2008 Olympics Blog: Day 5
Submitted by Jon_Pastuszek on Thu, 08/14/2008 - 3:30pm.
Since the Opening Ceremonies kicked things off on the 8th, the sun has peaked its head out of clouds/pollution one time, briefly. If there’s no pollution in the sky, there’s rainclouds. If there’s no rainclouds, there’s a sheet of pollution. Probably not what the Chinese government had in mind when they shut down all those factories and took all those cars off the road. Link .
It’s also been real hot and humid. I drink like five gallons of water a day. I sweat all of the time. The Line 1 subway smells like socks. My favorite sound of the day is the wonderful humming of the air conditioner that is attached to my bedroom wall when I come home at night.
But, it’s tough to complain. This is Beijing. It’s huge, it’s dirty, it’s hot… but it’s endearing. And I have it pretty good. I eat (mostly) great food, I watch a lot of basketball, I go out into the city, and I sleep. This is my Olympic life. It’s not too bad.
Links:
Here’s a follow up from Monday’s link to a questionable Spanish advertisement.
Look, the advertisement is offensive. It’s making fun of the way Chinese people look. Pau Gasol even said “it was something like supposed to be funny or something.” Spain may have been trying to make a little fun, but they instead offended an entire race. Making fun of somebody’s face is not only distasteful, its insulting.
Jose Calderon called the gesture “affectionate,” and Gasol called any claims of racism “absurd.” The both of them are obviously upset that something that was supposed to be funny got blown up into a controversial, distracting issue.
To repeat, I don’t think there was any harmful intent. I don’t think they were trying to be racist, and I don’t think they wanted to offend anybody.
But reading through the article, I never got the impression that anybody was sorry about the situation. We got the whole “I apologize if…” line by Gasol, but never a flat out apology.
Maybe nobody is sorry. As Henry Abbott writes in his incomparable TrueHoop blog, here, the ad is still being run in Spain. If that’s true, that’s even more offensive than the ad itself.
Kobe Bryant meets Argentine footballer, Lionel Messi
Chris Bosh and Tayshaun Prince go to the Great Wall
It’s summer in LA and that means one thing… Laker joyride!
Matchday 3 recap:
Spain 72 – Germany 59
With the win, Spain goes to 3-0. Jose Calderon had 15, Alex Mumbru had 14 and Pau Gasol had 13 to lead Spain to a relatively easy victory. Germany should have lost by a lot more. The German guards are a bunch of chuckers. Similar to their game against Greece on Tuesday, Germany hit a barrage of three pointers in the first half to keep them in the game. Most of the shots were poorly selected and highly contested and when the second half came along, the German shooters came back down to Earth, and Spain pulled away. Germany’s 18 turnovers didn’t help things, either.
After destroying Angola in the first game, Germany stands at 1-2. The Nowitzki-Kaman combo up front that I gushed about after the Angola game has snagged a flat tire. Dirk struggled on 5-15 shooting, and Kaman only put in 8 points. More so than any other team, these guys need to perform for their team to win. They’ve played poorly the last two games, and their team has lost the last two games.
Box score
Australia 106 – Iran 68
In a game that was a rout from the onset, the Boomers outscored the Iranians 28-15 in the first quarter and never looked back. Australia’s Brad Newley had 24 points in 23 minutes and Patty Mills had 15 points and 5 assists. Iran had four guys in double figures, which is good. But, their fifth and sixth leading scorer combined for five points, which is not good.
This game was truly a blowout. Australia’s pressure defense forced Iran into 28 turnovers, and the big Aussie frontline outrebounded Iran by 14. Australia hopes to build on this effort when they play Russia on Saturday. In my mind, Andrew Bogut will need to step it up in Saturday’s do-or-die game. His play has really been sub-par, and I think he’s a big reason why Australia is a disappointing 1-2. Of course, right after I write that, this comes out.
Box score
China 85 – Angola 68
Yao Ming was totally dominant against Angola’s national 6-foot-6 and under basketball team, scoring 30 points and grabbing seven rebounds in what was a must-win game for China. Yao shot an astounding 91% from both the field and the charity stripe, and was completely unstoppable throughout the entire night.
Props to Yao for single-handedly winning this game for his country. He knew that Angola had no answer for him, and he delivered a fantastic performance.
On Saturday, China (1-2) plays Germany (1-2) in a game that should decide who will clinch the fourth and final spot in Group A. Opposite of Angola, Germany has the size and skill up front to limit Yao. It’s going to come down to which team’s backcourt doesn’t play the worst. For the third consecutive game, China’s point-guard tandem of Liu Wei and Chen Jianhua combined for more turnovers than assists, and must get their act together for one night if they are to advance.
Box score
Lithuania 86 – Russia 79
Lithuania avenges their semi-final defeat to Russia at Eurobasket 2007, and climbs to the top of Group A as a bonus. Rimantas Kaukenas had 20, and Ramunas “Euro-Pippen” Sisauskas had 16 for the winners, while Linas Kleiza pulled down 11 rebounds. Lithuania coughed up a nine point fourth quarter lead, but finished the game off on a 9-2 run. Andrei Kirilenko played virtually the entire game, scoring 17 points, but on 3/10 shooting and 10/19 from the free-throw line. American ex-pat, J.R. Holden, led all scorers with 25.
With a win against Croatia on Saturday, Lithuania can clinch first place atop Group A, which would set them up with a game against either Germany or China. This Lithuania team is as dangerous as they are fun to watch.
Box score
United States 92 – Greece 69
Blowing out Greece is one way to make my “USA is flawed” argument look very stupid. The United States cruised to a 23 point victory over the team that ended their 2006 World Championship title aspirations in what was a thoroughly dominating team performance.
“The Redeem Team” looked like the original “Dream Team” at points, providing fans with an array of dazzling sequences, including a sick, falling-out-of-bounds Dwyane Wade to Kobe Bryant alley-oop. Wade, Bryant, LeBron James and Chris Bosh all scored in double figures with Bosh leading all scores with 18.
Other than free-throws (57% on the night), this was basically a flawless performance. Defensively, this is what Coach K and Colangelo had in mind when they selected the team. Team USA’s length, athleticism, tenaciousness and depth on the wings were way too much for the Greek guards. The Americans’ quick hands ripped fifteen steals, and suffocating defense caused a total of 25 turnovers, many of which were converted into easy transition buckets on the other end. If this is how Team USA plays against the top competition, then it’s good night Beijing.
Though Wade and LeBron made the highlight reel plays, I want to give a shout out to Chris Bosh. He was extremely active on both ends of the floor, specifically in the first half, and I really thought he was a major reason why the US was able to put this one away in the second quarter. He provided rebounding, scoring and toughness and finished +18 in the first half. So much for Bosh being too thin.
Box score
Argentina – Croatia
Coming tomorrow.
Things I loved:
1. Basketball and lamb kebobs are an excellent combination.
2. Chris Bosh. CB4 was everywhere against Greece, and his energy in the first half was a key reason why the United States were able to break open the game.
3. Yao Ming. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you have a foot on your defender.
Things I hated:
1. Note to self: Room temperature milk out of a packet isn’t very tasty.
2. Jason Kidd. 3 fouls in 1:24 seconds? Are you kidding me?
3. CCTV. For the second straight game, I was forced to watch Team USA on my laptop. The Chinese like basketball and they like the US National team. Put the game on television.
That’ll do it for today. Tomorrow I will be back with more Olympic analysis, more links, and more updates.
- Jon_Pastuszek's blog
- Login or register to post comments
RSS: 
Spanish Advertisement
Spanish Ad
Spanish Advertisement