Official 2008 Beijing Olympics Thread

[ederson]

Very very bad start for australia in the second half. 14-0 for USA in the first 3.5 mins

[Kwhit10]

I wouldn't call being down by 23 a "run for their money"

It's been this way for all their games so far, the first half seems kind of close, then they blow them away.  The other teams don't seemed to be conditioned as well as the US team and can't keep running with them.

[Bankshot]

The US is finally pulling away by playing team ball.  They started off playing selfish, one on one basketball, which is why the score was so close at the beginning (not sure why they resorted to playing this way when they had established great team play in the other games).

[Amonkey]

The thing about team USA, which goes along with the world closing the gap, is that USA has the depth.  They keep coming while the opponent, like Australia, is able to keep up but eventually get tired and stop playing the way they were playing.  On the other topic there were people saying that we could bring the 2nd and 3rd team and they would still dominate.  This game just shows how wrong they are since Australia's first team was keeping up with USA's first team.  You can see that Australia is tired and not playing their game anymore hence the difference.

But like I said before, no matter the score, the original Dream Team would never be tied on the 2nd quarter or be only up by 12 at half.

[ACF]

I wouldn't call being down by 23 a "run for their money"

It's been this way for all their games so far, the first half seems kind of close, then they blow them away.  The other teams don't seemed to be conditioned as well as the US team and can't keep running with them.

I guess you're right. Too bad
Australia couldn't keep it up.

[Kwhit10]

But like I said before, no matter the score, the original Dream Team would never be tied on the 2nd quarter or be only up by 12 at half.

Apples and Oranges.  Totally different eras you can't compare the competition then to the competition now.

[kw10]

Man, as an Australian basketball fan I don't even know where to start, so I'm just going to say this: [dang].

[ACF]

But like I said before, no matter the score, the original Dream Team would never be tied on the 2nd quarter or be only up by 12 at half.

Apples and Oranges.  Totally different eras you can't compare the competition then to the competition now.

You're right.


I hope I don't offend anyone
by saying this but I think the
Barcelona team carried themselves
much better and way classier than
this team. I mean, what's the point
in trash-talking when you're up by
30 points? Even all those little
bumps after calls... There was a bit
too much of that today, I think.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist
to figure out that Team USA will win
if they play at their best. The rest
of the competition know, as well.
So I hope Team USA lays off on that
kind of behavior in the future.
Just my two cents...

[Redz]

The balance beam was pretty amazing.  They land so [dang] hard on that thing and it's only 4 inches wide!  Not a place for clown feet

[ACF]

Usain Bolt is SICK!
New world record in a time of 19.30.
Beautiful...

[celticmaestro]

Somethin' like a phenomenon.

[ACF]

I feel kind of sad for Wallace
Spearmon but I guess rules are
rules, however stupid they may be.

[crownsy]

Usain Bolt is SICK!
New world record in a time of 19.30.
Beautiful...

he pull up again or run it hard?

[ACF]

Usain Bolt is SICK!
New world record in a time of 19.30.
Beautiful...

he pull up again or run it hard?

He ran hard but in my opinion
it looked like he had more in him.
It's tough if no one's pressuring you.

[Amonkey]

But like I said before, no matter the score, the original Dream Team would never be tied on the 2nd quarter or be only up by 12 at half.

Apples and Oranges.  Totally different eras you can't compare the competition then to the competition now.

Well, on the other topic there were posters saying that the gap is still very wide between USA and the world.  So for the sake of that argument, I say that the original Dream Team would never be tied on the second quarter by an inferior team even in the international field.  Just the fact that this team had to compete and play good team ball and Australia still made it into a game I think shows how the world has closed the gap on USA.

Of course, I said that before USA went on a run.  However, I still stand by that because the difference between USA and the world (at least Australia as well as other games I have noticed) is that USA is by far a much deeper team, so while the opposing team starts getting tired and missing their shots, USA just keeps on rolling.  You can see that from the box score.  As the quarters goes on, Australia offense gets weaker and the USA offense gets more points.  But just for the fact that these guys are able to compete shows how they have closed the gap.  If USA plays a deeper country that might just hold on to those points, then USA will have a hard time (although still win because they still are a very good team).

Also, I am saying this not as a hater.  I was kind of rooting for USA to lose in the first round (but not anymore obviously) because I much rather see a TEAM play than an All Star game.  And what else is better to see than a team completely full of superstars playing great team ball.  Just like I enjoyed the Celtics playing great team ball.


PS. I missed the 200m race.  Was it really as dominant as they were saying it was?