Can’t handle the truth…If the best anyone can do is nitpick a near 30-piecing, than we’d say Team USA is still doing alright. Mexico was the victim last night in another dunkfest (Kobe’s tomahawk on the one big man was crazy) to begin Phase 2 of pool play at the Olympic qualifying tournament. While the offense was there (Carmelo had 28, Kobe 21, and LeBron and Dwight 19), the main concern — which is legit — is that the U.S. defense wasn’t as intense as it had been in previous games. Whereas Kobe had been the gatekeeper and Howard, Amare and Tyson Chandler the brick walls of a D that was regularly holding teams in the 30s and 20s in shooting percentage, last night Mexico hit 46 percent of their shots and put up 100 points. Do you chalk that up to:
A) The U.S. getting complacent?
B) A Mexican team that played with heart the whole time? Or…
C) The fact that Mexico has a great coach in Nolan Richardson?
We’d say all three played a factor … And how sick was Romel Beck (20 pts) when he crossed up Kobe and netted a trey in his eye? If you don’t remember Beck, he played a UNLV a couple years ago and last we saw was in the D-League … What’s up with Bill Walton going after Corliss Williamson like that? Reminiscing on the ‘95 NCAA title game, Walton said UCLA “turned Big Nasty into Big Sissy.” He even threw in a George Zidek reference … But at least Walton didn’t do to Corliss what he (and John Saunders) did to Fat Lever, giving him the full Maury Povich treatment on his family situation. If you saw the game you know what we’re talking about … Our man Christian is in Vegas this week for the MAGIC fashion & apparel trade show. All day we were getting random e-mails about his celeb sightings: Rick Ross (”Chain was huskier than Oliver Miller“), Diddy (”Every woman in Vegas was at the Sean John booth”), Vanessa & Angela Simmons (”Every man in Vegas was at the Run Athletics booth”), LL Cool J (”Every woman’s panties in Vegas were left at the Todd Smith booth”), Lil’ Boosie and Lil’ Scrappy. We’re not saying Christian is eating well out there on other people’s expense accounts, but he did nickname himself “Lobster and Shrimp” at some point last night … Leandro Barbosa on Kobe: “He don’t guard like that in the NBA.” Imagine if the Lakers had some other scorers and Mamba could do that more often in the League? Defensive P.O.Y. … Against Puerto Rico yesterday, Barbosa was free to do what he’s been doing. He dropped 34, but Brazil got blown out … Overall it was kind of a slow day in the office Monday, as everyone was recouping from the Nike Tournament of Champions we helped pull off over the weekend. You can read the recap of the tourney right here, where four of the best playground teams in NYC fought it out to determine the All-City champs … When we posted the behind-the-scenes video from our photo shoot with Carlos Boozer (his feature is in Issue #35, on newsstands now), we didn’t expect to hear from Booz’s auntie about it … Does it bother Sixers fans that Sam Dalembert wasn’t dominating Esteban Batista at the FIBA tourney? While Batista is proving to be one of those Carlos Arroyo-types who’s waaaaay better in international ball than he is in the League, he’s still Esteban Batista. He barely gets any tick with the Hawks, while Dalembert has been a starting NBA center going on five years now … Watch out, Chicago: Ben Gordon is talking respect and contract extension in the same breath. BG is now eligible for a long-term extension, and he wants to get broke off. “I’m hoping something gets done and I won’t have to wait another year to see what’s going to happen,” he told an NY paper. “I’ve done everything possible I could have done to help my team get to the playoffs, and I think it’s up to them right now to see if they want to make a long-term commitment. If you look at other players around the league that are doing things similar to what I’ve done in my past year and throughout my career, I just want to get that equal respect. And that’s all it’s really about. The money I make is going to be more than I’ve ever made, so it really just boils down to getting your just due and your respect.” … Kenny Anderson to the Orlando Sentinel: “It’s hard for me to understand these guys [trying to play past 40]. It’s a young man’s game. I had a nice run in the league, but there comes a time to step aside. It’s no fun sitting on the bench as insurance, waiting for someone else to fall out.” But at 36, would Kenny really turn down an offer from an NBA team right now? … Falcons/Bengals preseason game on national TV? Never wanted to NOT watch a football game more. Who’s up for three hours of Michael Vick talk? No thanks. And did you hear that Vick’s sentencing happens on the same day that the Falcons have a “Monday Night Football” game? Circle that on one the “Avoid” calendar, too … A late-night viewing of the AND 1 TV show saw Hot Sauce going on a surreal rant about — what else? — the haters. Dude was dipping in and out of third-person for a good five minutes, and one time said something like, “People wanna use moves I came up with, use ‘em on me. Can I stop that [on defense]? No, it’s my move. That’s how nasty I am. I can’t stop myself.” … We’re out like Kenny A …
August 28th, 2007 at 3:14 am
DPGC says:
fuck hot sauce, fuck and 1
August 28th, 2007 at 4:07 am
il Mago says:
Of course Ben Gordon deserves his due respect in pay. If Chicago was willing to trade for a max contact signing in Ben Wallace, Gordon would not be the same?…if not higher? Ben Gordon is even better than that taskmaster Skiles would like to admit, taking him off the bench like that. Are you kidding me?! If nothing happens before this summer expect an amazing fantasy season from Gordon.
Skiles is the problem, Not Gordon.
It just makes me sad that Paxson has learned nothing from the Jordon era of which he won a championship. Its about that rainmaker that does amazing things.
Lastly….No, Team USA will not lose a game, they on a mission….so enjoy the show
August 28th, 2007 at 5:34 am
jalanc says:
good point on Kobe contending for the DPOY award, but remember when MJ won DPOY and MVP in the same season? now THAT was nasty.
August 28th, 2007 at 6:24 am
marcus says:
wasn’t that hakeem???
August 28th, 2007 at 8:41 am
alex says:
that was both of them. MJ in ‘88 and The Dream in ‘94.
August 28th, 2007 at 8:52 am
seth says:
By the way, Jordan also average 37.1 ppg that year to become the first (and only) non-Wilt to get 3K points in a season, won the dunk contest, and had 200 steals and 100 blks (the only player ever to do it, he did it twice). Just wanted to ask: Has anyone else noticed how well Bron is shooting the ball? Very simple reason. For the first time in his career he is going straight up on his j. Been watching him since St. Vincent St. Mary, and he has ALWAYS faded and leaned on every shot. If he will continue this stroke consistently, the King will be an even more effective and efficient player when the L schedule resumes. Scary.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Bust Jlaze says:
I also noticed Bron’s new shot…he’s gonna be real nasty this year…
And1 has officially been PLAYED OUT…I imagine most people are sick of that crap…dudes be lookin real clownish out there. It was fun for a second, but now they all think they should be in the L?!
Kobe and Bron are lookin’ like Mike and Magic out there…this is gonna be mad fun to watch!
August 28th, 2007 at 10:41 am
mbz says:
funny how the onetime ‘bron hater, seth, is now all up on his jock.
August 28th, 2007 at 11:03 am
João says:
The play of the tournament was Castro doing his thing against Kobe , similar Iverson x MJ. Period. And I’m one of the guys that is always telling you guys that this team is not a GREAT team. Give it up 100 points to Mexico ??? With Horacio 500 pounds Lhamas at center ??? Are you Kidding me ?
August 28th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Bust Jlaze says:
C’maaan dog…any time you give a team a family bucket (30-piece) then it don’t matter what the score was…I mean, how many points would YOU consider to be acceptable? 100-70? 110-80? It’s all the same.
And anytime you play chest to chest defense like MJ and Kobe, you’re bound to get crossed BAD eventually. Nice move tho…
August 28th, 2007 at 11:47 am
DOC says:
Where the hell is Joao from. This team is busting everybodys ass if all you can come up with is these weak ass reasons why you think they’re beatable you need to just stop writing. You are just one of them dudes who always wanna say see I told you so so your gonna talk shit every day hoping that loss comes so you can act like you know the damn future. I bet you are prayin for they downfall every night. But when its over your just gonna say they won the gold by 50 but they got outscored by 1 in the last 2 minutes they’re not great or some bullshit like that.
August 28th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Bust Jlaze says:
Yo DOC, I’m sayin….if you take the last minute of the 3rd quarter and subtract that score from the total points USA scored between 3:45 and 4:20 in the 4th quarter, then Mexico actually outscored them by 5 points…you ever think about THAT?! USA will only get Bronze now. Hahaha!
August 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
JC says:
way to give love to Ro’ Beck. He’s a baller and he’s been playing in mexico/south america recently… He’s a so-cal hooper that went to the same HS (Etiwanda in Rancho Cucamonga) as current UCLA baller Darren Collison
August 28th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
João says:
Hey guys , dont get mad at me ,,, This team just doesnt convinced me ,,, thats it ,,, you now why ? Because USA are playing against nobody … thats why … Hey DOC, by the way, I’m from Brazil, played ball at college and today I’m working with under 19 yr women’s basketball national team of Brazil as a trainer. I go with regular basis to USA (every year) and I’m a Heat fan. This is a public forum, and everyone should give your opinion. There are EURO teams that would KILL USA , IF the USA team play like they did yesterday. And no, 27 points against MEXICO it´s not good, not at all. And yes, I love Basketball and I want to see the USA team winning it all, I’m just not convinced, ok ?
August 28th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
mbz says:
mad props to seth for the impressive mj stats…i agree on the ‘bron jumper subject as well…lets just hope it continues and isn’t a fluke…good to see u on the king’s bandwagon now seth…
August 28th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
G Liddy says:
The reason all the broads where at the Sean John stand was because that clown was giving away T-shirts. Homeless people are only dudes wearing Sean John.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
alex says:
i still think USA has a good chance to get the gold in China next year - mostly because they have Kidd to take control when the going gets tough. Don’t get me wrong, Mamba, Lebron, and Melo are awesome but Kidd’s the glue that keeps everybody together on the same page. If those 3 scorers try to take over the game the way they’re used to - by individual scoring, US will be in trouble. The 30 point win against mexico doesn’t seem to be a lot - only if you compare it with the 3 previous blowouts. But 30 pts is 30 pts and a win is a win.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Bone says:
Line of the night during the game was Walton talking about who was not playing for Mexico, sighting Eduardo Najera, Earl Watson, and “UCLA Legend Lorenzo Mata”. I know Walton always refers to all former UCLA players as “UCLA Legend” but no love for Watson on the UCLA legend tip?
August 28th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Bust Jlaze says:
Walton’s DUMB funny…I used to not like him, but once I got his humor he started crackin’ me up…
August 28th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Kudabeen says:
Any team, no matter how many “superstars” they have are going to have troubles with a team that play together and play with heart. Mexico is that kind of team and have been every night so far. Puerto Rico, Brazil, all others, even Argentina, when they almost let Panama beat them tend to relax and try to coast. Nolan Richards has been ostracized by the NCAA and that is a true shame. There are so many ball players that can use his brand of discipline and love of the game. The Basketball world is worst off for this man not coaching.
With that…Team USA can’t (and no team) cover every spot on the floor. Winning Basketball is played when the ball is moving and maximum effort is being given on D. USA relaxed on D a bit. To try to compare and draw parallels between this effort and them playing other Euro teams is pointless. Blowouts are fun to a degree, but for a team filled with competitors, it can get boring. Mexico don’t have an guy that any USA player can dial in on and take it as a challenge. yes Mexico plays hard, but much of USA’s motivation has been behind finding key areas to take as challenges.
I look forward to how they play against Puerto Rico and Argentina. As usual, they shouldn’t lose a game and don’t see it happening this tournament…
August 28th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Bron42 says:
i was a freshmen at unlv when romel came a few years back..he was nice then…skinny as all hell but nice..good to see he is still doin his thing. and is he seriously tryin to say a 30 point blowout isnt good enough because the other team broke 100? so if i win a game with a final 200-100, all that matters is I won…Yea some euro teams could of, possibly, maybe, perhaps, stood a chance if USA played defense that EXACT same way…but look how far your nit picking…”well if kobe shot the exact % he did today, and they let people get layups, they’d lose..” welll duh…thats like that kid who is ballin and says “man if my jumper was on i’d be killin” well guess what, your jumper isnt on and you lost..thats all that matters…if team usa chokes, then we’ll deal with it then…until then dont come cryin sayin how them winnin by 50 against a team of nobies (wow luis scola and anderson verajeo arent here…) aren’t good enough. and this is coming for a former college baller, and nba trainer so your status and love of the game doesn’t really change much
August 28th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
kowtz says:
Yeah… Stop hatin on João , even though he’s been at it on USA not having legit opponents? (I think ever since USA TRASHED Brazil, hmmm… maybe The Brazil team was nobody, and when he predicted Barbosa scoring 25 on KB24
)
C’mon man, even Barbosa gave props to KB and USA… show some love…
You’re not convinced of what? Who are you to trash them because they can’t win at your standards…
As far as I know, all they need is one point over every opponent at the end of every game, up until 2008 ends and it’s still GOLD…