The women and mens American Olympic basketball teams have completed their mission and it all is now golden. The women fist won gold on Saturday and the men earlier today. The women’s game started out close and ended in no contest but the mens game was down to the wire with Spain.

Spain gave the US the best game of their Olympic run and came very close to beating the Redeem Team where at times it looked like Spain would play the spolier to the mission at hand and one the American team had planned for three years.  With the US being up by 13 at one point in the 2nd quarter. the lead quickly was brought down to 2 and the score remained up and down during the whole second quarter. It actually was not until Kobe Bryant got hot in the 4th and finished Pau Gasol, his cohort during the regular season and his oppenent today, and the Spain team off. The victory score was 118-107.

The celebration began with a little over 40 seconds to play as the US knew they were no longer bronze but Golden boys again. Congratulations USA Basketball!

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The US basketball teams are both set up well as they enter the gold medal rounds this weekend. For the women, most have not had a doubt they would win the gold but for the men, there has been a question since 2004. Now after today’s win against Argentina, the US men’s basketball team is set to face Spain on Sunday, 2:30 am EST and the women play Australia at 10am Sunday, EST.

As for the game against Argentina, it looked like it would be a blow out in the first period as the US lead their opponents by as much as 21 at one point. The star player of the Argentina team, Manu Ginobli, also went into the locker room hurt during the first quarter. However, it was not a blow out and the Argentinians almost cut the lead down to 9 during the second half, but never could get it past that as the US team came on stronger to combat the run for the lead and finished the day winning 101-81.

Now they play for the gold against Spain as they are one more win a way. The team that was put together to win back America the top medal is ready for the challenge, and as of the win today, Lebron James will no longer have to be called “Lebronze James” as the US is now guaranteed at least a silver medal. We expect it to be gold. You?

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One down and two to go as Australia was beaten without a doubt on Wednesday. The US team seems to be showing up differently each game and keeping their opponents guessing. One has to wonder if they were holding back a little on the pool games and are now ready to go full steam when it really matters.

Kobe Bryant led the team with 25 points and a spectacular defensive performance. Kobe opened up the difference in the second half as Australia did give them a run for it in the first half of play staying close and probably providing the most challenge the men’s team has had since commencement of the games.

It seems as if most of the games have been a little like that where in the beginning it is close but then at the end, not so much. Maybe it is to keep the attention of the spectators. This first half, however, was true competiton. We are glad Kobe decided to show why he got the MVP this year and it seemed as if the timing could not be better for his type of play. The final score of the game was 116-85.

Now Friday, the US will play Argentina. You might recall that Argentina was the one that knocked the US to bronze in 2004 in Greece. This game will be the real claim to redemption. We look forward to writing about another win soon.

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Whether you were a believer in the men’s US basketball team before yesterday or not, you have to admit that the “Redeem Team” has proven to be a “Dream Team” and after watching Saturday’s game against Spain, the gold medal is the US team’s to lose. The preliminary pool play is almost over and the medal rounds start Wednesday and since it is likely that Spain and the US will meet again in the medal round, the US team played as if it already was there as they dominated the game with great percentage shooting and defense.

Led by Lebron James with 18 points with the majority of the rest of the guys in double digits, the US team made it look easy even though they were playing against one of the team’s NBA Lakers’ teammate, Pau Gasol and Spain who tool the medal away from them in 2004. Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant play side by side in the NBA  and although they were joking with one another before the game Saturday in the pre-game interviews, it was all serious when they got on the court. Kobe was guarding Pau’s brother Mark and Kobe came out on top in the matchup.

Now the American team knows they have the team to do it and can not wait until they take gold on the 24th. Until then it is all about taking care of busienss which is taking back home the gold and the title of Olympic World Champions.  We think they will do it but only time will tell. It is clear that it is theirs to lose, so that is a good position to be in.

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It was expected that the US Olympic basketball team would beat Angola which they did on Tuesday in a pretty uneventful game but today they found redemption in a bigger way when they beat the Greece team 92-69. We say redemption as Greece had beaten the USA teams in 2004 as well as the World Championship Semifinals in 2006. The men’s basketball team as we knew it back in 2000 is back and we look forward to watching the rest of the games towards the road to gold. Kobe Bryant and Chris Bosh each led the team with 18 points each followed by Dwayne Wade with 17 and coming in with 13 points Labron James. The next game is on Saturday against Spain where Kobe Bryant takes on his NBA teammate Pau Gasol and brother. It should be fun. Until then.

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Olympic basketball is underway and this past weekend both the women and men’s USA teams took their first opponent without blinking. China who played the men’s team did stay neck to neck during the first period (which is half the game) but the second period Kobe, Labron, Kidd and teammates had worn down their opponents and dominated thusforth.

While watching the game, you may have noticed there were some things that did not follow the way the NBA regulates the games, so we decided to look into the differences between NBA basketball and Olympic basketball and share our findings here.

Olympic basketball is regulated by the International Federal Basketball Association (FIBA), and below are the differences:

1. The three point line is less of a distance from the basket than it is in the NBA with the NBA being 23′9″ from the rim and the FIBA being 20′6″.
2. The NBA players that commit six personal fouls are no longer able to play the game where in the FIBA it is only 5. A technical foul also counts towards the total number of fouls for the player.
3. The NBA has 4 time periods each of 12 minutes and the international rules play out only 2 time periods of 20 minutes each
4. The shot clock in the NBA is 24 seconds where in the Olympics it is 30 seconds
5. There will only be two time outs per team per half (period) and they last 1 minute so there are no 20 second time outs or TV timeouts. If the teams are tied at the end of the regular play then they play 5 minutes as in the NBA but with only 1 time out each.
6. In Olympic play, each team has 8 team fouls before going to to the line to shoot free throws compared to the six in NBA play.
7. The court is set up slightly different with the main differnce being the three point line and the lane set up being shaped more like a trapezoid. See here for a diagram. Like the NBA players will be in violation if they are in the lane for more than 3 seconds.

So now that you know the difference you might not be as confused during the next games. We are looking forward to the men’s game against Spain as we see them to be a reasonable opponent to the men  reclaiming the gold. For the women it should be a walk in a park. Check back as we keep you up to date on Olympic basketball action.

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This past week the US Olympic basketball team arrived in China to begin their quest to take back the gold medal that they lost to Argentina in 2004. By most people’s account they have the team to do it and they should accomplish this goal.

For the first time, the US players has to make a three year commitment to this team. The team was assembled back in 2006 and have been playing together in practices on and off since then. It was not the typical “let’s assemble the team and hope they can play together” type of attitude.  The loss in 2004 showed the US that it was not infalliable and thus the reason fof this plan. Chemistry on the court is important and therefore they created it the past three years.

In 2004, the US brought some good players to the floor including some returning, but this year it is the best of the best. Including in this years NBA MVP, Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Jason Kidd (Mavericks) who not only has Olympic experience but has a gold medal from playing with the US team back in 2000, the 2008 team is ready to hit the ground running. The other team members include Lebron James (Cavaliers), Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets), Carlos Boozer (Jazz), Chris Bosh (Raptors), Dwight Howard (Magic), Chris Paul (Hornets), Tayshaun Prince (Pistons), Michael Redd( Bucks), Dwayne Wayde (Heat), and Daryn Williams (Jazz). The coach is Mike Krzyzewski who currently coaches the NCAA Duke team and has been at the helm of this Olympic team since conception in 2006.

Although there are quite a few members from the 2004 team that took bronze returning, they are not thinking about that experience any longer. They know they can win and the team has been built to do just that. Jason Kidd knows what it is like to win in the Olympics. In Sydney in 2000 the US team went undefeated and took gold. He, however, isn’t thinking of that either.

The team landed in Beijing this past week and based on the Olympic tuneup games, if they stay focused, they should all be standing with gold medals on August 23rd. That would be a great gift to everyone, but to Kobe Bryant, it would be an excellent birthday gift as he turns 30 the day before the gold medal game. GO US!

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