Looks like Yao is the biggest draw of the event. It would be funny if he ends up not playing one minute in it.
Still no word on whether or not this will be televised? The FIBA and NBA sites aren't saying anything, and I can't believe NBA TV isn't hopping on this. Is the cost prohibitive for NBA TV? Very surprised by this.
weird i live in la and have heard nothing about the kobe surgery until i saw the thread today. granted that post was a few hours ago it still is strange. it seems strange for him to delayed the surgery for so long because he would have probably known about the loose tissue and he seemed so pumped to play for the us. its a shame he wont play it would be the only time i would openly root for him too.
No Billups, no Redd, no Kobe, no Pierce, no Redick... We're screwed. This is who they should send: F - James/Battier/Morrison F - Brand/Jamison C - Bosh/Howard G - Arenas/Johnson G - Paul/Hinrich/Ridnour Knowing the arrogance of USA Basketball, they'll probably start Wade in the backcourt with Paul, meaning that all three perimeter players will suck at spot up shooting, meaning that we will be once again the worse shooting team in the tournament.
Brad Miller Shane Battier Morrisson Reddick Ridnour This team is perfect for international ball. All 5 can step back and shoot the 3 and they can all penetrate and dish as well.
Oh I thought you meant because most international teams average 4.5 white people on the court at a given time =P Thats a terrible defensive lineup, and one that cannot create anything off the dribble. Its just not a very good lineup.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnGuide Here is the link.You can click the calender to see their daily schedule.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA072406.en.bowen.1d0204f0.html With Bruce Bowen making the cut according to this, it does not look positive for Battier's chances. I think we'll hear that he didn't make it when the 15-man rosters are announced tomorrow.
Check that... Andy Katz says otherwise. He says that Marion will leave due to a knee injury, and Morrison and Ridnour will be cut to bring the roster down to 15, which leaves both Bowen and Battier.
oops, forgot the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/wbc2006/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2528801
Cool. But eventually it has to be down to 12 for the WC. I suspect Bowen, Amare and Joe Johnson will be cut. This leaves us: Brand/Howard/Miller Bosh/Jamison James/Battier Wade/Arenas/Melo Paul/Hinrich Good enough to win on paper but you still have to play.
Man, that picture shows such a huge change in yao's physique. His top actually matches his bottom now.
The sizing of the players is interesting too. Lebron James, by far the biggest star and arguably best talent in the NBA, has the smallest image. I wonder if that's because the rest of the world are less familiar with the American player or if it's politically motivated. I can understand him being smaller than Yao - he's got the entire nation of China backing him up. But it looks like Lebron lost out on the popularity contest to Ginobili, Parker, and Gasol as well. I wonder what Nike thinks about this.
But isn't Japanese our sturdy ally? How can that be politically motivated? Remember this is an international competition not an extension of NBA. James only warmed the bench in 04 Olympics, why shouldn't he take a back seat to other players in this poster who had more international games exposure? And why should Nike to have anything to do with this? Did they pay for the whole tournament?
