Women's Gold Medal - US v Australia

[Indoor66]

US is up 22-15 at the end of the first quarter. It is on NBC now.

[Indoor66]

Halftime, US is up 17.

[Indoor66]

End of 3rd quarter: US up 69-54.

[Edouble]

It's a gold medal blow out. 3 minutes left with a 20+ point lead by the US women.

[Indoor66]

US 92, Australia 65

GOLD

[chrishoke]

Congrats golden girls (now that's creepy).

[Verga3]

Pretty dominant......Congrats to the USA team and Gail Goestenkors!!!

[cf-62]

With 2 of the USA's top 3 players in foul trouble, a good win.

A little unsportsman conduct at the end though, as the US team fed Parker for an attempted dunk with 2 seconds to play.

That would be on my video bulletin board -- oh -- forever!!! -- if I were Australia

[BD80]

A little unsportsman conduct at the end though, as the US team fed Parker for an attempted dunk with 2 seconds to play.

That would be on my video bulletin board -- oh -- forever!!! -- if I were Australia

I don't like Parker or Lisa Leslie. Parker was not blameless in the recent Sparks scrum against the Shock a few weeks ago (she pulled down the Shock player that was going to walk over her while she was on the ground) - which sparked the scrum. Parker and Leslie acted indignant in the subsequent interviews as they were "role models" (and Leslie was doubly indignant as a mother). They have too much "punk" in them for my liking.

[devildownunder]

With 2 of the USA's top 3 players in foul trouble, a good win.

A little unsportsman conduct at the end though, as the US team fed Parker for an attempted dunk with 2 seconds to play.

That would be on my video bulletin board -- oh -- forever!!! -- if I were Australia

Meh, too sensitive in my opinion. I agree the Opals, as the Aussies call their women's hoops team, won't like it, but I mean, honestly, if you can't put a cherry on top right at the end of a victory in a gold medal game, when can you? I don't think there is a bigger prize in all of women's basketball. It's not like she dribbled down court and stared down the Australia bench before she rose up or anything.

I think fans of all stripes are way too sensitive about things like this nowadays. EVERYTHING is not a "dis".

[Edouble]

Meh, too sensitive in my opinion. I agree the Opals, as the Aussies call their women's hoops team, won't like it, but I mean, honestly, if you can't put a cherry on top right at the end of a victory in a gold medal game, when can you? I don't think there is a bigger prize in all of women's basketball. It's not like she dribbled down court and stared down the Australia bench before she rose up or anything.

I think fans of all stripes are way too sensitive about things like this nowadays. EVERYTHING is not a "dis".

No, it's not a dis, it's just poor sportsmanship.

Imagine if, at the end of the 2001 National Championship game after Lute had called his team off and told them to let the clock run out, Duhon, instead of dribbling the ball and handing it off to Jason Williams, had dribbled down the lane for a two handed jam., or throw up an alley-oop to Battier?

A gold medal cake needs no cherry, IMO.

[calltheobvious]

I don't like Parker or Lisa Leslie. Parker was not blameless in the recent Sparks scrum against the Shock a few weeks ago (she pulled down the Shock player that was going to walk over her while she was on the ground) - which sparked the scrum. Parker and Leslie acted indignant in the subsequent interviews as they were "role models" (and Leslie was doubly indignant as a mother). They have too much "punk" in them for my liking.

Seriously? I saw one of Leslie's interviews following the fracas, and I don't know that I've ever seen an athlete more embarassed or contrite. She has always struck me as a very dignified athlete and woman, and I think she deserves far better than to be labled as possessing "too much "punk.'"

[mapei]

[/B]

Seriously? I saw one of Leslie's interviews following the fracas, and I don't know that I've ever seen an athlete more embarassed or contrite. She has always struck me as a very dignified athlete and woman, and I think she deserves far better than to be labled as possessing "too much "punk.'"

Agree on Leslie. I thought the US team did bring a fair amount of punk today, though - lots of deliberate hard fouls, not that the Aussies were innocent. There's just no need, especially when you're up 15-20.

[devildownunder]

No, it's not a dis, it's just poor sportsmanship.

Imagine if, at the end of the 2001 National Championship game after Lute had called his team off and told them to let the clock run out, Duhon, instead of dribbling the ball and handing it off to Jason Williams, had dribbled down the lane for a two handed jam., or throw up an alley-oop to Battier?

A gold medal cake needs no cherry, IMO.

And even more to the point, so what if Ben Gordon had done a reverse slam at the end of the 2004 national semifinal? Is that really poor sportsmanship to make a celebratory basket at the end of a big win? I've been following basketball for a long time and never once have I been offended by the other team dunking or whatever as the clock runs out. Now, if you call out the opposition as you do it, that's a different story but, IMO, too many people look for slights in everything in sports these days. Parker just won her first Olympic gold medal and went up to try to throw one down in celebration. Why is that such poor sportsmanship?

[devildownunder]

Agree on Leslie. I thought the US team did bring a fair amount of punk today, though - lots of deliberate hard fouls, not that the Aussies were innocent. There's just no need, especially when you're up 15-20.

Gotta disagree with you here, mapei. The contest was physical on both sides all the way through. Giving the hard foul is not being a punk, IMO. Being a punk is playing dirty, with elbows, undercutting and such. Especially if you try to play it off. These teams have a long history and it's important to both sides to refuse to back down. I have no problem with the way out women played last night. They played hard, well and with class, IMO, as they almost always do. In fact, when I look around the world of sports, I can find few teams to be more proud of than the USA women's national basketball team. Both in performance and behaviour they are exceptional.

[BD80]

[/B]

Seriously? I saw one of Leslie's interviews following the fracas, and I don't know that I've ever seen an athlete more embarassed or contrite. She has always struck me as a very dignified athlete and woman, and I think she deserves far better than to be labled as possessing "too much "punk.'"

I would have liked to have seen that interview. Did Leslie admit that she had been wrong in trying to get into the fracas? In the interview I saw, she complained that she merely wanted to help her teammate off of the floor and that Rick Mahorn should not have interfered. (Of course, Mahorn could not have known her intent and held up his arm to stop her and Leslie bounced back eight feet - giving Mahorn a two game suspension).

The only contrition I saw from Leslie in interviews was that this happened at a WNBA game, and it seemed clear that she did not believe any of the blame belonged to her team.

Parker's attempted dunk was totally punk. The US team inbounded the ball up by 30 and the opportunity to hold the ball to run out the clock - I don't think they even had to worry about getting across half court before the clock expired. Our guard dribbled near our bench as if to just run the clock and Parker slipped by the Opals who were walking toward the sideline to start the routine handshakes. Our guard looked downcourt when Leslie called for the ball and threw the long pass to Parker who caught it near the edge of the lane. Parker tried to dunk with less than 2 seconds left in the game. Punk.

I agree that the rest of the team is worthy of accolades. I just don't like Parker and Leslie.