Basketball
Continuing with the sports theme, from the LA Times:
Greece Defeats U.S. in World Basketball Semifinals
SAITAMA, Japan -- A Greek team with names no one on the U.S. team could remember or pronounce but who shot the lights out against a defensively challenged collection of America's best will now play for gold at the world championships, after handing the Americans a stinging 101-95 defeat today.
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The Greeks overwhelmed the Americans with a demonstration of team basketball that will once again have the hounds baying over the NBA's showcasing of one-on-one skills at the expense of old-time fundamentals such as defending the pick-and-roll.
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To lose any game is a shock to us," said a subdued Carmelo Anthony. "We made some adjustments, but by the time we made them it was a little too late."
Anthony led the U.S. with 27 points. But the triumvirate with LeBron James and Dwayne Wade that had been billed as the cornerstone of the next generation of U.S. basketball was not enough to overcome a Greek team that has no players playing in the NBA.
The debate will now begin anew about why the U.S. has not won a top international tournament since the 2000 Olympics. Some will note the poor shooting by this year's team in the knockout stage, and lament the absence of the certified scorers, like the injured Kobe Bryant. The NBA's above-the-rim game and the glorified highlight reels on ESPN's SportsCenter will take some heat.
But to most observers here, the fact is the rest of the basketball world can now play with America. And any country's team is vulnerable in a single-elimination tournament."
09/01/02006 10:18 PM
