[Video via Docksquad Sports]

Team USA overcame a sluggish first half to defeat China 101-70 in Beijing.  The United States struggled from outside, but were able to capitalize on their superior athleticism and pressure defense in the second half.

Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-7 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.  LeBron James scored 18 points on 8-of-12 from the field, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 3 assists, and tallied 3 blocks.  Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant paced the US with 13 points a piece.

Team USA shot 38-of-70 from the field, but connected on only 7 of their 24 three-point attempts.  Bryant was 1-of-7 from behind the arc and took at least three ill-advised three-point shots.

Defensively, Team USA was solid, but not spectacular.  The United States had trouble defending the 3-point line early, as China opened the contest 5-of-7 from the three-point line.  Team USA's defensive intensity was good, but their rotations were slow at times.  Wade overplayed the passing lanes twice and gave up three 3-point baskets by failing to stick with his defensive assignment.

The United States was shaky offensively, but their ball movement improved when Coach K went with his two point guard lineup featuring Chris Paul at the point guard position and Deron Williams at shooting guard.  Williams applied great ball pressure and Paul had 6 assists in the contest.

There is plenty of reason for optimism after a 31-point victory.

But I'm still concerned about a few things:

• Outside shooting.  Team USA is 10-of-42 from the 3-point line over their last two games.  The reason is simple:  Michael Redd is the United States' only catch-and-shoot threat.  The international 3-point line is 20 feet, 6 inches, that's roughly three feet shorter than the NBA 3-point line.  Dwyane Wade and LeBron James haven't fine-tuned their mid-range games.  Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony have perfected their mid-range jumpers, but both players do their damage off the dribble or fading away instead of squaring up and measuring themselves from that distance.  The United States can get away with shooting poorly from outside against the likes of Australia and China because they can make up the difference with easy baskets off of turnovers.  But Spain, Greece, and Argentina will take care of the basketball.  Spain, Greece, and Argentina will also pack the paint and force the United States to connect from outside.  Kobe Bryant has to take better shots and shoot a better percentage from beyond the arc.

• Carmelo Anthony has failed to get on track.  Anthony was 0-for-3 from the field against China.  To be fair, Anthony was whistled for several bogus fouls.  Carmelo was also yanked at one point in favor of Kobe Bryant after he appeared to give an official an earful after being assessed a foul.  Dwyane Wade has done a fantastic job of picking up the slack by scoring in transition and creating turnovers.  But the United States is going to need Anthony's mid-range, half-court game before the Olympics have concluded.

• Offensive continuity.  Team USA failed to run any semblance of an offense to begin the contest.  The United States started the second half with two straight pick-and-roll possessions for Kidd and James that yielded a dunk for Bryant and a trip to the line for Anthony.  Kidd and James are Team USA's best playmakers.  I'd like to see more pick-and-roll opportunities for both players.

• Deron Williams needs more minutes.  Williams has been Team USA's best point guard thus far.  He's done an excellent job of pushing the ball in transition and he's been the best defender out of the United States' point guard triumvirate.  Paul had 6 assists against China, and Kidd was effective in pushing the pace, but Williams has the best skill set for international play.  At some point, Coach K is going to have choose a backup point guard to make more minutes for Michael Redd, he should choose Williams over Chris Paul.

Much has been made of Carmelo Anthony being the "best player in international basketball."  But LeBron James was the star today and may end up the MVP of Team USA.  At 6-9, 260 pounds, James can play all five positions in international play.  NBA basketball is about isolation and specialization.  The international game is about versatility.  And with his combination of size, speed, and court awareness, LeBron is a perfect match.

James had the play of the game - on both ends.  Offensively, James caught an alley-oop pass from Wade and slammed the ball home while drawing the foul.  Defensively, he had an awe-inspiring block where he skied to grab a shot attempt with two hands before it hit the backboard.

LeBron has also established himself as the vocal leader of Team USA.

All in all, it was an impressive performance for the United States.  But it's important to consider the quality of their opponent.  The competition will improve over the next two weeks.  If the 'Redeem Team' is to win the gold medal, they will have to play much better than they did today.

(Photo by REUTERS/Danny Moloshok)

BallerBlogger.com

I've watched thousands of basketball games.  And I'll watch thousands more.  Some of the games I've watched have been more memorable than others.  I'll never forget Team USA's 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico four years ago.  Puerto Rico packed the paint against the United States in that contest and dared Team USA to fire away from outside.  The United States responded by shooting 3-of-24 from 3-point line.  I'm not prone to emotional outbursts while watching basketball, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I was screaming at the television during that game.  I remember Puerto Rican guard Carlos Arroyo 'popping' his jersey at Team USA -- his team up 20.  I'm still frustrated and disappointed about that loss.

Frustrated because the team we sent to Athens wasn't comprised of the best our country had to offer.  Disappointed because Larry Brown made himself larger than the team he was hand picked to coach.  Team USA couldn't hit from long-distance because their best shooter was sitting on the bench.  Through six prior exhibition games, Carmelo Anthony was the 2004 team's third leading scorer (behind Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson).  But when Olympic play began, Brown chose to play Richard Jefferson (who had two of his shot attempts hit the side of the backboard against Puerto Rico) and Shawn Marion at small forward.  Brown started Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury in the backcourt.  Iverson and Marbury were incapable of creating for their teammates -- while LeBron James -- Team USA's best playmaker, rode the pine next to Carmelo.

Granted, James and Anthony were wet behind the ears rookies in 2004.  Even still, they were twice the players that Richard Jefferson, Shawn Marion, Allen Iverson, and Stephon Marbury were.  Why did Brown ignore the obvious and play lesser players?  Brown shortened his bench because of his well-publicized disdain for young players.  And he didn't stop there, he also took every opportunity to berate his players in the media and criticize the player selection committee.

Mark Kriegel of Foxsports.com wrote an article recently that questioned the importance of winning gold in this summer's Olympics.  Kriegel asked Kobe Bryant, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony if winning the gold medal would mean more than an NBA championship.  All of the players agreed that they'd choose a gold medal over an NBA championship.  Kriegel didn't "buy it."

Kriegel even admitted to taking "perverse satisfaction in the declining fortunes of Team USA."  He's not alone.  Anti-American basketball sentiment has permeated message boards and NBA related blogs and articles for quite some time.  I know there are a few bad apples in today's game that feed the arrogant, selfish, stereotype of American born basketball players.   The 2000 and 2004 Olympic teams did little to disprove that perception.  The 2004 team in particular displayed terrible body language, attitude, and sportsmanship.

That's why the 2008 games are so important.  Basketball may be the world's game, but it's important that the United States prove that we play it better than anybody.  And that we play it the right way.  With humility and respect for our opponents.  In Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, Team USA sports the two greatest players in the world.  In Coach Krzyzewski, we have one of the finest coaches in all of basketball.  There's no excuses this time around.

I've never played in the NBA or the Olympics and I never will.  But I'm as big a fan of the game of basketball as anyone.  I've watched my favorite NBA team win championships, lose in the Finals, miss the playoffs, rebuild, and return to the Finals only to lose again.  I've dealt with the highs and lows that have accompanied each of those moments.  But if given the opportunity, I'd trade every NBA championship of the past and every NBA championship of the future for a gold medal in Beijing.

BallerBlogger.com

The Boston Celtics are the 2008 NBA champions. Congratulations to the Celtics and their fans.

I didn't pick the Celtics to win the NBA championship. I picked the Lakers over the Celtics in 6 games. But I did pick Boston to advance out of the Eastern Conference before the season began. I broke down the teams I considered to be championship contenders two months ago yesterday.

My concerns with the Lakers (inside scoring, defense) came to the forefront versus the Celtics. Pau Gasol wilted under the pressure and Paul Pierce TORCHED Radmonovich and Walton. When Pierce and Allen penetrated the defense, there was no one to protect the basket.

My only concern with the Celtics was their coaching staff. I wasn't convinced that Doc Rivers was capable of making the in-game adjustments that would be necessary to win the NBA championship.

I was wrong.

Doc Rivers was more than capable. Not only did he make perfect adjustments but he outcoached Phil Jackson -- a championship strategist with 9 rings. Rivers was inspirational. He implored his team to "never stop believing" and to "never give up." The Celtics were an extension of him. They followed his lead in fighting back from a 24-point deficit in Game 4. Looking back, the Celtics won the NBA championship that night.

In total, I missed four picks in the 2008 NBA playoffs. I picked the Wizards to beat the Cavaliers, the Mavericks to beat the Hornets, the Magic to beat the Pistons, and the Lakers to beat the Celtics.

But the only pick I regret making was the Mavs over the Hornets. Honestly, I hadn't watched the Hornets as much during the regular season as I probably should have. New Orleans was a great team and would have matched up well against the Los Angeles Lakers. Tyson Chandler and David West would have been a nightmare matchup for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Especially considering Gasol and Odom's struggles versus Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett.

The Cleveland Cavaliers struggled towards the end of the season before being awoken by the mindless trash-talk of DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas. Arenas' injury didn't help the Wizards cause either.

Match-ups (the Pistons and Cavaliers were better defensively than the Lakes) played a part in Boston's early round struggles. But the Celtics simply weren't as good in the opening rounds as the team that won 66 regular season games. To their credit, they got stronger as the playoffs progressed -- and they learned to win on the road in the process.

The Celtics won the first two rounds with only 2/3 of their 'Big 3'. Ray Allen struggled mightily versus the Hawks, Cavs, and through the first five games versus the Pistons but increased his shooting percentage in each round. Allen shot 50% from the field and 52% from the 3-point line versus LA.

Ray was every bit as deserving of MVP as Paul Pierce.

All in all, it was a fitting ending to a season for the ages. With no games scheduled for tonight, I'm already getting the basketball withdrawals. Thankfully, the Olympics are right around the corner!

First round: 6-2

• Picks

Second round: 3-1

• Spurs vs. Hornets
• Magic vs. Pistons
• Lakers vs. Jazz
• Boston vs. Cleveland

Conference Finals: 2-0

• Celtics vs. Pistons
• Lakers vs. Spurs

NBA Finals: 0-1

• Lakers vs. Celtics
  

Prognostication results: 11-4

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In a four-page letter released Tuesday, Tim Donaghy, said that two officials conspired to fix the outcome of a 2002 playoff series and influenced several other post- and regular-season games.

Court documents filed by Donaghy's lawyer detailed the "inner-workings" of a plot in which top league executives used referees to manipulate the games. Donaghy claims two referees were "company men" whose job was to extend a playoff series in 2002 to a seventh game.

The playoff series in question is the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.

"Personal fouls (resulting in obviously injured players) were ignored even when they occurred in full view of the referees," the document says of the unnamed series. "Conversely, the referees called made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw opportunities to Team 6."

Two players from Team 5 fouled out in the game, the document said, and the "referees' favoring of Team 6 led to that team's victory that night." Team 6 also went on to win Game 7 of the series, according to the document.

My advice: Don't take Tim Donaghy's statement as truth.

Read the recaps. Study the boxscores. Watch the game again. Look at the series as a whole.

Come to your own conclusion.

For instance, everyone knows that the Lakers owned a 40-25 free throw advantage in Game 6 -- including a staggering 27 attempts in the 4th quarter.

But did you know that "Six of the 27 free throws the Lakers shot were intentional fouls to extend the game, and 10 were less-valuable Shaq attempts?" - Professional NBA gambler Haralabos Voulgaris as reported to Henry Abbott of True Hoop

"Take those out, and an 11-9 disparity doesn't seem as egregious." - Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don't Lie

O'Neal shot the bulk of those free throws and finished the game 13-of-17 (77%) from the free throw line.

If the game was fixed, how anyone could put faith in O'Neal to shoot 13-of-17 from the line and win the game at the charity stripe is beyond me.

Especially since he shot just 58% during the regular season and had hit only two free throws heading into the 4th quarter of Game 6.

After fouling out in Game 6, Divac said, "I knew before the game I'd be out of it. (O'Neal) went out (on fouls) up there (in Sacramento). It had to be the same down here."

Divac's explanation is the most logical explanation for Game 6 and for countless other conspiracy theories.

It's a matter of make-up calls and homecourt advantage.

There were numerous blown calls in Game 5. The Kings received a 33-23 free throw advantage on the Lakers homecourt. The Lakers were called for 7 more personal fouls. Shaq fouled out with 6 minutes remaining.

Officials are human. They make mistakes. It's impossible to call a perfect game. If all the fouls that should be called -- were called -- the game would come to a standstill nearly every time down the floor.

The best we can hope for is consistency.

But there are bound to be calls where one team gets the benefit of the doubt. In those situations, the home team receives that benefit -- and rightfully so.

If team 'a' receives the benefit from the officiating in one game, you can bet that team 'b' will receive the benefit of the doubt in the next game.

Tim Donaghy didn't officiate the Kings-Lakers Game 6. If he had officiated it, his accusations could be substantiated.

Without having been there, I find it hard to believe Donaghy has actual evidence to back up these claims.

Instead, I think this is a sad-sacked effort to drag the NBA through the mud with the hopes of receiving a reduced sentence.

Donaghy is admitting his guilt while trying to insinuate that he's a product of a disgraced system.

Foxsports has a poll up asking fans:

"Do you believe the 2002 NBA Western Conference finals were fixed?"

One-hundred forty-six thousand, five-hundred and sixty-four people have voted thus far.

Seventy-nine percent responded yes.

Twenty-one percent responded no.

The court of public opinion has spoken.

The damage has already been done.

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