Olympic Basketball- Greece Thread

[COYS]

This is one of the most impressive defensive displays I've seen in a long time . . . at least in a game involving NBA pros. Deflected passes, traps, tips, steals, blocks, rebounds leading to crisp outlet passes . . . It's been a joy to watch. Bosh has been spectacular. It hasn't been a perfect game by any means. Even though our offensive passing has been very impressive most of the game, there have been sequences when we've been a little careless with the ball. But man, otherwise this game is exactly what I had hoped to see out of Team USA today. The only bad thing is that Boozer is certainly not doing anything to earn more minutes right now as the 4th quarter winds down. Hopefully he'll get his rhythm back after today. Otherwise, great job, guys!

[billybreen]

On the other end of the floor Wade looks like he's back to the player he used to be. That play where he saved the ball from going out of bounds and managed to throw a perfect alley oop pass to Kobe was brilliant.

Agreed, that was spectacular.

Now, let's see what we can do with those dorks from Spain.

[Bob Green]

An excellent 23 point victory over a team many predicted we would have trouble matching up against. Now it is time to focus on Spain.

[Edouble]

Yeah, awesome win. If it wasn't clear already, we just sent the message that we are the team to beat.

[jacone21]

Nice outing for Team USA. Is it just me, or does the rhythm and flow of the team seem amazingly Duke like? The only thing missing is Dickie V talking about "patented USA spurts."

[billybreen]

The only thing missing is Dickie V talking about "patented USA spurts."

And thank criminy for that!

[BlueintheFace]

1) I was certainly one of those who believed we would have trouble. It became clear in the first half that Greece has the game plan to play us close, but does not have the same talent as 2 years ago or enough for this year. That was a GREAT defensive performance by the US.

2) I still am confident in saying that if we have a mediocre, not even bad, game against Greece, Argentina, and maybe Spain in the knockout stage, we WILL lose. We still shot poorly from three for most of the game and gave up too many open threes (though they weren't hitting).

3)However, I am now also confident in saying that if the US plays to this standard every game, it will be Gold Medals all around.

4)My Player of the Game is Chris Bosh

5) Finally, I hope the press gives K all the credit in the world here. His fingerprints were all over this defensive effort. He stayed in man-to-man despite criticism from the media and second guessing about playing zone. Also, he seemingly made all the right personnel decisions. I do, however, wonder who will start the next game.

Note- Nice to see Kobe got his touch back (I liked the JJ method... if you are missing, just take a step back)

Note- DWade is going to be a beast in Miami next season.

[Indoor66]

1)I do, however, wonder who will start the next game.

10 to 1 it is the same five as today.

[slower]

Maybe we are also luck that Kidd tried to throw that backboard pass to Lebron. I wonder if that will lead to more bench time for him.

And when they cut to K after that play, you could see him say "What was that bulls**t?"

[heyman25]

Great defensive performance. Only criticism would be poor free throw shooting and noone shooting well from 3 pt range. That was Greece's only strength today. Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh were outstanding. Jason Kidd is really not adding much,but who new. Another accurate shooter or rebounder would have been better than Kidd. Boozer is not sharp when he is in the game. Too bad for him,because everyone needs to play full throttle when they are on the court.

[ice-9]

Boozer didn't look comfortable when he first came in, but after a few minutes it seemed like he calmed down and became more reliable. If push came to shove, I think he could be counted on to deliver once he warms up.

I see the poor 3-point shooting as actually the cherry on top for USA's crusade for gold. Even though USA shoot poorly in the Olympics, they still won every game by a very comfortable margin. Can you imagine: with the kind of defense they've played and all the fast break points (remember -- many of you said that we wouldn't get many points off of turnovers against a Greece team that supposedly takes good care of the ball) AND a decent-to-good 3-point shooting, this USA team will be nigh unstoppable. And I'm sure the 3-point shooting touch will return at some point in the Olympics.

The free throw shooting is a concern though. It was weird to see Wade miss so many.

-------------

On a small side note: watching the USA team reminded me just how important athleticism is to make Coach K's system shine. I think one of the main problems with Paulus' class, despite being highly rated, is that it didn't have the kind of athletes necessary for the kind of pressure defense that Coach K demands. This to me is the biggest reason why in the past few years we have underperformed relative to expectations. With the recruitment of players like Nolan, Henderson, Elliot and Olek however, it seems like the coaching staff is once again emphasizing athleticism.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

2) I still am confident in saying that if we have a mediocre, not even bad, game against Greece, Argentina, and maybe Spain in the knockout stage, we WILL lose. We still shot poorly from three for most of the game and gave up too many open threes (though they weren't hitting).

I think it depends where you apply the term "mediocre." I think we've clearly shown we can overcome mediocre 3pt shooting. And dare I say it would be hard for it to get much worse. If we play only mediocre defense, then we may have a real problem. But something tells me K won't let that happen. And I think these guys have too much pride themselves to let it happen. That was swarming but controlled D they just played against a really good team. I was very impressed with their intensity and feel this level of D alone will carry them to the gold.

[DevilCastDownfromDurham]

I see the poor 3-point shooting as actually the cherry on top for USA's crusade for gold.

Bingo. When we need more shooting we'll bring in Redd earlier. If Kobe et al can get on track (I loved Blue calling it the "JJ method," btw) we become even more deadly.

I was also really impressed with how well we were able to turn Greece's "no layups" rough play against them. How many and1's did we have today? Finishing with strength put us in the bonus early, really seemed to frustrate them, and covered for a lot of missed FT's.

On a small side note: watching the USA team reminded me just how important athleticism is to make Coach K's system shine.

I think this is also a great point, and augers well for the next few seasons. Lots of reasons to smile today.

[Turk]

I was nervous too going into this game, but now I'm sold. Whoo, that 2nd quarter was great. DWade is back from the dead, LBJ was all over the floor, and some guy named Kobe is the 3rd banana... Great game from Bosh, and also saw signs of life from Melo. Looks to me like everyone is on board with the program...

It looks like USA can really crank up the D and get lots of points inside, so I am not as worried about the iffy 3point shooting as I used to be... Doesn't mean USA will continue to roll by 20 every game but the guys really look like they're playing with fire and heart...

A couple of my buddies who like to bash Duke told me they are setting that aside during the Olympics in the spirit of unity - they said if USA wins gold they might have to start cutting Coach K some slack... Go USA!!

[jipops]

An excellent 23 point victory over a team many predicted we would have trouble matching up against. Now it is time to focus on Spain.

I was one of those predicting a nail-biter for this one. I am extremely impressed to say the least of the defensive effort our guys put forth today (watched the 1st half before leaving for work and most of the 2nd half online). Let's keep this in perspective, this was not some pushover team we manhandled. This was a very precise and effective offensive system that we completely disrupted. We scouted and executed against them to near perfection on the defensive end. I love how we had Bosh out there defending on the perimeter. Our guys had terrific positioning on defense leading to countless deflected or errant passes.

This is exactly the kind of defensive intensity we need to capture gold.

[mapei]

Nothing to add except that I totally agree!

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

4)My Player of the Game is Chris Bosh

It's safe to say Chris Bosh's intense training regimen has paid off

[moonpie23]

one of the haters on espn today was saying that the europeans were "known for playing possum" when they know they are going to be in the medal round..

so, i guess the greeks wanted to lose...



it's all about the defense....and today, they made defense turn into offense..

[_Gary]

The only way I see us losing a game is if we really hit a major, major cold spell from three and our opponents hit a major, major hot spell from three. Because what I see as being consistent are:

1) Our pressure "D" disrupting even the most seasoned offenses. No one is going to be able to run half court offense like they want to for 40 minutes against us. The better teams will have some nice moments and go on a few runs here and there with back doors and such, but for the most part our "D" should really keep other teams down, scoring wise.

2) That same pressure "D" should lead to an awful lot of steals and fast break points. Even if our half-court offense suffers we should still always be able to generate a ton of baskets each and every game with the great defense and aggressive play from everyone on our team. There's not anyone on our team that doesn't look to outlet or push off steals or rebounds, so I can't imagine us going so cold on offense that we can't put up 80+ each and every time from here on out.

The only way we get in trouble is if we go stone cold from the perimeter as a team (something like 20% or less from 3) and our opponents go nuts even with hands in their faces (something like 60% or more). Otherwise I just can't see us losing.

Gary

[DukeDude]

Bosh was just incredible in the 2nd quarter. Twice he switched onto a guard on a pick and roll and batted the ball away when the guard tried to drive leading to a US fast break. The third time the guard got Bosh on a switch, he tried to pull up for a 3 right before the half and Bosh came out and blocked it. He was also part of a trap with Deron Williams just across half court that led to a steal and dunk by LBJ. He was like a Battier with hair. He also converted 2 old fashioned 3 point plays during this stretch as the US pushed the lead from 8 to 19. Greece got Boshed.