FIBA Americas Tournament

[PetryJr]

Whomever wins the Gold or Silver medal in the previous Olympic games gets an automatic bid.

No, MigratingOsprey is right. Only Spain (the World Champions) and China (the host) got automatic bids. And like he said, the top 2 in this tournament qualify, while 3-5 enter the World Pre-Olympic qualifier, which happens next year (in June, if I remember correctly).

http://www.usabasketball.com/seniormen/2008/08_moly_facts.html

 

[SO91]

Damn I could have sworn I saw a graphic during the game w/ Venezuela saying Argentina was automatically in. Lesson learned, don't trust ESPN

 

[dodie53]

if argentina is not in,
then why isn't manu playing for them?

is he injured?

 

[Chaplin]

LB scored 36 points tonight. If Brazil gets at least the silver, then I'm guessing the MVP of the tournament will be between him and either Carmelo or Kobe.

 

[mribnik]

LB scored 36 points tonight. If Brazil gets at least the silver, then I'm guessing the MVP of the tournament will be between him and either Carmelo or Kobe.

LB did have 36 points last night, but I wasn't really impressed with his game yesterday. All of his points were on either wide open cherry-pick type layups, wide-open 3's or free throws. Whenever he tried to create for himself or a teammate he turned the ball over quite often or ended up missing a midrange jumper. Of course, 36 points is still 36 points, so he did have a heck of a game.

Oh, and when I say cherry-pick, I mean it. It seemed like he was already under the basket waiting for a long pass immediately after a shot went up. If Barbosa wasn't so damn likeable, I could see the other team taking a cheap shot at him.

Regardless, the other team had no answer for his speed.

 

[sly fly]

LB did have 36 points last night, but I wasn't really impressed with his game yesterday. All of his points were on either wide open cherry-pick type layups, wide-open 3's or free throws. Whenever he tried to create for himself or a teammate he turned the ball over quite often or ended up missing a midrange jumper. Of course, 36 points is still 36 points, so he did have a heck of a game.

Oh, and when I say cherry-pick, I mean it. It seemed like he was already under the basket waiting for a long pass immediately after a shot went up. If Barbosa wasn't so damn likeable, I could see the other team taking a cheap shot at him.

Regardless, the other team had no answer for his speed.

Cherry pick? How about telling the other teams guard to stay back. Not his fault the other team has no clue. Basketball 101.

 

[mribnik]

Cherry pick? How about telling the other teams guard to stay back. Not his fault the other team has no clue. Basketball 101.

I didn't mean to imply that it was his fault at all. It might not have even been that he was necessarily cherry-picking, but he's so damn fast he was already at the other basket when his teammate got the rebound. My point was that I could see the other team taking a cheap shot at him out of frustration. Of course it's not his fault.

 

[azirish]

Last night was the first time Barbosa shot a good percentage. Yes, Leandro may be "cherry picking", but he has a major responsibility in carrying his team.

 

[JS22]

Random observation:

Amare has an enormous amount of new tattoos.

 

[FArting]

Did we beat Brazil?

 

[dodie53]

Us beat Brazil..
113 to 76

 

[WuRaider]

Damn you knee injury! If that was pre micro Amare, he would have ******* on Splitter. Its gotta be killing Black Jesus inside.

 

[nash2stouds]

Damn you knee injury! If that was pre micro Amare, he would have ******* on Splitter. Its gotta be killing Black Jesus inside.

ummmmm, I'm pretty sure he was fine when he had the hugest dunk of the game and a rejection to end it. He replicated this year's Josh Smith dunk but made it an and-one.

 

[WuRaider]

ummmmm, I'm pretty sure he was fine when he had the hugest dunk of the game and a rejection to end it. He replicated this year's Josh Smith dunk but made it an and-one.

Damn, I missed that, I turned it off by then.

 

[nash2stouds]

Damn, I missed that, I turned it off by then.

You know what's funny. I was going to post about his lost athleticism but right before I did, he through down that dunk. He may have lost 1-2 inches of his verticle but his explosion is still there. It was pretty exciting.

 

[JS22]

Did we beat Brazil?

By about 50, i think.

 

[Bufalay]

good news SA spers fans, Splitter is the dirtiest player in this tournament. (since ginobilli didnt play)

 

[PetryJr]

good news SA spers fans, Splitter is the dirtiest player in this tournament. (since ginobilli didnt play)

Clearly you haven't watched Luis Scola. It's hard to understand why the Spurs traded him - he's exactly their kind of player.

 

[azirish]

Clearly you haven't watched Luis Scola. It's hard to understand why the Spurs traded him - he's exactly their kind of player.

They did it to unload Butler's contract

 

[PetryJr]

They did it to unload Butler's contract

Yes, I know that. I was only half-serious.

By the way, Scola is looking very good in this tournament. He's showing a very nice array of post moves, his midrange jumper is very, very good and he's also a good passer. I definitely think he's going to make an impact in Houston. Adelman will love him.

 

[azirish]

I think it will take them a year or so, but the Rockets have the talent to get out the first round and out box they are in.

 

[PetryJr]

I think it will take them a year or so, but the Rockets have the talent to get out the first round and out box they are in.

Yeah, I agree. The only problem I see is their point guard situation. Adelman's offense doesn't require a pass-first point guard, but I'm not sure Francis will be able to find his role without taking shots away from Yao and McGrady. I just don't think his basketball IQ is close to Bibby's, who had his best years playing for Adelman, and Mike James and Rafer Alston aren't much better (though James could play a Bobby Jackson role off the bench for them).

 

[mjb21aztd]

Man team usa is actually fun to watch this year consdering they have real players who deserve to be their this year I just dont see any international team that can come close to beating team usa were just to deep this year. Plus its good to see Amare playing pretty well in this year tournament and barbosa is also playing pretty good for brazil

 

[Griffin]

I felt bad for Barbs. US made a conscious effort to deny him the ball and he had a hard time. But that was understandable. He should take that as a sign of respect. As for his tournament overall, he was the leading scorer before the last game, but he doesn't look as good as in a Suns uni. Obviously he gets a lot more help in Phoenix, and a lot less responsibility.

 

[Griffin]

Man team usa is actually fun to watch this year consdering they have real players who deserve to be their this year I just dont see any international team that can come close to beating team usa were just to deep this year.

I agree they looked fairly good, but they haven't been tested. This is, after all, a tournament that would have featured a roster of college players had Team USA already qualified. The real test will come when the European teams participate.