Euroleague and Spanish ACB contributors needed.

Starting this season (2012-2013)  the blog will contain updates from the Euroleague and the Spanish ACB league, most consider those leagues the most competitive ones outside the NBA.  I need people that are willing to write about them (Summary about a particular team or the league in general)  at least once a week. For more details, anyone interested can write a comment here, message me on twitter @JohnnyNBA, leave a comment at our FB fan page or email.  


Thanks! 

Nike Kobe VIII 8 - First Look

Earlier this week, we had our first leaked image of the upcoming Nike Kobe VIII. Kobe's 8th signature shoe looks to carry on the "Kobe System" set up as it appears to have a ankle sleeve on the collar. The Kobe VII had an awesome marketing campaign with commercials with Kanye West, Serena Williams, Jerry Rice, and other premier athletes and celebrities. The shoe however did not perform on a high level  as many thought it would. The Kobe VII gave many hoopers blisters and didn't provide as much lock-down and support as the other models that came before it. With all that said, the Kobe 8 looks promising so far and hopefully the Nike Kitchen/Zoo have addressed those issues and made major improvements with the Kobe 8.

Keep in mind that this is an early prototype version so nothing is official. Kobe Bryant has been debuting the shoe on Christmas Day so we will most likely see it by then. Regardless of how the shoe looks like, Kobe Bryant has always been involved with the whole process of producing his shoes. From a designing stand point to performance. According to the Air Jordan lead designer Tinker Hatfield, Kobe Bryant stays involved with the whole aspect of creating a shoe. More so than LeBron James whom has recently debuted his tenth signature shoe, the LeBron 10.

Despite the early photo, the finished product will surely be a hit with many. Nike has always continued to push the Kobe series to a whole other level as they include the latest technologies in the upcoming Kobe 8. Stay tuned for more information here on johnnyhoops.

Nike Zoom Kobe VII "WTK" What The Kobe

Feel free to subscribe to my channel here! More videos to come including my thoughts on the Kobe 8. Thanks for reading! -jefferrrson

Team USA wins gold for the second straight Olympics.

This game, just like the one at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, wasn't easy for the Americans.

NBA finals rivals, Lebron James and Kevin Durant,  lead the way for team U.S.A in the most important game of all, they defeated Spain 107 to 100.   Durant scored 30 points and kept the United States in the game every time Spain was about to take the lead,  James had 17 points, 7 rebounds & 4 assists,  but saved his best for last.  Pau Gasol finished with 24 points & Juan Carlos Navarro had 21.

The first quarter had both teams on fire from behind the three point arc, Juan Carlos Navarro was hitting just about everything he shot and Kevin Durant & Kobe Bryant weren't backing down.  Team U.S.A ended up with a 35-27 lead after the first 10 minutes.

The second quarter featured more amazing shooting by team U.S.A, however, Spain used their height to pound the ball down low, forcing USA to commit a lot of fouls and didn't let them get in those incredible runs they had in the previous games and that had them a little bit frustrated.  Spain fell behind by a single point after the 1st half.  Juan Carlos Navarro carried Spain scoring 19 points at the half.

Pau Gasol dominated the third period, he was determined to give his team the win, he scored 15 of Spain's 24 third quarter points, however, Spain couldn't go to the 4th quarter with a lead, after all of that USA kept that one point lead they got at the half.   Durant was responsible of keeping them in the game.

Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Lebron James were responsible for getting the win, a three pointer and a layup by Paul and another layup by James let team USA breathe and get a quick 7 point lead while Spain had Pau Gasol was on the bench.  While Spain tried to get close, Durant made sure that wasn't happening, his three gave them a 7 point lead again and Bryant's banker extended that lead to 10.

Gasol and Spain still had a small opportunity of closing the gap, but James hit a three  with 2:50 left in the game that put them away for good. Spain put up and incredible fight and never stopped playing hard, team U.S.A just had amazing depth and it was just too much to overcome, they  converted every timely shot.

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The Dwightmare is over.

After wanting out of Orlando for what it seemed like forever, the Dwight Howard era in Orlando (The Dwightmare)  is finally over.  The Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic have agreed to a trade that will bring former Magic superstar Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers, Andre Iguodala will go to Denver, Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson to Philadelphia and Aaron Affalo, Al Harrington, two 2013 2nd rounders,  Christian Eyenga, Josh Mcroberts Nikola Vucevic,  Moe Harkless and a protected future first rounder from every team included in the deal  to Orlando.

Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum will be free agents after the next season, however, both players won't sign an extension now with their new teams because they can get more money in the summer.  The Sixers and the Lakers are taking a risk, but a risk well worth it.

New acquisitions:

Lakers

Dwight Howard, Earl Clark, Chris Duhon

Magic

 Aaron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Christian Eyenga, Josh Mcroberts, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless,  three 1st rounders and two 2nd rounders.

Sixers 

Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson

Denver 

Andre Iguodala

It puzzles me that Orlando new general manager, Rob Hennigan, decided to pull the trigger on this deal considering he had way better offers for Dwight before, especially from the Houston Rockets and the Brooklyn Nets, that's basically what he got after holding on to Dwight for too long.

 The Rockets at one point were willing on grabbing Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Duhon, Glen Davis and Jason Richardson off the magic hands, while also giving them two out of the three rookies they got in this year draft (Jeremy Lamb, Royce White and  Terrence Jones) and in TOP of that, some young players like Chandler Parsons and Patrick Patterson.

The Brooklyn Nets were also willing to offer their entire team for Dwight Howard and Hennigan didn't pull the trigger.  The Nets final offered included Brook Lopez, Kris Humprhies, Marshon Brooks and 4 unprotected  1st rounders. Enough? they were also ok with getting the contracts of Jason Richardson,  Chris Duhon and Earl Clark.

However, before proclaiming this trade as the worst trade of all time, let's remember Vucevic and Harkless are a 2nd year player and rookie respectively, three first rounders can make them get talent in a hurry,  the Magic won't be any good meaning they will receive a high first rounder of their own as well and Aarron Afflalo is a shooting guard that averaged 15.2 PPG last year and he is only 26 years old. Al Harrington contract doesn't look as bad as initially thought,  Harrington's next two years are partcially guaranteed . The biggest downfall of the trade for Orlando was not getting lottery picks, even Kyle Lowry got traded for a lottery pick. In words of Mark Jackson "You're better than that, Hennigan" 

Getting Dwight Howard to Los Angeles was a brilliant (and risky) move by the Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and the Buss Family. Howard has similar qualities as former center Andrew Bynum, although, Howard is the better player of the two. Los Angeles now have a "big four" consisting of Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, this season will be title or bust for them.

Now the Lakers won't have to rely on Kobe Bryant scoring to be in games, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard are capable of scoring at least 20 points when needed & Pau Gasol can still do it too. Kobe won't also get to work hard to get his points, there's less room for double teams or if he's doubled, his teammates can pick up the slack.

The only "risky" part of the trade for the Lakers, is the fact that Dwight won't sign the extension right away, if he indeed stays in Laker land longer than this season, he will sign a new contract next summer.  The point of doing this?  Howard wants to do this to get more money, he can't get the same amount if he extends his current contract, rather than singing a new one in free agency. Howard could also leave Los Angeles after this season and join any other team, that would really leave them with no true center and basically would have traded Andrew Bynum (who wanted to extend with LA) for just a season of Dwight.

The Lakers also got veteran point guard Chris Duhon and young player Earl Clark from Orlando.   Duhon is 30 years old and only averaged 4 PPG in 63 games for Orlando, Clark is 24 yrs old and averaged just 3 PPG in 45 games.

The Sixers will be getting something they needed badly, a low post scorer.  Andrew Bynum's 7th year run in Los Angeles is over, Bynum was the 10th overall pick in 2005 and improved every year.   Bynum averaged a career high 19 PPG and 12 RPG last season.

Philly now have someone that can dominate the paint and will forced to be double teamed often by opponents.  Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner and Bynum will be a fun core to follow. The Sixers also got Jason Richardson, he has three years left on his contract and he will likely be move, don't think he fits the Sixers plans. With the loss of Iguodala, the Sixers free up time to play give Evan Turner more minutes.

Last but not least, the Denver Nuggets received Andre Iguodala from the Sixers while only giving up Aaron Afflalo, a future 2nd rounder  and sending away Al Harrington's contract, with Iguodala, the Nuggets get an outstanding defender and a player that is used to having the experience (and pressure)  to be the leader of a team.  Iguodala averaged 12 PPG,  6 RPG, 6 APG & 2 SPG.  Iguodala is only 28 and will fit right away with the Nuggets style of play.

Denver now has a core of Andre Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler,  Ty Lawson, Andre Miller, Kenneth Faried,  Timofey Mozgov and Javale Mcgee.  The Western conference just got scarier.

*Note:   Adrian Wojnarowski, Marc Stein and Eric Pincus broke different details of the proposed trade, i believe Woj was the first one to say talks were happening.

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2012 London Olympics 1st round Recap + Schedule.

The pool play is now over, 8 teams have advance to the quarterfinals and four have been eliminated.  The quarterfinals start on Wednesday and here are the recaps from each team during the first round and the schedule. 


Russia (B1)  -  Lithuania (A4)      2:00 PM London time,  9:00 am EST.

Russia finished with a 4-1 record in pool play, they defeated Great Britain and China easily.  Russia also came away with a one point win over Brazil due to a miracle three pointer by Vitaliy Fridzon and a game that stunned half the world, the Russians beat Spain 77-74 after they felt behind 20-2 in the first quarter.  Their only loss was to Australia in their final day of pool play, and the Aussies needed  a Patty Mills buzzer beating three to get the W. If Shaq was here, he would've typed "One lucky shot deserves another"

Lithuania finished with a disappointing 2-3 record,  didn't played well during pool play and they still managed to come as close as anyone to beat team USA.   Lithuania beat Tunisia and Nigeria (Honestly, who didn't?!) and lost to Team USA, France & Argentina.  All of the teams that beat Lithuania are better than them, but they were disappointing in their lack of effort, they got blown out in the first day against Argentina, struggle to beat Tunisia in a must win game, but there's hope for them, they almost beat team USA and not even Argentina did that in pool play.

France  (A2)  -    Spain  (B3) 4:15 PM London time,   11:15 am EST


France lost their first game in the Olympics to the United States and didn't looked any good after the first quarter of that game, however, they bounced back and won the remaining four games and finished with a 4-1 record.   Beating Tunisia and Nigeria was expected, even beating Lithuania wasn't a surprise, but beating Argentina was a huge plus for the team's confidence and frankly, not a lot of people expected it.


At the beginning of the tournament Spain was regarded as the challenger to team USA, how the might have fallen.  After beating China and Australia by double digits, Spain struggle vitally against a Great Britain team that isn't even close to Spain's level,  beating them just by a single point, then choked away a 20-2 lead against Russia to lose by three (77-74) and being accused of tanking their last game against Brazil to avoid facing The United States (if they beat their first quarterfinals opponent.) 

To Spain's defense, the Eurobasket 2011 most valuable player and longtime member of their squad, Juan Carlos Navarro, has been facing different injuries including plantar fasciitis and it's obviously not himself. Navarro is the most consistent player after the Gasol Brothers, he can knock down three pointers with ease and can create his own shot, unlike many of Spain's guards, he doesn't need someone else to create for him.


Argentina  (A3) -   Brazil (B2)  8:00 pm London time, 3:00 pm EST


Argentina ended up with a 3-2 record, they beat Lithuania by twenty three points in the opener, then lost to France (Which wasn't a huge surprise, but still most expected ARG to win that game) then took care of  Tunisia and Nigeria before going down again, this time to the United States.  Pablo Prigioni missed two of the five games due to having kidney stones.

Brazil struggled in the early part of the Olympics, but they still managed to beat their first two opponents even without playing their best.  They beat Australia by 4 points and Great Britain by 5, they lost to Russia by a point, then beat China by a million (Only by 39) and defeat Spain in the last game of the first round.  Coach Magnano sat Nene from their final game, but it was more of rest thing than an injury situation.

United States (A1)  -  Australia (B4)  10:15 pm London time, 5:15 pm EST

Australia went 3-2 after five games, they did better than expected.   They  started 0-2 after losing to Brazil and Spain, then they beat Nigeria and Tunisia (Again, who didn't!?) and then defeated Russia with a buzzer beating three, that last one was the only surprising result.

The United States finished  undefeated with a  5-0 record, they beat France by 27, Nigeria and Tunisia by more than 30, Lithuania played them tough and only beat them by 5, then they beat Argentina by 29. The 83 point win against Nigeria was a historic thing, most likely to never happen again.  Team USA was impressive, nothing new here, they haven't played perfect and will still get better (Scary, scary sight for the rest)

Photo Credit:  Garett W. Ellwood (Getty Images)

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2012 London Olympics Individual leaders.

The 2012 London Olympics have been full of excitement, buzzer beating shots, blowout and even some historic performances, However, there are some players in particular that showed they belong in a different class than all the rest.

Scoring leaders  

1. Pau Gasol   (SPA)            20. 6 PPG

2. Patty Mills   (AUS)           20.2  PPG
3. Luis Scola    (ARG)          20.2  PPG
4. Emanuel Ginobili  (ARG)   20.0 PPG
5. Kevin Durant       (USA)   18.6   PPG

Rebounds 

1. Yi Jianlian             (CHI)    10.2 RPG

2. Salah Mejri          (TUN)   10.0 RPG

3. Ike Diogu             (NIG)    9.0 RPG

4. Ben Romdhane      (TUN)  8.6 RPG

5. Anderson Varejao   (BRA)  7.4  RPG

Assists

1. Marcelinho Huertas         (BRA)  6.2 APG

2. Pablo Prigioni                 (ARG)   6.0 APG

3. Sarunas Jasikevicius        (LIT)     5.8 APG

4. Chris Paul                      (USA)    5.8 APG

5. Deron Williams              (USA)     5.6 APG

Steals 

1.  Chris Paul               (USA)   2.2 APG

2.  Emanuel Ginobili    (ARG)    2.0 APG

3.  Andrei Kirilenko    (RUS)     2.0 APG

4.  Al Farouq Aminu    (NIG)    2.0 APG

5.  Matt Nielsen          (AUS)    2.0 APG

Blocks

1.  Salah Mejri     (TUN)     3.4 BPG

2.  Yi Jianlian        (CHI)      2.2 BPG

3.  Serge Ibaka     (SPA)     1.8 BPG 

4.  Nicolas Batum (FRA)     1.6 BPG

5.  Kevin Seraphin (FRA)    1.6 BPG

Credit:  London 2012 Website

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Olympics day 4.

France - Tunisia

1st Quarter


With 4:11 remaining in the quarter, Tony Parker has 5 points while Tunisia has 4 and France leads 11 to 4.  Tunisia can barely make a basket in this game, they have been blocked a couple of times, but also have missed wide open shots, just unacceptable.

At the end of the quarter, France leads 20-15.  France shot 50% from the field, while Tunisia shot 33% . Tony Parker scored 5, Nicolas Batum had 7 and Kevin Seraphin had 4.  Ben Romdhane scored 6 for Tunisia.


2nd Quarter


Less than two minutes gone in the second, Ben Romdhane keeps impressing, he had a blocked shot and went end to end and hit a layup and also got fouled. Tunisia is now only losing by a single point. Romdhane has 9 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block. 


Tony Parker got an extended rest, he came back with 5:20 left to go in the 2nd quarter and he took over, in those five minutes he managed to scored two baskets and dished  out two assists to help France get a 35-27 lead at the end of the half. Parker finished the half with 9 points (4-7 FG), 3 assists and a steal.  Ben Romdhane (4-10 FG) lead all scorers with 11.

3rd Quarter


With 4:28 remaining in the quarter France seems ready to put this game away for good,  they have a 50-35 lead,  they have outscored Tunsia 15 to 8.  


Tony Parker almost outscored Tunisia by himself, Tunisia ended up with 16 points in the period while Parker had  13.  France took a 60-43 lead with 10 minutes left to play.  Parker has 22 points and has only missed three shots in twelve attempts.  Mohamed Hadidane has been on fired for Tunisia.



4th Quarter 

Tunisia has cut the France lead to eleven with Parker resting on the bench and 6 minutes left to play.    The lead was cut down to seven points, but Nicolas Batum made a three followed by a steal and layup from Nando De Colo to take the lead back to 12.

With 1:05 remaining in the game, Tunisia isn't going away easily as they're down 7.  Tunisia has outscored France 21-11.  Tunisia scored yet another basket to cut the lead down to 5, however, France missed a shot and got an offensive rebound, which lead Tunisia to commit three fouls just to get France to go to the line with 16 seconds left in the game.

Nando De Colo made both free throws and France is leading 73-66 with 16 seconds to go.  Hahidane hit a three at the buzzer and France won the game 73-69. Tunisia outscored France 26 to 13 in the quarter and that wasn't enough. 

Final Stats: 

France
Tony Parker - 22 Points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists.
Nicolas Batum - 19 points, 8 rebounds.
Kevin Seraphin - 10 points

Tunisia
Ben Rondhane -  17 points, 8 boards. 
Mohamed Hadidane -  20 points.
Salah Mejri -  11 points 

I saw the NBC feed of the game and wanted to point out some stuff the announcers said because they were just out of it.

• Kevin Seraphin reminded them of Detroit Piston's Rick Mahorn. 
• Nando De Colo looked like a poor man's Danny Ainge (Nando hasn't even played a minute of NBA basketball yet) 
• They said it was the third quarter when it was actually the 4th.
• While praising Salah Mejri's potential, they compared him to Dan Gadzuric, not the ideal comparison if you want to praise someone's potential.
  

Russia - Spain

1st Quarter


After 91 seconds, Spain has a 7-0 lead, Pau Gasol has 5 points already, this lead Russia to call their first timeout.


Spain is leading 18-2 with 5 minutes remaining in the game, Spain, a team that doesn't create points from turnovers, already have 10 points from Russia's mistakes.  Spain's size has made all the difference in the world, Russia doesn't seem to react well against it.


Russia improved offensively hitting 3 three pointers, but they couldn't keep Spain from scoring either. At the end of the first quarter, Spain has a 28-11 lead.    

• Pau Gasol matched Russia's total first quarter points of 11.
• Juan Carlos Navarro returned from his injury and scored 4 points.
• Spain shot 58% from the field in the 1sr quarter, Russia allowed 38% in the other games.
  

2nd Quarter


Midway through the second quarter, Spain lead remains double figures (12) Everyone has been getting into the act for them, Sergio Rodriguez went coast to coast for a  layup & Sergio Llull banked a three pointer.


With their defense finally woken up and 11 points from Vitaly Fridzon, the 18 point lead Spain once had in the first quarter has been now cut to 8. At the end of the 1srt half, Spain leads 40-32. 

• Russia outscored Spain 21 to 12.
• Fridzon lead all scorers with 14. Pau Gasol had 11, Marc Gasol contributed with 8.
• Andrei Kirilenko has only 2 points.
  

3rd Quarter



Khryapa has made 3 three pointers in the quarter in less than 6 minutes, Vitaly Fridzon's still hot from the first half and Spain's lead is down to two.  Spain has only been getting offense by Pau Gasol, the others haven't helped much.


Russia has been remarkable, they outscored Spain 24 to 13 in the period, they played outstanding defense and were able to knock down shot after shot. Fridzon, Khryapa & Mozgov were Russia's best players in the period.  After the third, Russia leads 56-53.



4th Quarter 

With 6:48 remaining Spain has a 63-57 lead. Juan Carlos Navarro made a three pointer, Sergio Rodriguez hit two free throws and had some nice passes.  Russia started the quarter 0-5.

Just when Spain had a comfortable 7 point lead, Russia came back with two baskets in a row by Timofey Mozgov and Andrei Kirilenko.   There's only 3 minutes left to play


Russia was down three,  but Victor Khryapa tied the game by hitting his fourth three pointer of the game. Rudy Fernandez missed a three at the other end, Timofey Mozgov grabbed the rebound off the missed shot and the dunk that put Russia up by 2 with 18 seconds remaining.

Russia leads 75-73 and Pau Gasol will go to the line for a chance to tie, he missed the first free throw, made the second one. The Russians have a one point lead with 5 seconds left.  


Spain fouled Vitaliy Fridzon to stopped the clock, he hit both. Spain with no timeouts left, couldn't inbound to a three point shooter, so it ended up in Marc Gasol hands, when he tried to pass the ball, it got deflected and time expired. Russia beats Spain 77-74.  Russia closed the game on a 17-5 run.


Final Stats:


Russia

Vitaliy Fridzon 20 points
Timofey Mozgov 12 points, 9 rebounds.

Spain 

Pau Gasol 20 points
Marc Gasol 10 points

USA - Lithuania

1st Quarter


With less than 5 minutes to play in the quarter, the United States only lead by five points. Linas Kleiza has been on fire, he scored 13 out of Lithuania's 25 points,  he's keeping them in the game.   Carmelo Anthony is still shooting the lights out, he came off the bench and scored 10 points.  At the end of first, USA leads 33-25.


2nd Quarter


Both teams are scoring at will, Linas Kleiza has 15 points. With 3:36 left in the quarter, Lithuania is down by just 5.  Lithuania has moved the ball well, have hit open shots and have contested shots against the American team. Team USA is falling in love with the three point shot and aren't making as many as they did against Nigeria.



After the first 20 minutes, team USA leads Lithuania 55-51.  Former teammates Carmelo Anthony and Linas Kleiza are leading their team in scoring, Melo has 14 while Kleiza has 16





3rd Quarter

Lithuania had a 5-0 run to get a one point lead over team USA, but team USA responded with a 7-0 run in less than 40 seconds  to go up by 6.

Lithuania has been in the penalty for awhile but team USA is missing a lot of free throws, they are also forcing a lot of shots, especially Carmelo Anthony & Kobe Bryant.
  
Deron Williams hit a driving layup at the buzzer giving team USA a 78-72 lead at the end of three.

4th Quarter 

Team USA insists on shooting threes, even though they keep missing. They are 7-28 from beyond the arc. Coach K has gone to a small lineup to have more offense at the same time, but this is helping Lithuania as they're taking the ball to the hoop every chance they get, especially Martynas Pocius.

Just when Lithuania got a brief 2 point lead, Lebron James took over, he had three field goals along with a Deron Williams three to give them a 9 point lead with two minutes remaining.

Final score:  Team USA 99, Lithuania 94.

Final Stats:

Team USA
Lebron James     20 points
Carmelo Anthony  20 points
Chris Paul  7 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals.

Lithuania
Linas Kleiza  25 points


Brazil - China


1st Quarter


China was held scoreless for the first three minutes of the game and with 4:58 remaining in the first, they only have scored 3 points.


Brazil's 5 out 7 from three point land. Everyone got into the action,   Leandro Barbosa made two triples and one apiece for Marcelo Huertas, Guillherme Giovannoni and Marquinos.  After one Brazil leads 25-9.


2nd Quarter

ZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZ. Brazil outscored China 17 to 12 in the period and now lead 42-21.  Both teams had long droughts without scoring a single point, it was almost embarrassing at one point.



3rd Quarter


Five minutes have passed and China has scored only four points, Brazil has scored 11.  Brazil has double China in scoring, they lead 52-26.

Brazil finished the third quarter with a 70-38  lead over China.


4th Quarter 

Blowout city. Brazil won by over 1000 points.

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Quick Recap: Olympics Day #3

United States 156, Nigeria 73 

Just when we all thought the debate regarding who was the best USA team of all time was over, something like this happened. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, including 10-12 from three,  in 14 minutes of play to set a record for most point scored in a game by a Basketball player from the United States in an Olympic game, the previous record was 34 by no other than former Knick Stephon Marbury.  More records were set, largest margin of victory ever (83), most three pointers in a game (29) & three points attempts (46) Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant started hot in the first quarter, but no one was hotter than Anthony.  The only positive for Nigeria was former NBA player Ike Diogu had a nice showing with 27 points and 7 rebounds.

France 82, Lithuania 74


Tony Parker had his best game of the Olympics so far with 27 points (2 three pointers, 7-10 from the FT line), and 5 rebounds. Nicolas Batum contribute with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Lithuania was very cold in the 2nd half (France's defense had something to with that) but they also missed some shots they normally make, you can read more about this game here.


Australia 81, China 71

Wang Shipeng made 7 three pointers for China, he finished with 21 points, but they weren't enough to beat an Australia team that was hungry for a win.  Patty Mills got rid of his poor three point shooting, he went 4 out of 8 from downtown and 21 points, David Andersen had 17 and 7.


Argentina 92, Tunisia 69 

Argentina started really poorly, after one quarter of play they were behind 28-14.. Yes, they were losing by 14 against Tunisia.. But they quickly recover from the 2nd quarter on to defeat them by 23 points.  Manu Ginobili was perfect from the three point like (4-4) and 24 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals.  Luis Scola had a double double of 20 & 10, Carlos Delfino scored 21 points.  Salah Mejri had 19 points, 14 boards and 7 rebounds for Tunsia.


Russia 75, Brazil 74 

This was definitely the game of the day, Russia was leading almost all game until suddenly Brazil tied the game in the 4th quarter and went up by 5, but Russia didn't panic, they remained playing with composure.  Alexey Shved made a three pointer to tie the game, Marcelo Huertas gave Brazil a one point lead with a few seconds to go, however, Russia had one final timeout to draw a final play and they did just that. Vitaly Fridzon made the three pointer (and getting fouled in the process, which they didn't called) to give Russia the win.  For Brazil,  Larry Taylor played really good, he scored 12 points (5-7 FG) off the bench and Leandro Barbosa scored 16.  Andrei Kirilenko finished with 19 and Alexey Shved with 16 for Russia.



Spain 79, Great Britain 78 

Spain played poorly for the second game in a row, it could be because of the absence of star player, Juan Carlos Navarro, who sat down due to an injury he has fought during the entire season (Plantar)  or maybe they were underestimating their opponents.  Spain took a 9 point lead in the first half, only to see it slip away and almost came out with the defeat. Luol Deng and Joel Freeland played outstanding when it mattered most for Great Britain. Deng finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal. Freeland with 25 points, 7 rebounds.  Spain was lead by Pau Gasol 17 points and his brother Marc had 12. 

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Olympics Day #3 Group A: France - Lithuania Instant Recap.

1st quarter

After the first 4 minutes of the game, France is leading Lithuania 15-6.  Tony Parker has been aggressive so far, he has 4 points along with his Spurs teammate Boris Diaw.  France's playing good defense, not letting Lithuania get anything easy.  France started 6-8 FG and 3-3 from the line.

End of 1st:  France 25 - Lithuania 21

Lithuania weathered the storm and ended the quarter down just 4. This has been Tony Parker's most effective game in the Olympics by far, he scored 11 points (2-3 FG, 4-4 FT)  in the opening period. Gelabale and Batum each had 5.  Lithuania ended the quarter on a 10-5 run and Martynas Pocius lead them in scoring with 7.

2nd quarter


At the 6:48 mark,  France is leading 32-31.  Martynas Pocius is still hot from the field, he's made two three pointers in the period so far.  Nicolas Batum has 5 points for France in the quarter.   Pocius and Parker are leading their teams in scoring, both have 13.

End of 2nd quarter:  Lithuania 43, France 39

France didn't get much help in the 2nd quarter, Nicolas Batum had 10, the rest of his teammates contributed for 14 points.  Parker  had just 2 points in the period.  France only bench points came from a Nando De Colo basket, while Lithuania had 27 points from their bench.    Lithuania had a very hot Pocius, who didn't missed a shot in the first half and scored 13,  Linas Kleiza chipped in with 6 and 4 other players scored 4 points each.


First half stats:
Nicolas Batum 15  points.
Tony Parker 13 points, 2 assists & 2 rebounds.
Martynas Pocius 13 points, 5-5 FG,
Linas Kleiza 6 points, 4 rebounds.


3rd quarter

After the first 6 minutes Lithuania has only scored 1 point while France has 8, Lithuania also started the quarter shooting 1-11 from the field.

With 2:18 remaining, France has outscored Lithuania 15-6.  Lithuania is 0-5 from three and can't make a shot to save their life.

End of 3rd:  France 59, Lithuania 52

France due to playing spectacular defense,  outscored Lithuania 20-9 in the period.   Boris Diaw lead France to a late 10-2 run.

4th quarter

7:38-  Lithuania is taking the ball to the hoop, but have been denied twice at the rim  by Nicolas Batum. Boris Diaw has been huge for France, Diaw dished the ball to Kevin Seraphin for an alley oop dunk and also drove to the basket for a layup.  Lithuania has shot 4-19 in the 2nd half so far.   France leads 65-54

With 5:17 to go in the quarter, France leads 70-59. Nando De Colo gave France a spark with 5 consecutive points & Boris Diaw is having something to do with almost every  France possession of the quarter, Tony Parker has been quiet.

After being down by double figures almost all of the quarter, Lithuania starting making some shots and got the lead down to 6 points, however, Tony Parker who had been quiet, scored three baskets and ended Lithuania's hope of making a comeback.  Linas Kleiza and Simas Jasaitis tried to keep Lithuania in the game, Jasaitis got some three pointers to go down, but it wasn't enough.
 

Final score:  France 82, Lithuania 74

France

Tony Parker 25 points (9-15 FG), 5 boards, 2 assists
Boris Diaw 10 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds.
Nicolas Batum 21 points, 6 rebounds.

Lithuania
Linas Kleiza 17 points and 7 rebounds.
Martynas Pocius 15 points
Simas Jasaitis  11 points.

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Quick Recap: Olympics Day #2

Russia 73 - China 54

Russia had yet another strong defensive effort against  China, they allowed the Chinese to score just 54 points (Yi Jianlian had 30 against Spain)  in the game and didn't let them reach 20 points in any of the quarters.  Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved, Sasha Kaun and Timofey Mozvov had 53 points between them while China had 54.  Yi Jianlian, China's best scorer, only had 16 points.

Spain 82 - Australia 70

Spain didn't started the game that well, they missed Juan Carlos Navarro's offense terribly in the game. Australia kept the game close for two quarters, but Rudy Fernandez exploded in the third quarter, he made three shots from downtown, he finished with 17 points and the Gasol brothers combined for 29 points.  Patty Mills shot 5-16 from the field and only scored 11 points.

Lithuania 72 - Nigeria 53

Lithuania took advantage of Nigeria's poor shooting right from the start. Nigeria made 1 out of 16 three pointers and shot a bad percentage from the line.  Lithuania was lead by Linas Kleiza 11 points and Darius Songaila 12, however, Jonas Valanciunas kept struggling for the second straight game. Ike Diogu had another double double for Nigeria with 12 points and 10 boards.

Brazil  67 - Great Britain 62


Tiago Splitter lead Brazil with 21 and 6, this game was much closer than what everyone was anticipating, the Brazilians scored just 4 points in the first quarter and shot horribly from the three point line, they made 3 out of 22 attempts.  Luol Deng had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.

France 71 - Argentina 64

This was the first time Spurs teammates, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, played against each other and they both had  very good games.  Ginobili scored 26 points to lead Argentina in scoring, but Tony Parker saved his best for last, despite shooting a horribly 4 for 17 from the field,  Parker had 11 out of his 17 points in the 4th quarter to beat Argentina. Luis Scola struggled against France's athleticism, he finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

USA 110 - Tunisia 63

The Americans weren't playing a smart game in the beginning of the game and it showed, Tunisia had the lead more that once in the first quarter, including a 15-13 lead.  Coach K had enough of his team coasting and once he brought the bench into the game, the game was over for Tunisia.  Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love had 16 points and Kevin Durant had a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Makrem  Ben Romdhane had a good game with 22 and 12 for Tunisia.

Standings

Group A

United States                    2-0                              France                                1-1

Argentina                          1-1                              Lithuania                             1-1

Nigeria                             1-1                              Tunisia                                 0-2

Group B

Spain                              2-0                                China                                 0-2

Brazil                              2-0                                Australia                             0-2    

Russia                             2-0                                Great Britain                       0-2

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