Germany blow out Cape Verde 104-68. Kaman makes his debut with 10pt, 10rb. http://www.athens2008.fiba.com/page...langlc//roundid/6250/fe_scheStat_boxScor.html
solid debut for kaman. he's still totally clueless on offense and defense, though. but his job is to collect rebounds, block shots and make some shots around the basket. it's ok, he will get better when plays will be actually run for him. the next game will be the first real test. new zealand isn't that bad. still, germany should win this one easily.
on the other note.. Rasho Nesterovic manhandles Dalembert for second win of Slovenia. He is one of very underrated players in nba. Unfortunately he is content with it.
Whoever disses their country to go play for another country in the Olympics are a disgrace.... so what you didn't make your countries team, suck it up . Want to be a German citizen, go live in German, you can play for their team whenever you please A-holes.
btw: kaman with 20 pts today in germany's expected win over new zealand (89:71). he looked a lot more comfortable out there. hopefully v-span kicks brazil's ass so we can avoid facing the greek team in the quarter finals.
afaik there is no final game to avoid injuries because both teams are already qualified. there will be a game for the 3rd place, though. so, any team can be qualifier a because it will be determined randomly. and btw: greece actually beat the cr*p out of brazil. so, it's germany vs. brazil and greece vs. new zealand on friday. greece is now in a very good situation to qualify for the olympic tournament. i will be shocked if they don't make it. and, hopefully, they'll end up in the same group as team usa. that would be fun. v-span vs. chris paul or jason kidd. germany isn't the underdog vs. brazil either but it probably will be the hardest game thus far. brazil's guards are at least on the same level as germany's. we'll probably need 30+ pts from dirk and 15+ from chris again to advance.
There's a final game to determine the tournament winner: http://www.athens2008.fiba.com/page.../openNodeIDs/6907/selNodeID/6907/bracket.html Whoever wins the tournament, ie becomes "qualifier A" will avoid playing in the same pool as USA and Spain.
well, germany lost to croatia a couple minutes ago. kaman didn't look good. in fact, he was no factor at all. dirk carried us through the game but at the end it wasn't enough. so, one more chance vs. greece or puerto rico tomorrow.
Possibly the end of Kaman's short-lived international basketball career if they lose? Yes, there's no championship game. Qualifier A, B, and C will be decided on a draw: http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/presRele/p/newsid/26869/presReleArti.html
i don't know. maybe he's also interested in playing at the world championships 2010 or the olympics in 2012. i know that dirk will take a break from the national team if we don't make the olympics. but dirk will only be 32 in 2010 and 34 in 2012. so, further participation of him might be possible. and kaman's 4 years younger than dirk... but hopefully our guards have a good game later today so that we can beat puerto rico. i'd feel sorry for chris if they lose.
well, germany has won vs. puerto rico (96:82) and will now participate in the olympics. puerto rico had to play without carlos arroyo, but germany was the better team and probably would've won the game even if arroyo had played. dirk once again with a great game (32-9). chris had a little foul trouble and finished with 10 pts and 12 rebs. jj barea led puerto rico with 18 pts. peter-john ramos had 16 pts and larry ayuso 15 pts. too bad puerto rico was eliminated, they had a fun team to watch. germany is now in the same group with the usa and china. it'll be interesting to see kaman and dirk vs. yao and yi and vs. howard and james. sadly, germany will have to play without it's third best player, ademola okulaja, in the olympics as well. he'll miss the games due to a back injury. with him germany would have had a shot at a medal. but coming back to horoos question about kaman's international career, it was said during the broadcast that chris (and dirk also) expressed their interest in playing for the german national team at the european championships next year. chris seems to be a really nice guy and he's earned my respect.
