World Championship Update

Team USA looked pretty solid in its 94-85 win over Italy on Wednesday. The Italian team is probably top five in the tourny, and the players had their game faces* on for the all-important match up. To make sure that all viewers understood just how much the game meant to them, they played especially dirty (see: ducking between an airborne Dwight Howard's legs, turning his body horizontal, and causing him to land flat on his back. He took his time getting up but did eventually sub back in). This seems to be the way many foreign teams show their love for their sport (see: World Cup). However, the Americans did not get distracted and after being down nine at the half, pulled away for a nine point victory.

Carmelo is still playing exquisite basketball. After a quiet first half, he dropped 19 in the 3rd quarter to help the Red, White, and Blue pull away. He finished the game with an American record 35 points (you will never guess who previously held the record... but if you would like to try, the answer is at the bottom of the page).** Also, he gave a very nice effort on the defensive end. Though his D was a bit rusty, as he has not played much since... you get the point... the keyword is effort. I give a lot of credit to coach K, his staff, and the players for finally playing some inspired D.

Dwyane Wade scored 26 as he looked impressive in the game. He almost finished what would have been the nicest dunk in basketball history. He caught the ball on the left wing, got within 10 feet of the hoop, planted both feet, and lift off. He flew sideways to the rim, ball at his hip ready to windmill over some sorry Italian, but was hit on the forearm and front rimmed the attempt. I would have definitely bought the poster. Something tells me that Dwyane's energy boost was germane to the aforementioned Dwight Howard incident, which took place only a few plays earlier. Unfortunately, he seemed to have injured his wrist on the play - more on that later.

This (Thursday) morning, USA "routed" Senegal. It seems that every news source used routed as their verb, so figured I'd join the party. The score was 103-58. Chris Bosh, who had been playing terribly, had 20 points and 10 boards. Hopefully that is all he needs to play better against tougher competition. There was bad news hidden within the 103-58 victory, however. Dwyane Wade did not play, most likely because his wrist was hurting, though I have not yet read or heard anything official.

Other World Championship News & Notes:

-Fran Fraschilla's ranking of the top 4 teams in the tourny, in order, looks like this:
1) USA
2) Spain
3) Greece
4) Argentina
I have yet to see Greece play, but it would still seem as if Fran has some animosity towards Argentina. They are the last team to win a world championship (Olympics) and have the widest average margin of victory in the tourny this year. Greece does not have one player in the NBA, with the possible exception of Sofoklis "Baby Shaq" Schortsianitis, the Clippers' 2003 second round pick. Surprisingly, Sofoklis barely gets any burn, however; only a total of 19 minutes in five games, though he has 19 points in those 19 minutes (only 1 rebound). Greece does have a lot of size. That is all I can say for now, before I see them play.

-After a tough 74-73 loss to Lebanon on Wednesday in which Boris Diaw missed a foul shot with roughly 3 seconds remaining in the game, France beat a weak Venezuelan team, 81-61. France really misses Tony Parker, who is out of the tournament due to a broken right index finger. He will miss 4-6 weeks, though as of now the injury does not look like it will require surgery.

-It took 3 overtimes, but Germany eventually defeated Angola 108-103. Dirk had 47 and 16.

-Pau Gasol has a 6'11" brother, Marc Gasol, who scored 12 points in Spain's 104-55 massacre of Japan.

-Brazil lost another close one, this time to Lithuania. Brazil is now just 1-4, with other losses to Australia, Turkey, and Greece. The team is in one of the tougher groups of the tournament.

* Term used in honor of Bob Knight... I was going to edit the video so it only showed the game face clip I am referring to, but I thought to myself "when I read this, would I rather see 1 Bob Knight video clip or 10 Bob Knight video clips?" Easy Decision. Just make sure to pay close attention to #2 on the list.


**Answer to trivia: Kenny Anderson, who scored 34 points in a 1990 World Championship game on a team also coached by Mike Krzyzewski.