World Basketball Championships

[POJO_Risin]

Well...they had to play...

but...

they won...

beating Puerto Rico 111-100...

Not much more to say...but there was some strangeness in this game...with Carmelo Anthony getting a technical for inbounding a ball when he wasn't in the game to begin with...lmfao...

anyways...

[POJO_Risin]

Americans make statement in opening game against Puerto Rico
Aug. 19, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports




SAPPORO, Japan -- Puerto Rico was scoring so easily against the United States, maybe the Americans should have considered playing 6-against-5.

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Actually, they tried that, too.

The U.S. eventually overcame a slow start that included a strange sequence in which Carmelo Anthony inbounded the ball despite being out of the game, settling down to beat Puerto Rico 111-100 on Saturday in the opening game of Group D in the world championships.

Anthony led the U.S. with 21 points. LeBron James and Kirk Hinrich each added 15 for the Americans, who found things to be much tougher than they were during a 45-point rout in an exhibition game at Las Vegas earlier this month.

"We got a slow start but we picked it up in the second half," James said. "We were able to keep them in front of us and we got a win. It doesn't matter how many points you win by, as long as you get a win."


LeBron and Carmelo celebrate in the closing seconds. (Getty Images)
Carlos Arroyo of the Orlando Magic scored 23 points for Puerto Rico, which looked capable for much of the first half of a second straight major upset of the United States in international play. The Puerto Ricans shocked the Americans 92-73 in the opening game of the Olympics two years ago in Athens.

Anthony, James and Dwyane Wade, the three U.S. captains, were there for that loss, which sent the Americans on their way to a disappointing third-place finish.

"Now I'm kind of one of the leaders of this team along with Dwyane Wade and LeBron, so I've got to go out there and do what I have to do to pick this team up any way possible," Anthony said.

Apparently, that includes trying to make a play even when he's not in the game.

Anthony was the central figure in the game's most bizarre sequence, which led to a technical foul on the Americans. After picking up two quick fouls, he went to the bench, but chose to stand in front of his chair instead of sitting.

When a ball went out of bounds near the U.S. bench, both the nearest referee and U.S. guard Hinrich didn't seem to realize Anthony wasn't in the game. So the official handed the ball to Anthony, the closest player to him, and with no other U.S. players coming back for it, Anthony simply passed it in, giving new meaning to the term "sixth man."

"The referee threw me the ball, so I just threw it in bounds," Anthony said. "He didn't even know."

The ref eventually figured it out when Anthony didn't run up the court with the rest of the players, and a technical foul was called. Arroyo hit both free throws to tie the game at 17, and an irate coach Mike Krzyzewski loudly scolded his players sitting on the bench.

[POJO_Risin]

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"I'm used to that after four years at Duke, so I knew where he was coming from," Shane Battier said. "In a situation like this, with a team that on paper you're scheduled to beat, if you give them confidence, strange things can happen in the game of basketball.

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"Against teams you should beat, you have to go out early on, impose your will, and send a message that 'Hey, we're here to play."'

The Americans eventually did that in the second quarter. Anthony returned early in the period and scored nine points, helping the U.S. turn a four-point deficit into a 57-51 lead at the break. He converted a three-point play and fed James for a fast-break dunk on consecutive possessions early in the third as the U.S. pushed the lead into double digits for the first time.

"I think from the second quarter on the defense was good," Anthony said. "First quarter we kind of gave them too many points. We let them score, we let them get to the middle of the court a lot, but we sat down at the end of the first quarter and said if we wanted to win this game we have to do it on the defensive end."

The Americans will have to do it better, though, after allowing Puerto Rico to shoot 54 percent from the floor and make 10 of 16 3-pointers. But the Puerto Ricans didn't have nearly enough depth to keep up their fast start, especially when Arroyo was on the bench.

Puerto Rico coach Julio Toro said the U.S. defenders, "have to keep growing and getting better in their man-to-man matchups, the matchup zones, closing lanes."

The American players partially attributed their poor start to the quiet environment inside the arena. The public address announcer's call that it was time to meet Team USA during pregame introductions was followed by almost complete silence, though cheers eventually came for James and Wade.

The U.S. moved on to play China in its second game. The Americans are playing in a relatively weak group, which should give them plenty of time to clean things up before the later rounds.

"Our defense will get better as this tournament goes along," Wade said. "That will be our game. We've got guys that can get out to the open court. Once we can do that, we're a pretty good

[rustoffa]

Saw a few highlights earlier. Pretty funny clip of James decimating everyone, and picking up a foul. Doesn't the Italian squad usually dominate that deal?

[POJO_Risin]

You mean knocking everyone over?

or fouling...

or both...

[rustoffa]

Originally posted by POJO_Risin
You mean knocking everyone over?

or fouling...

or both...

He knocked a few of 'em down, and went to the free-throw line.
Some pretty cuntfused looks on the PR players faces... That's about the just of my basketball commentary.:D

[POJO_Risin]

The US dominated China...

Yao got shut down...

US wins 121-90 in probably their first BIG win in international competition in a few years...

[POJO_Risin]

Wade leads U.S. rout of China; Yao fouls out
Aug. 20, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports

SAPPORO, Japan -- Yao Ming is back, and the United States was ready for him.

Using a swarming defense and their huge advantage in depth to make life miserable for China and its All-Star center, the Americans rolled to a 121-90 victory Sunday night to remain unbeaten at the world championships.

"We knew that they wanted Yao to be a big factor, so we wanted to take him out and make them take difficult shots," U.S. forward Antawn Jamison said.

Dwyane Wade scored 26 points for the Americans, who needed less than four minutes to build their first double-digit lead and led by as many as 36. Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard had 16 points each and Chris Paul 13.

LeBron James, Joe Johnson and Elton Brand all had 11 points while Paul added eight assists and Howard 11 rebounds.

"We were trying to share the basketball, share the defensive rotation and just be a team," Brand said. "There are a lot of individuals out there, especially on their respective NBA teams. We're trying to be a team out here, get assists and do the extra things."


Dwyane Wade (game-high 26 points) lifts the U.S. over Yao Ming-led China. (Getty Images)
The Americans, averaging 116 points through two games, next play Slovenia on Tuesday. They headed into Group D's off day tied with Italy at 2-0 for first place. China (0-2) is tied with Senegal at the bottom. The top four teams in the six-team pool advance.

Yao led China with 21 points, but the Americans made him work for all of them. He had only one field goal in the first half, when the game was decided, and finished 5-of-8 from the field before fouling out with 6:08 remaining.

"We worked very hard to defend Yao," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's a terrific player."

Yao didn't play in the Americans' 119-73 victory in this month's exhibition game at Guangzhou, China, because he was recovering from a broken left foot. His return in time for this tournament gave plenty of hope to the Chinese, who had a large contingent of fans at the game waving flags and holding large pictures of Yao.

The 7-foot-5 center predicted China would advance out of pool play -- he was quoted in a story in the China Daily before the tournament as saying, "China will enter the last 16, I promise." Then he scored 30 points in China's opening loss to Italy.

But the U.S. never let him be a factor when the game was still in doubt, delivering a couple of hard fouls when he had a clear path to the basket and even playing two centers together at times. Still not fully fit, Yao didn't even make it across midcourt at times after Chinese turnovers.

"It is a little bit different from playing Yao in international ball than NBA ball," Howard said. "Yao is the main focus for the Chinese team. Playing with him in America he has Tracy McGrady on his team, so Yao kind of gets some rest."

[POJO_Risin]

Wade leads U.S. rout of China; Yao fouls out

After coming off the bench in the Americans' victory over Puerto Rico in the opener, Howard drew the starting assignment Sunday and responded underneath.

"Dwight would take any center from any team," Krzyzewski said. "The guy who's been our best center has been him."

Meanwhile, the Americans displayed the balance that makes them one of the tournament favorites, with Krzyzewski using all 12 players in the first half.

Leading by 14 points midway through the second quarter, the Americans used a 12-0 run to break open the game and build a 54-28 lead.

Wade then scored the Americans' final 11 points of the half, including a drive just before the buzzer that gave the U.S. a 63-38 lead. China had more turnovers (12) than baskets (11) in the first 20 minutes.

China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said all teams facing the United States have the same problem: "Turnovers, transition and rebounds -- and we had the same problems today."

The Chinese finished with 25 turnovers -- an improvement from their 34 in the exhibition game -- which helped the Americans to a 29-8 cushion in fast-break points. The U.S. outscored China 20-3 on turnovers.

Yao hit a jumper to open the third period and Wang Shipeng scored the next eight points as the Chinese pulled within 63-48. But James scored seven points during a 10-3 surge that pushed the lead back to 22, and the Americans were never threatened again.

The United States improved to 5-0 in world championships play against China, the Asian champion. Wang added 17 points for China, which next plays Puerto Rico.

[bastardog]

Hey just 11 point (111-100) isn't bad for a small island of 4,000,000 people.
Been part of USA and having our own mini-usa team is like having two teams..........see it that way.
The stars team and the unknows team

[POJO_Risin]

First Round...

USA absolutely destroyed the field...okay...had a couple of tight games...including an interesting game with Italy...

but went 5-0...

onto the second round...

where they blow out Australia...by a 113 to 73 score...

and move onto Dirk and the Germans...

prediction? US by at least 20....

if they win...they'll most likely play Greece...blowout winners over China..

[bastardog]

...and PR got eliminated on first round winning only 2 games.
Our only hope now is USA team (that for sure will kick asses)

[POJO_Risin]

What's this?

Did the US fucking do something different in beating Germany's ass?

how about play some fucking D...

Dirk went 3 for 12 in the second...Germany scored all of 26 points...and ended up with 65...

US romps...85-65...

plays Greece in the semis...

game over...

[Romeo Delight]

I haven't watched these last two games, but how about Carmello stepping up.

Seriously, he was the US's most dominant player on most nights.

I don't really like him as a player, but this tourney he seems like a completely different character...He finally found some!

[POJO_Risin]

I agree to a point...

he's definately been an offensive force during this tourney...and COULD be the thing that turns HIM around perceptually...