Call me a glutton for punishment
but I woke up early enough Saturday morning to watch the live broadcast of the
final 1 ½ quarters of the United States’
bronze medal-winning performance over
Argentina in the
World Championships.
OK, I’ve got to get this one out of
the way:
How long will it be before one of
the corporations that LeBron James shills for spins an ad with a “LeBronze
medal’’ dangling from his neck?
Sorry . . . I gave into the
temptation.
But the
U.S. squad
played with the kind of resolve, and approach, it will need to leave
China with gold
medals two years hence.
The defense (especially away from
the ball, where
Greece cut them
to ribbons the night before in the semifinals) was much better than at any point
in the competition.
And, offensively, the shot
selection (until Saturday, everyone was guilty of “settling” for far too many
shots behind the 3-point arc) and patience that were mostly missing even during
the hammering of the likes of
Australia and
Senegal were
allies in the 96-81 victory over
Argentina.
Assuming the core of the team that
went 8-1 in
Japan is still
wearing Red, White and Blue uniforms in
Beijing in 2008, the
USA will still
be considered a relatively solid favorite to go unbeaten.
That, of course, is going on the
assumption that James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul are going
to become much more solid defenders than they were in Japan, and that Dwight Howard – under-utilized inside
in Japan – will evolve into Mike Krzyzewski’s primary low-post scoring threat two years from now.
And don’t discount Shane Battier and Kirk Hinrich, either. Without their play,
the team wouldn’t have medaled. And it probably would have lost to
Greece by 15
points.
Another interesting dynamic: What
role will Kobe Bryant play in
2008? And what will his role be
with the team that will have to play in
Venezuela next
summer just to qualify for the right to play in
Beijing?
BOUNCING AROUND THE
COUNTRY
*According to Scout.com’s Dave Telep, guards Eric Gordon (Indianapolis North
Central) and Derrick Rose (Chicago
Simeon) were on campus at Indiana
University Friday.
If I were an
Illinois fan – or coach – I
wouldn’t feel real confident about the commitment Gordon made to the Illini on
Nov. 28 of last year until he signs a national letter of intent this coming
November.
On second thought, I wouldn’t feel
confident that he’s going to play for
Illinois until I see him taking
the court for Coach Bruce Weber in
November of 2007.
*The Golden Warriors’ decision to
fire Mike Montgomery meant
Montgomery will pick up $5 million
from the Warriors for not coaching
the franchise over the next two seasons.
That’s what I call a great
gig.
It also meant that
Montgomery will be at the top of the
“wish lists” for school presidents and athletic directors looking for coaches
next spring.
If I had to wager a buck on the
question, I’d say “Yeah, I think he’ll be coaching on the college level
again”.
But it’s difficult to imagine that
he would stray too far away from
California if he decides to coach
again.
*I’ve got a hunch that the guy
joining Dwight Howard as one of the
centers on the 2008
U.S. Olympic
team will be Greg Oden, a freshman
at Ohio
State this season but a guy who
almost certainly will have wrapped up his rookie season in the NBA before
heading to Beijing.
*UCLA,
Arizona and
Kansas are also listed as his
finalists.
But I wonder how long will 6-8 Kyle Singler (South
Medford in Oregon)
wait before committing to Duke?
*Another reason why
Pittsburgh will be favored to win
the Big East Conference: the addition of swingman Mike Cook to Coach Jamie Dixon’s roster.
The 6-4 Cook averaged 12.8 points,
3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists over 55 games during the 2003-05 seasons at
East Carolina.
Tack on underrated (nationally)
freshmen Gilbert Brown and Austin Wallace to a roster that
includes the likes of Aaron Gray and
Sam Young and it’s reasonable to
believe that this will be the best Pitt team ever.
Inducted into the USBWA Hall of
Fame in April, 2005, Frank Burlison is Scout.com’s national basketball expert and is
also a columnist for the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram. He can be reached at
frank.burlison@presstelegram.com. Read more of Burlison’s pieces at
www.frankhoops.com