After a month-long blogging hiatus, I am back to give you the news from the sport I cover best: basketball. We have seen many players moving around this summer which has sent Baron Davis and Marcus Camby to LA, Elton Brand to Philly, and Maggette to Golden State to name only a few. However, all of these events pale in comparison to Team USA. Coach Krzyzewski's team has had more pressure put on them than ever before with some even claiming that if we fail this year, we'll never win another one.
Nonetheless, I simply cannot see our boys losing over in China. Jason Kidd and a team-oriented Kobe Bryant are the veterans on a team that has been playing and practicing together since two summers ago.
LeBron James has even gone ahead and guaranteed a win which, as most of us already know, is not always a smart thing to do in sports. If you've read my past blogs, you already know my stance on guarantees. They are extremely dumb and only put more pressure on the guarantor's team.
I would be even more skeptical of James's statement had Team USA not dominated last year at the FIBA Americas Championship, which included an impressive 91-76 victory of Argentina in the final.
The keys for Team USA will be the same as they were last summer. The main one is to play as a team out on the court and not try to do everything one-on-one. Another is to get up and down the court (the way Coach K has been preaching to them about). After all, they usually have the five most athletic players on the court. Finally, they need to play team defense and that goes for everyone, including Carmelo.
Speaking of basketball on a worldly stage, Brandon Jennings, an Arizona commit, has recently decided to forgo college all together and spend his one year out of high school playing over in Europe. Frankly, I think it's for the best. The NBA is becoming more and more European in the way they play the game of basketball which is why a year over there for Jennings can do nothing but good for him. Besides, he was going to be a one-and-done anyway.
In Las Vegas, meanwhile, rookies Jerryd Bayless and Donte Greene were busy lighting up their opponents, averaging 30 and 23 points respectively. Some other rookies that made an impact were Anthony Randolph (21 ppg, 8 rpg), Kevin Love (18 ppg, 14 rpg), and Marreese Speights (18 ppg, 10 rpg). Non-rookies, such as Quincy Douby (22 ppg) and Ramon Sessions (15 ppg, 7 apg, 5 rpg), also made an impact.
At the Orlando Pro Summer League, Michael Beasley put on a show with 28 points and 9 rebounds in his first professional basketball game. However, the man who was taken ahead of Beasley, Derrick Rose, has had a rough start. He sat out of the past two games due to injuries and has averaged 5 turnovers per game.
Also in Orlando, Russell Westbrook has had a decent summer league so far, proving the doubters wrong. For people like me though, he has just reassured us that a ROY award isn't an impossible feat next season.
After all this, you must still keep in mind that a summer league is a summer league and that great numbers in July don't translate to good number in the regular season. They provide only an inkling of what the player is capable of doing at the pro level. Besides, many of these players (especially those playing for postseason contenders) won't even get significant playing time this season.
So there you have it. That's the summer news for professional basketball right now. Be sure to tune in tomorrow night to watch Team USA take on Canada in an exhibition game. It will, hopefully, not be much of a game, but it will still be fun to watch America's best basketball team play.
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If Team USA loses tomorrow, I'd be ROTFL!! Haha, that would be so funny. Also, I hope Brandan Jennings DOES do well over there, and I'm glad he took the first step and was the first one to do this. Good insight GOAT.
Denis24
Fort Wayne, IN
Total Comments (2191)
Thanks for the read and comment, Denis. I might throw the remote through my TV if they lose.
G.O.A.T.
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12496)
haha, I agree Denis. But in all seriousness, this team needs to buckle down and get the job done. If they can get over the hump and prove they can play as a team, they could completely change their reputationas a basketball team. Also, it will be interesting to see how may people follow Brandon Jennings path. I think it would be great for some of these young prospects who would be one and done in college anyways to get some pro experience over seasons.
Great blog GOAT.
TheSportsGuy.…
Espn Hq, SP
Total Comments (1224)
Thanks, SportsGuy. And, yeah, it will be interesting to see who else decides to go overseas and play. For those that would be one-and-done in college anyway, I would suggest they go over there. Leave college to the guys who really want to work on their games, win a championship, and get a degree.
G.O.A.T.
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12496)
Team USA needs a better coach, but that is for another day.. HAHA
Kevin Love, I said it before and will continue to say it, he is gonna be a GOOD pro. It is just the summer league but the guy knows how to play.
Nickb23- It's a…
Arlington , TX
Total Comments (6130)
Nick, don't even get me started. I'm already having a bad day.
Regarding Love, many people disagree with you on that.
G.O.A.T.
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12496)
I agree Nick. As for people who are talking about his size, look at Glen "Big Baby" Davis. He had a solid season despite being short and...well.. big. Kevin Love is obviously FAR more talented, so that might not be the best comparison, but he should definetly hold his own.
TheSportsGuy.…
Espn Hq, SP
Total Comments (1224)
Regarding Love, many people disagree with you on that.
G.O.A.T. | 07/24/08, 07:03 PM
I like it that way, that is more people that can kiss my __.
HAHA.
Nickb23- It's a…
Arlington , TX
Total Comments (6130)
I haven't seen one summer league Bucks' game yet, though I have seen some pretty exciting Summer League games.
Great job GOAT
Dyhard:Homecoming…
Germantown, WI
Total Comments (32346)
Thanks, Dyhard.
SportsGuy, I wouldn't say that Love is far more talented. In case you've forgotten, Big Baby was often talked about as the next Shaq in college because of all his talent and potential. Hindsight's 20/20 though and we can see that those people are idiots. haha
G.O.A.T.
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12496)
I agree with you 100 percent..I don't really get why people make such a big deal about Summer League numbers...it's meaningless. As for Jennings going to Europe..I'm not sure if it'll start a new trend..it could but it's definitely going to make a lot of players think twice.
badgerfan07
Whitewater , WI
Total Comments (1601)
Great blog GOAT.I dom agree,Kidd having played on multiple olympic and other team USA activities,should be quite the leader.Not a big deal about Lebron,we expect,and need a win gold this year,or there will be hell to pay.Another thing,utilize the athleticism!They'll possibly have King James,Kobe,Dwight,D-Wade,guys like that,that should be able to tear up international competition.And they can and will share the ball unlike that showing several years ago where they took 6th (in FIBA Championships right?).
Defense?Carmelo?The only time you see those two words in the same sentence is: Carmelo doesn't play defense.
Quincy Douby of Rutgers?Sessions?Shows you how much summer league means,it's just entertaining to watch these guys do things they'll never do in the NBA.
As far as Brandon Jennings goes,who cares?He'll play some very competitive ball,and maybe shape his game a bit(could have done more so at Arizona) Shows you why Lute Olsen is sick of these guys.
And uhh,don't get me started on Westbrook!
(Cincy)
Jamestown, OH
Total Comments (11295)
Regarding Love, many people disagree with you on that.
G.O.A.T. | 07/24/08, 07:03 PM
*raises hand and whispers* "It's the White factor"
(Cincy)
Jamestown, OH
Total Comments (11295)
But hey,he can thrown an outlet pass with the best of them can he not?Shades in that aspect of Bill Russell.
(Cincy)
Jamestown, OH
Total Comments (11295)
Yes, Cincy, his outlet passes are very good. But speaking of Bill Russell, I was reading the letters in the beginning of SI yesterday and heard someone say that Bill Russell is the greatest basketball player of all time. haha.
You're right on the fact that they need to utilize their athleticism because NO other team has it, that's for sure. About the FIBA Championships, I'm not really sure how they did. I know they didn't make it to the final though. Last year was a much better showing for them.
Coach K and co. will have to make Carmelo play defense or he won't be on the floor. Zero tolerance in the Olympics.
Regarding Brandon Jennings, I look at it as him just getting a year of experience playing pro ball. The competition is definitely tough over there than it would be in college so we'll see how he does. I think some more players next year will follow.
G.O.A.T.
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12496)
haha definetly GOAT.
While Love might not be FAR more talented, he has a better outside game. Love is a more dangerous threat with his shooting ability.
TheSportsGuy.…
Espn Hq, SP
Total Comments (1224)
I won't disagree with that.
G.O.A.T.
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12496)
haha great blog G.O.A.T!
I agree, Lebron gave his team more pressure...
but in their match against canada, they won badly yesterday, and wade led the way...
ahung
Santa Clara , CA
Total Comments (1278)
Thanks, ahung. Yes, Wade did a great job yesterday and the team looked good out there.
G.O.A.T.
Scranton, PA
Total Comments (12496)
Another good one. Michael Beasley rookie contract? A lot. Michael Beasley frustrations from not getting the ball enough with Wade and Marion? Enough. Michael Beasley dropping 28 on Joakim Noah? Priceless.
I don't even want to talk about Kevin Love, haha.
0x NBA/NFL Champion
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