Team USA 92, Greece 69: Instant Analysis
Dwyane Wade, Dime #13Why Team USA won: Depth. How many other teams in this Olympic field can have their starting point guard pick up three fouls in the first minute and a half, watch the rest of their starting five not play their best, and still be good money? Chris Paul (6 asts), D-Wade (17 pts, 6 stls) and Chris Bosh (18 pts) led a second unit that played significantly better than the starters in the first half and helped the U.S. build its customary big lead until Kobe and LeBron and the rest caught up.
Why Greece lost: Mistakes. Doug Collins pointed it out late in the third quarter, when Greece had cut the lead to about 15 and seemed to be putting together a little run, then one of their guys was called for a momentum-killing charge. Every time the Greeks looked poised to get back in the game, they’d commit a turnover (25), have a defensive breakdown or miss shots they’d normally hit from beyond the arc (4-for-18 3PA).
Looking ahead: If today’s game was Team USA’s first real test, Saturday’s game against Spain is like the SAT. Ever since the 2006 World Championships — through last summer’s FIBA Americas tourney, this year’s pre-Olympic exhibitions, and the first three official Olympic games — any sort of less-than-perfect showing from Team USA has been met with the cautionary, “If they play like that against Spain, they’ll lose.”
Pau Gasol leads a squad that is deep in NBA-certified talent, including Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, J.C. Navarro, Raul Lopez, Marc Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa, not to mention Ricky Rubio, a projected Top-5 pick in the 2009 Draft. Spain cracked this same Greek team in their Olympic opener, played terribly for three whole quarters before blasting China in a comeback win, and had little trouble with Germany to put them at 3-0 in pool play. They’re more athletic and will play tougher defense than Greece (Rubio is better than a lot of people give him credit for on this end), and they’re battle-tested, having won major championships on this level with this same core group of guys.
The U.S. again struggled shooting beyond the arc against Greece (7-for-20), and Spain will undoubtedly look to exploit that by playing a lot of zone and inviting them to launch it from deep. Kobe, Michael Redd, Deron Williams and ‘Melo will have to be on their game and knock down the open ones if Team USA wants to record another blowout.
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August 14th, 2008 at 9:59 am
LakeShow84 says:
Funny i DID hear we were supposed to lose this game.. But the real s#$t goes down on Saturday.. Spain already smacked this greek squad.. Lets see how Dwight Howard and Cbosh handle the Gasol’s.. Im takin Team USA by 10 on Saturday..
GET THE GOLD BABY!!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Sam I Am says:
Screw the racist Spaniards…
LOL it was kinda funny but still this is team USA at its’ finest
August 14th, 2008 at 10:00 am
BALLZ says:
God I hate having a job. lol. It’s DVRd at home, but I would’ve loved to have watched this live at home this morning.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Tyson says:
It’s about time. US is World power again
August 14th, 2008 at 10:01 am
LakeShow84 says:
And somebody tell Kobe to stop shooting 3′s.. The touch is not there with that mangled pinky.. I want to see Deron shoot more 3′s.. Boy got stroke..
August 14th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Allan says:
Spain always had problems with a more athletic Team USA. Remember Spain lost to the Duncan led Team USA of 2004. I believe that Spain has the weapons to subdue European teams but will always have problems matching up with the Americans because they almost play the same brand of basketball, only the US seem to play it better. The only time Spain won over the US was back in 2000 when the US was already demoralized by losing to Argentina in the World Championships . . . .
August 14th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Allan says:
Kobe did bring his B game today, yes not his A game yet but at least he’s improved from the first two games. This can only spell more trouble for the opponents as the Mamba gets more comfortable out there playing team ball.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Jon says:
speaking of the upcoming game vs. Spain, why was KG not picked for this team? Age? He totally neutralized Gasol in the Finals. And they needed more tall players.
USA still has not played its best…I’d like to see them shoot a NORMAL % from 3 and FT, not spectacular, just NORMAL. They’d win by 35.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Chaos says:
US takes this one baby. US has had successful defense while spain isnt the greatest. the gasols still suck at D and ricky rubio will get served also (even tho his pg game is pretty damn good). calderon will give the US problems and so will fernandez. US will have to come out and punch them in the mouth early by hitting early shots.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Austin Burton says:
Garnett turned down Colangelo’s offer to be on the team.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Allan says:
Kevin Garnett was invited but declined the 3 year commitment. According to Colangelo it is only Shaq that has a standing invitation whether he wants to commit for 3 years or not . . . how special is that ? But then again, during SHAQ’s prime, he was the lone reason that the world was scared of playing the US.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Ashlov says:
Spain is about to get el teabag. Team USA is on a mission, and I expect them to run right over Spain on the way to the gold.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Logan Light says:
Yet another reason why Dwayne Wade is my favorite player…
Here’s to USA making Spain look like nothing more than a grown up Mexico.
LL
August 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Allan says:
I think with this win, the US team just strenthened its overall character as a team. This was a mission for them and a rightful preparation to the game against Spain.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Michorizo says:
LeBron was filthy with his blocks. I know two came during that big 2nd quarter run … I bet this 23 year old kid is going to be something special.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:19 am
fallinup says:
Thank goodness that Spain and USA play on Saturday. The live stream thing is a joke when it goes through buffering every 1.5 minutes.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:27 am
isotope says:
dang. Kobe scoring 50% from the field and 40% (Deron was 1 for 3) from the 3 and y’all still hating? Led the team in scoring and had only one turnover. You wouldnt tell that from Dime’s analysis of the game. gollee!
And why does the box score say Paul had 3 assists but Dime says he had 6?
August 14th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Allan says:
This is just Group B, let us not forget that even if we pass Spain and top the group we still have Argentina, Russia, Crotia and Lithuania to worry about . . . If all goes well with group A, Lithuania should come out on top and there will be a toss up between Croatia, Russia and Argentina. The US, if they stay unbeaten, then gets the lowest ranked team to come out of that group. I am betting the US will get either Russia or Croatia . . .Classic matchup!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:42 am
heavy d says:
Croatia is tipping off against Argentina right now. That’s a big game because if Croatia wins, I believe it clinches them and Lithuania in the medal round and makes Argentina a possible medal round opening opponent for the US. However, when the dust settles I expect Russia or Argentina to be the #4 team from Group A.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Allan says:
Kobe played well today and there are still bashers . . .Poor guy. He is still a key to this team’s formidability . . . Teams are still wary of his offensive and defensive game. The guy had a miserable game against China and Angola but let us give him the props because he really brought his game today, not his A game but at least his B game was good enough to get the Greek to respect his perimeter attack. It was a team effort and Lebron to my mind is looking scarier and scarier . . . This guy is only what 24 yrs old ? Damn he is powerful . . .
August 14th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Michorizo says:
If the U.S. play Russia and the U.S is willing to bench both Kobe and LeBron for the game will Russia comply with the “cease fire” agreement.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Paris Hilton says:
That’s HOT!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Allan says:
This is a game statement for either Croatia or Argentina. Both teams have a lot to prove. Croatia, for its part would like to show that they are back and they have a team that can again compete for the medal,while Argentina is a different story altogether. This is the swan song for Manu, Scola, Oberto, Delfino and Nocioni. They are old but can still ball, except that maybe their legs are no longer at par with the younger teams out there. It will be hard for them to get past Croatia . . .I will go with Croatia on this one.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:02 am
heavy d says:
Argentina shows up. Croatia doesn’t. Argentina is up by 18 at half.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Rafa23 says:
team USA lost to spain in 2000? don’t think so.
and could you please stop the racist shit. they made a dumb mistake, thats it.
americans talking about racism, lol.
a country were black people didn’t get the right to vote until 50 years ago and still has a looot of prejudices towards blacks, mexicans etc.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Mo says:
Paul did have 6 assists says the boxscore over at ESPN. I think both Paul and Lebron had 6 assists.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Kobeef says:
Spain is as much of a sleeper as you can be when you are a top seed.
Rudy Fernandez is a really good player – reminds me a lot of Manu but he seems longer and without the tougher. He is going to be really good for the Blazers.
Rubio has been amazing for a 17 year old bench player. At times he looks better running the team than Calderon.
Plus they have gunner JC Navarro off the bench who can get hot and hit 6 or 7 threes a game.
Marc Gasol has also looked much better than I remember. He is more of a low-post banger than his brother Pau who is a finesse player. Marc will make Dwight and Bosh work for their points.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:18 am
doc says:
Oh now we beat Greece so we good.hahaha.Yall funny as shit.All month yall been writing how we stink and the big tests are coming.Where the fuck is the test.Spain is the SAT now.After that ass whipping we give them yall gonna be screaming Argentina or Croatia.Who yall gonna scream after the gold medal.I can see the headline now.USA wins gold medal by 20 but will lose to Spains 2012 team playing that way.USA Dream Team the new era.Get out the way or get ran the fuck over.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Mo says:
Now I go back and ESPN’s box says Paul had 3 assists. He had more than 3. I’ll just wait for the USA basketball site to put their box score up later.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Taj says:
OK, so I’m more sold on them now that they came out focused on bussin the Greeks azz! If they come out with that same focus and intensity they’ll be alright! The shooting percentage needs to come up from behind the 3PT line though..
August 14th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Blue says:
All i gotta say is…D-Muthafuckin’Wade!!!!
Spain should be tough one, but i think this team tends to raise it’s game based on the opponent. but they’re gonna have to yank J-Kidd out of there pretty quick cuz there ain’t no way he’s keepin’ up with spain’s guards.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:47 am
alex says:
“Mamba gets more comfortable out there playing team ball”
haha, this i’m afraid will never happen. ever.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:54 am
alex says:
and for everyone that says team USA plays $hit, i’d have to agree with you. Not because they’re not good enough, but because they’re playing so much below their potential. Imagine how fast, skilled and athletic they are and yet so many wrong decisions, so many botched showtime plays, so many turnovers etc. At times it seems like they’re trying too hard to make offensive and even defensive highlights.
They might be locked for gold, but what I really want to see is for them to play disciplined team ball.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
doc says:
2Alex-They trying to put on a show why they win if you want disciplined team basketball watch the Spurs.Or Greece.hahahahaha.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
djKianoosh says:
stats from today’s game:
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/BK/C73/BKM400B09.shtml#BKM400B09
and where you can get all the stats:
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/BK.shtml
it still amazes me that Kidd doesn’t even shoot once all game long. i mean, i dont blame him. he doesn’t need to, but still. in a blowout at least put up one shot.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Mo says:
Deron Williams has tried to throw down a dunk every single game only to miss it or get his sh*t blocked. I guess he’ll get his highlight reel during one of these Olympic games.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
au61458 says:
Hello
Great game from US, the Greeks really didnt have much chance. Especially those amazing blocks from Lebron/Dwight/Kobe and the other defensive stops (like Bosh did) set the tone that your not to be messed with.
However, Creece also played a bit bad themselves. And I dont think these starting games make that much difference. Of course the media always talks about “statement games” but I dont think these games matter much in the medal round. And make no mistake, the US will definatly be in the final games.
Creece is tough team, but to me theyr a bit on-and-off team in international play many times. I just saw Argentina dismantle Croatia and they seem to be getting back on track after some difficulties.
And BTW, somebody mentioned Spain being racist. After seeing the photos and explanations from Spains players I think this was put way out of proportion.
And I also totally agree with Rafa23, nobody from US can really call anyone else racists considering your history. Yea, your forefathers killed the native Americans and took their land? You opressed black people? So what are you doing now? Killing innocent people in Far-East for mostly gaining short-sighted economy boost and some kind of perverted-view politcal prestige. Yeah, word.
Sorry to start saying random insults like that, but its what I think.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
au61458 says:
Sorry I meant Middle-East not Far-East.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:16 am
USA might not win says:
“doc says:
Oh now we beat Greece so we good.hahaha.Yall funny as shit.All month yall been writing how we stink and the big tests are coming.Where the fuck is the test.Spain is the SAT now.After that ass whipping we give them yall gonna be screaming Argentina or Croatia.Who yall gonna scream after the gold medal.I can see the headline now.USA wins gold medal by 20 but will lose to Spains 2012 team playing that way.USA Dream Team the new era.Get out the way or get ran the fuck over.”
Are you retarded? Or just not educated? I’m gonna go with you’re just retarded.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Andrei says:
I think the games so far reminded me how much I love D-Wade….i am a LBJ fan, but D-Wade has such moves…incredible