[video=youtube;sGYYI3MjMco]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYYI3MjMco&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Uh-oh - Batum was just on a bit of a run (dunk, three point play) and then went off holding his back...
A lot of the US players look very ordinary. Bryant, James and Durant (surprise surprise) are the obvious standouts. (Parker is certainly in the top 4 players on the court.) Harden has airballed some shots. Tyson Chandler is probably next most valuable for the US.
I was surprised that Iguodala didn't get much burn. He's in now, but the game's been essentially over for some time. I left for a while - did Batum ever come back after he left holding his back?
Chris Paul is surprisingly unimpressive. And as I type that, he overdribbles and gets stripped by De Colo.
Of course he does, the Blazers just signed him to a huge contract. Next up: Batum to have microfracture surgery on his spine. Batum's spine bone-on-bone. Blazers seek medical retirement for Batum Batum signed to a series of 10-day contracts by some piece of shit organization like Memphis or Minnesota just to fuck with Blazers imaginary cap space. BNM
Here's a report from Ben Golliver http://www.blazersedge.com/ on the game plus others with Blazers and frankly it's quite disappointing. He gave Batum a 3 on a scale of 10.
And so it has begun. One game after signing his new contract and it is all about the money. Not surprising. It's always about the money. http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2012/07/canzano_nicolas_batum_must_mat.html
I thought this game would be a lot more competitive. I DVR'ed it this morning, and I made it through the whole day without hearing anything about the result. I made a point to tell everyone not to tell me about it, I got wings from a sports bar without looking at any of the screens, and I had people over to watch the game with me who knew the results. All of that trouble for nothing... Collins made two comments about how Team USA dominates games that I liked though. First, he pointed out how you can look at a roster like France's, see Tony Parker, some other NBA players, and get lulled into a false sense of confidence, but the reality is because their lack of depth at point guard, when Parker goes to the bench, that's when Team USA looks to attack and really open up a huge lead. The same seemed true in the Brazilian games when Huertas went to the bench. Secondly, he pointed out how the team with the more experienced, talented players tend to really separate themselves in the final minute or two at the end of the quarter. Basketball is largely a game of momentum, and Team USA seems to shift it into a higher grear with two minutes or so left in the quarter. As for France, I was hyped up from sensationalistic reports on Nando de Colo, but he awful out there. His shot wasn't falling, and if that's true to his game and not just a slump, he's in for a hell of a ride on the bench in San Antonio. In terms of his decision making, he didn't seem to buy into the team concept as much as guys like Turiaf, Parker, and co. did, but I guess I'll give him a pass, becuase they've been playing together since the U18's. I wonder how much better they would have done with a full roster though. If they had Rodrigue Beaubois, they wouldn't have given up that much ground with Parker on the bench. If they had Joakim Noah, they wouldn't have been outrebounded by 16 rebounds, and having Mickael Pietrus certainly would have helped add depth to their roster that was getting into foul trouble. (Also, what the hell was Rick Kamla trying to do with his "freethrowing" comments? Is that how they say free-throw shooting in international basketball, or is that something he says that he's trying to get to catch on. He kept using that term the whole game. "Team USA needs to improve their freethrowing,"... I nearly smacked my tv.)
