Olympics Game 2: USA vs. Angola

[Wade2k6]

Kobe will be fine. He's the least player I'm worried about to pick it up. If it comes down to it and he's just completely cold, he will let LeBron and Wade take the majority of shots. I don't see LeBron, Wade, and Kobe letting team USA lose.

[deeney0]

Kobe will be fine. He's the least player I'm worried about to pick it up. If it comes down to it and he's just completely cold, he will let LeBron and Wade take the majority of shots

See, that hasn't happened. Kobe was 1-7 from three in the first game and 0-8 from three in the second game. He WAS completely cold, but he still took the majority of the shots, and he took them from distance rather than taking it too the hole. That's why people are worried.

[Yao21]

How could Spain have so much trouble with China? lol

They were so worry about Yao, they were doubling/tripling him zone style, that China's guards/forwards were getting so many open shots. I think China was pretty lucky because they were knocking them down. It really was just a fluke game, Spain was playing like **** also.

[G35]

Kobe will be fine. He's the least player I'm worried about to pick it up. If it comes down to it and he's just completely cold, he will let LeBron and Wade take the majority of shots

See, that hasn't happened. Kobe was 1-7 from three in the first game and 0-8 from three in the second game. He WAS completely cold, but he still took the majority of the shots, and he took them from distance rather than taking it too the hole. That's why people are worried.

And that was against China and Angola. Those games were never in doubt. Kobe (or anyone else) isn't going to be launching 3's. I suspect they will be playing a different game then.

Besides this is Kobe; to doubt him now is stupid. He has other skills than just shooting; I think he wants to win more than anything and he knows he isn't going to lead this team in scoring. That should be imo primarily Wade, Melo, Lebron, Dwight and then everyone else.........

[erudite23]

Why do people find excuses to whine and moan?

I mean, seriously, this was a throw away game to the hilt, and it showed. No one expected the game to be close, it was a little sloppy, and the US eventually pulled away. There was no reason to dominate them, we just needed to get it out of the way.

This US team has proven through 10 games in the FIBA Americas tournament, and 4 friendlies this year that it can get locked in from 3 and shoot 50%+ without too much trouble. We have gone through a 3 game slump here, starting with Australia. We didn't just forget how to shoot, we just need to work through it. We can still beat any team in the world without the 3--though it will be much tougher, obviously--so its not the end of the world.

If we don't break out of it by the end of the preliminary round, then I would be worried. There are only 3 games in this tournament that matter for us, quit freaking out.

[deeney0]

You've got to take the evidence presented to draw conclusions. Sure, everybody "knows" that Kobe is a better three point shooter than he's shown, that Kidd is a better player than he's shown, but none the less Kobe's shooting and Kidd's game weren't on show in the first two games. That's reason for doubt. Not nearly enough doubt to bet againsthe US getting gold, imo, but still concerning. Having doubt and saying "omg the uS is goin gto loose to Spain!!1!" are not the same thing.

[TradeMachine]

0-8 from the three pt. line and inexcusable chucking from KO-ME. What happened to "doberman?"

Once again, he was the completely wrong choice for the National Team.

He played great defense thats what happened to him and thats how he got the nickname. He didnt get it because he shoots amazing 3's.

My point was...

For a guy that has made public his intentions of becoming the "defensive stopper" and someone whose focus lies solely on defense, Bryant certainly hasn't looked like it. He has taken more shots than any other player on the team in its first two games while shooting a horrific 37% from the field. He is taking away attempts from more efficient (and frankly, better) players, instead of trying to complement them and subside HIS offense.

The US will most likely win gold as a result of superior athleticism, but the guys who put the team together didn't learn from their mistakes in '04 and '06. The only difference I see now between this team and the ones in the past is the increased commitment to defense. I hope they build a better TEAM for '12 because all it will take for the US to lose is a night of lazy defense and bad shooting (see US vs. Greece in 06).

[G35]

You've got to take the evidence presented to draw conclusions. Sure, everybody "knows" that Kobe is a better three point shooter than he's shown, that Kidd is a better player than he's shown, but none the less Kobe's shooting and Kidd's game weren't on show in the first two games. That's reason for doubt. Not nearly enough doubt to bet againsthe US getting gold, imo, but still concerning. Having doubt and saying "omg the uS is goin gto loose to Spain!!1!" are not the same thing.

Ummm half your point is invalid. Jason Kidd is not the player he was in 2007. Did you see Kidd at the end of the season? Did you see Kidd get pulled by Avery Johnson? Did you see Chris Paul make Kidd look like an old man? In fact it's really been 11 Americans because I can't remember Jason Kidd making one play in any of the games so far.

Kidd is barely a top 10 PG imo. Without his athleticism he can't stay in front of anybody, he doesn't finish at the rim, and teams will play off of him. Last year in the Tournament of America's he was ok, but he has fallen off big.......

[boomann21]

^^I disagree with Kidd being the Black Sheep of this team. That award should go to Carlos Boozer who shouldn't even be in Bejing. He took Amare Stoudamire's spot and he is looking terrible. I even heard Carmelo yelling at him at the end of this last game saying "you got to get that Booz" Boozer is horrible and Kidd is just there to set the table for the atheletes and he is doing his job but Boozer is useless

[Benedict_Boozer]

Kobe's shooting concerns me. He is not the type of guy to pull it back either if his shot is off....I really hope he can find the range in the next couple games.

[ballerblogger]

I wrote about this on my blog, but Team USA is now a combined 15-of-63 from 3-point distance over their last three contests.

Why?

Michael Redd is the United States’ only catch-and-shoot threat.The international 3-point line is 20 feet, 6 inches, that’s roughly three feet shorter than the NBA 3-point line. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James haven’t fine-tuned their mid-range games. Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony have perfected their mid-range jumpers, but both players do their damage off the dribble or fading away instead of squaring up and measuring themselves from that distance. The United States can get away with shooting poorly from outside against the likes of Australia, China, and Angola because they can make up the difference with easy baskets off of turnovers.

But Spain and Greece will take care of the basketball.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

#6 from Angola had no problem scoring against the "Doberman"..i dont know whats up with Kobe...but good to see Paul get back to playing defense, and Lebron can take over a game so easily if something starts going wrong, hes just holding back

[CoolD]

I think Kobe might be struggling from the outside, because USA plays at a very fast speed.
The catch and shoot arguement might have something to do with it, but I've seen Kobe do that for the Lakers all the time, so am not really buying it, but team USA plays much faster than the Lakers, that might be the adjustment to Kobe's rhythm, he is not used to how quick the speed of the tempo of the team USA plays at.

Am a bit worried about the freethrow shooting too from the USA, but if we go all out in defense, we should be in every game.