UPDATE: The Vittiz have been shipped as said on the 21st, you should be receiving them shortly. Want to pimp out your Vittiz? Please submit pictures of you sporting them at our e-mail. Thank you.

Archive for the 'USA Basketball' Category

Kobe leads Team USA to Capture Gold

Published by David Brickley on August 24, 2008 in DBrick's Take and USA Basketball. 50 Comments

I took a few things away from the USA vs. Spain gold medal game.

The one that sticks out the most is that Team USA would NOT have won the gold without the one and only Kobe Bryant.

It took the final game of the Olympics to truly test this “Redeem Team”, it took the gold medal game to see if this team is truly the best in the world.

They proved that, and it’s not like we needed any more reassurance. However, Kobe Bryant also proved that he is the best on the planet, and one of the biggest pieces Team USA needed to regain gold, and solidify the United States as the finest in the world.

The respect is un-matched, and with all the talent on that USA team, and all the big names that are asked to carry their respective NBA teams, everybody knew when it came down to it, the star of stars would be Kobe Bryant, and he would lead them to the promise land.

Some of us wondered if Kobe would ever put his stamp on these Olympics, if indeed he would ever prove that he is the best of the best. When team USA needed him, he stepped up. When the rest were lost, he was there to guide them. When the team was looking for answers Kobe stepped up to the challenge.

Continue reading ‘Kobe leads Team USA to Capture Gold’

Redemption! - USA Basketball wins Gold

Published by Kam Pashai on August 24, 2008 in USA Basketball. 12 Comments

ESPN: Order is restored in international basketball. The United States is back on top, but not by that much anymore.

Culminating a three-year mission to end years of embarrassment, the U.S. Olympic team survived a huge challenge from Spain, winning 118-107 Sunday in the gold-medal game.

After overwhelming everyone for seven games, the Americans led by only four points with under 2½ minutes to play. Then the U.S. proved it could handle a close game that seemed would never come in Beijing.

Their prize: the first U.S. gold medal since the 2000 Olympics.

Argentina won the bronze with an 87-75 victory against Lithuania.

Dwyane Wade scored 27 points for the Americans, who found a much gamer Spanish team than the one it humiliated by 37 points earlier in the tournament. Kobe Bryant added 20 points.

In a game so void of defense that it felt more like an NBA All-Star game than one with a title at stake, the Americans had too much offense down the stretch. Bryant converted a clutch four-point play with 3:10 remaining, holding his finger to his lips to quiet the rowdy Spanish crowd behind the basket.

Wade added another 3-pointer that made it 111-104 with just over 2 minutes left, and only then could the Americans relax a little.

They began to celebrate during a break after some technical fouls on Spain with 26 seconds left, then celebrated at midcourt when it was over with “Born in the USA” blaring over the arena’s speakers.

Kobe wants to play in 2012 Olympics!

Published by Chris Manning on August 23, 2008 in USA Basketball. 6 Comments

This is pretty awesome news. He’ll be the “grandpa” of the team (sort of like Kidd) - but I’m sure all the young guns will be locked and loaded - especially since they will bring home the Gold Medal soon! Here is what KB10 said…

Yahoo: The Olympics have been such a renaissance to his career, Bryant insists that he wants to play as a 34-year-old in 2012 in London.

“If they want me back, I’ll be back,” he said.

FB&G: Gold Medal Game Time

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 23, 2008 in Forum Blue & Gold and USA Basketball. 15 Comments

Forum Blue & Gold: Here’s my prediction - not only is the USA going to win the gold in Beijing, it will win it in London in 2012, too.

I’ll explain the second prediction first. One thing has been pretty clear in these Olympics and said by Kelly Dwyer among others - the USA is the best NBA-style team in this Olympics by a mile. It’s not a gap that other countries are going to close completely in the next four years.

And in four years (actually in two), the international game is going to look more like the NBA game.

The 3-point line will move from 20 feet, 6.1 inches to 22 feet, 1.7 inches. The NBA line is 23-9…..FIBA also will reconfigure the three-second area to match the NBA shape, going from a trapezoid to a rectangle.

FIBA is also throwing in a charge circle under the basket, as in the NBA. These rule changes favor the NBA players. For example now Dwight Howard can post deeper on the low block, and what player in the world can move him off that? All those changes will move the game toward more of an NBA style - there still will be no defensive three seconds and other key differences, but it will be more in the comfort zone of the NBA players.

Continue reading ‘FB&G: Gold Medal Game Time’

U.S. men beat Argentina to reach Olympic basketball final

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 22, 2008 in USA Basketball. 7 Comments

ESPN: The climb back to the top is nearly complete. One more win and U.S. basketball is golden again.

The Americans ended their streak of final four flops and Argentina’s hopes of an Olympic gold-medal repeat, starting fast and finishing strong in a 101-81 semifinal victory Friday.

All that’s left is what the U.S. players came for: a gold medal. The United States scored 21 of the first 25 points, got a big break when Argentina star Manu Ginobili reinjured his left ankle, and surged into its first gold-medal game in eight years.

There’s still 40 minutes to go, but this U.S. team looks good as gold. All the Americans have to do now is beat Spain, who they clobbered by 37 points in pool play, on Sunday to win their first gold in a major international event since the 2000 Olympics.

What followed was a frustrating and embarrassing stretch in which they couldn’t even make the podium in the 2002 world championships, then managed only bronze medals after losing in the semis of the 2004 Athens Games and ‘06 worlds.

Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James were part of those bronze busts, and vowed they’d leave China with gold. Anthony scored 21 points and James added 15, 13 in the second half.

Luis Scola scored 28 points for Argentina, which didn’t relinquish its title without a fight. Even without Ginobili for the final 3½ quarters, the Argentines cut a 21-point lead into single digits and frustrated the Americans with their physical play, but they didn’t have enough depth or firepower without their best player.

Continue reading ‘U.S. men beat Argentina to reach Olympic basketball final’

FB&G: USA vs. Argentina, and the Semis

Published by Kurt on August 21, 2008 in Forum Blue & Gold and USA Basketball. 18 Comments

Forum Blue & Gold: I think my premise here is pretty simple:

Argentina may well give the USA their toughest test to date, but I don’t think Argentina can beat the USA unless the Americans help out.

A few thoughts to flesh that out. Argentina will try to slow the game down (the USA is at 81 possessions per game, fastest in the Olympics, while Argentina is at 69, the slowest) and because they have ball handlers like Manu that will not be coughing the ball up a lot they should be able to limit turnovers. That said they will give up some - sometimes against teams that bring high pressure and tempo it takes a while to adjust. The USA does that, with starters and off the bench. I think at some point in the first half the pressure is going to get to Argentina, maybe some subs, and the USA will go on a fast 10-0 run or so. Argentina will have to play catch-up from there, but I don’t think they can do it.

Argentina can score (their offensive rating through six games is 121 [points per 100 possessions], not bad but well behind the USA’s 129.1). They have good offensive talent, starting with Manu (Kobe on Manu is going to be fun to watch), but Delfino looked very good last game and they are a deep team. One thing the South Americans will have to do to win is hit threes - teams are shooting just 28.6% from three against the USA, to beat them you are going to have to shoot 40% or so.

Continue reading ‘FB&G: USA vs. Argentina, and the Semis’

U.S. pulls away from Aussies, reaches semifinals

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 20, 2008 in USA Basketball. 5 Comments

ESPN: Don’t doubt this U.S. men’s basketball team — and sure don’t challenge them, either.

Especially if it’s going to make Kobe Bryant flash his NBA MVP form.

Bryant scored 25 points in his best game in Beijing, and the men’s U.S. Olympic team advanced to the semifinals by beating Australia 116-85 on Wednesday night.

The United States will play defending champion Argentina on Friday night for a spot in Sunday’s gold medal game. The Argentines beat Greece 80-78 in a quarterfinal victory watched from behind the baseline by Bryant and members of the U.S. coaching staff.

Argentina beat the U.S. in the semifinals of the 2004 Olympics.

Locked in what looked like another tough game in Australia, the Americans sent the Aussies’ upset hopes down under with a 14-0 burst to open the second half, featuring nine points from Bryant.

LeBron James added 16 points for the Americans, who are guaranteed a chance to play for a medal. They need two more wins for their first gold medal in a major international competition since the 2000 Sydney Games.

As the US expected, with the gold medal getting closer, the games are getting tougher.

Australia stayed with the United States for the first 15 minutes of the game, duplicating the strong performance it had against the Americans in an 87-76 exhibition loss in Shanghai on Aug. 5 — a contest the Americans led by only seven points midway through the fourth quarter.

Continue reading ‘U.S. pulls away from Aussies, reaches semifinals’

Kobe Bryant rules China

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 20, 2008 in Kobe Watch and USA Basketball. 7 Comments

L.A. Times: The U.S. basketball team, entirely made up of superstars, isn’t really anyone’s, but one of them — Kobe Bryant — stands alone, at least as far as 1.3 billion Chinese are concerned.

If LeBron James is still King James in the U.S., Bryant is the new emperor of China.

Bryant gets the loudest cheers in pregame introductions. Fans chant “MVP!” when he’s at the free-throw line. Late in Saturday’s rout of Spain as he sat on the bench, they started chanting, “Kobe! Kobe!”

As teammate Carmelo Anthony joked, “Kobe might want to think about moving here — to live.”

On this, his fifth trip to China, he’s protected by the U.S. team’s security people, several of whom were hired off the Lakers staff.

On past trips, where every place he went hadn’t already been secured as they have been here, he would have needed the People’s Liberation Army.

“Oh, they’ve broken through security before,” Bryant says. “I’ve lost earrings, chains and all kinds of stuff. This time I tuck ‘em in when I go into crowds.

“Last year when I came here, I lost an earring. . . . A kid found it on the floor and held on to it for three hours and came back and gave it back to me. That’s crazy.”

Continue reading ‘Kobe Bryant rules China’