The Gold Standard
Kobe Bryant, Dime #43How was that to get you through the next couple of months without meaningful basketball? Team USA and Spain’s gold-medal matchup was one of the best Olympic contests we’ve seen maybe ever, and gave you everything you wanted no matter what side you were pulling for: some plain ol’ high-quality ball, some mixtape-worthy highlights (Rudy Fernandez was directly involved in the three sickest plays of the night), some tough D here and there, some nail-biter moments, some clutch shots, and plenty of drama. And if you’re a U.S. fan, a convincing enough margin of victory so that the basketball crown is firmly resting upon your collective heads for the next four years, or at least until the 2010 World Championships … In the end it was simply a matter of Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade being better than everyone else when it mattered most. Kobe hit a big three with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and then with just over three minutes to go and Team USA holding onto a six-point lead, Kobe stuck another three (plus the foul) in Fernandez’s grill that was just nasty, giving the “Shhhhh” signal to top it off. About a minute later, after Spain cut the lead to four, Wade nailed a corner three — which he’s not supposed to be good at — for another shot that seemed like the dagger. Then at the one-minute mark, with Spain refusing to fold, Kobe (20 pts, 6 asts) hit a floater in the lane that made it an eight-point game and effectively end Spain’s chances … And everyone will focus on the fourth quarter, but don’t forget how big D-Wade’s 13 first-quarter points were while Kobe and LeBron were on the bench in foul trouble. If Wade (27 pts) doesn’t step up in that moment, Spain easily could have been in charge of the first half … While Fernandez took it on the chin on that Kobe four-point play — on which he also fouled out, just to add butter on top of the grits — he had two other SICK plays. In the first half Rudy (22 pts) hit Tayshaun Prince with a crossover/step-back three that would’ve brought tears to Tim Hardaway’s eyes, and in the second half he put the Crown Royal bag on Dwight Howard’s head with a vicious right-hand dunk … In addition to Kobe and Wade, you also have to give props to Deron Williams (big-time three with about 7:20 left in the fourth and Spain on a roll) and Chris Paul (forced the action to get buckets in the first quarter when the U.S. looked slightly unsure of themselves, then made some timely defensive plays in the fourth). Neither guy did anything in this tournament to separate themselves from the other when it comes to that “Best point guard in the world” discussion … How long before people start throwing up huge asterisks over this gold medal? Team USA played Australia when they had Andrew Bogut (ankle) for less than a half, Argentina when Manu (ankle) played less than a half and Andres Nocioni (being Andres Nocioni) was banged up, and last night Jose Calderon (groin) was out injured. They also happened to catch Greece when Baby Shaq had some stomach and thigh bloating. It was like when the Rockets were on their 22-game win streak and they kept running up against teams with injured or suspended superstars. If the U.S. hadn’t been blowing everyone out by 30, it’d be easy to call them lucky as well … At least we can agree on one thing: If Team USA plays like they did on Sunday, they’re totally going to lose to Puerto Rico in the 2009 FIBA Americas World Championship qualifying tourney … Just to clarify: So it’s OK for Doug Collins and the ‘72 U.S. hoop team to not accept their silver medals, but that Swedish wrestler who dropped his bronze on the mat and walked off this year is being portrayed as a bad guy? … Ricky Rubio started at the point for Calderon, but after he struggled initially and Raul Lopez got into foul trouble, J.C. Navarro took over as the primary ball-handler and started KILLING. Navarro (18 pts) hadn’t done anything to stand out all tournament long, but last night he was sticking those Tony Parker-ish teardrops, diming Pau Gasol (21 pts, 6 rebs) on perfect alley-oops, taking charges, and before the third quarter buzzer, blew past Deron and hit a tough lefty layup over him. If Grizzlies’ GM Chris Wallace had another shot at taking one player from these Olympics, does he want Navarro or Hamed Ehadadi? … When was the last time you heard the words, “Carmelo Anthony’s defense leading to his offense” spoken during a game? ‘Melo (13 pts) created a steal to get a breakaway layup midway through the third quarter (he hit his hand on the backboard a la Caron Butler, and got hurt, though), and that was a minute after he got a huge tip-in off a Dwight missed free throw. Rebounding and defense? No doubt this was a meaningful game to ‘Melo … How terrified were Miami Heat fans every time D-Wade drove into the lane and slipped? Pat Riley might not have any hair left next time we see him … Like some of our readers said, we’re also shocked that LeBron (14 pts, 7 rebs) didn’t throw up the Roc symbol on the medal stand. He actually seemed like he might have been the only one to tear up. And we saw you, Jim Boeheim, not putting your hand over your heart during the anthem … Argentina knocked off Lithuania in the bronze medal game, getting 20 points from Carlos Delfino and 16 from Luis Scola. Manu didn’t play … In other NBA news, at least Stephen Jackson is being real about his. S-Jack wants his contract extension, and he’s not even pretending when it comes to the reason. “I won’t be comfortable going into this season being the fifth highest-paid (on the Warriors) and not get an extension,” Jackson told the Contra Costa Times. “It’s not what I want, it’s what I deserve.” For the record, the guys ahead of S-Jack on the pay scale are Monta Ellis, Al Harrington, Andris Biedrins and Corey Maggette … Now we wait until training camp, and since preseason games are generally brutal and rarely on TV (not even NBA League Pass), we won’t see a relevant game until damn near Halloween … We’re out like nothing but baseball …
August 24th, 2008 at 6:10 am
heartbreaker85 says:
rudy fernandez’ dunk on howard was a classic.
and if the grizzlies do get iran’s center, what will they do with darko and mark gasol?
i still crack up whenever pau’s little brother goes to the stripe. he gives new meaning to the phrase ‘he’s stroking it.’
August 24th, 2008 at 6:10 am
URF says:
who ya got?
August 24th, 2008 at 6:21 am
USA < International all stars says:
Why does Dime still employ austin burton? He is seriously a cancer to this site.
August 24th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Austin Burton says:
Because I’m better than you.
August 24th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
JC Navarro not getting resigned or signed by an NBA team is a travesty. That dude can play and he’s better than a lot of overpaid guards i.e. Mo Williams and Marcus Banks.
@USA < international all stars
Seriously how is that even fair. You can’t expect the players from one single country of 600 million or so to be equal to the talent pool of a few billion people world wide. Now if you want to see NBA vs. International (non NBA) all stars then we can talk.
August 24th, 2008 at 6:40 am
OMG!!! Please get off this dudes Nuts!! says:
I’m sorry, I appreciate Kobe and think he’s a great player…but get off his nuts already!! Why is this DIME cover looking like this?! Why couldn’t it have been a picture of the entire U.S.A team on the cover, considering that everyone contributed at one point or another and showed up. I understand he is the best player in the NBA right now and folks want to continuously bandwaggon and pump him up.. but everyone on that team deserves the cover. This is getting ridiculous. It wasn’t too long ago that Kobe was the most hated man in that NBA, getting boo’d in almost every arena…now all of a sudden some folks got him hanging up on their wall next to pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus himself. The hypocrisy kills me every time.
Hell if Kobe is that great, tell him to figure out how to lower these damn gas prices! I love you folks at dime and appreciate this site…but GTFOH with that cover! LMAO!!
August 24th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Sfefan Mueller says:
Kobe saved the game for the US…
http://www.squidoo.com/KobeBryantDunk
August 24th, 2008 at 6:54 am
YOUNGFED says:
LMAO @Post#4.
USA!!!USA!!!!USA!!!!!!!
PS. I’m Baaaaaaackkkkk!!!
August 24th, 2008 at 6:59 am
sans says:
Aight, Kobe got it for being in the best picture in a book that won’t be sold to regular people.
USA < International Allstars—you are obviously “USA might not win” hating under a new persona. Keep it real and stop changing your name everytime your wrong, Damn.
And I would much rather have JC Navarro over Mo Williams on my squad, u just have to give him minutes, but now he;s gonna kill some Euro league.
Oh, and US ALL-Stars take International All-Stars All damn day. No question. Roll out Yao, Dirk, Memo, Beno, Manu, Ricky, Rudy, AK, Gasol 1 n 2, Baby Shaq, Boki, a reincarnated Drazen, Sabonis in his 20s, and the US will still roll–so long as players are contractually obligated to show up. Peace.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:08 am
sans says:
not to mention Scola, Delfino, Arroyo, Pargo, Big Z, Vitaly, Garbojosa, Calderon, Detleff in his prime, or Vlade.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:08 am
sans says:
Bring Darko out, the US will maul him.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:18 am
joe says:
too bad there was no defence in this game. congrats US!!
August 24th, 2008 at 7:24 am
LakeShow84 says:
Dime always asks about who is the best player on team USA??
The most important question is who could team USA least afford to lose??
And without Kobe that 4th quarter wouldve seen Spain take the lead and take over.. In the 4th quarter stretch Kobe WILLED usa to a win.. I said the major difference in this Olympic squad is Kobe and the security blanked mentality he gives this team.. Yeah Lebron, Dwade and Melo are better than they were in 04 no doubt but LBJ and Melo didnt have anything to do with crunch time in this Gold Medal Game.. They disappeared in the face of that tough zone..
Kobe was the heart of this team but we can give MVP to Dwade since he showed up EVERY game.. But i think the 4th quarter showed where Lebron is at when it comes to being the best on the planet..
August 24th, 2008 at 7:26 am
LakeShow84 says:
Now why dont we ask who we wanted to take the last shot in the game, Dime you dips..
August 24th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Young Lebron 23 says:
At the end when USA gets the gold, while waiting, was Lebron and CP3 doing the “Get Silly”?
August 24th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Damon says:
@spliff
600 million living in the usa?
funny
August 24th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Arno says:
If the European union got a single team, it would be interesting :
PG : Parker, Jasikevicius, Calderon
SG : Siskauskas, Fernandez, Diamantidis, Vujacic
SF : Diaw, Galinari, Radmanovic, Stojakovic
PF : Nowitski, Hervelle, Smodis
C : Gasol, Gasol, Bargnani
August 24th, 2008 at 8:13 am
sans says:
I think so, Young Lebron, but I’m pretty damn white to say that. And drunk. YEAH! WERE NOT THIRD FN BEST ANYMORE!!!
yeah.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Phileus says:
Comment #4, hilarious!
But it is also sad because I have seen that there are so many people who hate to see the US win, even with this group of committed and passionate players. Do you hate basketball? If not, then you should have loved this game regardless of the outcome. There can be regret because Spain lost, but there shouldn’t be hatred because the US won.
doc also deserves props for believing in Team USA 100% from day 1. Everyone else on this site or ESPN or wherever had their doubts from game to game. That’s faith in your team - 100% and without worries.
Last, I’m happy for Kobe. I was shocked at how the Lakers lost the Finals but I think he’s redeemed his performance then with this gold. Instead of being the hero of LA, he can be (a) hero of the USA.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:27 am
heartbreaker85 says:
have to give props to dwade who was playing more like kobe the entire tournament
August 24th, 2008 at 8:33 am
K Dizzle says:
100% without worry? That’s blind faith, and that kicks you in the ass when you least expect it.
They showin replays later on, but in case you missed it, it was a 4 point game with 2 minutes left, meanin it coulda gone either way.
Can we get Steve Nash and Virgin Islands Duncan on the Int’l team?…just sayin
August 24th, 2008 at 8:33 am
rodnets says:
Props to Redeem Team.
The distance between USA Basketball and rest of the world has reach as close as it gets, and will get narrower.
Picking the best players, putting them in a three year program, and commiting them to play team basketball made you get the gold.
Props to Spain and Argentina for playing great basketball even with some of their key players injured.
And those Manu haters, who think he is soft how about this. The guy suited to play against Lituania, and warmed up to realize he couldn´t play and cried. Chapu Nocioni played on one leg, and the rest of the team showed balls, pride and union. That is why they were so happy to get the bronze and all of us argentinians are so proud about our team.
And this goes to NBA coaches. Many Argentinian and Spanish players deserve a bigger role on NBA teams. Its time to realize about that. Mainly because of hard work and great skills.
Peace
August 24th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Dave says:
Don’t fancy Jacks getting that contract out of Chris Mullin … hard to see him getting it anywhere else at 32 years of age when his present deal expires. MLE money or a GSW extension at 7-8mil looks most likely.
August 24th, 2008 at 9:29 am
JM3008 says:
Yo, Sheldan’s ugly ass better watch out - Lisa Leslie looked drunk as hell when Craig interviewed her in the 1st quarter and I bet Candace was looking niiiice later in the night.
I’m just sayin, when you look like Sheldan you better always be watchin out, cause between LL and that Katie Smith, Candace is gonna be gettin spit at….
August 24th, 2008 at 10:14 am
schoops says:
@Dime… that was an impressive smack almost completely dedicated to the gold medal game and you DIDN’T EVEN WRITE THE SCORE in smack. I Usually just go straight tot he smack page (in my favorites) and had to search the main page for a score. Very Crappily done DIME.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:23 am
JM3008 says:
Waaahhhh I can’t see the score
Crying like the Spanish bench…..
August 24th, 2008 at 10:39 am
blazerjunkie says:
DEFINITIN OF FUTURE DYNASTY: PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
August 24th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Big Sneezy says:
Kobe is a great ball player. He is still a merciless jacker, though. The cynical side of me says he was tossing up and missing all those long jumpers in the 3rd and early 4th quarter just so he could keep the game close enough to emerge as the hero in crunch time. But, to his and the team’s credit, they managed to keep Spain at (a short person’s) arm’s length and get the gold.
Anyhow, the hand over the heart is for the pledge of allegiance, not the national anthem. Just cause some athlete gets his stuff mixed up and puts his hand on his heart doesn’t mean everyone has to follow suit. Props to Jim Boeheim for standing strong against the peer pressure.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:53 am
306 says:
Rudy F went up a few rounds in my fantasy league forsure….sick!
best int’l game in years!
August 24th, 2008 at 10:59 am
mr. A says:
who is the tournament mvp?
August 24th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Dagomar says:
Wow - what a game. I went to bed at 5 AM just to watch it, and it did not disappoint in the slightest.
You had to believe Spain was not going to be blown out a second time. They just have too much talent, too much of a sense of team, and they kept it close by riding on raw emotion and adrenaline during the game. The Gasol brothers impressed and were the only big men who managed to make Team USA look small inside this tournament. Meanwhile, Rubio had some spectacular moments, Fernandez was good throughout, and Navarro? Tony Parker light. These aren’t the days of the Dream Team anymore . . . the Euros can PLAY.
But Team USA acquitted themselves well too. Wade kept them in it. Some of the things he did were just sick. Sticking that many threes? And some of those dunks? Sick. His 27 points were absolutely invaluable.
In the clutch Wade, Lebron and Kobe all came alive. Kobe was the main points scorer and Lebron unselfishly deferred to him. Lebron made a ton of big plays - rebounds, layups, blocks, assists, defensive plays - and Wade sunk that dagger three. One thing that distinguishes this team from previous versions of team USA: they will always have the three best clutch players in any game. And oh - the other guys aren’t so bad at that either.
Special credit should also be given to Kobe. He was amazing in the last five minutes or so, showing why he will be a guaranteed first-ballot hall of famer. Incredible. Whatever needed doing - he did it.
For me, tournament MVP goes to Lebron, scoring title goes to Wade, and the MVP of the final game (like the NBA’s finals mvp I guess) goes to Kobe Bryant. Those three did it all.
By the way, how great was it to see the American flag go to the rafters first, and the NBA superstars with tears in their eyes? I think this gold medal run repaired the image of the NBA and its players to a whole lot of people.
August 24th, 2008 at 11:34 am
BALLZ says:
Thoughts…
Rudy F. & JC Navarro could play in anyone’s backcourt.
Could you imagine what Rubio would do on a high school court?
Memphis is getting a pretty damn solid big man.
Tayshaun Prince is like that dude at the Y who only takes a few shots each game but never misses and is the best and smartest defender and always seems to be on the winning team. Only if that dude was 6′9 with the wingspan of a pterodactyl.
Kobe did what Kobe do. If he was on the ‘04 team…
DWade does not equal Penny Hardaway.
Lebron is Bo Jackson on hoops.
Dwight Howard…I watched young Shaq, and you sir, aside from your free throw shooting, are no young Shaq.
CP3 or DWill, toss a coin.
Good thing we brought along Michael Redd…
That Coach K is gonna be a good coach…
Goddamn it’s gonna be hard to go two more months without hoops.
August 24th, 2008 at 11:41 am
dagwaller says:
Dave, I’m with you. The guys ahead of Jackson are all either 10 years younger than him, or are right around as good as he is. Here’s an idea, Steve - play out your contract, and see who wants you then. It’s a CONTRACT.
August 24th, 2008 at 11:42 am
ERIC says:
WHY THE HELL WAS CHINA CHEERING FOR SPAIN, ESPECIALLY AFTER THEIR RACIALLY OFFENSIVE TEAM PHOTO?
August 24th, 2008 at 11:48 am
the antoine says:
man what a great game… im glad i stayed up for that and im watching the replay right now… i love how kobe busted a kobe in the fourth.. taking over and making the occasional bone head mistake.. but winning the game… and whats up with doug collins kissing kobes ass.. then bringing him down when he makes a mistake.. then pumping him back up.. make up your mind son..
August 24th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
@Damon
My fault on the US population estimation. I shouldn’t have estimated illegals too. I live in a Mexican neighborhood. At least each house has for ten blocks has 250,000 people in it. In fact just now when I walked to the panaderia for some breakfast I saw at least 16 get out of a truck and that was just the cab. It was like a clown car in the circus. I’m out like an accurate US population…
August 24th, 2008 at 11:54 am
the antoine says:
also.. wasnt michael redd kinda acting like damon jones at the end of the game.. what did he do to win the game? jumping all over the place..
August 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
heartbreaker85 says:
dwight howard’s no young shaq, that’s for sure. at least shaq had some post up moves to speak of, while dwight is really, just your freakishly athletic 6′10 guy.
i think that the best center in the FIBA WORLD is pau gasol.
too bad he’s mcdonald’s sundae soft.
but he did bang a bit in the gold medal game.
kobe hugged him after the game, probably asking the spaniard why he didn’t bring that ‘cerebral post assassin’ game of his back in the NBA finals.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
If the gold medal game was mostly Chinese then I was surprised that they were cheering for Spain too. Considering the Chinese fans were cheering so loud for the US in the prior games. But I think it seemed like that because there was a load of Spaniards in the crowd. Perhaps when the game was close people just decided they wanted to see the US lose.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I agree with heartbreaker85 about Dwight. Of all the US players he seemed the least suited for international play. He only scored on dunks, looked a step slow on defense, didn’t make free throws, and couldn’t dribble to save his life. If he wouldn’t have grabbed any rebounds he would have been completely useless. On the flip side Bosh raised his stakes. If Jermaine O’Neal gets back to health next year the Raps are gonna be good.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
nola says:
this dime was whack.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Skeeter McGee says:
I’m pissed fellas I passed out last night after starting with straight shots and then poppin bottles so I missed it, but do any of y’all know if they are gonna replay the game or something? From what I hear, it should be an instant classic…
August 24th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Xavier Garcia says:
@ Eric:
Because they know it wasnt a racist picture, unlike the US and UK.
August 24th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
rlf says:
some of you don’t get it, it was a TEAM effort, no doubt about it.
but the media, such as this magazine, wants to make it an individual thing. they start saying “kobe’s not playing well, lebron is the best, wade is the best, if kobe doesn’t show something his reputation is ruined”
now don’t try to make it a TEAM thing, when the media and the fans always wanted to make it an individual thing. which never was.
at the end kobe just did his thing, you made it an individual contest.
August 24th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
heartbreaker85 says:
@ eric
the chinese really didn’t take it as an insult since it was actually for their own product- li ning i think. (their version of nike i guess, spain had the logos stitched the same way usa had nike on theirs)
it was just one of those stupid things that agents/ managers make their players do for money.
August 24th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
G says:
Just want to say it is not required to put your hand over your heart during the national anthem. it is only required for the pledge of allegiance. This is the same kind of thing that was perpetuated during the dem’s primary.
August 24th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
John says:
Good game,thanks D-Wade for saving the game in the 1 quarter when Kobe and Lebron went to the bench with 2 fouls ….
August 24th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
schoops says:
JM, you’re right, scores don’t matter. jackass.
August 24th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Amar says:
Why are people hating at all — this is the olympics, the winner is supposed to be the brotherhood of mankind brought together in olympic spirit to enjoy athletic performance and ability. sure, there are medals, but we’re supposed to cheer for the favorites who win as much as we cheer for the underdog from the poor country and only member of his nation who competes and comes in last.
Sure, Spain had a chance to win, but they didn’t. They still get silver. That’s better than almost every other nation in the world. It was a good game, as a fan of the game, you can’t ask anything more.
August 24th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
daquest?on says:
At least we can agree on one thing: If Team USA plays like they did on Sunday, they’re totally going to lose to Puerto Rico in the 2009 FIBA Americas World Championship qualifying tourney…i smell sarcasm, man that was a low blow, no need for that lol, u could have used another team austin.
August 24th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Dagomar says:
I dunno, there was some pretty crazy pro-USA cheering in the fourth. I think the arena was cheering for a good game until it came right down for it, and they went pro-America. Makes you think about the future of China/USA relations . . . maybe they can be friendly. Seems like the Chinese like the USA more than the populations of many European countries.
August 24th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Go USA!
What a great game. Spain played great! What was up w Kobe trucking Pau and not even pretending to feel bad about it? Lol Rudy is LEGIT. Wow some of those plays. Damn.
Proud to be an American and a Laker fan!
At least we have football starting soon!
Ps
Austin IS better than you.
August 24th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Tim says:
Portland is gonna be insane with Rudy Fernandez…I mean that team is loaded, loaded, loaded with talent….Just what the West wants to see…another loaded team to fight for playoffs…
August 24th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
jfizzle says:
do the coaches get gold medals too?
August 24th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Damon says:
@ spliff
no problem, wasn’t meant in a bad way on my part.
16 people out of a truck? you may be right about the illegals. lmao
August 24th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Jay says:
Unlike the U.S, the chinese aren’t a bunch of bandwaggon fans and like someone said just cheered for a good game. They didn’t care who won. They aren’t going to just cheer for team U.S.A just because they are from the U.S. They cheer for all the teams.
August 24th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Ian says:
kdizzle
of course we get duncan and nash hehehe
and also manu scola nos is usa vs world not usa vs europe
no duncan no manu no scola usa beats us with these three guys we got a game
ballz
rubio cant be allowed to played with highschool kids damn that shit wouldnt be fair
rodnets
u r right about the manu thing if he didnt play vs us u can beat your house the dude couldnt walk
August 24th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
SayItAintSo says:
I just read all 57 comments and I’m still laughing at number 4. AB, you represent the 206 well my friend.
August 24th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Austin Burton says:
Thanks. I just don’t understand where the random hating came from.
August 24th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
AB_40 says:
ey watsup with nba.com
http://www.nba.com/gallery/olympicmen/080824_11.html
overhere it says luis scola scored 44 points in the bronze medal game while he had 16… wtf.
and I’m surprised no one here or at slam or yahoo picked up on the peak commercial with shane battier 4 real youtube that. It’s too funny to make sense shane battier with an italian dude talkin on the background menn.
Rudy is gonna be nice for portland especialy in the first few games when they limit roy’s minutes
August 24th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
doc says:
@phileus-Hell yeah I stood behind that team,thanks for recognizing.@K-Dizzle-Well when is it gonna bite me in my ass.The shit over we didnt lose once.I think the world are the ones with teethmarks on they ass.We brung the gold where it belong.The best team in the world hands down.Beat everybody by double digits and still get hate.Thats how you know you the best.Yes Sir!I would say this team is redeemed.Top of the world motherfuckers.I would bring yall up here to see what it look like but Ima let yall wait until one of yall bum ass squads get a win.USAUSAUSAUSAUSA
August 24th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
yoda says:
congratz to usa. my country didn’t played on these games, so i cheered for usa. unfortunatly i saw only last minute of the game. fortunatly, i got drunk night before.
as for j.c.navarro and nba: he got 20 mill for 4 years (i think its dollars, euros is too much) plus he will be starting 5, lots of pt etc, while in nba he had half mill and 6-7th spot on rooster on crappy team. i had high hopes he will end up in lakers, they could use him…i don’t like him but he can score.
i had a chance to see fernandez and rubio in person, when they played against my home team and im happy they played this well on these games. loosing to them doesn’t feels bad now after all
August 24th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
doc says:
@k-dizz-In case you missed it.The game didnt go either way.It went the same way it was for the whole game.Who that USa might not win character.Is that you Ricky Rubio?Is that you Bin Laden?We got the gold homie.!hahahahahahahahahahaha.What we gonna do now?Its all fucked up now.What we gonna do now?Huh!
August 24th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
doc says:
Yall was praying for us to lose the game.Maybe yall god was sleep,or he a KingJames fan.USAUSAUSAUSAUSA.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
doc says:
USAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSA What the fuck can yall do to beat us.Yall just seen the best team yall had play the best game they played in their fucking life and they still left losers.It aint no way it can happen.Now call me arrogant and cocky.But it looks like Im one of the only smart ones on here.It was a couple of us repping hard when all the they’ll lose to this team,what they gotta change shit was coming out.I was gonna come on here and give congrats for yall piece of shit silver medal but since yall still hating take that L.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Tha Boddy says:
I’ll say this if the Griz do release one of those 2 centers (Darko,(Tank)Gasol, im betting the Wizards will be looking at them hard (pause). With JaVale McGee prolly hitting the D-League they will need a plan if Etan Thomas does not work out
August 24th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
JOB33 says:
@Dime
is that a typo? they’d lose to Puerto Rico if they play like that? i didn’t catch the game so i dunno how ugly they looked.
As for Kobe being on the cover by himself, he did have the most to prove. Now if dime puts the whole team on the cover after winning the gold, then the whole Kobe-by-himself hating is not warranted.
As for Mr. A. Burton being a cancer, c’mon now. He doesn’t write like a worker drone. At least it’s entertaining to read. I’ve been coming to dime since the hoopstv.com days, and always get bored of something after a couple years. Ask my wife. And I will now remove myself from Austin’s and Dimemag’s collective sacks.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Bryce says:
i read some of tha argument above, all i gotta say is, stop hating on the us, and it was deff a great sight seeing all the stars play as one and win the gold ok
and yes, people should get off kobes nuts, especially since 90% of yall decided to hate him when he got charged for rape (me not included) either support the player through thick and thin, or keep ur mouth shut
must say wade (fav player) but with no bias at all, was the best player in these olympics, he stole the ball, showed heart, dove for loose balls, dunked, hit threes, and basically was the man, every single game during the pool play, tournament play etc etc
ahy dime!! if yall got any writing positions hit me up on the space
pce out yall, dont get to heated over each others opinion, cuz fact is fact, and USA’S REDEEM TEAM, IS THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD, and USA ALWAYS WILL BE… SOO SUCKKKKKKKKK ITTTTTTTTTTTTTT hahahahahahaha
August 24th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Skeeter McGee says:
All along I’ve been saying we got the Gold and LeBron looks smarter for guaranteeing shit this time around…
August 24th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Skeeter McGee says:
And to the argument that’s been raging in here…
I don’t care if we win by 1 point or by 50 points, as long as we come away with the W at the end of the day I’m happy. And to say that we would lose if we played like that against Puerto Rico might be true, but I won’t get into hypotheticals. Fact is, we got gold, the rest of the world is back where they were at in ‘92. By that I mean their standing on silver and bronze platforms…
August 24th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
chancepassenger says:
can’t imgaine how nate macmillian stops himself from suddenly jumping and cheering whenever rudy fernandez makes a huge play in this game…
must be straight out of that dan akroyd scene in celtic pride. man the blazers have a huge future ahead of them
August 24th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
doc says:
I like Rudy game and all.But letsnot put him in the HOF for one game he got heated.Yall wasnt screaming Rudy name after that 37 point ass whipping.He nice young talent.Im sure Nate know better than to judge off this game.Dude from Lithuania gave us 28 in 06 where he at?Scola always score on us he average in the league.Let youngbuck earn his shine.And he banged on Dwight and all but if somebody didnt see the game you would think he put his nuts in his face when in reality he outquicked him baseline and threw it down real fast.Yall throwing him in the starting lineup and all.In the future maybe but not this year.For all we know he can be the next Manu or the next Delfino.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Ian says:
damn doc
hes not manu nor delfino but i hope hes closer to manu cuz i really like the kid
but brah u really dont like players that arent american
scola is real good and so is rudy
like someone mentioned i think i saw nate smile when he threw down on howard heheeh
August 24th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Jon says:
Eric said “WHY THE HELL WAS CHINA CHEERING FOR SPAIN, ESPECIALLY AFTER THEIR RACIALLY OFFENSIVE TEAM PHOTO?”
— most of the Chinese people didn’t have access to the photo, so they wouldn’t know.
Besides, there were a lot of Spanish in the crowd, that might have been the cheers you were hearing, since the Chinese LOVE team USA
August 24th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
WallaBalla says:
Reading doc’s posts hurts my eyes/brain……
August 24th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
bookkwormmaster says:
Mad props to Team USA 4 bringing home the gold and doing it in impressive fashion. Props to Spain for making the final game competitive and entertaining and putting a lil scare in Team USA. Major props to Kobe and Wade who were the heroes of that game, Wade since the start of the tournament and Kobe for imposing his will against Spain despite taking/forcing some SERIOUSLY questionable shots.
I don’t want to sound negative but if Team USA wants to continue their dominance they need to find an answer at the center position because Dwight Howard isn’t gonna cut it. He’s very offensively challenged (for the international game), can only score on dunks, has NO post moves (not even a simple hookshot), and is a bad foul shooter. With his size, strength, and athleticism he was nothing like the dominant player he looks like he could be. I like Howard a lot but he isn’t a good fit for that team. It would be wise to replace him or if they don’t want to do that at least demote him to the bench. The best big man in the NBA that Team USA could/should use is Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire would be perfect for Team USA. He has every bit of Howard’s size, strength, and athleticsm (if not more) and can do everything that Howard with his role on the team was better. He can run, shoot free throws, he can score in the low post and has an above average mid-range game. I say demote Howard to the bench (replacing Boozer) and do everything in their power to get Stoudemire on the team. That’s a dominate big man rotation with Stoudemire, Bosh, & Howard with no lost step in between rotating them in the line-ups.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:00 am
daquest?on says:
I aGREE WITH ^^^^ sorry ur name was just too long to remember and im too tired
August 25th, 2008 at 12:01 am
daquest?on says:
but amare is scared that another point guard might break his groin like carlos arroyo did in that athens game
August 25th, 2008 at 7:24 am
JHov says:
To paraphrase the Rock: “Finally..the basketball gold medal has returned to the U.S. of A!!!!”
August 25th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Gloves says:
nothing but baseball? TRY THE CFL y’all!!!