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Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, and 2008 "Redeem Team" Headline Nine Member 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 includes nine inductees (eight individuals plus one team), with six inductees having NBA ties: Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Danny Crawford, Mickey Arison, the 2008 Team USA squad (the "Redeem Team" that beat Spain in the Olympic gold medal game), and Billy Donovan (an NBA head coach for 10 seasons who is being inducted based on his accomplishments as a college coach, capped off by leading Florida to NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007). The other three inductees are women's players Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, and Maya Moore.

Howard may be one of the most underrated players of the past 25 years; it is baffling that he was not included on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. Howard earned five straight All-NBA First Team selections (2008-2012), won five rebounding titles (2008-10, 2012-13), and captured three Defensive Player of the Year awards (2009-11). The only centers with more than five All-NBA First Team selections are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10), Shaquille O'Neal (eight), Wilt Chamberlain (seven), Hakeem Olajuwon (six), and George Mikan (six). The only players with more rebounding titles than Howard are Wilt Chamberlain (11), Dennis Rodman (seven), and Moses Malone (six). Only Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Rudy Gobert won more Defensive Player of the Year awards (four each) than Howard. Howard made the All-NBA Team for eight straight seasons and then he averaged at least 13.5 ppg and at least 10.5 rpg in each of the next four seasons after that run. As a 34 year old reserve, he averaged 7.5 ppg and 7.3 rpg while anchoring the paint for the 2020 L.A. Lakers as they won the "bubble title."

Howard said that when he was 10 he told his father that he would be the number one pick in the NBA Draft, and his father "believed in me as much as I did, but you wanted me to commit to it. I wrote down my goals and I placed them above my bed, along with my cross. And you helped me work to achieve those goals, day after day. Look how life works. Pops, Mom, your son is in the Hall of Fame." Howard thanked Robert Parish, one of his four Hall of Fame presenters. Parish was his grandmother's favorite player, and Howard recalled that during his rookie season Parish helped him and was "one of my biggest inspirations."  

Next, Howard recognized several Hall of Famers who inspired him but were not able to attend the ceremony. Bill Russell, who passed away in 2022, wrote the book Russell Rules, which Howard said "allowed me to understand the game at a whole different level. That book taught me about leadership and the importance of staying committed to my goals." Howard noted that Dikembe Mutombo, who passed away in 2024, "motivated me to challenge and battle for every shot." Howard praised Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as "My GOAT," and described him as the only player in NBA history who had "two Hall of Fame careers"--first as Lew Alcindor, and then as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Howard said that Dennis Rodman is one of his favorite players and "the greatest rebounder ever." 

Howard then turned his attention to his other three Hall of Fame presenters, thanking Dominique Wilkins "for inspiring me," and describing Patrick Ewing as not only a coach but also a mentor. Shaquille O'Neal and Howard have engaged in some verbal sparring over the years, and Howard described those disputes as "sibling rivalries." Howard said that he and O'Neal are now "brothers in this fraternity of basketball."

Howard said that The Little Engine That Could "was my favorite book and my greatest inspiration. Like that little engine that could, I used to repeat to myself 'I think I can.' Eventually, it became, 'I know I can.'"

Howard and then-Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy did not always see eye to eye when they worked together, but Howard stated that he would not have become a Hall of Famer without Van Gundy pushing him: "There is no Dwight Howard without Stan Van Gundy. You taught me what it means to stay ready."

After acknowledging his teammates from the 2008 Olympics and the 2020 Lakers, and his wife and children, Howard concluded, "You only die once but you live every day." 

Mickey Arison, inducted as a Contributor, bought controlling interest in the Miami Heat in 1995, and under his leadership the team became one of the NBA's model franchises with three NBA titles (2006, 2012, 2013) and seven Eastern Conference titles (2006, 2011-14, 2020, 2023). One of Arison's key moves was hiring Pat Riley to run the basketball operations (Riley also coached the 2006 championship team). Arison's presenters were Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade, and Alonzo Mourning. Arison called Hall of Fame selection "the highest honor" in the sport, but noted that it was not an honor that he had ever sought. He said that during the time that he has owned the Heat, his plan has been simple: "Do right by south Florida, and build a winner."

The best NBA referees do their jobs without calling attention to themselves. For 32 years, Danny Crawford was at the pinnacle of NBA officiating. He was selected to work in the NBA Finals--the top honor for an NBA official--in each of his final 23 seasons, and in 30 seasons overall. Some referees are hot-tempered in general, and other referees seem to hold grudges against certain teams or players, but when Crawford officiated a game you had confidence that he would keep matters under control without becoming the center of attention and without letting any personal feelings get in the way of objective officiating. 

Crawford delivered a brief, prerecorded speech. He called induction "an incredible honor," and he thanked David Stern and Adam Silver for their leadership of the NBA and for providing him the opportunity to be an NBA referee. He gave a special thank you to "fellow Hall of Famer Darell Garretson, who taught me how to referee at the highest level." Crawford appeared on stage, presented by Isiah Thomas and Tim Hardaway.

It is easy to forget how far USA Basketball had fallen after the Dream Team's triumphant 1992 romp to Olympic gold in Barcelona. Team USA finished sixth in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, an embarrassing performance by the country where basketball was invented. Team USA struggled to get a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. Team USA's bronze medal performance in the 2006 FIBA World Championship meant that Team USA had to earn qualification into the 2008 Olympics. In The Real Story Behind Team USA's Losses in Previous FIBA Events, I explained that Team USA needed to improve defensively and to create better team chemistry. The addition of Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd to the roster in 2007 solved both problems, and Team USA dominated the 2007 FIBA Americas Cup--Team USA's first gold medal in any FIBA event since 2003--before Team USA won Olympic gold in 2008. The 2008 gold medal-winning squad is known as "The Redeem Team," and is the 14th team to be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Both Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony played for that team.

Jerry Colangelo, the USA Basketball managing director who assembled the "Redeem Team," called that time the highlight of his basketball career. Colangelo recalled that he had just two conditions when David Stern asked him to run USA Basketball: he requested total control of the selection of coaches/players, and an unlimited budget. Colangelo said that Stern did not like the idea of an unlimited budget, but Stern went along with it after Colangelo vowed that he would raise any needed funds by finding sponsors. Colangelo also provided a great tribute to George Raveling, who recently passed away. Colangelo said that Raveling always wanted to be called "coach," that he spoke with Raveling multiple times per week, and that Raveling was a mentor to many people in the basketball world.

LeBron James said that Kobe Bryant was the 2008 team's "missing link that we needed in order to regain the dominance with Team USA" because Bryant "brought a sense of seriousness to the team. He made us lock in. We knew, once he joined, that he was going to be committed, we couldn't be doing nothing half-assed. Kobe wasn't going for that, so it made myself, CP, Dwade, Melo, we locked in even more because we wanted to show him that we could get to that level as well." James' statement is a tacit--or not even that tacit--admission that prior to Bryant joining Team USA the squad was not fully locked in and committed to doing what needed to be done to win at the highest level. Remember that at that time, Dwayne Wade was the only player from that younger generation who had won an NBA title (Bryant already had won three). Bryant's pivotal role on the "Redeem Team" should never be minimized or forgotten. 

Team captain Jason Kidd, who spoke with characteristic modesty about his role, provided essential leadership and mentoring not just for young point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams but for the entire squad.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski called winning the 2008 Olympics "the best moment of my coaching career."

The next inductee, Billy Donovan, is perhaps best known to younger fans as an NBA head coach but he was honored primarily for his outstanding 21 year college coaching career during which his teams made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and four Final Fours while claiming back to back NCAA titles (2006-07). He is one of only four men to win an NCAA title as a coach and appear in the Final Four as a player. Donovan was presented by Rick Pitino and Maurice Cheeks. Donovan said, "Faith and belief have been incredibly powerful in my life, and it's not been the faith and belief in myself but it's been the faith and belief that others have had in me when there was really no sign or evidence to have faith." Donovan credited Pitino's "belief, faith and confidence in me" for helping him become the player and coach that he became. He said that he and Cheeks have worked together for nine years and that Cheeks' knowledge as an NBA All-Star, NBA champion, and Hall of Fame player have been invaluable. Donovan spoke of his steep learning curve as a young NBA coach fresh from the college ranks, and mentioned how much Cheeks helped ease that transition.

A lot has been said and written about Carmelo Anthony, and this is not the time or place to revisit all of that. He has vocal detractors and ardent supporters. I don't believe in false praise, nor do I believe in unfair criticism. Anthony has accomplished more than most people who ever play basketball. As a freshman, he led Syracuse to an NCAA title; as a professional, he established himself as a lethal one on one scorer. Ultimately, basketball is a team sport, and individual greatness in a team sport is defined by elevating your team to championship contention: he did that in college, but he did not do that in the NBA. Anthony never played in the NBA Finals and he reached the Conference Finals just once in his 19 season NBA career while posting a 3-13 career playoff series record; any player who wins an NBA title posts more playoff series victories in one year (four) than Anthony had in nearly two decades. Read that sentence again, and consider that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won more playoff series in 2025 than Carmelo Anthony won in 19 NBA seasons!

In Revising the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, Part VI, I summarized Carmelo Anthony's place in pro basketball history: "Even in his prime he was not a great all-around player. He was a championship player in college who regressed in terms of having a championship mentality in the NBA, which is unusual. Most NCAA champions who have the necessary physical talent to excel in the NBA--which Anthony obviously does--hone the championship habits that they formed in college, but Anthony did not. He was never the best player at his position, he played for talented teams that did not seriously contend for the championship, and he resisted when his coaches tried to guide him toward having more of an impact on winning." Therefore, I do not rank Anthony among pro basketball's 75 greatest players--even though he was selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team in 2021--but it is clear that he deserved first ballot Hall of Fame selection, particularly because the Hall of Fame recognizes accomplishments at all levels of the game. Anthony's Hall of Fame resume includes his college championship, prolific NBA scoring, and extensive FIBA experience. 

Anthony was presented by Dwyane Wade and Allen Iverson. Anthony gave a very powerful speech, describing poetically how he overcame the doubters and deprivations of his youth by staying focused on his vision of what he could become. He declared, "Tonight I don't just step into the Hall of Fame. I carry with me the echoes of every voice that ever told me I couldn't. I walk with the shadows of every alley, every cracked court, every empty plate. I stand for the dreamless, the doubted, the dismissed, for every soul still trapped in the places I broke free from, from Red Hook to Myrtle Avenue." He said that his father "left this world too soon but you never left me." Anthony added, "Your name is my name. Your spirit walks with me in every step I take." He praised his sister Michelle for being his protector and for believing in him "when I didn't even know how to believe in myself." He thanked his mother for teaching him, "Love is action. Sacrifice is quiet. Faith is louder than fear," and he told her, "You are my hero."

He concluded with a message to his children:

Your father isn't perfect, but he is proof--proof that struggle doesn't mean surrender. Proof that the road can be rough and still lead to glory. And so again I say to every child listening, they will tell you to be realistic. I say be relentless. They will say you are dreaming too big. I say dream louder. They will try to label you, box you in, count you out, but remember statistics don't measure heart. They don't account for fight. They don't see the storm that built you. You were made for more. You are more than possible. You are inevitable. 

Selected Articles About Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies:

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inducts 13 Member 2024 Class, Including Vince Carter and Jerry West (Class of 2024) 

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2023 Class Includes Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, and Gregg Popovich (Class of 2023)

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2022 Class Includes NBA Players Lou Hudson, Tim Hardaway, and Manu Ginobili (Class of 2022)  

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes 15 New Members and Honors Bill Russell a Second Time (Class of 2021)

Kobe Bryant Headlines the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Class of 2020) 

The Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes A Diverse Class of 12 Inductees (Class of 2019)

Thoughts and Observations About the 2018 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony (Class of 2018)

Reflections on the 2017 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony 

Reflections on the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 

Bobby "Slick" Leonard Remembers the ABA During his Basketball Hall of Fame Speech (Class of 2014)

The Basketball Hall of Fame Belatedly Welcomes Roger Brown (Class of 2013)

Reflections on the 2012 Basketball Hall of Fame Class 

The A-Train Makes an Overdue Arrival at the Basketball Hall of Fame  (Class of 2011)

Dreams and Memories--Some Personal Reflections on the 2006 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony (Class of 2006)

Labels: 2008 Team USA, Basketball Hall of Fame, Billy Donovan, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Crawford, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd, Jerry Colangelo, Kobe Bryant, Mickey Arison

posted by David Friedman @ 5:21 AM

5 comments

The 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class Includes Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard

The 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class includes eight individual inductees, five of whom have NBA ties: Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Danny Crawford, Mickey Arison, and Billy Donovan (an NBA head coach for 10 seasons who is being inducted based on his accomplishments as a college coach, capped off by leading Florida to NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007). The other three individual inductees are women's players Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, and Maya Moore. The 2008 Team USA squad that won the Olympic gold medal is also being inducted. Four members of that team--Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and Dwyane Wade--have already been inducted individually. 

This website focuses primarily on the NBA, so this article will focus on the Hall of Fame inductees who have NBA connections. 

Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James were both rookies in the 2003-04 NBA season, so it is a tribute to James' remarkable longevity that he is still playing at an All-NBA Team level in the year when Anthony is being inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007, but Anthony never played in the NBA Finals and he reached the Conference Finals just once in his 19 season NBA career while posting a 3-13 career playoff series record; any player who wins an NBA title posts more playoff series victories in one year (four) than Anthony had in nearly two decades.

Anthony led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA title as a freshman, and he then had a very productive professional career during which he earned six All-NBA Team selections and 10 All-Star selections while winning the 2013 scoring title. His 28,289 career regular season points rank 12th in ABA/NBA history. Anthony played in the Olympics for Team USA a record four times, winning a bronze medal in 2004 followed by gold medals in 2008, 2012, and 2016. In Team USA's FIBA World Cup Struggles and the Myth of "Olympic Melo," I noted that Anthony's impact on those gold medal-winning teams has been exaggerated:

"Olympic Melo" is a mythical creature. I am not sure when, why or how the myth began, but the myth is not supported by statistics, the eye test or any other meaningful player evaluation system. Consider Anthony's performance in the 2008 Olympics: he had the second lowest field goal percentage on the team (.422, including .382 in medal round play) and he was benched for the final eight minutes of the gold medal game. During medal round play, Team USA outscored the opposition by 25 points when Anthony was in the game; Team USA outscored the opposition by 52 points when Kobe Bryant was in the game, and they outscored the opposition by 50 points when LeBron James was in the game.

Anthony performed somewhat better in the 2012 Olympics, though his overall numbers were skewed by his stat-padding 37 point explosion versus Nigeria during pool play. Anthony scored eight points on 3-9 field goal shooting during the gold medal game, and throughout the tournament he was often on the bench when the score was close.

In the 2016 Olympics, Anthony scored seven points on 3-7 field goal shooting in the gold medal game. He also had seven rebounds, one of which came after he was reinserted late in a blowout win so that he could set the Team USA Olympic record for career rebounds; he has not been a dominant Olympic rebounder but he holds the U.S. record for most Olympic appearances (four) and most Olympic games played (31, seven more than anyone else), so it is not surprising that he set some career records.

This recitation of facts is not meant to bash Anthony or to diminish his accomplishments and his dedication to Team USA. Here is what I wrote about Anthony after the 2016 gold medal game: "I am not a huge fan of Anthony's game and I am not surprised that he again came up small in the biggest games but I must say that I was moved by how overcome with emotion he was in the moments right after the game. It is obvious that representing his country is very important to Anthony and I commend him for that, particularly since so many players over the years have turned down that opportunity; Anthony has answered that call four times and the flaws in his game do not diminish the dedication that he has demonstrated in support of America and of USA Basketball. Each player on the team committed himself to sacrifice for the greater good; this may not have been a Dream Team but it was an American team that represented America well and it was a pleasure to watch them play the right way in the gold medal game."

In Revising the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, Part VI, I summarized Anthony's place in pro basketball history: "Even in his prime he was not a great all-around player. He was a championship player in college who regressed in terms of having a championship mentality in the NBA, which is unusual. Most NCAA champions who have the necessary physical talent to excel in the NBA--which Anthony obviously does--hone the championship habits that they formed in college, but Anthony did not. He was never the best player at his position, he played for talented teams that did not seriously contend for the championship, and he resisted when his coaches tried to guide him toward having more of an impact on winning." For those reasons, I do not consider Anthony to be one of pro basketball's 50 or 75 greatest players--even though he was selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team in 2021--but it is clear that he without question earned first ballot Hall of Fame selection after a career filled with high level accomplishments at the collegiate, professional, and international levels. 

Dwight Howard led the NBA in rebounding five times (2008-10, 2012-13), and ranked first in blocked shots twice (2009-10) while winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards (2009-11). He made the All-NBA First Team five straight times (2008-12) and he earned eight All-NBA Team selections overall. Howard ranks 11th in ABA/NBA history with 14,627 career regular season rebounds. During his prime he was the most dominant big man in the NBA, leading the Orlando Magic past LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2009 NBA Finals before losing to Kobe Bryant's L.A. Lakers. Howard posted a 13-11 career playoff series record, including helping the Lakers to win the 2020 "bubble title." Howard should have been selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, but it is fair to say that he is not the most popular person, and it is unfortunate that his lack of popularity likely played a role in denying him a well-deserved honor.

During Danny Crawford's 32 year NBA officiating career (1985-2017), he logged more than 2000 regular season games, 300 playoff games, and 30 NBA Finals games. He was selected to work in the NBA Finals--the highest honor for an NBA official--in each of his last 23 seasons. As an NBA fan during that entire period, I can say that whenever you saw that Crawford was officiating a game you felt confident that the game would be called well and that he would maintain control without losing his temper or calling unwarranted technical fouls. Crawford's NBA career began at the height of the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird years, which was also the twilight of Julius Erving's career and the start of Michael Jordan's career, and he was still officiating during the early years of Golden State's rise to the top of the league, so Crawford had an up close view of a lot of NBA history.

Mickey Arison, who is being inducted as a Contributor, bought the Miami Heat in 1995, and since that time the Heat have been one of the league's model franchises, capturing NBA titles in 2006, 2012, and 2013 while winning the Eastern Conference Finals seven times (2006, 2011-14, 2020, 2023). Arison is highly respected for his philanthropic contributions to the Miami community and beyond.

Billy Donovan has been a very good NBA coach--posting a .546 regular season career winning percentage--but his Hall of Fame credentials are based on his outstanding college record: 502-206 (.709 winning percentage) in 21 seasons (two at Marshall, followed by 19 at Florida), including nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances (and 14 overall), four Final Fours (2000, 2005-06, 2014), and back to back NCAA titles (2006-07). Though not relevant to his Hall of Fame selection, it should be noted that Donovan was also an excellent player at Providence who played one season in the NBA.

Team USA finished sixth in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and settled for a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. Team USA's bronze medal performance in the 2006 FIBA World Championship required Team USA to earn qualification into the 2008 Olympics, an embarrassing situation for a country that should rightfully expect to dominate international basketball competitions. In The Real Story Behind Team USA's Losses in Previous FIBA Events I explained that Team USA needed to improve defensively and to create better team chemistry. The addition of Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd to the roster in 2007 solved both problems, and Team USA rolled to victory in the 2007 FIBA Americas Cup--Team USA's first gold medal in any FIBA event since 2003--before Team USA won Olympic gold in 2008. That 2008 gold medal-winning squad was dubbed "The Redeem Team," and is now the 14th team to be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Labels: 2008 Team USA, Basketball Hall of Fame, Billy Donovan, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Crawford, Dwight Howard, Mickey Arison

posted by David Friedman @ 9:17 PM

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Kobe Bryant on Rome is Burning: "There is No Greater Sense of Enjoyment You Get Than Representing Your Country"

Kobe Bryant was Jim Rome's in studio guest on the Tuesday episode of "Rome is Burning." Here are most of the questions and answers from that interview:

Rome: "You're an MVP, you're a three-time World Champion and now you've got the hardware--how does this one (Olympic gold medal) rank compared to everything you've accomplished?"

Bryant: "This is right at the top because we always talked about it on the team: the sense of honor that you have playing for your country can't be matched. In the NBA you are playing for a particular brand or a particular region but when you are playing for USA you are playing for the sum total of it all and that's pretty cool."

Rome: "Seriously--better than an NBA title?"

Bryant: "Better. There's no greater sense of enjoyment you get than representing your country. Plus, it's cool when you go to the Opening Ceremonies or you hear the Star Spangled Banner being played and you look up in the crowd and you see everybody waving USA flags; they could be Celtics fans, they could be Pistons fans but I think that it is so neat for them--for everybody--to just bond together for one common goal. That's pretty awesome."

Rome: "So much went into this. (Team USA Managing Director) Jerry Colangelo said we're going to pick the right team and guys are going to make a three year commitment. We can't have happen what happened in Athens. So you get there and you roll right through the entire tournament and then you get Spain in the championship game and they come back on you. They cut that lead to two. At that point, what were you thinking?"

Bryant (big smile): "This is fun. This is fun. That's the thing I remember thinking."

Rome: "Really? Because I was thinking something bad is going to happen."

Bryant (laughs): "No, no, no. We talked about that moment when we would get tested and my point was, this is what we do. This is the most fun. We have a two point lead here, we called a timeout because we needed one and we have to regroup--now let's get back at it. Let's make it happen."

Rome: "Coach K called a timeout and he pulled you aside and he had something to tell you specifically. What was his message to you?"

Bryant: "He wanted me to get after it and to assert myself--not necessarily to score the ball but to make plays and I was able to do that and read the defense. I saw some gaps and some things that I could take advantage of."

Rome: "The question coming in was if you are at the end of the game, who gets that last shot? Who does the ball go to? Should I assume that because of that conversation in the final analysis you were the guy? He wanted you to take care of it."

Bryant (laughs): "Yeah, it kind of fell into my hands in terms of being able to make the decisions down the stretch and because I am probably the one who has the the most experience on the team in those pressure situations. I made a couple plays, kicked it to a couple of our guys and they made some big shots."

Rome: "Ultimately, how do you divvy up leadership? If you have a room full of alpha dogs, guys that everybody is used to looking to and you're all in the same room, how do you divvy that up and who do the guys follow?"

Bryant: "You know what, it just kind of happens, to be honest with you. Jason (Kidd) was there. He's been a tremendous leader for a while. I forget what his record was in Olympic basketball and international competition but it was something crazy like 48-0. So he's been there before. LeBron's leadership is more vocal. He's constantly going all the time and his motor is never off. Myself, I'm more of a quiet guy but I get things done just by leading by example and the level of intensity that I play with."

Rome: "There was speculation that after you got the gold, OK, it's time to get the surgery and it looked like you were set to do it and then you decided not to get surgery on your pinkie. How come?"

Bryant: "Originally, when we talked about it during the season, we thought that it would be a three or four week process of recovery. We said that the perfect window is after the Olympics, get it done, miss maybe a week of camp and then get back at it. But after further due diligence we found out that it is six weeks minimum just to get the hand back to moving and touching the ball and things like that. So, total it would be a 12 week process and I can't miss that much."

Rome: "Can you make it worse by playing with it?"

Bryant: "No, there's nothing worse that can happen. It's gone; it's broke. I'm going to have to have surgery to fix it eventually but right now it's just not that time."

Rome: "But what if you do have to shut it down? What if you are not there when they need you the most?"

Bryant: "That's always a risk that you have to assess. My feeling on that is that I am pretty conscious when I play the game of how to protect myself, particularly my hand. I feel like that is something I can manage."

Rome: "You go and win the gold medal. Does that take away the sting of how the Finals ended?"

Bryant: "Yeah, it does but it makes you want to win a championship that much more because you see the champagne bottles and all this other stuff in the locker room--jumping up and down, singing and having a good time. You want to have that same feeling again. We just had an opportunity, we didn't make the most of it but we still gained valuable experience."

Rome: "Do you find yourself going back to game four? Obviously, you have 12 other championship caliber guys that are on that same team--five on the floor, the rest on the bench. They weren't going to give in. But, you're at home, game four, 24 point lead, how are you not able to choke them out in your house in a game that is that important?"

Bryant: "I think that in a series the better team is always going to win, no matter what. That's something that I've always learned. I feel like we were a great team but they were better and they were better in areas that we need to improve in: defense and rebounding. That gets it done every single time. We were a good defensive team--inconsistent, but we were good. This season we are going to be much better in those areas."

Rome: "Defensively, they were good. I mean, watching you the entire year when you won the MVP, it just seemed like when you wanted to, when you chose to, you could take over at any time. Personally, I kept waiting for that to happen in the NBA Finals and it never really happened. What did the Celtics do to make things so challenging for you?"

Bryant: "They had a rule, which is to put two, three, four guys between me and the basket at all times. That is the kind of defense that we saw. They were willing to give my teammates open looks, which is a defense that we have seen before but I think that the thing that really hurt us is those moments or stretches when we were scoreless and they came down to the other end and knocked down two, three, four threes and all of a sudden a four point game is a 12, 15 point game and it is tough to recover from that."

Rome: "They were so physical, too. Probably, you guys need to get more physical--or, is that not the case and do you just need to get Andrew Bynum back?"

Bryant: "We'll get stronger. I think those are areas that we know we have to get better at. I think having Andrew in the middle will help tremendously. They got a lot of layups. On top of hitting wide open threes, they were driving down the lane and getting finger rolls. I think having him in the lane is going to help us out a lot."

After a commercial break, Rome did one more bonus segment with Bryant.

Rome: "Kobe, you turned 30 recently and you are now 13 years in. Is your best basketball still ahead of you or maybe, at 30 with 13 years in, have you already played it?"

Bryant (wry smile): "No, I think it's still ahead of me. I hear that a lot but it makes me want to drive that much harder. Obviously, you have to be a little smarter with your training. It's all part of challenge."

Rome: "Training is going to factor into it but now do you pick your spots during games when before you just went?"

Bryant: "Oh, yeah, but that just comes with experience. Even when I was 22, 23 years old, I tried to pick my spots but as you get older you start to learn more about the game. You figure things out more. Things just come a little bit more easily than they did at that age."

Rome: "So what is your relationship with Phil Jackson like right now? There have been some ups and some downs."

Bryant: "It's incredible. We actually communicated pretty often during the Olympics, with him just saying good luck and being supportive."

Rome: "Kobe, how did you make that right? He wrote some things in that book that were not very favorable. How did you see clear of that to get back on the same page with him?"

Bryant: "Who am I to judge? Everybody makes mistakes. When he called me and said that I want to come back and coach and help you turn this thing around I'm not going to sit there and hold it over his head. I'm going to look at it as water under the bridge and move on and that's what we were able to do."

Rome: "Would you approach your relationship with Shaq the same way?"

Bryant: "I always have. In fact, before the latest incident we actually talked on the phone. He actually called me and said that he was proud of the way that I was playing and how I was playing in the playoffs and that sort of thing. I've always approached relationships that way, you forgive and you just move on and give people a second chance."

Rome: "What do you make of that? Was he being insincere when he picked up the phone and called you and said I'm proud of you and then laid down that rap?"

Bryant: "I don't know. I try to focus on things that I can control. At that time, I had the gold medal to focus on. Now it's about trying to get a championship. So I try to keep my eyes on the prize and not worry too much about what is going on over here."

The next few questions concerned the possibility that a foreign team would put together a big enough deal to tempt a top NBA player to move overseas. Bryant kept his options open, saying that it "is not out of the realm of possibility" that this could happen. The interview concluded with this question:

Rome: "Have you thought about how this whole thing ends? When it's all said and done, the final chapter of your career?"

Bryant: "I've thought about it before. I'd love to be remembered as a guy who just loved to play the game, who worked extremely hard at it and won. If people can say that about me I'll be very happy."

Labels: 2008 Team USA, Jim Rome, Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, NBA Finals

posted by David Friedman @ 1:13 AM

10 comments

Team USA Olympics Report Card

After Team USA went 5-0 during the pre-Olympic exhibition tour, I wrote a report card for SlamOnline. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were the three "A" students. Not surprisingly, they also finished at the top of the class on my Olympics report card as well.

Players are listed in order of minutes played because that statistic provides a hint about Coach Mike Krzyzewski's evaluation. Wade, James, Bryant and Anthony were Team USA's four leading scorers, so I also included their box score statistics in the one and done medal round play (the final three games). It should go without saying--but I'll say it anyway--that it is not meaningful to compare a player's numbers in 40 minute games played under FIBA rules with his numbers in 48 minute games played under NBA rules. A better yardstick is to consider how the top players from the 1992 Dream Team performed. Charles Barkley led the 1992 Dream Team in scoring (18.0 ppg) while shooting .711 from the field. He averaged 4.1 rpg (tied with David Robinson for third on the team) and 2.4 apg. Michael Jordan ranked second in scoring (14.9 ppg), second in assists (4.8 apg), led the team in steals (37) and averaged 2.4 rpg. Jordan shot .451 from the field--worse than any player other than little used Christian Laettner--and just 4-19 (.211) from three point range. Karl Malone ranked third in scoring (13.0 ppg) and tied with Patrick Ewing for the team lead in rebounding (5.3 rpg). Chris Mullin (12.9 ppg) and Clyde Drexler (10.5 ppg) were the other double figure scorers. Scottie Pippen (9.0 ppg) led the team in assists (5.9 apg) and ranked second in steals (23).

The grades listed below represent how well a particular player filled his respective role on the team; obviously, some players had bigger roles than others, so a bench player's "B" does not mean the same thing as a starter's "B." Production when games were close is given a heavier weight than production that took place after the victories were already well in hand.

I recorded on court/off court data throughout the Olympics for five players: Bryant, James, Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd. These numbers simply indicate how many points Team USA scored and how many points Team USA's opponents scored when a given player was in the game; this data provides a very rudimentary indication of a player's impact but it does not include "game state" information such as which other players were on the court at the same time or how close the score of the game was: production is more significant when it takes place against the toughest opponents in close games, as opposed to statistics that are accumulated against reserves at the end of blowouts.

LeBron James (24.8 mpg, 15.5 ppg, 3.8 apg, 5.3 rpg, 19 steals, eight blocked shots overall; 26.7 mpg, 15 ppg, 2.7 apg, 6.7 rpg, 7 steals, one blocked shot in medal round play)

James led Team USA in steals and blocked shots, ranked second in scoring and assists and shot .602 from the field, including .464 from three point range. The only negatives on his ledger were free throw shooting (.458) and turnovers (a team-high 17). James put up the best overall box score numbers of any player on the team. As Doug Collins noted during several of the telecasts, James played terrific help defense on the back line, blocking shots and getting steals. Not surprisingly, James' minutes went up during medal round play and he continued to post excellent box score numbers.

Team USA outscored the opposition by 154 points overall when James was on the court and they outscored the opposition by 50 points when James was on the court during the medal round games.

Grade: "A"

Kobe Bryant (23.5 mpg, 15.0 ppg, 2.1 apg, 2.8 rpg, nine steals, four blocked shots overall; 28 mpg, 19 ppg, 2.7 apg, 3.3 rpg, three steals, three blocked shots in medal round play)

Bryant ranked third on Team USA in scoring, fourth in assists and steals and first in three pointers made. He finished right behind James in turnovers (15) and, like James, did not shoot very well from the free throw line (.583). Bryant shot .462 from the field and .321 from three point range but after his much celebrated 1-15 start from behind the arc in the first two games he shot 16-38 (.421) the rest of the way.

As soon as Bryant joined the team he immediately asked to be assigned the task of guarding the best perimeter player on each opposing team. That was Bryant's primary responsibility for Team USA and he did an excellent job in this regard. He often took a back seat offensively but when the chips were down in the medal round Bryant averaged a team-high 19 ppg while shooting .500 from the field and .375 from three point range. He dominated the fourth quarter of the 118-107 win over Spain in the gold medal game, scoring 13 points and adding two assists in that final stanza.

Team USA came up short in the three previous major FIBA competitions (2004 Olympics, 2006 and 2002 FIBA World Championship) primarily because of a lack of on court leadership, poor defense and the inability or unwillingness of anyone to step up in crucial moments in medal round games. James and Wade each had superb tournaments in the 2008 Olympics--very similar to their performances in the 2006 FIBA World Championship--but the difference this time around was that Bryant provided precisely what Team USA had been missing in the three areas mentioned above.

Team USA outscored the opposition by 134 points overall when Bryant was on the court and they outscored the opposition by 52 points when he was on the court during the medal round games.

Grade: "A"

Chris Paul (21.9 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.6 rpg, 18 steals, 0 blocked shots overall)

Paul led Team USA in assists and free throw percentage (.917), tied for second in steals and he easily had the best assist/turnover ratio (3.67/1). Paul forced a lot of turnovers with his ball pressure but on occasions he let his man get by him off of the dribble, resulting in defensive breakdowns. He padded some of his numbers in the fourth quarters of blowouts but in several games he also provided a nice spark off of the bench to help Team USA build large leads.

Grade: "B+"

Carmelo Anthony (19.1 mpg, 11.5 ppg, .4 apg, 4.3 rpg, eight steals, two blocked shots overall; 22 mpg, 16.3 ppg, .3 apg, 3.3 rpg, two steals, one blocked shot in medal round play)

Anthony ranked fourth on Team USA in scoring and rebounding. He tied for the team lead in fouls committed. Only three players had fewer assists (Bosh, Boozer and Prince). Anthony led Team USA in scoring during the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament and the 2006 FIBA World Championship, so his scoring output in the Olympics has to be considered a major disappointment, particularly in light of his dismal field goal percentage (.422, lower than every other player except Redd). Anthony's .481 two point field goal percentage was also the second lowest on the team and he was the only player among the top seven scorers who did not shoot at least .600 on two point shots. Before the Olympics, Anthony vowed to average 10 rpg and to break the Team USA single game Olympic rebounding record but he never came close to doing either of those things. The main positive for Anthony is that he shot .828 from the free throw line, the one area where Bryant, James and Wade struggled.

Anthony increased his scoring to 16.3 ppg in medal round play but that number is deceptive: he shot .382 from the field in those three games and even though he led Team USA in scoring versus Argentina (21 points) he shot 3-14 from the field in that contest.

Team USA outscored the opposition by 86 points overall when Anthony was on the court and they outscored the opposition by just 25 points when Anthony was on the court during medal round play. Among the five players I tracked, Anthony is the only one who had a negative on court rating for an entire game--and this happened twice: Angola outscored Team USA 46-42 when Anthony was on the court and in the gold medal game Spain outscored Team USA 49-38 when Anthony was on the court. It is no coincidence that Anthony was not in the game for the last eight minutes of the fourth quarter of the gold medal game; throughout the Olympics, Anthony was often on the bench when Team USA made its best runs and when he was in games during such runs it was generally James, Wade and/or Bryant who shouldered most of the load.

Grade: "C-"

Deron Williams (19.0 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 2.8 apg, 2.3 rpg, six steals, 0 blocked shots overall)

Williams ranked second on Team USA in free throw percentage (.900) and third in assists. He did a good job of using his size and strength to penetrate opposing defenses. He made a few bad gambles defensively and was sometimes careless with his ballhandling but overall he did a very solid job.

Grade: "B"

Dwyane Wade (18.8 mpg, 16.0 ppg, 1.9 apg, 4.0 rpg, 18 steals, one blocked shot overall; 19.3 mpg, 15.7 ppg, 1.7 apg, 4.7 rpg, six steals, 0 blocked shots in medal round play)

Wade led Team USA in scoring, tied for second in steals and he ranked second in three point shooting percentage (.471) among players who attempted more than two three pointers. Wade shot a blistering .671 from the field overall, trailing only Howard and Bosh among players who attempted at least one shot a game (Kidd shot 6-7 from the field). Wade struggled a bit from the free throw line (.634) and at times made some risky defensive gambles but his overall play was superb. He clearly has healed completely from his injuries and regained--if not increased--his previous athletic ability and explosiveness.

Wade did not start one game; he usually came off of the bench midway through the first quarter to replace Anthony, though sometimes foul trouble altered that rotation. Wade's on court numbers (not his own stats per se, but rather Team USA's scoring margin when he was in the game) benefited from not sharing minutes with Anthony, while Bryant and James' numbers were dragged down a bit in this regard. As a sixth man who played limited minutes, Wade had the advantage of being fresh and from playing against either reserve players or tired starters; after just two minutes of play in the second quarter of Team USA's 92-69 win over Greece, Wade asked to come out of the game because he was totally gassed. None of this diminishes how well Wade played but it goes a long way toward explaining why Wade came off of the bench instead of starting, why he did not play as many minutes as Bryant or James and why people should not be quick to assume that this performance means that Wade will be on the All-NBA First Team this season; in order for Wade to resume being an elite level NBA player he will have to be able to stay healthy and productive while playing 35-plus mpg over the course of an 82 game season.

Team USA outscored the opposition by 161 points overall when Wade was on the court and they outscored the opposition by 48 points when Wade was on the court during the medal round games.

Grade: "A"

Chris Bosh (17.3 mpg, 9.1 ppg, .3 apg, 6.1 rpg, two steals, six blocked shots overall)

Bosh led Team USA in rebounding and field goal percentage (.774) and he ranked second in free throw percentage (.862). He was perhaps the most pleasant surprise; Wade's performance was more a matter of him getting healthy than anything else, but Bosh supplanted Howard as Team USA's most effective big. Bosh not only played very well in the paint at both ends of the court but he also did a great job of helping to defend on the perimeter against screen/roll plays. His emergence relegated Boozer to mop up duty and further reinforced a theme that I emphasized all along, namely that Team USA did not need another big on the roster; USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo was right to bolster the team's size and defensive flexibility on the perimeter, fully realizing that Team USA would only play one traditional big at a time. In terms of FIBA play, Bosh proved to be a better big than Amare Stoudemire, who played in the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament but decided to rest his knees this summer.

Grade: "A"

Dwight Howard (16.1 mpg, 10.9 ppg, .5 apg, 5.8 rpg, five steals, seven blocked shots overall)

Howard ranked second on Team USA in rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage (.745) and fifth in scoring. He was not quite as dominant or effective as he was in the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament in terms of field goal percentage and blocked shots but Team USA faced tougher opposition in this event. Howard sometimes got caught up in retaliating against opposing players and he seemed to get into Coach Krzyzewski's dog house a couple times. Nevertheless, he started every game at center, scored in double figures and was a physical presence in the paint at both ends of the court. His screen/roll defense was not nearly as good as Bosh's.

Grade: "B+"

Jason Kidd (13.5 mpg, 1.6 ppg, 2.0 apg, 2.6 rpg, five steals, two blocked shots overall)

Despite his limited minutes, Kidd ranked fourth on Team USA in assists. He famously did not shoot frequently but he made his attempts count by converting six of his seven shots. The only downside for Kidd is that he forced a few passes, resulting in 12 turnovers. During the Olympics, Kidd somehow turned into the player that fan bloggers loved to hate. Yes, his boxscore numbers will not blow anyone away but he was USA Basketball's Player of the Year in 2007 after he put up similar numbers in the FIBA Americas tournament: 15.8 mpg, 1.8 ppg, 4.6 apg, 3.3 rpg, 13 steals, five blocked shots). The way that Kidd and Team USA played in that event paved the way for this year's Olympics triumph. Although Kidd is a triple double king in the NBA, in FIBA play his value is not captured by numbers alone. Team USA struggled defensively in recent years, particularly in the backcourt, but the addition of Bryant and Kidd to the starting lineup not only fixed that problem but resulted in the rest of the players stepping up their defense as well. Kidd is a winner. I don't like to mix NBA or NCAA stats with FIBA stats but it is worth mentioning that there is a consistent pattern throughout Kidd's career that teams he joins increase their winning percentage and that teams he leaves experience a decline in winning percentage.

From a minutes standpoint, Kidd took a backseat to youngsters Paul and Williams, though it should be noted that Paul and Williams played almost all of the garbage time minutes; the minutes when games were up for grabs were pretty evenly split among that trio.

Kidd had a game-high seven assists in Team USA's 101-81 semifinal victory over Argentina. The semifinal round was the graveyard for Team USA in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and the 2004 Olympics but this time around Kidd made sure that this would not happen; early in the second half he did an excellent job of setting down Team USA's halfcourt offense, making sure that Howard got the ball in the paint.

Team USA outscored the opposition by 69 points overall when Kidd was on the court and they outscored the opposition by 31 points when he was on the court during medal round play.

Grade: "B+"

Tayshaun Prince (11.0 mpg, 4.3 ppg, .3 apg, 1.9 rpg, three steals, one blocked shot overall)

Prince, Redd and Boozer were clearly the last men on the bench for this team but Prince received more non-garbage time minutes than Redd and Boozer did. Prince led Team USA in three point field goal percentage (6-11, .545), though he obviously did not shoot nearly as many three pointers as Wade, James and several others. Prince shot .591 from the field overall but his real value is that he is a long armed defender who can guard multiple positions; that makes him a more valuable FIBA player for Team USA than a one dimensional shooter like Redd.

I gave Prince an "I" (incomplete) in my previous report card but since his non-garbage time minutes increased during the Olympics he showed enough to get a regular grade this time.

Grade: "B+"

Michael Redd (9.1 mpg, 3.1 ppg, .5 apg, 1.1 rpg, two steals, 0 blocked shots overall)

Redd was the darling of many so-called experts, the player whose outside marksmanship would supposedly be vital for Team USA to win the gold medal. Last year, I did a post titled Team USA Needs Bruce Bowen More Than it Needs Michael Redd and I have consistently and repeatedly stated that Redd--who is a very good NBA player--would be nothing more than a spare part on this squad for the following reasons: Team USA's primary focus has to be defense, Team USA has several players who are better perimeter defenders than Redd who can also make the shorter FIBA three point shot and it is much more important for Team USA to defend opposing three point shooters than it is for Team USA to make three pointers.

Redd shot .323 from the field in the Olympics, including .278 from three point range. He rarely appeared on the court before the victory was completely secured; in the gold medal game he did not check in until the final seconds.

Considering that Redd is a pure shooter who had by far the worst shooting percentage on the team it is tempting to give him an "F" but that would not really be fair considering his limited playing time. However, can we please stop hearing about how Team USA needs pure shooters like Redd, Mike Miller and (I hope no one is serious about this) J.J. Redick?

Grade: "I"

Carlos Boozer (6.0 mpg, 3.3 ppg, .3 apg, 1.9 rpg, two steals, 0 blocked shots overall)

I thought that Howard would play about 20 mpg and that Boozer and Bosh would average roughly 10 mpg each but Bosh played so well that he grabbed some minutes from both Howard and Boozer. Contrary to the dire predictions that Team USA did not have enough size up front, the reality proved to be exactly what I predicted: Team USA's versatile perimeter defenders wreaked havoc, James and Anthony took turns playing power forward and Team USA only needed one true NBA big on the court at a time; sometimes Team USA went with a small lineup with no true NBA bigs.

Boozer was a spare part for this team and any other big (Tyson Chandler is the name that came up most often) that people wanted to add either in his place or instead of one of the perimeter players would also have been a spare part.

Grade: "I"

Final thoughts:

Anthony (19.9 ppg), Wade (19.3 ppg) and James (13.9 ppg) were the three leading scorers on the 2006 version of Team USA that settled for the bronze medal in the FIBA World Championship. Howard and Elton Brand split the starting duties at center, while Bosh came off of the bench. Chris Paul started six of nine games at point guard and led the team in assists.

Anthony played much worse in this year's Olympics than he did for Team USA in 2006, while Wade and James performed comparably offensively and better defensively this time around. Bosh received more minutes in 2008 and played better defensively. However, if you compare the rosters, the statistics and the visual evidence, the obvious difference between this version of Team USA and the previous versions came at the defensive end of the court. In 2006, Team USA opponents shot .462 from the field and .349 from three point range; in 2008, Team USA opponents shot .403 from the field and .299 from three point range. The defensive improvement began when Colangelo added Bryant and Kidd to the roster: Colangelo says that, Krzyzewksi says that, the team's scouts say that and the players say that.

Labels: 2008 Team USA, Carlos Boozer, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Michael Redd, Tayshaun Prince

posted by David Friedman @ 7:40 PM

8 comments

The Difference for Team USA Was Kobe Bryant

I'll be posting my final report card for Team USA's gold medal performance soon. Meanwhile, check out these two quotes about Kobe Bryant's importance to Team USA:

The L.A. Times' Mark Heisler writes:

In its stunning loss to Greece in 2006, the young U.S. players broke down completely on defense as the Greeks scored on pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll. In the very first play of last summer's Tournament of the Americas, Bryant tipped the ball away from the Venezuela point guard, dived on the court trying to get it, got back up, stole the next pass and started a fastbreak. They've defended like banshees ever since. "That's the clip Coach K [Coach Mike Krzyzewski] always uses, Kobe diving on the floor," says U.S. scout Tony Ronzone. "You're talking about an MVP player in the NBA who just made a statement to USA basketball...And what that did is it took our defense to another level. What you're seeing is something that started last summer in Las Vegas, which is amazing."

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski declares:

Once Kobe Bryant let that Shaq rap go, he wished that he had resisted responding to so much else throughout his tumultuous 20s...As Kobe reshapes his image here with American flags, Jordanesque ferocity and the warm, welcoming touch of a grateful guest, O’Neal is back in the United States facing a restraining order for allegations of stalking an Atlanta woman after several disturbing e-mails and phone threats surfaced. The old images of the brooding, immature Kobe and the gregarious, life-of-the-championship-party Shaq have turned inside out. Somehow, Kobe’s become the grownup and Shaq the screw-up...These Olympics have been the most remarkable three weeks of Kobe Bryant’s basketball life. He disdains the marketing "Redeem Team" title, calling it "kind of cheesy" because let’s face it: Those weren’t his international failures over the past eight years. Nike tried so hard to make LeBron James a co-star of these Games but failed miserably. He’s riding shotgun and doesn’t seem terribly thrilled about it. There’s no usurping Bryant in China. Bryant has won the respect of his teammates, but he doesn’t run in the big cliques on the team. LeBron is the ringleader of the young players, and Kobe goes his own way. He’s won his teammates over with his ferocity, his insatiable need to win, but no one ever gets close to Bryant. He’s a loner, but he learned to lead. When all hell was breaking loose in the semifinal victory over Argentina, it was Bryant working with Jason Kidd to bring his teammates back from the brink of losing composure. "We didn’t come to tussle," Bryant said. "We came to win a gold medal."

Labels: 2008 Olympics, 2008 Team USA, Kobe Bryant

posted by David Friedman @ 5:02 AM

42 comments

Carnival of the NBA #59 Hosted by A Stern Warning

Carnival of the NBA #59 is being hosted by the good folks at "A Stern Warning."

I contributed Five Observations About Team USA Heading Into Medal Round Play.

Labels: 2008 Olympics, 2008 Team USA, Carnival of the NBA

posted by David Friedman @ 4:48 AM

0 comments

Kobe Takes Over in the Fourth Quarter, Team USA Defeats Spain 118-107 to Claim Olympic Gold

Kobe Bryant had 13 points and two assists in the fourth quarter as Team USA survived a gritty, determined performance by Spain to win the gold medal game, 118-107. Bryant began his onslaught with 8:13 left in the game and Team USA clinging to a 91-89 lead; in the next 2:11 he scored five points and assisted on a Deron Williams three pointer and a Dwight Howard dunk. Later, Bryant drained two three pointers, including a four point play. Bryant finished with 20 points, a game-high six assists and two blocked shots in 27 minutes. Dwayne Wade scored a game-high 27 points on 9-12 field goal shooting and added a game-high four steals, providing a vital boost off of the bench, especially in the first half when he scored 21 points while Bryant and LeBron James were saddled with foul trouble. James contributed 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul scored 13 points each. Rudy Fernandez led Spain with 22 points, while Pau Gasol had 21 points and six rebounds. Juan Carlos Navarro scored 18 points and led Spain with four assists.

Due to the early foul trouble and the disjointed nature of this game, the on court point differential numbers that I have been tracking for Bryant, James, Anthony, Wade and Jason Kidd do not paint an entirely accurate picture of the ebb and flow of this game but let the record note that Team USA outscored Spain 93-68 when Wade was in the game, 73-71 when Bryant was in the game, 73-71 when James was in the game and 25-22 when Kidd was in the game; Spain outscored Team USA 49-38 when Anthony was in the game and Anthony spent the last 8:13 of the game on the bench. Wade certainly played a crucial role with his first half scoring when Bryant and James were on the bench and he did hit an important three pointer late in the game but Wade had just six second half points. Point blank, without Bryant stepping up in the fourth quarter Team USA would have lost, just like the two previous versions of Team USA that included James, Wade and Anthony--but did not include Bryant--lost.

Early in the game it did not look like Bryant would emerge as the hero and there was good reason to doubt whether or not Team USA would win. In my preview for this game I suggested that Team USA could get off to a big start if Bryant and James avoided foul trouble but instead they both got two quick fouls and had to head to the bench with Team USA trailing 13-9. The officiating in this game was very ragged--not biased, but ragged; both teams complained about calls at various times because there was absolutely no consistency: sometimes a player would be thrown to the floor and nothing would be called while other times the slightest contact drew a whistle. Bryant got his second foul when he contested a Navarro three pointer and the Spanish guard crumpled to the ground as if he had been shot. At one point, NBC commentator Doug Collins said, "This is a gold medal game. Are we going to watch free throw shooting or basketball?"

Navarro could make a training DVD featuring all of the running shots he hit in this game; his first one put Spain up 19-14, the biggest deficit that Team USA faced during the entire Olympics. Paul then converted a three point play but Spain quickly pushed the lead back to five, 22-17, before Team USA went on a 9-0 run that included another three point play by Paul, two pairs of free throws by Chris Bosh and Deron Williams respectively, a steal and reverse dunk by Wade and a layup by Tayshaun Prince. Team USA's depth really paid off during that stretch.

Team USA led 38-31 at the end of the first quarter; their defense broke down numerous times, perhaps due to Bryant and James being on the bench, but Team USA obviously found a lot of different ways to score. All of the starters returned to action at the start of the second quarter and it briefly looked like Team USA would break the game open. Marc Gasol committed an offensive foul by elbowing Anthony and then Bryant drained a three pointer to give Team USA a double digit lead for the first time. Howard then committed a hard foul on Pau Gasol, resulting in two free throws plus Spain retaining possession. Collins said, "Dwight Howard just had a mental lapse there in a couple ways. He lost Pau Gasol, their best player, defensively, and then he compounded it with the foul. This is where you have to have poise." That was a theme that Collins emphasized not only during this game but throughout the Olympics and poise was one of the three keys to victory that he listed for Team USA (the other two were "defense leads to offense" and "three point shooting--defending it and shooting it"). Spain could have turned Howard's gaffe into a five point play but instead Gasol missed both free throws and then Ricky Rubio's missed three pointer led to a fast break dunk by Bryant to put Team USA up 43-31. After another miss by Spain, Bryant went for the dagger three pointer but it wouldn't go down. Marc Gasol scored inside, followed by Bryant breaking down the defense and dishing to Anthony for a three pointer to make the score 46-33.

Team USA stretched the lead to 58-44 after back to back three pointers by Wade and James but Spain simply would not back down, answering with five quick points to get the margin below 10. Coach Mike Krzyzewski prudently sat Bryant and James down for the last few minutes of the half so that neither player would pick up his third foul and Team USA only led 69-61 at halftime. That kind of scoring may be fun for fans to watch but it is definitely not part of Team USA's defense-first game plan. Prior to the third quarter, Kidd told Collins that Krzyzewski's halftime directives were that Team USA had fouled too often and that they needed to play better containment defense on Spain's guards. Coach Krzyzewski also urged his players to relax.

Felipe Reyes hit a jumper to cut the lead to six at the start of the third quarter. Then Team USA had a series of horrible offensive possessions. Bryant shot an airball three pointer during which there seemed to be a lot of contact but no foul was called. Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James each committed turnovers and then James missed a layup after a no look feed from Bryant. It was not clear if James' shot was blocked or if he just shot it off of the back of the rim; he complained that he was fouled on the play. Team USA did not score for 1:36 until Howard's put back increased the lead to 71-63 but Reyes answered with a layup. Bryant drove to the hoop, made a layup and was seemingly headed to the free throw line to complete a three point play but instead a late traveling call was issued, nullifying the basket. Bryant, who had landed on the floor after his shot, had a bemused look on his face after the call. Pau Gasol made a sweet left handed hook to pull Spain to within 71-67. Kidd fed Howard in the paint but Howard missed both free throws after he was fouled. Anthony tipped in the second miss and was fouled but he missed his free throw and Bryant received his third foul while trying to get the rebound.

Team USA's lead fluctuated between four and six points for most of the third quarter until James made a gorgeous touch pass to Bosh, who was fouled and made both free throws to put Team USA up 83-76. Then Team USA finally got a defensive stop and Bryant fed Wade, who split a pair of free throws after he was fouled. After Wade hit a turnaround jumper to make the score 86-76, Bryant and James went to the bench for the last couple minutes of the quarter. Navarro accounted for six quick points on two driving shots plus a lob to Pau Gasol for a score and Team USA was only up 91-82 going into the fourth quarter.

Throughout the Olympics, Collins made the point that in a close game the coaching staff will let you know who they trust by who they put on the floor. Team USA began the fourth quarter with a lineup consisting of Bryant, James, Anthony, Bosh and Deron Williams. Just like in the third quarter, Team USA got off to a slow start offensively and Spain used a quick 7-0 run in the first 1:47 to shave the deficit to just two points. After a timeout, Coach Krzyzewski replaced Anthony with Wade. With the game very much up for grabs, the last 8:13 became "Kobe time." I've said all along that the most important move USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo made was adding Bryant to the roster because Bryant has set the tone defensively but down the stretch in the gold medal game Bryant took over offensively. First, he made a strong move to the hoop and hit a tough shot in the lane to make the score 93-89. After that play, Collins commented, "One of the things LeBron has said is that we know that there is one guy on this team who will take big shots and that's Kobe Bryant. That's a big shot coming out of the timeout to sort of stem Spain's run."

After Fernandez missed a three pointer, Bryant drove to the hoop, collapsed the defense and passed to a wide open Williams for a big three pointer. "That's a gigantic shot," Collins said. "Great play by Kobe Bryant. I thought that he was going to take the shot but instead the dribble kick (pass). That's what I always talk about--that's how you get those threes in rhythm."

After another Fernandez miss, Bryant again drove into the paint, collapsed the defense and made a great feed, this time to Howard for a dunk. That pushed Team USA's lead to 98-89 and Collins noted, "Who's been on every play? All three plays--Kobe Bryant. He hit the big shot and he's had two assists in this stretch." Fernandez answered with a three pointer but Bryant retaliated with a three pointer to reestablish a nine point bulge. The teams then traded misses before Fernandez drove to the hoop, dunked on Howard and made a free throw after Howard fouled him. Collins criticized Bryant for gambling for a steal on the play, saying that this turned Fernandez loose. There is some truth to what Collins said, but Howard could also have taken a different angle, cutting off Fernandez and making him pick up his dribble as opposed to ushering him to the hoop and then fouling him; Team USA's defense is built around ball pressure to force turnovers and that means that sometimes a guard will gamble and get beaten and in those situations there should be some kind of defensive rotation that forces the other team to at least make a couple passes to get an open shot. A guard going for a steal behind the three point line should not automatically result in a dunk and a three point play opportunity. As perennial All-Defensive Team member Bobby Jones once told me, "In the type of defense that we (the 76ers of the late 70s and early 80s) played, if one person gambled it was kind of like a spider web type of thing--the web stretches. If one guy goes, the other four sort of cheat and leave their men a little bit to help out in case the ball moves and a guy becomes open. You just keep rotating around. I don’t think it (going for steals or blocks) is selfish at all. I think that it’s good. You have to put pressure on the offense because shooters are so good. The offense has such an advantage because it can initiate what takes place, so as a defender you have got to try to instigate something to throw them off and make them do something they don’t want to do. The old term, 'pressure will bust the pipe,' is very true. It will make people change what they want to do."

Bryant missed a three pointer on the next possession and Collins criticized that decision as well, saying that the shot was from too far out. Collins had previously noted that Bryant is more comfortable shooting three pointers from NBA range than from the shorter FIBA three point line, so this critique seemed a little odd. That said, it would have been preferable for Bryant to drive and kick like he did on some of the earlier possessions.

Whatever one thinks of Bryant's defensive gamble or his missed three pointer, he proceeded to ice the game in the next couple minutes. First he leaped high in the air to deflect a pass away from Pau Gasol above the rim, nullifying what would have been an easy layup or dunk. Then, after Howard split a pair of free throws and Gasol scored four straight points to cut Team USA's lead to 104-99 with 3:34 left, Bryant drilled a three pointer, was fouled and made the free throw, coming full circle from his first quarter foul on Navarro's three point attempt. After Bryant made the three pointer he put his left index finger to his lips as if to say, "Shh. Don't say a word." Collins said, "Is there anybody in the NBA who loves these moments more than Kobe Bryant? He's been called upon to play defense but this could be a gigantic four point play. Not only that--Rudy Fernandez has just fouled out of the ball game." In one fell swoop, Bryant nearly doubled Team USA's lead and forced Spain's leading scorer to go to the bench. Before Bryant shot the free throw, Collins noted, "You think about it. The United States was up two, Coach K took that timeout. How many points has Kobe Bryant had his hands in? Remember he had 10 straight points where he either scored or had the assist."

Spain deserves a lot of credit because they responded to Bryant's dagger with five quick points before Wade hit a three pointer. Team USA led 111-105 with less than two minutes left. There has been a lot of speculation about who would shoot the ball for Team USA in a do or die late game situation; of course, that had never been an issue prior to this game but on this possession we found out that the answer to that question is Kobe Bryant. After his runner gave Team USA a 113-105 lead and basically clinched the gold medal, Collins concluded, "You see why Kobe Bryant's on this team--money under pressure."

Spain lost their composure in the last minute and Ricky Rubio was whistled for a technical foul, resulting in two free throws for Team USA. Collins said, "Interesting enough, Chris Paul is the best free throw shooter on the United States team. Kobe was shooting 44 percent going into this game but who wants to shoot these under pressure? Kobe said, 'I'm shooting these free throws.' If the United States holds on to win this game, Kobe Bryant took over this game when the lead was cut to two. That's why he's the MVP of the NBA and could be walking out of here with a gold medal to add to his three NBA championships."

Naturally, Bryant made both free throws and then Paul split a pair of free throws because he had been fouled prior to the technical foul. Coach Krzyzewski took Bryant out of the game, enabling Michael Redd to make his first appearance of the game. Team USA players took turns hugging each other and their coaches and then Bryant doused Coach Krzyzewski with some bottled water in a mini version of the Gatorade bath that winning football coaches receive. After the final buzzer, Team USA shook hands with the Spanish team, went over to the broadcast table to shake hands with Collins and play by play announcer Mike Breen and then they went to the center of the court and jumped around in unison like a college team celebrating an NCAA Tournament win. The pure joy that they obviously felt at that moment was wonderful to see. These players committed to a multi-year plan to bring the Olympic gold medal back to the United States and they deserve tremendous credit for doing just that.

After the game, Collins recalled what he said to Team USA when he spoke to the players in Las Vegas during their training camp: "There's a huge difference between being a winner and a champion. Once you're champions, you're champions together forever. No one can ever take it away from you. This moment the guys will relish the rest of their lives."

Labels: 2008 Olympics, 2008 Team USA, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Felipe Reyes, Jason Kidd, Juan Carlos Navarro, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Pau Gasol, Ricky Rubio

posted by David Friedman @ 7:33 AM

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Team USA-Spain Gold Medal Game Preview

The gold medal game will be a clash between 2006 FIBA World Champion Spain and Team USA, which is the number one ranked FIBA team; I don't know exactly how Team USA earned a number one ranking despite not winning a gold medal in a major FIBA event since 2000 but in light of their dominance thus far in the Olympics that certainly looks like the correct call.

These teams met in the preliminary round in a game that was considered to be a test for Team USA but Team USA routed Spain 119-82, shooting .579 from the field, forcing 28 turnovers and holding Spain to .394 field goal shooting, including .214 from three point range. Spain kept within striking distance during the first half, in part because Kobe Bryant went to the bench with early foul trouble; Team USA built a 14 point lead but Spain kept pace with Team USA for more than five minutes in the second quarter with Bryant on the bench, as each team scored 14 points during that stretch. A tip-in by Carlos Boozer just before the halftime buzzer put Team USA up 61-45. Team USA blasted the game open with an 11-3 run to start the third quarter.

Felipe Reyes (19 points, eight rebounds, 9-12 field goal shooting) was Spain's best player in that game, while Pau Gasol had 13 points, six rebounds and five turnovers. Spain's much touted backcourt quartet of Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro and Ricky Rubio shot 7-31 from the field (.226) and had seven assists and nine turnovers. Calderon may not play in the gold medal game due to injury.

If Bryant and LeBron James avoid early foul trouble, Team USA could very well jump on Spain right from the start, much like they did while taking a 21-4 first quarter lead in their 101-81 semifinal win over Argentina. I suspect that collectively Team USA is a bit embarrassed by the way that they let Argentina crawl back into that game. Individually, Bryant no doubt would like to make amends for his shot selection (nine three point attempts is too many) and field goal percentage (5-14) in that contest, Carmelo Anthony (3-14 field goal shooting) also had a rough shooting night and James (two assists, four turnovers) made some uncharacteristically poor decisions.

Team USA has posted a 7-0 record in the 2008 Olympics, winning every game by at least 20 points while ranking first in the Olympics in scoring (104.6 ppg), field goal percentage (.544), two point field goal percentage (.641) and rebounding (43.0 rpg). Team USA is forcing 20 turnovers per game while holding their opponents to 74.3 ppg on .386 field goal shooting and .283 three point shooting. Their 30.3 point differential is much better than the 2004 and 2000 versions of Team USA posted in the Olympics (4.6 ppg and 21.6 ppg respectively) and is reminiscent of the dominance of the 1996 and 1992 Olympic teams (31.7 and 43.8 ppg respectively). Team USA is playing so well overall that all the critics and doubters can do is nitpick about a few small details, such as free throw shooting, three point shooting and interior defense.

Free throw shooting is the one legitimate weakness of this team; they rank 11th out of 12 teams with a .670 percentage. One obvious explanation for this is that Dwight Howard (15-31, .484) ranks second on the team in free throw attempts. However, James (11-22, .500) and Dwyane Wade (21-34, .618) are both shooting well below their career averages and that has also pulled down Team USA's free throw percentage. Even Bryant has struggled, albeit in a small number of attempts (4-9, .444). The good news is that Anthony (24-28, .857), Chris Bosh (19-23, .826), Chris Paul (13-14, .929) and Deron Williams (7-8, .875) have consistently knocked down their free throws--and the better news is that Team USA is so dominant in other areas that their poor free throw shooting will be nothing more than a quirky historical footnote. That said, if I were coaching an opposing team, I might consider fouling James, Wade and particularly Howard, especially if I had enough depth to deal with some foul trouble; considering Team USA's field goal percentage, a "hack Team USA" policy might be the opposing team's best chance, with an added psychological benefit of possibly irritating some of Team USA's players and maybe throwing them off of their games. Howard and Anthony in particular seem prone to being distracted and possibly trying to retaliate. I don't think that this approach would really work for a whole game versus Team USA but it might be worth a try; Australia caused Team USA some problems by doing this, though they did not have the talent or overall depth necessary to defeat Team USA.

The main three point shooting weakness of Team USA is that they shoot too many of them: 176 of their 502 field goal attempts have come from behind the arc and even though that is a lower percentage than their opponents' 184/477, it would be better if Team USA did not shoot quite so many long range bombs. That said, Team USA is shooting a solid .364 from three point range and it is understandable that the siren song of that short 20-6 FIBA three point line is difficult for some of the players to resist. As Bryant told Craig Sager, he shoots turnaround shots from that distance in the NBA.

I realize that in some of my game recaps it might seem like I am singling out Michael Redd for criticism but I actually really like his game, particularly in the NBA; he has worked hard to build himself up from a little used reserve to an All-Star caliber player. My beef is with people who believed that Team USA had to add a pure shooter and/or that Redd would play a vital role for this team. What Team USA "had to do" was fix their glaring defensive problems and they did just that by bringing Bryant and Jason Kidd aboard. Team USA shot .369 from three point range in the 2006 FIBA World Championship but did not even make it to the gold medal game. Team USA shot .314 from three point range in the 2004 Olympics but the real problem there was that they allowed their opponents to shoot .441 from behind the arc, essentially making opposing players look like Reggie Miller or Ray Allen. In their disastrous performance in the 2002 FIBA World Championship (which included Team USA's first three losses with NBA players on the roster), Team USA shot .392 from three point range but allowed their opponents to shoot .363 from three point range.

In other words, Michael Redd's three point shooting abilities are a luxury for this team, not a necessity and Team USA could have done just as well--if not better--had his roster spot been filled by a versatile perimeter defender. Redd is averaging just 10.3 mpg, 11th on the 12 man roster. He has shot 10-31 (.323) from the field, including 5-18 (.278) on three pointers. The one time that he came into a game when Team USA did not have a huge lead--in the semifinals versus Argentina--he was ineffective. If his performance had really been as vital as so many "experts" were suggesting beforehand, then Team USA would not be 7-0 right now.

Anyone who still thinks that Team USA needed to add Tyson Chandler or another big man is simply defying reality, because all visual and statistical evidence clearly shows that USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo did a great job assembling this roster. Team USA enjoys an outstanding 43.0-35.7 rpg advantage on the glass and even though certain individual big men have had good games against Team USA (most notably Argentina's Luis Scola, who is having a great tournament overall) no team has posed a serious threat to Team USA in the paint at either end of the court. Meanwhile, the decision to bolster the size, strength and savvy of the backcourt by adding Bryant and Kidd is the number one reason that Team USA is poised to win the gold medal: Team USA's dominance in terms of defensive field goal percentage, defensive three point field goal percentage and forced turnovers is a direct result of Bryant and Kidd, both in terms of their on court play and--just as importantly--the way that they changed Team USA's attitude toward defense. Just look at Team USA's defensive statistics from the 2006 FIBA World Championship, when they settled for the bronze medal sans Bryant and Kidd: .462 defensive field goal percentage, .349 defensive three point field goal percentage, 18.3 turnovers forced per game, 83.1 ppg allowed, 20.5 ppg scoring differential. As noted above, Team USA is performing much better in every one of these categories this time around.

The other big change defensively is the vast improvement that LeBron James has made at that end of the court. Larry Brown has been criticized for not using James, Wade and Anthony more during the 2004 Olympics but at that time those players were youngsters who barely understood NBA defense, let alone FIBA defense. That trio led Team USA in scoring during the 2006 FIBA World Championship but they still were not great defensively and they did not step up individually or collectively at that end of the court during the loss to Greece. In this year's Olympics, James has been a great defender and Wade has been a very active defender, even if he still gambles too much. As for Anthony, let's just say that he still has some room for improvement in this regard; at times he seems to be making more of an effort than he previously did but he reaches too much instead of sliding his feet and he is still out of position too frequently. Part of the improvement defensively by James and Wade can be attributed to the natural development curve of these players, part of it should be credited to Coach Mike Krzyzewski but I also believe that Bryant and Kidd have had a huge impact on the defensive intensity of their teammates; in contrast to the 2006 loss to Greece when Team USA was unable to make in game defensive adjustments, this year on the few occasions when Team USA hit defensive lulls Bryant and/or Kidd could be seen counseling various teammates about what adjustments to make. Their leadership is also very evident from the Team USA practice footage that has been aired occasionally.

Spain will most likely try the few tactics that have had limited success against Team USA: physical play, zone defense, sending Team USA to the free throw line. I would not be surprised if Spain keeps the game close for a quarter or even the first half, but I am more inclined to believe that Team USA will make a statement in the gold medal game by jumping on Spain quickly. Either way, look for Team USA to win by at least 20 points.

Labels: 2008 Olympics, 2008 Team USA, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Felipe Reyes, Jason Kidd, Juan Carlos Navarro, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Pau Gasol, Ricky Rubio

posted by David Friedman @ 4:50 PM

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Team USA Topples Defending Olympic Champion Argentina, 101-81

Team USA raced to a 21-4 lead en route to a 101-81 victory over defending Olympic champion Argentina, earning a berth in Sunday's gold medal game versus 2006 FIBA World Champion Spain. Team USA seemed to lose focus shortly after Manu Ginobili--the leading scorer in the tournament--left the game for good with a left foot injury. There are a lot of weird numbers from this game. Carmelo Anthony led Team USA in scoring with 21 points but he shot just 3-14 from the field while going 13-13 from the free throw line. LeBron James had 15 points and five rebounds but no steals or blocked shots while committing four turnovers and passing for two assists. Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul scored 12 points each, Chris Bosh added 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds and Dwight Howard produced 10 points and nine rebounds in just 16 minutes. Jason Kidd had a game-high seven assists and played a vital role in settling Team USA down after Argentina fought their way back into the game.

Frankly, this is the type of game that Team USA lost in previous years when Bryant and Kidd were not on the team and James did not defend the way that he does now; Team USA had a poor game offensively by their standards (.471 field goal percentage, 15 turnovers) but they won because they played great defense for most of the game, holding Argentina to .441 field goal shooting and forcing 16 turnovers. Team USA shot just 10-31 from three point range (.323) but that did not matter because they held Argentina--the best three point shooting team in the tournament--to 6-23 three point shooting (.261).

Team USA also dominated the rebounding battle 43-32 even though they frequently used a small lineup. Michael Redd (zero points in five minutes) was again a non-factor as this game provided yet more proof that Team USA's roster was constructed properly: they do not need more big men, nor are they dependent on making three point shots. During Team USA's great start, NBC commentator Doug Collins emphasized some points that I have been saying about Team USA for years: "If you play against the United States and your point guards and your team don't take care of the ball you can't win even if the United States shoots poorly from three point and the free throw line because they attack and score off of turnovers and steals."

The number that should concern Team USA is not their own three point shooting percentage but rather the fact that 31 of their 68 field goal attempts came from behind the arc. Bryant shot 2-9 from three point range and Anthony shot 2-8 on three pointers. Bryant and Anthony are certainly capable of making jumpers from the 20-6 FIBA three point line but Team USA is better served to move the ball, move players and look for other shots. However, the biggest thing that Team USA did wrong to allow Argentina to fight back is committing several silly fouls that put Argentina in the bonus early in the second quarter; Argentina shot 10-10 from the free throw line in the second quarter. Team USA also had no answer for Luis Scola, who shot 13-21 from the field and had game-high totals in points (28) and rebounds (11). Carlos Delfino had 17 points and eight rebounds but he shot just 6-18 from the field as James and Bryant did a good job against him defensively.

The first eight minutes of this game showcased Team USA at their ball hawking best as they hounded Argentina into six turnovers. Bryant scored nine of Team USA's first 16 points, starting with a tip-in of Howard's miss on the opening possession and concluding with a fast break dunk after Team USA forced a turnover. He guarded Ginobili most of the time and forced him into 1-4 field goal shooting (on a couple possessions, Kidd guarded Ginobili while Bryant checked point guard Pablo Prigioni). It is not clear exactly how Ginobili got hurt. He drove to the hoop and although he did not seem to step on anyone's foot or land awkwardly he started limping and had to leave the game. He finished with two points, two fouls and one turnover in six minutes. Andres Nocioni, who is nursing a knee injury, replaced Ginobili. Team USA led 21-4 when Bryant sat out for the first time. Despite Ginobili's absence, Argentina scored seven points in the last 1:36, capped off by a running jumper by Nocioni just before the buzzer. Still, Team USA enjoyed a 30-11 advantage and it looked like the contest was over.

Nocioni opened the second quarter with a jumper and then Dwyane Wade had to go to the bench after committing a charge, his second foul of the game. Bryant checked in for Wade. In less than two minutes, Team USA committed three more fouls, giving Argentina three free points and ensuring that every subsequent foul would put Argentina on the free throw line. Team USA compounded this problem by going on a 3:45 scoring drought, during which time Argentina pulled to within 37-29. During that stretch, Anthony missed two threes and a layup, Bryant missed a three and had his reverse dunk attempt blocked sensationally by Nocioni and James missed a three pointer. Team USA also committed three fouls. A Bryant three pointer pushed the lead back to 42-31 but Argentina soon closed to within 46-40. That Argentina run took place when Redd checked in for James. Redd has not usually played when the outcome of a game was still in doubt and his short stint in this contest showed why: on one disastrous possession he caught the ball at the three point line, held it as the offense ground to a halt and then made a bad crosscourt pass to Chris Paul, who nearly fell out of bounds trying to catch it. With the shot clock dying, Paul inexplicably made a dangerous pass to the middle of the court and Alfredo Quinteros swooped in for the steal and fast break layup. Collins said, "Michael Redd caught that ball on the wing, held it, held it, held it, then threw a bad pass and got Chris Paul in trouble." Team USA got a break at the end of the half when Juan Gutierrez fouled Anthony on a three point attempt. Anthony drained all three free throws to put Team USA up 49-40 at halftime.

Team USA opened the third quarter with a 12-4 run as Howard scored inside twice, followed by five straight points by James and three more by Howard as he split a pair of free throws and then dunked after a feed by Kidd. Kidd made several good passes during this stretch as Team USA's ball movement was vastly better than it had been during the middle of the second quarter. After Delfino was whistled for an intentional foul against Howard, Howard kept his cool but Anthony started jawing with some of Argentina's players. Bryant, James and Kidd immediately pushed Anthony far away to settle him down. Soon Anthony was laughing and indicating that he had regained his composure. Not long after that, Nocioni fouled Anthony and received a technical foul to boot; technical fouls count as personal fouls in FIBA play, so Nocioni now had four fouls, one short of disqualification. Anthony made all four of the resulting free throws to put Team USA up 67-49 but then Team USA committed turnovers on their next three possessions. Team USA survived those miscues to build a 76-55 advantage but Delfino hit a couple three pointers late in the quarter to carve the deficit back down to 78-64.

Team USA had its starting lineup of Bryant, Kidd, James, Anthony and Howard on the court to open the fourth quarter, a rare sight in this tournament. James nailed back to back threes and received a feed from Bryant for a layup to push the lead to 88-69 but Argentina kept battling, getting as close as 13 points on multiple occasions. The score was just 92-79 after a Delfino jumper at the 3:40 mark but Bosh hit two free throws, Wade made a layup, Bosh converted a putback and Wade split a pair of free throws as Team USA made a 7-2 mini run to put the game out of reach. Bryant and James went to the bench at the 1:55 mark with Team USA leading 99-81.

Since this was easily Team USA's most competitive game in the Olympics, it is instructive to look at how Coach Mike Krzyzewski distributed the minutes. As Collins mentioned during one of the previous games, the coaching staff indicates who they trust by which players they put on the court when the game is tight--and this game was tighter than the final score indicates. Bryant led Team USA with 32 minutes, while Anthony played 30, James 26, Paul 21, Bosh 20 and Kidd and Howard 16 each. When the outcome was very much in doubt at the start of the third quarter, Kidd did an excellent job of settling things down and running the halfcourt offense. Team USA outscored Argentina 82-61 when Bryant was in the game, 69-48 when James was in the game, 49-31 when Wade was in the game, 72-59 when Anthony was in the game and 40-30 when Kidd was in the game.

Team USA's rough stretch during the second quarter will no doubt lead some commentators to say that Spain can beat Team USA by playing a zone defense and forcing Team USA to shoot three pointers. In a done and done format like this, Spain has a puncher's chance but the reality is that Team USA dictates the pace of the game by playing pressure defense and they decide when to shoot three pointers. As Collins mentioned during this game, just because a team plays zone you don't have to shoot three pointers; you can still go inside, which is what Team USA did early in the third quarter with Kidd setting up Howard deep in the paint. If Team USA plays good pressure defense without fouling then they will beat Spain by at least 15 or 20 points. It would be preferable if Team USA would shoot fewer three pointers and/or make a better percentage of their long range shots but Team USA's three point shooting will not be a decisive factor in the outcome of the gold medal game.

Labels: 2008 Olympics, 2008 Team USA, Carlos Delfino, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Luis Scola, Manu Ginobili

posted by David Friedman @ 3:58 PM

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