There was nothing new in the way Team USA went about taking the gold medal at the FIBA Americas tournament yesterday. After watching Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo and crew pound on Argentina a couple days ago, the only way they were losing on Sunday was if they somehow completely lost focus, fell apart mentally and couldn’t hit the side of Mike Sweetney with their shots. No such luck. ‘Bron was the star this time around, sticking eight threes and finishing with 31 points in another piecing. Earlier in the tourney, we attributed LeBron’s suddenly automatic J to the fact that he was no longer fading away on his release. Yesterday ‘Bron had his little fade going and was still hitting, so maybe it’s just more of a confidence thing … Kobe had some sick passes, with a couple going to Dwight Howard for monster dunks. (Dwight seemed to be in a contest with ‘Bron to see who could dunk harder.) Back when Kobe said he wanted to be traded and there was reportedly only one team he was willing to go to, do you think Orlando was ever in consideration? Watching Mamba (8 asts) and Dwight (20 pts) work together yesterday, they looked great … LeBron threw up the Roc symbol during the medal ceremony … Luis Scola took home tournament MVP. Um, WHAT?!? Yeah, we know he led his team to silver and averaged 19 points and 7 boards a game, but come on. Does the fact that his team got destroyed twice by the gold-medal team mean nothing? How about giving MVP to Carmelo, who averaged 21 points and 5 boards per game? Or Kobe, who averaged 15 ppg and was the leader of hands-down the best team defense in the tournament? Or maybe LeBron, who averaged 18 points on 76 percent shooting from the field? Giving it to Scola just smacks of “consolation prize” … If they kept a stat for “Most Times Dunked On” for the tournament, Martin Leiva (#11 for Argentina) would have run away with it. Puerto Rico’s Peter John Ramos might have been up there if he actually challenged anyone going to the basket … Check this out: According to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, Bill Walton and his rotating play-by-play guys were NOT in Vegas during the FIBA tourney. “They are calling the game action from a studio in Bristol, Conn.,” the article said. “An ESPN spokesman described that as ‘a production decision.’” You know, now that we think about it, they never did do the usual camera shot on the announcers during breaks with fans acting like morons in the background, nor were there any sideline-reporter interviews from what we remember … With all the attention being given to non-USA standouts like Barbosa Scola and Batista, no one was really talking about Larry Ayuso. The “other” guard on Team Puerto Rico (behind Carlos Arroyo and Jose Juan Barea) was getting it done consistently throughout, and yesterday capped it off by hanging 39 points and 8 treys on Brazil in the bronze-medal game. Ayuso has had a look here and there in the League, but since he’s only about 6-2 and isn’t a PG, he’s stuck in that “tweener” pergatory. But really, what are guys like Damon Jones and Eddie House doing that Ayuso couldn’t do? The announcers were all over him yesterday, too, saying every NBA team needs shooters and he’d be a good fit … As good as Ayuso was, it’s not like Arroyo was bad. He dropped 30 and 10 dimes in the win … Nene didn’t play. He hurt his calf in the semifinal loss to Argentina and could be out 4-6 weeks … Earlier in the day we caught a replay of a USA/Australia game from ‘96. At halftime they were talking about that year’s free agent class, which was ridiculous: Jordan, Zo, Reggie, Mutombo, Payton, Shaq and Rodman were all on the market that year. Nuts. MJ had just signed a one-year deal with the Bulls for $25-30 million around the time of that particular game, Reggie was reportedly being pursued hard by the Knicks, and Shaq was “very impressed” by the Lakers’ presentation … We’re out like MVP Luis Scola …
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September 3rd, 2007 at 5:52 am
Captain America says:
Melo was MVP
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:38 am
Kosta says:
Dwight was sick!
http://www.squidoo.com/DwightHoward/
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:57 am
kowtz says:
Kosta Sucks!
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:59 am
Rodnets says:
Scola is MVP
Its easier for guys in the Kidds Team, or Former Egocentric Team to produce stats surrounded bu a cast of stars
Scola was alone in that team, carried a B team to silver while Team USA had only but stars and stats.
Ok, its not enough for you to win the tournament playing something more like a team. I say the only MVP for USA is Coach K, who lowered Egos and Selfishness.
as regards players, Scola is MVP like it or not
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:03 am
jalanc says:
So was MJ the highest ever paid player on a per year basis? even at 30 mil a year, he was probably a bargain for the bulls…
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:06 am
sans says:
Scola got his every time he was single teamed on Amare, Dwight, Melo, Bron…they even went with the “lightly hit him with every player in the vicinity so he passes out” attack on defense.
Manu and Oberto are going to make the Olympics a lot more fun and, hopefully, challenging; not to mention Greece and Spain. But, what I want to know, is who is on New Zealand’s team? And who else plays in the Oceania district? They should rock Grateful Dead jerseys just so people remember that they made it to the Olympics.
Dream 3 way trade situation right now: Doc Gooden to Houston–Skip/Mike James/Aaron Brooks and a 1st rounder to Sactown–and Bibby to Cleveland. Additional moving parts: Bonzi Wells to the Cavs (he’s from Ohio and might actually play on the Cavs as a 6th/7th guy); Larry Hughes to Sactown just to get rid of him (seriously, his hand injury wrecked his game–but he still shoots); any of the nine power forwards on the Kings–somehow solving the Shareef-Kenny beef and getting Spencer Hawes some tick.
I guy through over a table full of drinks at a bar the other night, ready to throw down, mad-as-hell, because I told him that there was NO WAY that Spence is gonna grab ROY this year. Redneck Huskie fans are delusional and really drunk all day. All day.
Peace.
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:26 am
tredaddy says:
SCOLA MVP? WHAT! I thought MVP goes to the winning team. Luis Scola is very nice player but mvp when your team can’t stay within 25 points in the gold medal game. yes they were over match but come on. this goes to show that Fiba is not a fan of usa basketball. Argentina made there best run with Scola on the bench. when in the game he played hard and school amare and lebron on a couple plays but no MVP when king james and the mambo with melo on the court. Would scola make the US team? When argentina does put there team together in 08 the US the kick there butt by 35 points.they keep making excuses bout who not playing but remember people we beat there A team with a C- team in the world basketball last year. with lebron and melo getting better and kobe and kidd joing the team with Dwade and Bosh joining the 2nd unit (which was somewhat of a weakest cuz the 2nd unit didny have any like dwade) they don’t have a chance not if they bring Duncan/popovich and tony parker.
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:31 am
Bron42 says:
come on now…first you guys are all over argentina’s nuts about how their gonna destroy usa, or even give them a challenge or EVEN stay within 5 points. Then they get mashed back to back times and your still makin excuses and suddenly their a team of bums who were carried by the super hero status of luis scola…pulease…baptisa was more impressive than scola and his team had NO ONE. what happen to the glory of carlos delfino (NBA), or the supposedly up and coming pg on argentina? now they both are trash and scola had to go kobe and lift the team by himself just to make the silver? and WERE the ones with the egos? learn to accept your beating and stop makin excuses or bein bitchy…if you wanna complain 24/7 and give reasons why ur team gettin destroyed is ok, move to france and just savor it. Your team got pieced HARD and your mvp had a dunk bounced off his face by dwight howard. If were hypin scola for “carrying a bunch of nobodies who were supposed to be a challenge for usa” they might as well gave the mvp to barbosa too..just break up the trophy and give a piece to every guy who was SUPPOSED to be do damage but still lost to USA this year… Rodents must be the argentinian prime minister or something to have THAT much hate with nothing to back it up on. they lost usa won, suck on a lemon and bitch at your “A team” for not comin and makin the rest of your squad look like a pile of leaves while scola did all his supposed work. There should be a new rule, if your team isn’t within a generous 10 points of the winner…they need to just shut up.
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:35 am
Bron42 says:
tre just realize, their gonna complain no matter what..their gonna say oh well manu and noci would of saved the day if they came and usa got lucky yadda yadda, meanwhile usa could just say wade, bosh, kg, joe johnson, agent zero,ray allen,greg oden, durant etc..would of just ADDED to the 30 point blow out if they came..hell tyson chandler didnt even play ..so its all pointless to argue and a waste of time.
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:09 am
DOC says:
They can get Manu Noci,Oberto and any other bums they want but the U.S. is gonna kick their ass just like they did. Yall making excuses now 2 weeks ago yall was gonna win. Just be happy for 2nd because thats all you other teams are fighting for until we get bored again and think they can walk through games. The real Argentines at the game knew they was gonna get they ass kicked. You see how happy they were after the game. They lost by damn near 50 and was just happy it wasn’t 100. We waiting for Manu and them to do that.
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 am
Bron42 says:
well u cant say USA is DEF gonna win, i mean we did murder everyone this year but ya never kno…but at the same time scrubs on here nit picking every BEATING like their team didn’t just get smacked by 25 need to stop…you dont see the players complaining, they were happy it wasn’t 50…so just go with it
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:27 am
tredaddy says:
that’s was great I couldn’t have said it any better myself. I just don’t know how someone like skip (i hate the king james) bayless would say that a TEAM of manu and 4 nba rejects could beat a TEAM of king james-mambo-kidd and not 2 mention melo with dwade coming back. they can only beat themshelves.
P.S. didn’t Coach k and staff do a great job with brons blance and release on his jump shot. dwade payed close attention 2 the way lebron was hitting that outside shot and he will know it down with the same ease, then add greg oden and chis bosh along with durant. we will win by 40
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:40 am
tredaddy says:
no I’m not sayin were guranteed 2 win we all saw what happen 2 Michigan on saturday. but if we play hard play smart and as a team they don’t stand a chance. did any notice how long the argentina coach kept his best player n the game with the game well over? that cuz he knew that I game would have been much worse and 2 pad scola stats for that Mvp award
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:48 am
Tamilan says:
Always thought Jordan deserved atleast 25 mil. Shaq, Garnett and Kobe are also worthy of their blown up contracts.
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Ian says:
comon people the mvp was clearly scola
take him off the team and they dont make silver
u take any american of their team and they would still win gold
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Bron42 says:
3 days ago most of you were saying argentina was gonna keep up with USA and now its “take scola off and their all bums” like they did anything against the USA with him. I thought MVP was about whose team did what. ISn’t that why you all said dirk deserved it over kobe? Why Nash got it over shaq? So lets try to keep the same standards here. USA did better and SMASHED the mvps team and suddenly its “well he carried them himself” didn’t kobe do that during the season and I personally got like 50 posts on how its not about personal stats. So shouldnt it have been lebron (who i hate but had 31) or melo who was steady the whole tourny? like i said, baptiste had more of a break out than scola did and his team was literally NO ONE ELSE. so lets not be hypocrits now
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Bron42 says:
P.S: Shouldnt a MVP who plays the post play some defense? Cuz last I checked argentina had NO blocks and it was a complete dunk fest. Last thing the rockets need is a defensivly soft, mechanical euro post player
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:50 pm
sans says:
Nash got his MVPs because of the difference he made on the court, i.e. the Suns are way better with him than without him, moreso than any other player in the L. Same for Scola.
Dirk got his because he came in 2nd to Nash twice.
And no fan of the US team can complain about post defense, when no one could stop Batista or Scola from getting there’s, despite double teams from All-Stars. The only thing that the bigs did on D was to clog passing lanes and throw big help-defense blocked-shots into the stands.
Then there was Kobe and JKidd, playing in people’s shirts for 3/4s of the court.
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:02 pm
IGP says:
I know everyone says the Suns would be nothing without Nash…but what would the Lakers be without Kobe? I think Kobe should have got MVP for the league last year, and probably JKidd for team USA. Kobe was the stopper (and he can always score, but didn’t really need to), Melo and Bron were nasty like usual, but Kidd really kept this team together.
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:03 pm
IGP says:
I also think the Suns are a playoff team even without Nash. The Lakers get the number 1 pick without Kobe probably.
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:47 pm
kowtz says:
Luis Scola is MVP of Argentina… Only…
If we base the award to the player, which if he does not play, that the team would suck… then it should be given to BArbosa…
And, KB24 would have made MVP the past three years… coz without him, Lake town would be like 10-72…
Without Nash, Phoenix would have still made the play-offs…
And oh yeah… stop B*TCHIN about you’re piecin…
Barbosa’s 25 points…
Argentina might win…
Argentina might lose, but just in a small margin…
Now USA has no legit competition?
Yeah right… and then you’ll tell us the ‘92 dream team played a bunch of 5 foot amateurs…
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Bron42 says:
lol for real…and i love how everyone ignores kobe only had 5 points and they still wont by close to 30. And yea…nash hasnt changed ANY team much…mavs were better without him, and last i checked the suns havnt won shit since he came aboard and were already in the playoffs before he got there when they had marbury and it was amare’s rookie year (remember him dunkin on olawakandi). No way in hell anyone can tell me with a straight face, if you took kobe off the lakers and nash off the suns, the suns STILL don’t end up with a much better record. So no, nash didnt deserrve shit. Same with dirk. Hes a 7′0 shooter, who doesn’t play D and isn’t clutch in anyway what so ever. his team just had a good record due to good team play and complimentery players. Hence everytime it falls on dirks shoulders, they lose. So again, if were just talkin ok teams that would suddenly become 1-81 if you subtract one player, no way u say nash over kobe. same for scola..one second argentina is supposedly USA comepetition, possibly even beating them this year, and once they lose its all “oh well they suck anyway and no one expected them to win, its just scola and some 8th graders” like carlos delfino isn’t in the nba. And the USA bigs did exactly what they had to do…run the court, finish put backs and intimidate people. like i said, USA had 7 blocks, argentina 0 and they lost by 30…so obviously there was some defense other than just kobe. so save it and swallow ya pride until next time.
September 4th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Kudabeen says:
While I think Carmelo or leBron should have had the MVP this time, I’m not going to knock Scola. He clearly was polished in the post. He was a true competitor who should a lot of pride and tenacity despite being over matched. Socla is soft? I didn’t see that at all. Batista also showed a lot of grit and skill that we haven’t been able to see due to him playing for an inept franchise. (What big man did the Hawks have that would prevent him from getting PT? Sheldon? ZaZa?).
Sans you say the US big men didn’t play D, but all they did on D was clog passing lanes, provide help defense, and block shots in the stands? What? So where your from the defense principles are based on the matador techniques?
LeBron really stood out this year. Not just with his J improving, but he was decisive and was a bit more vicious with his intentions. Is it just the bravado and confidence from being surrounded by the best of the best or was his Thrashing of Detroit the beginning of LeBron 2.0 heading toward 8/8/08??
Tyson, Prince, should be let go for Joe Johnson and Bosh (if he’s been in the weight room), if not then Boozer or Oden. I feel like people forgot about Joe Johnson. He is a do it all guy that knocks down shots too. Also CP3 seems to be getting written off. Quick penetrating guards are very valuable. It’s not CP3’s fault that when he got guys open looks last year they weren’t knocking them down… Same with Iverson. He made plays, but the team and Larry Brown got frustrated and caved in mentally getting caught up with things that had nothing to do with winning and being a team. (refs, minutes, ego). Collangelo has a job to do after re-establishing a high precedent for team USA.
Oh yeah Skip Bayless is a Turd!! Everything he says is out of his @$$
September 4th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Willis says:
@ sans
good thing thats a dream situation bro, because there is no way Kings would ever do that. Or Rockets for that matter. For one they can’t until after December because they already traded for Mike James. And the Kings aren’t trying to ‘get rid’ of Bibby. The man is as old as Kobe and he’s got some good years left. Last year was a bad season and fans are looking towards the old coach. No thanks to Skip, Mike James (who is a poor mans Bibby anyway,) or any professional athlete named Aaron Brooks, no matter how good he was in college or in summer league. And Sac just invested 11mil/yr for an upcoming star SG in K$, why would they want Hughes? More likely scenario is SAR to Chicago for somebody like Duhon/2nd Rounder.
September 5th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Ian says:
puh please talking about kobe for mvp
nash and duncan are the mvps every season their teams might make the playoffs barely without them but with them they are title contenders