Team USA’s demolition derby, Kobe could play in Italy in 2009, and where is Marvin Williams’ payday?
Kobe Bryant (photo. Chris Sembrot)Kobe said it best regarding Team USA’s mindset going into this morning’s Olympic opener against China (10 a.m. EST). Asked if his squad would take it easy on their opponents if they got a big lead, Kobe deaded that ideal: “You demolish them. This is what we do. This is what got me here,” he said. As much as China has to play for, this being their opener and being in front of the home crowd, we really don’t see any way the U.S. loses this one. China obviously has NBA talent in Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian (plus Wang ZhiZhi) up front, but their backcourt has traditionally been too weak. This year’s guards, led by recent Lakers’ signee Sun Yue and PG Liu Wei, who got some tick with the Kings in the NBA preseason a few years back, are a little better, but they’ll have to play the game of their lives to avoid a USA piecing … Carmelo on the magnitude of this game: “I think it’s close to three billion people gonna be watching that game? That’s a lot of people.” Reminded by a reporter that three billion is about 60 percent of the world’s population, ‘Melo said, “That’s what they say, they say three billion,” then later blamed the inflated number on Coach K … Some of the Dime crew have seen our own Olympic appetizer this weekend in Portland at the Nike Global Challenge. Thirty of the top high schoolers in the U.S. have been split up into three teams competing in a FIBA-rules tournament with five international teams: Serbia, Senegal, Canada, Puerto Rico and Lithuania. We’ve got the whole thing covered on HighSchoolHoop.com, including game recaps and Q&A’s with some of America’s finest like Jordan Hamilton, Aaron Dotson, Jereme Richmond (committed to Illinois) and John Wall, arguably the best high schooler in the country … If you had to pick one, would you say Kobe is more or less likely than LeBron to actually go overseas and play for a couple of years? Kobe told reporters in Beijing that he won’t sign an extension with the Lakers (he can opt out of his deal in 2009) until he checks out the scene in Europe first. “Free agency now is becoming a global thing. When players become free agents, the team they’re currently with — their competition is no longer the rest of the teams in the NBA. It’s global. The market has opened up.” It’s been said that Kobe has eyes on being a player/part-owner with a team in Italy someday (yet another MJ-like move from him), so that could be a factor … Now that Josh Smith is back, and at a relatively cheap price, the Hawks won’t mind so much losing Josh Childress. But can they withstand losing Childress and having Marvin Williams disgruntled? Marv is one of the nicer guys we’ve met in the League, but he can’t feel too happy about the fact that everyone picked around him in the ’05 draft — Andrew Bogut, Deron Williams and Chris Paul — have all signed big-time extensions and the Hawks haven’t come through with anything for him. Marvin is coming off of a good year, too, putting up 14.8 points and 5.7 boards per game, but he hasn’t “popped” on the scene like CP, Deron or even Bogut. Speaking to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Williams said, “It’s not even on my mind. I saw where Bogut, Chris and Deron all got those extensions. They worked hard for that. And I’m happy for them. But from a personal standpoint I haven’t concerned myself with that right now at all. I love Atlanta. And I’ll let God take care of everything else.” … The Hawks are also about to lose Salim Stoudamire, a free agent who told the AJC he is looking elsewhere. Stoudamire is basically in the same position J.J. Redick will be in next year when Orlando doesn’t pick up his option; he can shoot the hell out of the ball, but is a defensive liability and a turnover risk otherwise. It’s funny how their careers have mirrored each other in the pros, especially since back in college, there were people out there who felt Salim was just as lethal as J.J. with the jumper but didn’t get as much attention … So apparently Darko suffered an Achilles injury while working out with the Serbian national team last month and hasn’t played since, but partially because the team trains somewhere up in the mountains, the Grizzlies haven’t been able to get in touch with anyone to find out how bad the injury is. In case it’s bad, word is Memphis is trying to sign Iranian national team center Hamed Ehadadi, who is 7-foot-2 and, well, 7-foot-2 … The Sixers might wanna think about Ehadadi, too. We’d heard they were already looking to sign another big man last week, but with Jason Smith tearing his ACL the other day, it’s become even more crucial to get a backup for The Dalembeast. The best fit seems to be Theo Ratliff, but he’s so old he might have actually played with Mo Cheeks … We’re out like Darko …
-->
August 10th, 2008 at 3:12 am
givemedanumba says:
first!!!!!!!!!!!!
n team usa gonna win by 25+
August 10th, 2008 at 3:19 am
AB_40 says:
watching spain – greece right now spain is up by 6.
and after that I’m watching russia lithuania… gotta love these live streams:D… usa will win by somewhere between 20 and 30 points tonight. yi or wang zhi zhi will probably get on a poster. the whole press is gonna say how amazing this team is till they face greece and spain with 2 days apart. Crazy how they planned it giving them the worst two teams first and then the best two teams in a row and then… germany…
oeh seccond half is starting… peace
ps. hamed ehadadi played preaty well in the diamond ball tournament especialy vs serbi with a 20/20 game he’s no slouch but he isn’t athletic enough for the nba game.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:39 am
daquest?on happy bday to meee! says:
that spain game is pretty good getting a good luck at ricky rubio
August 10th, 2008 at 4:19 am
raf says:
can someone post a link where u can stream the games from? thanks
August 10th, 2008 at 4:26 am
daquest?on happy bday to meee! says:
@ raf i was trying to look for one but couldnt find it, thankfully usa put the game on because i was about to blow up if they dint baby shaq is only 23?!?!?!?!?
August 10th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Art from OZ says:
Didnt know there was a live stream! Anyone know which website
to hit.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:58 am
daquest?on happy bday to meee! says:
has any one noticed that team lithuania’s jerserys are exactly the same as team usa’s jerseys…..those areginta unis are fireeee
August 10th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Alf says:
i just cant believe how deep memphis has fallen from the days of williams, battier, gasol, swift, and, posey.
they had a very exciting team then can compete back then. just don’t mind their playoff record.
really sad.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Three Stacks says:
You can see a lot of the Olympic basketball games on http://www.nbcolympics.com
They didn’t play the Spain-Greece game, though. I think they’re not gonna show the TV broadcast games online, so they can get the TV viewership up. They did show Russia-Iran and Germany-Angola earlier.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Flying-Aussie-Dutchman says:
Ah, I’m kinda getting sick of all the ballers these days just wanting money. They get their pay day, and then b***h cause they have no good talent around them.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:09 am
K Dizzle says:
great game goin on between Lithu. and Argen. right now. went from a two point game to a 9 point Lith in the 4th. lead cuz they can’t miss the 3 right now Arga. better step thep they game up or they gon be 0-1
August 10th, 2008 at 6:37 am
M Intellect says:
‘Melo, ‘Melo, ‘Melo…
Fucking 3 billion. That’s how you know The Wire got it right when they showed the schools Baltimore.
LOL
August 10th, 2008 at 6:38 am
K Dizzle says:
Damn. Final on Lith-Arg is 79-75 cuz at 75-75 with 20 secs left, Manu throws up some selfish trash in a triple team with dudes open everywhere. Lith comes back, Kleiza buries an open 3. Ballgame
August 10th, 2008 at 6:54 am
heavy d says:
I was watching that game as well. Big win by Lithuania after almost succumbing to the pressure late. They’d be real dangerous with better guards because they’re forwards are vicious.
On Marvin, there is always the chance the Hawks learn from this summer and work out an extension with Marv before the season starts. It’s a slim chance, but you never know.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:00 am
G-B says:
Spain won Greece in freakin’ cruise control… We better wtch out..
August 10th, 2008 at 8:47 am
kobeef says:
Wow -Argentia lost? I thought they were going to be a contender.
Spain looked really strong. P. Gasol didn’t have to work very hard and they killed Greece. Nice games from Calderon and Rudy Fernandez.
I wached the Russia game and Hamed Ehadadi is pretty impressive. He was causing a lot of trouble for Russia down low and had some solid passes and baskets. I can see him in the NBA.
I don’t think the Hawks are concerned about Marvin. Best case scenario is he plays well this year and they can trade him for a C or PG. Really, the Hawks need to find a way to move Horford to the 4 and Smoove to the 3 and not another starting SF Williams)
August 10th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Dagomar says:
3 billion is less than 50% . . . .
August 10th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Skeeter McGee says:
If I had to pick who would go first to Europe between Kobe and LeBron, I’d say Kobe. Now, I’m not saying that he would leave after this upcoming season, but I think he’ll be the first to go. Why? Because he grew up in Italy, speaks fluent Italian, would have almost no trouble adjusting to life over there, and the fact that he’d make bank compared to any offer he got here. Not to mention he is getting older (let me repeat though, he is nowhere near old), so as each season passes the amount of money he is worth in the eyes of a GM keep diminishing. And I’d love to sit here and agree with a lot of you that “Oh guys like Kobe and LeBron wouldn’t go cause then you can’t be considered the greatest to play, blah blah blah…” but the truth is these guys want to make as much money as possible, and someone like Kobe with 3 rings already may find it alot more sensible to retire in a place where he can call home and be comfortable doing it.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Coop says:
When will you Americans stop desecrating the English language? ‘off of’ makes me want to vomit all over the Dime ‘crew’. It’s ‘off’, that’s it. Jesus.
ATL, yet again, not looking after their players. Smith wants out, you can tell, Marv might not stay, Childress has gone. I mean how fucking stupid are the suits in that boardroom? Holy smoke.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:50 am
M Intellect says:
Dagomar – Does that make it any better that it’s less then 50% of the WHOLE WORLD?
Roughly 50% of the global population are chicks so we can count them the fuck out.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Jim says:
Dagomar has a point…the reporter (rightfully) clowns Melo, but then just throws out some made up number just like him.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:39 am
raf says:
China is giving usa some trouble early on…
August 10th, 2008 at 10:41 am
kobeef says:
Anyone else watching this game?
USA is clowning around but I am not sure why. China is keeping it close.
So far the 3 point shooting is still a problem (1-7 vs 4-6 for China)
August 10th, 2008 at 10:45 am
dagwaller says:
Ha, good points Dag, M, and Jim. If about 1 bil watch in China and a few dozen mil in the U.S., it could turn out to be close to 2 bil.
I might take that as more of a condemnation of Syracuse than I would of Baltimore, though.
Nice to see that kind of comment coming from Marvin Williams. Hopefully he doesn’t want more than 7, 8, or 9 mil a year at this point.
Can’t believe that even Dime is up on this “the U.S. is going to blow teams out” thing. I’m watching, and it’s 29 29 with 5 and a half left in the 2nd quarter. I’m sure that we’ll win, since we’ll probably wear this team down, but I don’t think it’ll be by more than 10. Dime, you said yourself that there are FIVE players on the Chinese team with NBA experience and/or talent, including the 1B best center in the league. I wish you guys were around for me to bet with.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:50 am
goldkmb says:
is anyone from the west coast pissed that everyone else in the world gets to watch them live, while we have to wait 3 hrs…i know we can watch it live online, but i want to hear what doug collins has to say.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am
that's whats up says:
no you don’t
August 10th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Tangman says:
hey dagwaller i wonder how close the game is now… oh wait the US is winning by 32. I’m out like Dagwaller thinking team usa wont win by more than 10…
August 10th, 2008 at 11:52 am
dagwaller says:
Ha, I really wish I could take that back. Oh well – a very happy mistake! Team USA’s like, “dagwaller, tell me how my ass tastes!”
August 10th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
frankie says:
ey yo tangman what kind of scores do you think we’ll see in the game vs spain? easy to pick on someone that actually makes predictions pussy. gotta say though dag that was pretty dumb haha
August 10th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Skeeter McGee says:
You guys worried about nothing. LeBron had one of the sickets ‘oops I’ve ever seen, Melo got punk’d when Yi had a putback dunk on his dome, and Kobe, where has your shot gone? Haha with all that being said, early on in games it will always be close but we pull away later because of our depth. Most of these teams can’t keep up their level of performance from the beginning of a game through the end so our depth will ultimately bring home gold. Just my opinion though…
August 10th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Amar says:
I saw Ehadadi play in the RMR, he’s 7’3, skinny (like camby) and very fast. (fast running the floor, fast going baseline to baseline, and fast in making his moves out of the post) he is talented offensively, having a variety of very quick post moves (jump hooks and turn arounds), and has a solid drop step. i don’t know how good his range is, because in the game I saw he didn’t have to do anything fancy, just run the floor, make good cuts/post ups and he can score the ball down low.
i’m sure bigger guys will give him trouble, but he gives give guys trouble with his speed.
during part of the game it just became Ehadadi blocking shots and fesenko blocking Ehadadi’s shot in retun.
He’s a serious prospect/project. you wonder if he’ll lose his quickness and speed if he bulks up. Right now that’s his main weapon.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Amar says:
that’s supposed to be “gives big guys trouble with his speed”.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
me says:
cant believe i freakin missed lithuania and argentina play. it was a good win for them for sure. i was like what lithuania beat them. sounds like it was pretty competative too daaaamit.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
schoops says:
Coop… it’s ok, I think you’ll live with a few errors in smack… but if “off of” makes you wanna vomit, well then i don’t want to know how you feel after listening to some NBA players give interviews…
And don’t hate on an SU education, Melo barely was there. Oak Hill is where is spent most of his time.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
frankie says:
schoops, melo was only at oak hill for one year.
August 10th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
doc says:
Coach K the one that said 3 bill were watching.Melo got the most haters in the game now.He might’ve took Kobe spot.Ass whipping number 1 in the books.Prediction of next games.Angola=125-09 USA,Greece 86-59 USA Spain 115-2 USA
August 10th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
doc says:
Frankie I know you disgusted with them scores just believe.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Coop says:
People don’t like Melo because he’s a sucker-punch throwing, uber capitalist-statement making, no defence playing moron. And we wonder why Stern wants long mandatory college time haha
August 10th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
schoops says:
coop, are you from cooperstown? … cuz that’d be fitting.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
M Intellect says:
Doc,
Carmelo does have dumb haters but he brings it on himself in so many ways. I mean, if ANYONE said 3 billion people were watching the game they gonna get clowned.
And no one gives a fuck if Coach K told him because by ‘Melo saying it on International TV, he obviously agrees with it.
If Coach K said Sun Yue was named after a Nas song and ‘Melo said it on TV you still gonna think he’s a fucking dick right?
The more I think about it, the more I think ‘Melo said it was Coach K so he don’t look dumb.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
frankie says:
Hahahaha @ M.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Coop says:
Schoops,
No guy, I live in England.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Tyler says:
Salim was a killer in college and much more “lethal” than JJ. Look at the stats from their senior years, it isn’t even close.