With monomial superstars Kobe, Lebron, and Carmelo leading the way for the US men's basketball team, visions of alley-oops and windmills dance in the heads of its offense-crazy fans.
But in this year of redemption, revenge, and regaining the world's respect, the highlight of the team's first two games has been the stifling defense with which the cast of NBA all-stars has bludgeoned its challengers. Lebron and company have had their share of highlight reel dunks, but the true indicator of the team's overall attitude change has been the selfless defensive effort put forth by the cast of multi-million dollar stars.
In the qualifying round against Lithuania, Bryant was charged with shutting down standout guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, who was one missed 3-pointer away from beating the US in the semifinals in Sydney. Bryant responded by holding the former Pacer to 9 points on 2 of 8 shooting.
Defense proved to be the catalyst for the Americans' offensive attack in their highly-anticipated Monday matchup against Yao Ming and China as well. Though the Chinese were able to keep the game close in the first quarter with 4 of 6 shooting from 3-point range, the smothering half- and 3/4-court defense of Bryant, James, and Dwayne Wade lead to fast break dunk after dunk for the usual suspects, resulting in a 101-70 US win.
With an overmatched Angola team forced to drive against the likes of Dwight Howard and James on Tuesday, the Americans racked up 13 steals and 4 blocks in their 97-76 victory, including a James highlight in which he rotated over and swatted an Angola shot straight down, bouncing the ball high in the air. It has been James, in fact, that has arguably been the most active member of the US team. Using his 6'8'' 260 pound frame to overpower defenders, collect rebounds, and dish the ball to the likes of the high-scoring Wade/Bryant duo, James has been a jack of all trades for Coach K's team throughout the qualifying and preliminary rounds.
Up next for the Americans is a surprising Greek team that upset the US in the 2006 World Championships in Japan. With a hard-nosed group of veterans lead by 6-4 guard Vassilis Spanoulis, the Greeks will give the Americans a physical game before they face the talented Spanish team lead by Pau Gasol on Thursday, airing on USA Network and online at 7am.
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1 comment:
I am sorry I only saw this posting now. Watching those Olympic basketball games were exciting especially the first half of the game against China! I must say you have a very good summation of them and I totally agree that they have shored up their defense... I agree it does show a shift in attitude of the American team. It made me proud to be represented by this team as opposed to the disaster the last Olympics. Do you have any opinion regarding how big a role the coaching had on this shift in attitude?
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