| Weekly Review August 17, 08 |
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| Written by Joe Buckley | |
| Sunday, 17 August 2008 | |
 Women’s tournament in full swing: Maybe you don’t like women’s basketball. Fine, I’m not here to tell you what to like and enjoy, but personally I enjoy basketball and last I checked that’s the game they were playing. Quite simply, i would like to see you succeed in one of those games. It’s not worse, it’s different. Team USA have barely been challenged in the women’s games, easily defeating 4 good teams, handing it to the Czech Republic, China, Mali and Spain, with the Spanish providing the biggest threat but still ultimately ending in a blowout victory for the USA team. The stars of the team have been outstanding, such as Tina Thompson, Lisa Leslie, Sylvia Fowles, Cappie Pondexter and my personal favourite women’s player, Diana Taurasi. This play has put them at the top of Group B, slightly ahead of a great Chinese Team that are at 3-1. Things will become very interesting though, as group A hold two teams in Russia and Australia (lead by powerhouse Lauren Jackson) are also 4-0 and are currently tied for the top seed of Group A. There have been some truly riveting games, and the group looks only to get better. More importantly, these games have been great for showing the quality of women’s basketball and how the game has evolved. It has highlighted not only the skill and athleticism of the girls, but also the spirit that they possess. While watching USA-China, even though the game was a blowout, when a rebound hit the floor four players were immediately diving for it. And even though it was clear that China had lost the game, they did not lose focus, but held their heads high and played good basketball, and respect should be given to any team that does this. Amazing Men’s tournament: A brilliant week for basketball, with perhaps the best Men’s Basketball Olympic competition ever being played. Of course the USA have been the highlight so far, as they have cruised to a 4-0 record and to the top of Group B. USA’s opening game against China was truly a classic, even through the television you could feel the electricity in the stadium and just how much this game meant to basketball itself. The USA have been dominant, with every player showing their worth. Even in the highly touted match-up with Spain the Americans were able to dominate, even though it was tough throughout the first quarter. I think more than anything, its that some Spanish players simply didn’t put in the effort and hung their heads. Despite this, I still believe Spain is one of the teams that has a chance to win the gold, as they have a truly great team. The Gasol brothers, Ricky Rubio, Jose Calederon, Rudy Fernadez and Felipe Reyes are a talented squad easily capable of dominating any team, and even challenging the USA. They didn’t show their true talent, they made a lot of foolish passes and barely any of their long-range shoots fell, whereas the USA couldn’t miss. China have represented themselves extremely well and have rebounded from the loss at the hands of the Americans. Yao has been dominating, and Yi saved the team with a late shot to get the win over Germany. If China can beat Greece, they’ll finish 3rd in group B. In Group A, there have been some surprises. Lithuania have gone undefeated to secure the top spot, whereas Russia, winners of last year’s Eurobasket have gone 1-3. I can’t wait for the rest. Cleveland gets a point guard. People remembered the NBA briefly this week, as a three-team deal sent Bucks’ point guard Mo Williams to Cleveland. This is obviously a great boost for the Cavs, though to be honest I still don’t see them as a contender, but a point guard was their main need. However, Mo Williams is one of those shoot-first guards, so it will be interesting to see if he can adapt his style to fit around Lebron, and if he can begin to play some defence. It’s Official Ron Artest officially become a Rocket this week, setting up one of the more interesting teams for the upcoming season. That’s it for this week, see you soon.         Set as favorite Bookmark Comments
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