- Team USA finished off Argentina
101-81 in the Olympic Semifinal game. The US was up by 20 in the first quarter, but let Argentina back into the game in the second quarter, leading by only 9 at halftime. It was a 14-point lead after 3, and eventually the US rolled to a 20 point win over the team that knocked them out in the Semifinal game in 2004. LeBron had 15 points on 6-11 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Carmelo Anthony led the US in scoring with 21 points despite only shooting 3-14 thanks to a 13-13 performance from the free throw line. Kobe Bryant was equal parts fantastic and awful, with a number of nifty plays ultimately tarnished by a poor 5-14 shooting performance. Jason Kidd finally had a good game, racking up 7 assists.
- Team USA will now face Spain and the Gasol Brothers in the Gold Medal Game on Sunday Morning (Eastern Time). Spain defeated the Z-less Lithuania 91-86 to advance, with Pau Gasol dropping 19 points while Rud= y Fernandez added 18 points.
- LeBron did miss two more free throws today, and has been atrocious at the line in the Olympics. He's not alone, as Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and practically everyone on the team not named Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh have been equally bad. Not sure if it's the ball, or the lack of practice at the line, but the only way I can see Team USA choking in the Gold Medal Game is by missing crucial free throws in a close game.
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Luis Scola was an absolute beast, taking over Argentina's scoring load after Spurs star Manu Ginobili left the game with a ankle injury. Scola finished with 28 points and 12 boards, and was dynamic in the post, using a series of spins and up-and-under moves to confuse the US bigs. He was serving Chris Bosh lunch down there.
- Scola averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Houston Rockets last year, but he could have been a Cavalier. Just last Summer the San Antonio Spurs traded him to Houston for essentially a second round pick. You'd have to believe that the Spurs didn't want to trade Scola in their Conference, let alone within their own state. Any team in the East could have had Scola just as easily, if not moreso. Obviously the Cavs weren't the only team that passed on Scola, but he still would have been a very solid contributor to the Wine and Gold, and would have changed the Anderson Varejao dynamic entirely. In a league where talented post players are rare, giving away Scola might be the biggest reason the Spurs won't be able to continue their dynasty through 2010.
- The last two free agents I thought could help the Cavaliers next year have been re-signed.
J.R. Smith agreed to a multi-year deal with the Nuggets today, putting to bed the longest-running Cavs rumor of a Summerfull of them. My take on Smith is
here, and while he would have been an upgrade, his baggage was a lot to stomach.
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Dorrell Wright, an athletic wing for the Heat,
also re-signed to as-yet-undisclosed terms. The thought around the league was that the Heat would not match anything above the qualifying offer for Wright, making him available to anyone willing to over him more than 1 year at about $2.3 Million. I thought Wright would have made a solid running mate to LeBron if/when the Cavs went up-tempo, sort of a poor man's Gerald Wallace. But with the Cavs already a bit overloaded on the wing, there might not have been room for him in Cleveland.
- I like the Hornets. They're a young, exciting team, and they have the best point guard on the planet. But their
new uniforms do not excite me. I love the Fleur de Bee, but nothing else works. Well, that's not entirely true, the
HoneyBees are always welcome. New unis for the Timberwolves and the Magic are also being unveiled this Summer.
- A comment was posted wondering if the Cavs should be willing to trade with a team like the Knicks, if that trade would make it easier for the Knicks to woo LeBron James to New York. While I certainly wouldn't do the Knicks any favors, I think the Cavs have to honestly assess any trade by how it will make the team better in the next two years. This doesn't mean that I'm giving up on LeBron re-signing with Cleveland in 2010. But I think that any team, especially a team that considers itself a legitimate title contender, has to make moves that help the team now, without worrying too much about future impact. There are two NBA Championships up for grab between now and 2010. Teams like the Knicks, the Nets and many others have already forfeited their chance to win those Titles, and a few other teams might follow suit between now and 2010. That means that any team that is a serious contender will find their path to the Championship that much easier in the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons. Good organizations will seize that opportunity. Here's hoping that the Cavs are a good organizaiton; the Mo Williams trade was certainly a step in the right direction.
- I honestly thought that the Bucks were trying to seize this 2-year opportunity when they traded for Richard Jefferson on Draft Day. I figured that Milwaukee understood that the field might be weaker than usual over the next two years, and they were rolling the dice in the hope that they might steal a Championship while the league stops looking. Then they traded away a very good young point guard for nothing.
Go Team USA. And Go Cavs.
Mike C.
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UPDATE: I take back anything bad I said about the Hornets' new unis. It could have been
much, much worse.