jsonline: Yi, China will face U.S. in Olympic opener

[carmelbrownqueen]

Yi, China will face U.S. in Olympic opener
By Charles F. Gardner
Saturday, Apr 26 2008, 11:45 AM

The Olympic basketball draw was held in Beijing this morning, and the U.S. was drawn into a group with host China, defending world champion Spain and Angola. Two other teams will join the group after advancing from an Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece in July.

On the opening day of men's basketball competition (Aug. 10), the U.S. will play China, setting up the chance for Bucks players Yi Jianlian and Michael Redd to face each other. Bucks center Andrew Bogut and his Australian national team landed in Group A, along with defending Olympic champion Argentina, Russia, Lithuania and Iran. The sixth team in that group will come from the Athens tournament.

"It will be an eye-catching opener between the host and the USA," FIBA President Bob Elphinston said.

A Chinese basketball official recently confirmed that Yi will be the first torchbearer on May 4 when the Olympic torch returns to mainland China, in the resort city of Sanya in the province of Hainan.

Yi told reporters covering the Bucks that he had heard news reports about protests that disrupted the torch relay in other countries. The relay has drawn protests over China's human rights record and its policies on Tibet and Darfur.

"Right now, I'm not too worried about it," Yi said. "I still have full confidence that these kinds of protests are not going to influence the Beijing Olympics in any way."

Yi, who is still recovering from a sprained ligament in his right wrist and a knee injury, has continued his rehabilitation in Milwaukee since the season ended in mid-April.

But soon he will return to China and turn his focus to the Olympics, and he believes the experience gained in his rookie NBA season will help his performance this summer.

"I'm very excited," Yi said. "Often, I catch myself thinking and imagining about the Olympics right now. To have the Olympics right at our front door and look and see across the stadium and it's all Chinese fans, this is something I'm really excited about."

Among the 12 teams competing in the Olympic qualifying tournament in July, Dirk Nowitzki and Germany should be a strong contender for one of the remaining berths. Others expected to contend include Puerto Rico, Brazil, Canada and Greece.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/bucks/archive ... pener.aspx

[MickeyDavis]

By then Yi will be with the Clippers.

[Matches Malone]

By then Yi will be with the Clippers.

hopefully in a deal that gets us Brand

[MickeyDavis]

Exactly.

[Mags FTW]

It will be an ass-whooping of epic proportions.

[Chuck Diesel]

The USA and China definitely landed in the easier of the two brackets.

China and Iran will be the two worst teams at the Olympics.

[Neapolitan Buck]

-= original quote snipped =-




hopefully in a deal that gets us Brand

If it happens (it is not going to happen anyway), Kohl would not make it before the Beijing exibithion games we are going to play.

[cam2win]

By then I won't care that the Clippers Yi faces the Mavs Redd

[Jammo29]

By then I won't care that the Clippers Yi faces the Mavs Redd

As long as it is still the Bucks Bogut playing, i dont really care either.

[SupremeHustle]

The USA and China definitely landed in the easier of the two brackets.

China and Iran will be the two worst teams at the Olympics.

Fool, Iran's the bomb!

[Max Green]

It will be an ass-whooping of epic proportions.

[carmelbrownqueen]

This is goinhg to be a tough tough game for China, especially if neither Yi nor Yao are 100%.

[Chuck Diesel]

Bogut's Boomers took a little bit of a hit today. Two of their key veterans, Sam MacKinnon and Jason Smith, announced that injuries will keep from playing for Australia this summer. I thought Smith was one of the Aussie's better guards at the world basketball championships a couple of years ago and MacKinnon was a nice hustle player. They are really going to have to rely on some young guys to play big minutes.

[carmelbrownqueen]

Sunday, May 4, 2008
Chinese cheer on as Olympic torch starts mainland leg

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press

SANYA, China -- Cheering Chinese stood on their chairs and waved flags as the Olympic torch started its mainland leg Sunday on the tropical island of Hainan -- the first stop in what is expected to be a peaceful three-month journey to Beijing.


Protests followed the torch overseas, but organizers in the seaside resort of Sanya promised a trouble-free national tour that will wind through every Chinese province and region before arriving in Beijing before the Olympics start on Aug. 8.

Some Chinese, including the torch bearers, seemed to be relieved the flame was safely home.

"Being Chinese, it's not easy," said Zhang Chaoyang, the CEO of major internet portal Sohu.com, at a news conference after the relay started.

Zhang criticized the Western media's recent coverage of China and of the international leg of the relay, which was marked by protests against China's policies and its treatment of Tibetans.

"Foreigners don't understand China," said torch bearer Fu Shenfeng before the relay started. "They still think we're stuck in the past. They still think we're poor. This is our chance to show them the real China."

The Olympic flame went out briefly at the beginning of the ceremony as it was being passed among local leaders on stage and given to the first runner, former Olympic speedskating gold medalist Yang Yang. A member of the team of paramilitary police that has followed the torch around the world quickly relit the flame. The torch seemed to go out again several minutes later with another runner, but it was quickly exchanged.

Basketball star Yi Jianlian was one of the first torchbearers and actor Jackie Chan was the last of the day. Overall, 208 people were lated to carry the torch Sunday along palm tree-lined roads looking out over the South China Sea.

"I'm very excited. I hope we can spread a message of peace to the world," Chan said.

At the lighting ceremony, echoes of China's recent troubles were almost absent. A few people wore T-shirts with slogans saying Tibet was and will always be a part of China. One couple wore T-shirts that said "Go China" in Chinese on the front.

"We just want the Western media's reporting to be fair," said 16-year-old Ryan Wang.

After three days on Hainan island, the torch moves to Guangdong province in southern China, where millions of migrant workers labor in what has become the world's factory floor, making everything from Honda cars to Nike sneakers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3380660

[jt142]

This is goinhg to be a tough tough game for China, especially if neither Yi nor Yao are 100%.

It doesn't even matter if Yi or Yao are 100%. Don't make excuses. If they lose, it's because they're not that good. China can't beat the US or Spain even if they're players are on roids. They could probably beat Angola, but even that's not a given. Angola's guards are better than China's and they only lost to Spain by 6 pts in 2006. However, Angola doesn't have anyone who can match up with the freak giant, Yao. The last two teams added to the group will surely be better than Angola, which is a bad sign for China. Greece could even be added to the group, and they would surely place in the top 3. If only 3 teams advance to the quarterfinals, China better hope that some weaker teams are placed in the group. If Greece and Slovenia/Croatia are added to the group, it's going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible for China to advance. I can't se ethem beating either team. China was blown out by Greece and Spain by over 20 pts in 2006. It will be tough for China to make it out of the first rd, home court or not.

[jerrod]

so how likely is it that australia makes it passed the group stage so they might play the us? i think that'd be a really fun game thread on here

[MajorDad]

perhaps With those two players injured, Bogut can put the team on his back and carry the team to victory like the true superstar he is.

nah, ain't gonna happen.

[Chuck Diesel]

so how likely is it that australia makes it passed the group stage so they might play the us? i think that'd be a really fun game thread on here

Team USA will take on Australia in an exhibition game, along with Russia and Lithuania.

It's going to be tough for Australia to get out of their group, but it's not impossible. Argentina and Lithuania are locks to advance, so I think it will come down Australia, Russia and a qualifier yet to be determined. The Boomers have to be hoping that Russia was just a one hit wonder with their performance at the 2007 Eurobasket. The Russians could be without their big anchor in the middle, Aleksey Savrasenko, who is recovering from shoulder surgery. Although Savrasenko doesn't put up huge numbers, with him out of the picture the Russian squad isn't as tough.

The other wild card will be which teams come out of the qualification tournament in July. The consensus is the best 'wild card' candidate is Greece, who beat Team USA in 2006 and won the Eurobasket in 2005. Greece narrowly edged Australia in 2006 and they would definitely put up a good fight to advance, but after watching them last fall at the Eurobasket I thought they really looked like they lost a step. For the USA's sake I really hope Greece ends up in our bracket so that we can get some revenge and have some better competition in preparation for the knockout round. The other top wildcard teams are probably Slovenia, Croatia and Puerto Rico. You would think with Brazil's talent they would be right in the mix, but Barbosa, Nene and company haven't been able to click as of yet.

[AussieBuck]

perhaps With those two players injured, Bogut can put the team on his back and carry the team to victory like the true superstar he is.

nah, ain't gonna happen.

Haha Bogut has had the Australian team on his back since he was a teenager. If the guards can hit their threes we might make the second stage.

[jerrod]

Team USA will take on Australia in an exhibition game

is this right before the olympics or earlier in the summer?