from a sports-hernia operation in May.

Remember that Argentina barely survived the FIBA Americas tournament last year, at home, or it would have had to go to the FIBA qualifying tournament, which it would have been challenged to survive. Argentina edged Brazil in the final of that FIBA Americas tournament; the Brazilians are adding Nene, Varejao and Barbosa to their team, while the Argentines merely got older.

To be fair, the FIBA Americas had a punishing schedule of 10 games in 13 days; Argentina will get more rest with the every-other-day schedule in London. But, still, it's hard to find objective evidence to support the continued conventional wisdom that Argentina is a stronger medal contender than Brazil.

The Golden Generation of Argentina basketball has created some of the most beautiful FIBA basketball ever seen, but things change, and Argentina's time as a world basketball power appears to be waning. We'll see if Manu & co. can pull one more medal-winning performance out of their Albicelestes.

7. FRANCE
(Group A: Qualified as EuroBasket 2nd Place)
With more NBA players than any country other than the U.S., France certainly doesn't lack for talent, and they put it all together in 2011, winning the EuroBasket silver medal to earn their first Olympic berth since 2000.

However, Joakim Noah - new to the national team in 2011 - was a critical cog in France's run last year, and now he's out due to the severe ankle injury suffered in the NBA Playoffs. Ian Mahinmi, who also played well last year, is also out. Ronny Turiaf and Kevin Seraphin will have to pick up the slack on the interior.

Fortunately for Les Bleus, Tony Parker escaped the Drake-Chris Brown nightclub fight intact enough to remain active for London. He was as good for France last summer as he was for the Spurs in 2011-12, driving the engine of the team's offense. Without him, who knows how far France would've slid in these rankings. As it is, Les Bleus still has a solid core of talent, with the likes of Parker, Nic Batum and Boris Diaw, who hopefully doesn't like Stilton as much as Brie. Don't forget: there's not much separating 3rd from 7th in these rankings. We wouldn't be at all surprised if France played its way to a bronze.

KNOCKOUT ROUND TIER
8. AUSTRALIA
(Group B: Qualified as FIBA Oceania Champion)
9. GREAT BRITAIN
(Group B: Qualified as Host Country)
On August 4, Australia and Great Britain will play not only to determine the unofficial Commonwealth champion, but also likely to determine which nation will finish fourth in Group B, and advance out of group play to be sacrificed to the Americans in the quarterfinals.

Australia, playing in its 13th Olympics (including three 4th-place finishes), certainly has the better pedigree, though they are missing their anchor in Andrew Bogut due to injury. But the Boomers should still be favored to make the quarters thanks to a collection of seasoned veterans from top European clubs, plus Spurs backup Patty Mills running the show from the point. Spurs assistant Brett Brown is the Aussies' coach.

Meanwhile, Great Britain, making its first appearance in Olympic basketball since the 1948 London games, will of course have the home-court advantage, and are led by Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng. Team G.B. was more competitive than expected at both the 2009 and 2011 EuroBaskets, and perhaps the home crowd can carry them to the quarters.

Great Britain's roster includes recent Blazer signee Joel Freeland and fan favorite Pops Mensah-Bonsu on their solid frontline, but the Brits took a hit by being unable to land the services of either Ben Gordon or Byron Mullins, who both have family ties to England. GB is severely lacking in the backcourt, a main reason why we ultimately favor the Aussies.

Also note that the Brits have a forward named Andrew Sullivan, but it's not this guy, and their coach is named Chris Finch, but it's (sadly) not this guy.

10. NIGERIA
(Group A: Qualified via Qualifying Tourney + Afrobasket 3rd)
We are certainly eating crow after we flippantly wrote this last fall in ranking Nigeria 11th out the 12 teams in FIBA qualifying tournament: "If Nigeria can get Hakeem Olajuwon circa 1994-95 to play, they might have a chance to grab a qualifying spot. Might."

As it turned out, all Nigeria needed were the additions of Ike Diogu and Al-Farouq Aminu, who transformed the overhauled national team (Nigeria had nine new players this year), and carried "D'Tigers" to the final Olympic bid.

Truth be told, Nigeria has little chance of making it into the knockout round, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt this time around, as they are a much-improved side loaded with tall, athletic rebounders, and certainly have the friskiness to pull off an upset or two.

ENJOY THE FORTNIGHT TIER
11. CHINA
(Group B: Qualified as FIBA Asia Champion)
It's the harsh reality of the first post-Yao Olympics for Team China. After two straight trips to the Olympic quarterfinals on Yao's broad shoulders, it's unlikely that Yi Jianlian can carry China out of group play again.

We're happy to note that The Dodger, Wang Zhizhi, will be back for his fourth Olympic Games, 16 years after making his debut in Atlanta.

12. TUNISIA
(Group A: Qualified as Afrobasket Champion)
The Tunisians should be thrilled just to be in London, as it was a monumental accomplishment to earn their first Olympic basketball bid by knocking off African power Angola - a nation which had won six consecutive Afrobaskets, and 10 of the last 11 dating back to 1989 - in the 2011 Afrobasket final.

nice thx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoDKtzjLS9k

lmao

https://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/fc2b29dad24b11e19f481231380fd1fd_7.jpg

SUP

ahahaha

would love a whole set of plane prank pics

http://i.imgur.com/Be4Rc.gif

4 MORE YEARS

watching the game from yesterday... westbrook is gonna kill in these games

I feel like the US is about 70% to win.

they'll kill all the teams with no point guards though

Spain is the only team with a shot bc of size, everyone else finta get MURKED. HARD.

brazil has size

yeah but
splitter is some of that size

and I love dude but
murked

he's gonna get murked

brazil played them well the other night but I think when medals are up for grabs that lebron and melo will step up and play PF pretty well.

huertas just threw an all-time pass against france

http://www.fibatv.com/video/id/2016101 de colo!

man USA was up 19-3 and ended up winning by only 6

usa going with no center against spain, calderon/ibaka dominating

refs helping usa a lot

i don't like their small lineup vs good teams at all

melo fuckin with felipe reyes

melo can be pretty shitty but he's obv incredibly vital at times like this

oh man, lebron

rudy has looked terrible

yeah Rudy's done

Nate McMillan deserves some blame for Rudy's spiral down imo

rudy who?

Fernandez

watched this game and had the thought that carmelo will 1) definitely never win an nba title and 2) could win like ten straight euroleague titles on a half-decent team

also wtf is up with kevin love he's terrible on this team

yeah love has been AWFUL. i don't get it.

they have no choice but to play him tho

rudy fernandez's hair is so great

http://instagram.com/p/NiPPhtM92S/

smh at everyone wearing beats by dre.

http://instagram.com/p/NjsRe2s93U

coach k asleep

god how do people sleep with their necks like that

Just showed that picture to my girlfriend and I think she's leaving me.

https://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws.com/644d6e16d85411e1a5a612313b0a4c95_7.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/483287_415181048533952_1878919122_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/304729_415181105200613_1026072932_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/544408_415180501867340_1593839557_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s720x720/553651_415180581867332_1591728761_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/486414_415180661867324_1831993126_n.jpg

russ feeling london

http://i.imgur.com/hyHHf.png

fuck that is amazing

happy for those dudes

everyone looks so dapper

someone tell team usa how to wear a beret

kevin love looks v nice btw

these guys!

http://instagram.com/p/NoCLstojlx/

thought the USA opening ceremony outfits were kinda whatever

http://i.imgur.com/3fFwC.png

bron pass!

this France USA game is competitive, but only bc US keeps bricking threes

who knew mikael pietrus had a huge brother who looks exactly like him

de colo playing v well, congrats bison

his name is florence!

deron's been bad

Parker already yelled at de Colo tot throwing away a pass- maybe some good Mario Chalmers potential there

I don't think deron "gets" intl ball for some reason

man this team does NOT have elite outside shooting

man this team does NOT have elite outside shooting

― electric point-electric counterpoint (m bison), Sunday, July 29, 2012 9:57 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah it looks like harden is the 11th guy off the bench but i wonder if that should change

I'm having 04 flashbacks a lil it just bc they have a lot of guys who all do the same thing

it's not necessarily that the US doesn't have elite outside shooting imo, but that they have a bunch of guys who just aren't used to spotting up and shooting threes w/in an offense. like deron and cp3, for instance, could prob drill threes if they wanted, but just not used to it.

i wonder also if they fucked up by picking igoudala. i know they like to have a guy like that who's a defensive stopper but i'm not sure they really needed a defensive minded wing. probably should've taken a pure shooter, if there was one.

but but but these guys could beat the Dream Team!

40 mins a game BRON BRON sighting

lol americans amazed by how fast the timeouts are on fiba bball

but but but these guys could beat the Dream Team!

― EZ Snappin, Sunday, July 29, 2012 10:06 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

i do honestly think that the ideal 2012 olympic team w/ rose, howard, wade, bosh and blake could've beaten the dream team.

ROFL westbrook

where are you guys watchin this??

it's on NBC sports network

if you just have normal cables and not satellite or digital cable you can stream it on nbc's website tho

yeah, they've got dudes who can hit threes, just not at 40% and not guys who spread the floor to create space for the guys who need it
xps

if you don't have normal cables you'll have to pirate it

if u don't have cable
smh

lol @ the idea of eric gordon vs james harden debate

hahaha Eric Gordon, the new cuttino mobley

KD awesome block

http://i.imgur.com/nu98b.png

and all of a sudden it's 15

yeah, even mediocre USA ball is dominating

dont have cable ;_;

this Traore guy is good

durant is lighting it up tho

cable free solidarity with dayo.

ppl who have not figured out how to live ^^^
five glorious channels of HD olmpiads

lebron has taken like...no shots!

I had cable but cancelled it as it was as useful as throwing money down a well.

I'm just ribbing y'all, I would get rid of cable myself but my wife is like nooooooo and I'm like, eh sports

I'd pay for sports cable only if i could. The crap that goes with it though makes it a waste.

why cant nba games be reffed this way ???

ikr, no bs star calls here

haha they brought Craig sager, its like if three or more nba players are in the same place either he or worldwide wes appears in a puff of smoke

no crazy suits tho!

nice to see love playing well today

yeah, if hes stroking, he can be that stretch 4(5)

great offensive reb at the end there, too

especially because it looks like chandler's gonna be in foul trouble in like every game

i would cry if the USA went to u-23

our starting PG would be austin rivers

it'd be Kyrie.

kyrie will be 24 by 2016

I thought you were talking this year.

Plenty of time for a decent PG to pop up and displace Rivers. Wouldn't be hard to do.

going to u23 would be so fucking lame

oh man i forgot d'antoni was on this bench. must be some awkward times with melo

damn, first lady giving a hug to every single sweaty usa player.

legit i need a full-wall size photo of michelle obama hugging the brow I:-]

I love how like every single team USA player broke into a huge smile when they got to hug Michelle. Anthony Davis even looked all nervous before it happened!

Also I am not sure but it sounded like they just played a Chris Brown song in the arena. Poor Tony Parker...

France was never in it aft the first q, but I think. they looked p decent down low and might challenge spain

yeah they could def get in the medal convo if one of spain/brazil/argentina slips up

lol @ china. yi going hammer out here.

argentina is just so oooold, I still want them to get silver bc fuck espana winning things

i think brazil might give spain a run this year

huertas looked good, they have size, it cd happen, go brasil

andy & nene is a pretty killer combo

lmao at Spain's magnadoodle coachin board

hugs http://notbillwalton.lockerdome.com/media/99279596

yi, inspired ball

"I feel great," Kirilenko said after scoring 35 points on 14-for-17 shooting against Britain on Sunday. "Look at me. I'm running like a young deer."

lol.

USA looked alright today. Hate that they dont have any real shooters. Deron really does look horrible out there, as stated. Start lebron at pg imo.

i just caught the michelle obama hugfest on a replay. totally the sweetest thing ever.

i like how bron goes in for the hug then everyone else is all imna get me one even the coaches

"I feel great," Kirilenko said after scoring 35 points on 14-for-17 shooting against Britain on Sunday. "Look at me. I'm running like a young deer."

tony parker and manu going head to head!

France lookin goooood, batum strokin

scola's looked great

shots are falling, finally

scola is a beast

rly impressed w seraphin in this game, easily their best post play

other than the starting 5 anyone played more than eight mins. i think scola manu & prigioni played the whole 2nd half. too much

they'll get rest against the rest of the field

Tunisia up 6-4, US medal hopes in shambles

thing I love about Olympic hoops is like for every country, these are your tallest men

ok USA, stop playing w your food

this deron-Westbrook-iguodala-melo-k love lineup is...odd

could tunisia beat the '92 dream team y/n

3pt shooting awful again

nice eurostep by harden

jesus christ can we stop talking about whether people like lebron

tunisia is hilarious, they play exactly like a pick up team... just launching threes instead of working for shot

probably their strategy tbh

don't think they have too many other shots no matter how much they work

fuck if love is actually hurt

how deadly would garnett be from 3, it's his perfect distance

shit, don't be hurt

BROW TIME THO

what the fuck was that dance that KD was doing after russ' dunk

IGOU?

THE BROW

lobs to anthony davis >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

ahhhhhhhhhhh

DYING

imagine if the hornets had a point guard

lol lobs 2 tha brow [:)

haddidadi is pretty good

brow is gonna be ill

serious lol/aww at the tunisian player who asked kobe to autograph his sneaker, and then PUT IT BACK ON

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/social/Olympics/Basketball/KobeLOL.gif

when durant says his hobby is basketball, you believe him. dude dances like me & obviously does not get out much

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1268566/awwyeah.gif

Watched that clip like 4 times with my wife, so great.

AK is KILLIN

USA 3-pt clinic has begun

wait are they playing today

shit i had no idea

oh well

i'm gonna tune in for the anthony davis alley oop offense portion

aka the 4th quarter

lol USA scores 49 in the 1st
10 minute quarterz

nigeria with 25 tho!!

kevin love just blocked somebody

btw those 50 points in the first Q were on 24 possessions ...

wow that kd-to-harden alley

oh my god, some nigerian dude just DROPPED harden

@seth_rosenthal
James Harden is two people now. Ja Har and Mes Den.

i'm gonna tune in for the anthony davis alley oop offense portion

― tauheed & cambria (J0rdan S.), Thursday, August 2, 2012 2:27 PM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

first play of the second half, ha.

melo on fire for real

melo just bombing away, now highest scoring us hoops olympian

dude loves that intl 3 line

He's gonna break schmidt's Olympic scoring record if they don't pull him.

I might be amenable to the idea that this team is on par with the 92 squad. I mean it's Nigeria, sure, but this team is ballin.

I think bc u got so many 12ers in their prime, it's at least a discussion

they doubled the record for threes in a single game -_-

so glad the brow is in these Olympics, how dope is he gonna feel showing up to training camp like a boss with that gold medal before he's even played an nba game

also his defense is awesome, I'm rly gonna be rooting for the hawnets to do big things against non-spurs

for the books:
USA 156
Nigeria 73

Anthony Davis >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Christian Laettner XP

doc rivers saying it was the greatest shooting performance in basketball history so

if fela kuti were still alive, he'd write a blistering attack on American hoops oppression

Dream Team Laettner was better than Davis 2012

really? that was before my time

rookie laettner averaged 18-9-3 in 92-93

and he was the greatest college player ever

cool
*buys a 92 tercel from Christian laettner, gets invite to some terrible strip club*

btw I'm implying Christian laettner is a seedy used car salesman now

and Anthony Davis will have a much better pro career
but laettner is aight

yeah I just mean rookie year/olympic squad

pretty sure Davis also won't walk through the locker room, point at each locker individually and say "loser, loser, loser" and then point at his own and say "winner"

haha what?

USA struggling against Lithuania
think it's time to put those dream team comparisons to rest

wtf has been going on in this game

really, we're getting pwnd by DARIUS SONGAILA?

i like this crunch time line up btw

oh wow, bron bron

LEBRONNNNN

iso roll to the basket

At one point when it seemed like Kobels and Melo were chucking up hella threes I actually yelled at my TV "JUST GIVE THE BALL TO DURANT AND JAMES". And then I think Melo chucked a three again

feel like Bron singlehandedly overcomes USA's line-up deficits

it's kind of hilarious that even in a game like this, with one of the best possible coaching staffs, they're just iso-ing everyone

like really you're not gonna run a cp3-lebron pick n roll w/ some weakside durant action?

wow, lebron

hahaha fuck this stupid team

why is Kobe on this team

yeah kobe is being an idiot

srsly we have 5 guys who can play iso and no one to hit perimeter jays?

i remember when kleiza was good in the nba

the guy on NBC kept saying "lith-waina"

is that how you say it?

am I being challops for wishing team USA had ppl like, I dunno, nick collison or battier or whoever to play roles?

feel like Bron singlehandedly overcomes USA's line-up deficits

― electric point-electric counterpoint (m bison), Saturday, August 4, 2012 11:14 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

this is the exact blueprint that the heat are built on

am I being challops for wishing team USA had ppl like, I dunno, nick collison or battier or whoever to play roles?

― electric point-electric counterpoint (m bison), Saturday, August 4, 2012 11:18 AM (35 seconds ago) Bookmark

yes

k just making sure

deron really dont get international ball

i mean there are some guys who play roles, but that crunch time lineup is more or less all dudes who wanna make plays and score

maybe I wish oldsters like KG were there to play 15 minutes of intense ball

lebron played 35 mins!!

KG being on this team would be so awesome

I know! like he wouldn't have to take on a huge offensive role shooting, but he would anchor their defense and just be ravenous

that crunch time lineup would be better with melo instead of kobe but you can't really trust melo to play in an offense

harden IMO. his play in the 4th q is legit

like ideally
cp3
harden
bron
durant
chandler

harden has been pretty shaky in the olympics... well, since the finals really. i don't mind cp3/deron. they both hit big 3s there at the end.

i wouldn't mid seeing chandler but i think the US has been playing better w/ a small lineup

but if they get into a close game w/ spain or argentina or brazil they'll be forced to play chandler or love because those teams have actual big men

unless they wanna put lebron & melo at pf/c which i think they did a bit in the exhibitions, but idk

yeah I don't know where he's been lately (harden) but when he's on he's more valuable than a second PG

the "small" lineups have been ok! but yeah against Spain and brazil, chandler and love are gonna be important. I think as long as they can contain Scola they'll be okay against argentina

John Schuhmann ‏@johnschuhmann
USA was a plus-12 in 20 min. w/ Chandler or Love on the floor today. Minus-7 w/ no bigs on the floor.

it's kind of hilarious that even in a game like this, with one of the best possible coaching staffs, they're just iso-ing everyone

like really you're not gonna run a cp3-lebron pick n roll w/ some weakside durant action?

Coach K is not a great coach in this setting. And his college coaching is debatable.

haha what?

Laettner did this when he was on the Twolves

that's awesome hahaha

I mean rly douchey but hall of fame hilarious

chinese women have a 6'9" center. it's not helping

lol at sheldon williams in the crowd, looking exhausted, with a baby on his lap

so the australian mens team will be playing the united states of america in the quarter finals

helppp

patty mills will lead the boomers to olympic glory

yeah I dunno if Patty is going to have much of a chance to nail another 3-point buzzer beater

maybe at the end of the first quarter if the 'other team' turns up late for the game

omg Russia coach chewing out two players for talking in the huddle warmed my teacher heart

^^ yes best part of the game

http://instagram.com/p/N9gf0Qs94Z/

http://distilleryimage1.instagram.com/4e5fddd8df4211e1aaa222000a1e95e9_7.jpg

Would be a good race, neither are partic fast.
Remember when they hated each-other that one game, talking all that trash.

got a channel on my cable right now that just shows the hoops and no commercials. instead of commercials, it's just slow motion replays of tight baskets with live court audio.

ha I found that channel a few days back it's pretty -_-

if anyone has a nbc sports stream please lemme know. i can't watch british people commentate on basketball.

Would be a good race, neither are partic fast.
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Monday, 6 August 2012 18:16 (3 hours ago) Permalink

remember when it came out that when the Celtics did full court sprints, Pierce usually won?

22 3 point attempts in the first half for Team USA.

and not a lot of them going in..

halftime in USA-ARG on bbc is.... slo-mo replays of tight baskets backed with halftime courtside audio

then crowd shots of celebs checking their phones

now the soft squeak and thup of the teams warming up, tragically broken after a few minutes by the return of our (half american) commentating team

anytime I think the usa is in trouble, I remember lebron james is basketball Jesus

q: is this the beardiest USA team of all time?

kinda weird that international ball has cheerleaders. Are they neutral?

switzerland's top cheermeisters

yeah exactly ha

whoa durant is strokin

durant and bron just went into FUCKTHAWORLD more in the third

hahaha bron is amazing, goes to the bench and Argentina scores 6 straight
Kobe has been garbage in this game imo

edit: Kobe is human garbage and deserves a life of misery

durant just won the game with a 5pt shot

challops to say Kobe doesn't really belong on this team?

not at all, his services are duplicated elsewhere by more effective players, and he's been pulling cutesy iso bullshit all tournament

I would just fly in KG and make Kobe go home tbh

cool that Keith Olbermann is getting work coaching Argentina, miss u boo

was gonna say marty scorsese pulling a hell of a second job

Would be a good race, neither are partic fast.
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Monday, 6 August 2012 18:16 (3 hours ago) Permalink

remember when it came out that when the Celtics did full court sprints, Pierce usually won?

― Matt Armstrong, Monday, August 6, 2012 9:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha for real?

challops to say Kobe doesn't really belong on this team?

― Clay, Monday, August 6, 2012 10:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not at all, his services are duplicated elsewhere by more effective players, and he's been pulling cutesy iso bullshit all tournament

― electric point-electric counterpoint (m bison), Monday, August 6, 2012 10:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, he shouldnt be starting, thats for sure. He had some clutch moments in China but they dont need him anymore.

Nash is gonna hate Kobe.

just seems like you could throw a joe johnson type out there as replacement and it'd be addition by subtraction -- just keep Kobe's internal mind game nonsense on the sidelines.

they're basically letting kobe have a victory lap for saving us in 2008

i think the core guys also don't really mind that he takes most of the media attention, which would otherwise fall to lebron i guess, for now

I'm not watching the game but twitter just exploded because Batum apparently closed fist punched Navarro in the balls. He was not ejected for it.

@WojYahooNBA

I asked Nicolas Batum why he hit Juan-Carlos Navarro in the groin. "I wanted to give him a good reason to flop," Batum said.

such a great line

http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/visual/whatshot/Batum_punch.gif

That batum line might be worth the $44 million.

could make the argument that kobe has been the worst player on team USA in these games

Easily the worst. Love got right and D Will does at least like one good thing a game, so yeah.

yeah. love has been much better since the exhibitions. d will is a bit sloppy but dude can play.

(obviously)

BAN KOBE

STOP SHOOTING, KOBE

the bean is cooked

Done been.

loving the beeeeeaaan
they looooving the beeeeeaaan

ahahah lebron

a lot of shitty threes tonight

I'm seriously missing this game because my gf is watching a My Cat From Hell marathon.

that accurately describes kobe's game today

lebron just dominates these games whenever he chooses to

*insane cross court pass to melo for open three*

*drives to the hoop for an and 1*

oh wait n/m he missed the shot

but still

so harden has been cut out of the rotation, essentially

wow, k love going hard in da paint

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1283490/nicolas-batum-punch.gif

I'm seriously missing this game because my gf is watching a My Cat From Hell marathon.

― Clay, Wednesday, August 8, 2012 6:34 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that accurately describes kobe's game today

― tauheed & cambria (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, August 8, 2012 6:36 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha

im tryin to think who the usa shouldve gotten instead of kobe n melo

anyway these games kind of weird me out, all these guys on the same team doesnt feel right

also it so chippy, just undignified, unolympic

respect the rings fellas respect the rings

also the usa should be trying harder to knock balls off the rim because its awesome

in conclusion

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1268566/awwyeah.gifhttp://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1268566/awwyeah.gifhttp://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1268566/awwyeah.gif

so if the under-23 (or is it 23 and under?) thing were in place this year, how do you guys think the team would look?

keepers: anthony davis (19), harden (22)

obvious additions: blake griffin, kyrie irving, john wall, probably demarcus cousins & kawhi leonard.

after that it gets slippery. tyreke? kidd-gilchrist? maybe lillard?

i think kidd-gilchrist prob makes it

blake makes it but still gets hurt, so he gets axed again

essentially 2009 + 2011 kentucky plus like four other players

paul george, maybe. greg monroe could replace blake.

but nah here's my U-23 2012 roster

guard:

kyrie irving
brandon jennings
james harden
avery bradley

wing:

paul george
michael kidd-gilchrist
kawahi leonard
harrison barnes

big:

demarcus cousins
greg monroe
anthony davis
kenneth faried

that team is lucky to medal

i guess i'm forgetting that int'l players would also be U-23. in that case they're prob still gold medal favorites.

hardest cut was derek favors... but i like faried a bit better right now

jennings is also better than wall right now

coach K & colangelo would never take tyreke imo

Just finishing the game now. K Love had some crazy offensive rebounds, looked great throughout. Lol kobe suxx then hits like 6 threes and now he will feel like he should shoot more next game :/

Love the random US fan sporting the Kemp jersey too.

dude i saw at least 5 kids at lollapalooza this past weekend wearing kemp jerseys.

His kids, presumably.

there it is

so i missed it, why would we do under-23? would all of olympic basketball go u-23? does someone not like that every four years we get to see 100 or so of the best players in the world team up by country and try to take down the us?

anyone who replies "mark cuban" or "david stern" gets banned

i kind of wish batum's nut shot on loop could be our 2012-13 thread title

well cuban (and maybe stern) want to create a world cup of basketball so they can profit off of international competition. the way they see it, they're bearing all of the risk w/ olympic basketball but see no reward.

BANNED

j/k

right i forgot about the COPA MUNDIAL DE BASKET that they want, ok

your rewards is mad international exposure and fulfillment of your duties as a money-american

but theres already a world cup of basketball

holy shit kobe

kobels on fire early, got that dwight bump

kobels on fire early, got that dwight bump

Argentina's uniforms are an aesthetic disaster

I don't want to dig through the Olympics thread on ile, where I suppose this has been addressed, but can someone explain the colorful tape to me?

Also lol for eternity that Gutierrez has a fucking Dharma Initiative tattoo.

lebron is too good

http://www.businessinsider.com/kinesio-tape-at-london-olympics-2012-8

re: tape

Thanks! More or less what I expected.

lebron is basically playing point-center

if this game is a blowout, the US should send out anthony davis for a dexter pittman-style contract nut hit on the guy that whacked melo

my god, lebron

KD

a team with lebron & durant isn't going to lose to anyone

otm

lebron is just on another level.

oh my fucking god, carmelo

I feel like when melo is in this zone he could stare at a stage 4 cancer patient and they'd go into remission.

tyson banging on random argentines

russ turned an ankle

kobe being a 9-time all-nba defensive player is hilarious

doug collins didn't sound too sad when saying "andre igoudala, newly of the denver nuggets"

ugh, absolutely gutted by the bronze medal game

krzyzewski kind of game: chuckin' threes

intense start!

Durant!!!!!

lol at Collins calling jesse eisenberg the CEO of facebook

lebron looks so good

durant make a fuckin 3!

lol at quick cut to arnold and boris in the crowd

bullshit double technical, what is this the nba?

lebron's crosscourt passing is inhuman

chandler is my favorite player to temporarily root for

is bron the best crosscourt passer of all time?

marc is such a goofball

is there going to be a 30 for 30 about ray allen's radical body transformation into a shaggy haired spaniard

def wanna see westbrook on a sprained ankle driving into a 1 on 5

russ looks awful

play some fuckin defense

eh. spain has been shooting the lights out. spain's more the team that needs to play defense. the US isn't losing a game if they get above 110 points.

team usa should totes go to the lebron in game 5 of the finals offense

kobe, who can't a clean shot off vs jose calderon, is calling for the ball

wow, nice move gasol

oh man lebron

WHO WAS THAT FOUL ON OMG

k love has been good down low for team usa but man is he getting worked right now

"huge possession right here" *kobe takes horrendous three*

Pau is pretty clearly the greatest player in the history of international competition now

i'm terrified of a kobe bryant who is seeing his final gold medal slipping away

kobe just wants to get out of here in time to catch up with the dutch women's handball team

ew

kobe has had "olympic village" written all over him every game