Team USA get their revenge against Greece
The Redeem Team have passed their first true test in Beijing. Kobe and Co. defeated Greece in a long-awaited battle 92-69.
Team USA had foul trouble in the beginning of the game. Within the first minute and a half, Jason Kidd had 3 fouls. This forced Kidd to sit out for the rest of the first half. The refs called several violations against the U.S. But they kept their composure as they heavily guarded Greece. Coach K has done a tremendous job at working on the defense of the team. They caused many turnovers for Greece and grabbed several offensive rebounds for second-chance points.
D-Wade saves the ball and alley-oops to Kobe
The second quarter proved once again to be the most exciting performance by Team USA, and the strongest. They outscored Greece by 15 at the end of that quarter. The sickest play came from D-Wade saving the ball from going out of bounds and threw it to the rim as Kobe slammed it down.
Kobe gave his best performance so far in the Olympics this game. He tied scoring the most points on the team with 18 points. The Black Mamba’s defense is so incredible that he’s such an important asset on the defensive end. During interviews before the game, Kobe was reported that he would guard the strongest player on Greece’s team. The great thing about Kobe is that he never backs down from a challenge. And he delivered this game as he made an amazing no-look pass to D-Wade for the dunk.
Chris Bosh also gave his strongest performance this game, scoring 18 points as well. He had several three-point plays, stabilizing the U.S.’s lead. Bosh lacks size (compared to Dwight and LeBron), but he makes up for it with his extraordinary height and defense. He blocked a final shot right at the end of the first half.
Throughout the second half, the U.S. maintained their lead as Dwyane Wade dominated as usual. Along with Bosh, he had several shots while drawing the foul. But like I mentioned in my previous posts, he needs to work on his free throws. It’s not a major problem right now since the U.S. usually maintain a stable lead, but it could be extremely costly in crucial moments. An angry reader kept spamming my previous post the other day, claiming that I was not recognizing D-Wade as a strong force. He clearly did not read any of my articles besides the one against Angola because I have stated numerous times that D-Wade IS one of the key factors if the U.S. capture the gold.
The King and the Dobermamba
I can’t forget to mention King James as he had three huge blocks. So many people praise his offense and ridiculous scoring ability, but I think many people don’t realize his greatness on the defensive end. He has such incredible body strength he can penetrate through his opponents. He is not one to be quiet, as he recorded 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.
The pick-and-roll proved to not be as big of a problem as it was in ‘06. The U.S. have seriously stepped up their defense. They are not the same team from a few years ago. They have such a strong motivation to win, and they have ultimately made it their duty to bring back the gold. They play Spain on August 16, Saturday at 8 am (EST). Pau Gasol and the Spaniards will be arguably the strongest team the U.S. will have to face during the preliminaries. If they continue to apply maximum defensive pressure and create turnovers for easy dunks, they should do fine. It will definitely not be a game to miss for all U.S. Basketball and Olympic fans.
Good job USA! But the question I’d like to ask is how far a gold medal for the redeem team can go towards revamping Kobe’s legacy. Obviously it’s tarnished since he failed to show up in this year’s NBA Finals.
By: iamsati on August 14, 2008
at 5:09 PM
I know I wrote this already.
iamsati-
Kobe can always win a championship next year. And he has many other chances with that young Laker core. Kobe already has 3 anyways. The olympic gold medal means a lot to athletes around the world than the NBA championship. A lot of foreigner born basketball players dream of winning olympic gold and not of an NBA championship. Dirk Nowitzki was in tears when his Germany team qualified for the olympics. And Yao Ming did the same when China won. Winning a olympic gold medal shows that Kobe Bryant is an all around winnner. That he is a championship in the US and around the world. Though first he has to win one. But for the Boston fans I would like to say. Hey, how come Paul Pierce has no gold medal? The best player in the world?
PS The Lakers this year were predicted to not even make the NBA playoffs. Kobe was demanded a trade. It was a miracle that the Lakers even made the NBA finals. The Boston Celtics once they got Garnett and Allen were expected to win. And not winning one meant disappointment.
By: Travis Outlaw on August 14, 2008
at 6:30 PM
I agree with many points in your argument Travis. I don’t believe Kobe’s legacy is tarnished simply due to their loss in the Finals this year. I think the gold medal is more prestigious than a NBA ring. Kobe’s legacy will be only grow with the additional of a gold medal.
By: on August 14, 2008
at 9:34 PM
I disagree Travis. Kobe is not competing with himself–he’s competing with the NBA Greats–esp. Jordan, whom he’s most often been compared to. Jordan never lost in an NBA Finals. That’s a strike against Kobe; Jordan was also part of the legendary gold medal-winning Dream Team of ‘92. Can Kobe top that, even if he wins a gold medal? Unlikely.
So all things considered, I’d say that Kobe winning a gold medal is a matter of course for his legacy. If he fails, it’ll be more ammunition for all the boo-bears who’ve been saying he’s not as good as Jordan.
By: iamsati on August 15, 2008
at 3:45 PM
iamsati-
This is only if you compare Kobe Bryant with Michael Jordan. Like many people do. I personally think Kobe will never be better than Michael Jordan. There two different people. If you think of Kobe as just Kobe. Then not winning in the NBA finals this one year doesn’t really mean anything. As I said above most people before the season started predicted the Lakers to not even make the playoffs. Kobe was demanding a trade out of LA. And the Lakers were thinking about rebuilding the team without Kobe. So the fact that Kobe could even lead his team into the NBA finals is already extraordinary enough. And I believe people should praise Kobe for the fact he lead his team all the way to the NBA finals again and without Shaq. As I said I think Jordan will forever be better than Kobe. If Kobe wins 3 championships by himself and now has 6 total like MJ. People will still knock on Kobe being his first 3 championships were won with the help of Shaq.
Another point I would like to make is that I think that MJ is one of the greatest players to play the game and not the greatest player to play the game. Because you can’t say Bill Russell, Wilt, Magic, Bird, Dr J were all worst than him. You can’t really compare them because they all played in different eras. So I would say MJ was the greatest in the 90’s while Kobe was the great player in the post-MJ era the millenium.
By: Travis Outlaw on August 15, 2008
at 7:00 PM
I’m honestly sick of people comparing Kobe to MJ. I want everyone that compares Kobe to MJ to watch this video.
Like he said, “Just let me DO me”
By: on August 15, 2008
at 7:13 PM
Well Chen, Kobe is not operating in a vacuum. It’s immature to think that he can escape Jordan’s shadow. History has a way of imposing itself. Dominique and Olajuwon woulda been thought of as greater had they not been overshadowed by Jordan. And Kobe can’t now expect to be his own man when he basically patterns his speech after Jordan, shoots a fade away like Jordan. There are obviously way too many similarities between the two for them not to be linked somehow.
By: iamsati on August 19, 2008
at 4:17 PM