GDT- Game 1, USA vs. China
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:26 am


United States [0-0] vs. China [0-0]
| Sunday, August 10, 2008 | Beijing, China | The Wukesong Indoor Stadium | 10:00 am ET |
| TV: NBC | Radio: Westwood One |

Game Notes
A Little History
Coming off a best-ever eighth place finish in the 2004 Olympics, a result they also accomplished in 1996, China automatically qualified for the 2008 Olympics as the host country. China and the USA have met four times in Olympic action, with the USA victorious in every matchup. The two teams last played in the Olympics in 2000, when the USA dispatched China 119-72, and met most recently in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, when the USA prevailed 121-90.
Featuring NBA stars such as 7'6" Yao Ming and 7'0" Yi Jianlian, China is looking to use it's home court advantage to improve on it's 10th place finish in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship and a tied-for-ninth place showing at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. In 2006, Yao averaged 25.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in 32.5 minutes. Wang Shipeng averaged a team second best 11.5 points, and former NBAer Wang Zhizhi contributed 8.2 points per game. Liu Wei, who heads the Chinese offense dished 4.5 assists to go with his 8.2 points, and Yi added 6.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Rest- http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?n ... preview_01
BEIJING -- The U.S. men will be walking a line no more than a few microns wide at the Beijing Olympics, where they're set to open play against China on Sunday.
On the one hand the Americans have had drummed into them, from their very first one-on-ones with U.S. National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo, that they're to be respectful of their opponents. After the debacle in Athens four years ago, and the loss to Greece, a team without a single NBA player, in the 2006 worlds, jingoistic references to "our game" have given way to acknowledgment that the sport's defending world champion is Spain, its reigning gold medalist is Argentina and no fewer than seven different nations (Argentina twice, Yugoslavia, Spain, Italy, Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Greece) have beaten up on the Americans since the Sydney Olympics.
On the other hand, coach Mike Krzyzewski's crew comprises the finest Americans the NBA can offer. After sailing through last summer's Americas qualifying and sweeping their five exhibition games in advance of these Games, they do not suffer from a self-esteem deficit. It's even harder to be humble when you're treated as Team USA has been since arriving in China. Fans in Shanghai chanted "MVP!" at Kobe Bryant during the team's exhibition defeat of Russia on Aug. 3, and a half-dozen foreign reporters asked LeBron James for his autograph between questions at a Friday news conference.
Rest- http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/o ... ml?eref=T1
United States Starting Lineup


Jason Kidd (San Francisco, CA) - Kobe Bryant (Philadelphia, PA)


Carmelo Anthony (Brooklyn, NY) - LeBron James (Akron, Ohio)

Dwight Howard (Atlanta, GA)
China Starting Lineup


Sun Yue (Lakers) - Liu Wei (Shanghai Sharks)


Zhu FangYu (Guangdong Southern Tigers) - Yi JianLian (Nets)

Yao Ming (Rockets)
A MUST SEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbZTmcIf ... l_dont_lie
Good Luck, USA!
And of course, the Tradition....





