After losing to the USA, 81-101, and Manu Ginobili during the semifinals, Argentina was set to face another contender in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Men’s Basketball. Despite losing in the first round to Lithuania, the Argentines gave it their best shot and managed to win 87-75 and taking home the bronze.
When asked about winning the bronze, Sergio Hernandez expressed that he was not disappointed but was actually proud with the achievement of his team. Any coach would have definitely been proud after his team battled and survived against teams like Greece, USA, and Lithuania. The hardest opponent for the balanced team of Argentina would probably be the USA. It was the Americans stiff defense and the turnovers that left the Argentines in defeat.
The game against Lithuania was the only hope that South Americans have in taking home a medal. And it was a dramatic victory for the Manu-less Argentina since they have to play tougher on both ends. In the end, it was their offense that stifled the Lithuanians and sealed them the win.
During the first quarter, Argentine forward Luis Scola took over by tearing down Lithuania’s defense and giving his team the chance to take the lead. And by the next quarter, the Argentineans displayed their 3-point shooting spree. The Lithuanians, on the other hand, were missing a lot of crucial free throws that could have made a difference in their game. Carlos Delfino topped the scoreboards with 20 points and 10 boards. Ramunas Siskauskas and Rimantas Kaukenas dished out 15 and 14 points respectively.
The hard work of the Argentinean team paid off despite the adversities during the final games. The loss was pretty overwhelming for the Lithuanians though because it seemed like the other team wanted the bronze more which showed up to the remaining seconds of the game.
The US Redeem team takes the gold at the recently concluded Olympics in Beijing. It was a mission accomplished for a team that was dead-set on recapturing their lost glory. The gold was a victory for the team after the debacle at the Athens Olympics. The win can be summed up as the culmination of the three year mission and in essence end years of losing embarrassments for the Americans. Yet, the win did not come easy for US as the Spanish team led by Pau Gasol showed some signs of strength before bowing out 107-118.
The Spanish team was the worthy opponent for Team US in the finals. The US team overwhelmed all their seven rivals with large margins, but this time in the gold medal match against Spain the team needs to dig deep in order to put the opposing team away.
The Americans only led by four points with only 2 ½ minutes to play. The team never withered under the pressure and proved that they can handle a close game as well. Argentina took the bronze at the expense of Lithuania with an 87-75 victory.
Dwayne Wade scored 27 points for the team and Kobe Bryant added another 20 points. The Spanish team in the finals was different compared to the team that the US team faced in the preliminaries. It was never the same team that the US humiliated by 37 points. Rudy Fernandez scored 22 points for Spain and Pau Gasol added another 21 points for the Spanish team. The Spanish team is the reigning world champions and hoping that they can win their first Olympics gold as well.
The US players responded well and the players appreciated the challenge forwarded by the Spanish team, hugging the players of the opposing team afterwards. Kobe Bryant had a long embrace for NBA team mate Pau Gasol.
The US women’s basketball team passed the first crucial test in the Beijing competition in a close competition. The US team beat Russia in the semifinals and the team is now primed up for its fourth straight gold medal game. It was a close game Thursday night with a score of 67-52.
The game against the Russian women has been the toughest test yet for the women’s team. Before the game with Russia, Team US had been averaging 99.2 points through their first six games and the winning margin is pegged at 43 points per game. And just before the game against the Russians the closest the competition got was when Spain managed to score well and the US team led by only 5 at the half.
But the team from Russia proved to be a worthy competition for the likes of Diana Taurasi and Tina Thompson. The results of team Russia had been varied and their games and results during pool play won’t suggest that they are contenders. In fact when the Russian team played Spain, the Russian trailed Spain by 18 in the first half before posting an 84-65 win.
The Russian team started the match well and for the next 23 minutes, Team Russia played toe to toe with the US team. Russia took a 38-33 lead as well after the shot made by Maria Stepanova early in the third quarter. But at that point the US team turned to serious business and scored the next 12 points. The next 12 points came from Thompson, three pointers from Smith and Taurasi, and layups coming from Thompson and Leslie.
The scoring drought for Russia was ended by Stepanova again with a foul line jumper and it was the last point that they have scored in the third quarter. Stepanova was Russia’s lead scored with 14 points and is set to play China for the bronze.
The US women’s basketball team is into the semifinals. Sylvia Fowles led the charge for the US team in the 104-60 rout against South Korea. Fowles made 26 points from the field and added another 14 rebounds. The win by the US team is the sixth Olympics that they have advanced to the medal round. The last time that the US women’s basketball team failed to qualify for the semifinals of the Olympics was in 1980 and this was the time when the US boycotted the Moscow Games.
With the win, the American women will face Russia in the semifinals. In the other semifinal game, China will play Australia. Russia advanced to the semifinals after winning over Spain 84-65. Tatiana Shchegoleva led the Russian team and scored 19 points. Australia on the other hand was led by Lauren Jackson who made 17 points and another 12 rebounds and beat Czech Republic. China on the other hand defeated Belarus for a place in the semifinals.
The win by the US women’s team was the team’s 31st straight games since the team’s losing effort in the semifinals against the Unified Team in the 1992 Olympics. The win against South Korea was their 5th straight Beijing games and all their wins were fashioned in a spectacular way. The only exception was in the game against Czech Republic where the Team US trailed in the first three minutes 13-2 before it went on to win the match by 40 points. The US Team also encountered rough sailing against Spain as they only led by five after the half. But after the halftime break, the team posted an easy 38 point victory.
The South Korean squad made an impression at the first quarter behind their hot shooting, and shot 59 percent from the field and at the end of the first quarter they were only behind by four. The start of the second quarter was different as Fowles started the charge.
The Spanish team led by Lakers player Pau Gasol was no match for the stronger US basketball team. The win by the Americans was their fourth win in as many outings and this sends them at the top of their group. This means that they will be seeded first in the quarterfinal round. Four games won for the Americans and another four games to win in order to secure the gold medal in the men’s basketball.
The world champions Spain was no match for the Americans right from the start. The US players meant business at the start by making a number of three point shots and this set the tone for the rest of the game as the US basketball team posted an easy 119-82 win.
LeBron James converted 18 points on the floor, and all members of the team contributed on the scoreboard. Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony added 16 points each. With the win by the Americans, they will next face the Number 4 seed from Group A and that team could either be Australia or Croatia. This means that the team will not face Lithuania, another unbeaten team and Spain until the gold medal game.
The Spanish team was a stronger team at least on paper. Spain is the 2006 world champion, and the team has won eight of their last 10 Olympic games. The two losses of the team were dealt by US. Felipe Reyes led the Spanish team and scored 19 points on the floor. In order for the US team to win the medal, they have to play four more games. The Spanish team tried to neutralize the US players by opting for the zone defense. But the plan was foiled as the Americans made sure that ball movement was good and the US players shot a number of three pointers that helped sealed the game for them.
The US men’s basketball team continued its march towards the Olympic medal with another strong showing, this time at the expense of a tough rival Greece. The win erased whatever bitter memories that still remained in the team after its debacle in the 2006 World Championships and the 2004 Olympics. The US basketball team is back in business and has clinched a spot in the medal round.
It was a close game from the start, but the Americans started to show form late in the second quarter en route to a 92-69 win. Dwayne Wade, guard explained that their win was driven by the fact that they were aware of the opposing team’s offensive sets and the opposing team’s personnel and the team played like that as well.
Kobe Bryant who was silent in the last two games of the team contributed 18 points courtesy of his 7-for-14 performance from the field. Chris Bosh added another 18 points and LeBron James added another 13 points to help the US team move to 3-0. The win also moves the team to a possible match-up against World Champion Spain. The Spanish team is anchored on its top player, Pau Gasol. The winner between the two unbeaten teams will then become the group’s top seed in the quarterfinals.
The win by the Americans was a big redemption for the team. It was the Greece team who stunned the US two years ago at the semifinals of the World Championships. The performance of the then US team was mediocre, and Greece only allowed the team to produce 63 percent shooting from the field. But the Beijing showdown produced a different set of results. Greece just hit 41.3 percent from the field and was even fare badly from the three point area and only produced 22 percent from that area.
It was another big win for the US women as the team posted an easy 97-41 victory against Mali. It wasn’t just the romp that made the win by the team special; the steam also made the win in spectacular fashion. Lisa Leslie set an Olympics record by going 7-for-7 from the field. The win over Mali ensures that the US team maintains its unblemished record in the competition. Leslie finished the game with 16 points and received a lot of help from her team mates. It was the team’s 28th straight Olympics win and the last loss for the team was in 1992 against the Unified Team in the semifinals.
The team continues to make a statement as it won over its first three games with relative ease. The winning margin of the team averaged 47 points. The first three opponents of the team include Czech Republic, China and Mali.
Lisa Leslie’s new record smashed the old one that was made by Katie Smith and Nikki McCray in 2000 and 1996 and both players made 6-for-6 from the field.
The team outscored the Mali team 25-5 in the third quarter. Sininta led the Mali team with 13 points.
Sininta led Mali (0-3) with 13 points. The team of Mali is missing its top player Hamchetou Maiga-Ba who was sidelined in a loss to Czech Republic on Monday. But even with the presence of its top player, the team of Mali will have a hard time matching the strengths of the US team.
Olympic gold is alive with an easy 90-62 win against South Korea. The win by the Australian women team pushed the team in first place in Group A. Penny Taylor and center Suzy Batkovic lead the Australian team with 18 points apiece.
In other results, Latvia claimed a slim narrow win against Brazil and China defeated New Zealand.
China was considered as the ideal opening foe, and the US basketball team responded by delivering an A-one game. It was a blow-out as the ‘Redeem Team’ made sure that its first game in the Beijing Olympics mattered. The score was 101-70 against the Yao Ming-led team of China. Dwayne Wade was the top scorer for the team, leading the US team with 19 points. Wade said;
This is the biggest one, by far. The excitement of it. The anxiousness of it. The anticipation was just crazy. I’m glad it’s out of the way now.
Kobe Bryant, the star of Los Angeles Lakers added another 13 points.
President Bush was in attendance with the Secret Service watching the President intently. The President and his entourage sat in the private seats around thirty minutes into the game. When the people noticed that the President was in the area, cameras started to flash.
The game between the two teams was played in the new 18,000-seat venue and the site was filled to the rafters. Yao Ming led the Chinese in front of the boisterous crowd. Yao Ming netted 13 points for his team and added 10 rebounds and another 3 blocks.
The game started with a bang courtesy of a three-pointer coming from Yao, and the crowd and the US team responded positively. China took the early lead after Sun Yue hit another three pointer and opened a 6-2 lead for his team. The efforts of the Chinese players proved to be not enough as the US team posted a 11-5 run and ended the first quarter with the score of 20-16.With just a four point lead, China was more than motivated to continue its game and move on to upset the visitor.
China tied the game 29-all courtesy of the three pointer of Sun with 6:05 left. But that was the first and the last time that China evened the score as the US team once again raced ahead and took the second half with a score of 49-37. After that point, there was no stopping the US team. When the score stood at 84-50, Yao was taken off the game and the audience responded with a standing ovation for their star.
09:00 Women’s Preliminary Rnd Group A- Game 1 > Belarus vs Australia
11:15 Women’s Preliminary Rnd Group B- Game 2 > Mali vs New Zealand
14:30 Women’s Preliminary Rnd Group B- Game 3 > Spain vs China
16:45 Women’s Preliminary Rnd Group A- Game 4 > Brazil vs Korea
20:00 Women’s Preliminary Rnd Group B- Game 5 > United States vs Czech Republic
22:15 Women’s Preliminary Rnd Group A- Game 6 > Russian Fed. vs Latvia
The swimmers of men and women team take off the stage like a real huge celebrity icons at media press conference. This was held at the Main Press Center in Beijing on Wednesday. Michale Phelps and Dara Torres are the two biggest start brought by USOC team to prevent the duo from monopolizing the questions from reporters.
At the age 41, Dara depicts the personality of being a matriarch of the team. This will happen if she won’t be competing in a US swimming record 5th Olympic Games. She was asked in an interview by a reporter about her feelings of being a female, 40 and fierce. It’s not surprising that she replied with clever response.
“You sound like you’re from Glamour Magazine. I’m a little embarrassed. He can attest I don’t act 40, so, it’s a great feeling to go out there at my age and to be doing what I’m doing and, uh, it’s been wonderful… the feedback I’ve been getting.”
You know, I used to have kids come up to me and ask for autographs, but now I find adults coming up to me, and actually, not asking for autographs, but talking to me and having long conversations and hearing about, you know, how they’ve been inspired.”
