Johnny Hoops

Euroleague and Spanish ACB contributors needed.

2012-08-31T20:48:00.000-04:00

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

2012-08-22T03:09:00.002-04:00

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.

2012-08-13T05:39:00.000-04:00

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.

2012-08-10T08:44:00.004-04:00

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.

2012-08-07T07:24:00.000-04:00

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.

2012-08-07T07:19:00.000-04:00

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.

2012-08-04T13:09:00.001-04:00

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

2012-08-03T19:24:00.000-04:00

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.

2012-08-02T05:59:00.003-04:00

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

2012-08-02T03:12:00.000-04:00

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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Olympics Day #2 Group A: Argentina - France instant recap.

2012-07-31T16:47:00.000-04:00

1st Quarter

France leads 19-12 after the first 10 minutes. Nicolas Batum got a dunk in the first possession and that seemed to get him going, he added two three pointers along with the dunk for 8 points in the quarter. Tony Parker has been struggling with his shot, but still has taken the ball to the hoop, penetrating and dishing the ball to teammates. Gelabale contributed with a three pointer and Turiaf played good defense on Luis Scola.

Argentina couldn't get any offense whatsoever, Luis Scola and Manu Ginobili each scored 4 points apiece, Carlos Delfino couldn't knock down a three pointer. Argentina had long droughts without scoring & Scola couldn't get into his spots like he did against Lithuania.

2nd Quarter

Argentina started the quarter with a 6-0 run until Nando de Colo made a three pointer and stopped the run. After the first five minutes, Argentina has outscored France 12 to 5, looked like Argentina was closing the gap, but Kevin Seraphin started dominating the inside and France took a 9 point lead in the quarter.   Despite the lead, Argentina hung around, they didn't get anyone going and made just one three pointer. But they made some free throws, tough defense and that was enough. France leads 32-29 after two quarters of play.

Halftime Stats:
Manu Ginobili (ARG) 8 points
Luis Scola (ARG)        6 points.
Tony Parker (FRA)      4 points, 2 assists.
Nicolas Batum (FRA) 10 points & 6 rebounds.
Kevin Seraphin (FRA) 6 Points

3rd Quarter

The energy level picked up during this quarter, Gelabale continued his hot shooting by making yet another three and a two point field goal, Nando De Colo also made his second triple of the game. Argentina got more contributions from Scola, Prigioni and Ginobili, they have been playing with more efficiency than in the first half.

Manu Ginobili scored 12 points in the quarter, he took over the game, he hit a three, drove to the basket for layups and also made his free throws. France still leads the game, 55-53 at the end of three. Manu and De Colo (Both Spurs) are leading their respective teams in scoring.

4th Quarter

After two minutes without any scoring, Nicolas Batum returned from the bench and immediately hit a three pointer, followed by a jump shot by Gelabale. Manu Ginobili answered France run's by hitting a three, but Tony Parker made two straight baskets to give France a 6 point lead with less than 4 minutes to play.

France took a 67-58 lead and after a few unsuccessful tries Manu Ginobili made a three pointer, Scola got fouled twice and with 1:14 left to play, France lead has being cut to 5.    Tony Parker missed a jumper that would have given France the chance to be up 7 and he didn't, however, after missing the jumper he redeemed himself by stealing the ball right out of Scola's hand and then lobbing the ball to an alley oop to Kevin Seraphin.

Argentina couldn't convert three pointers to bring the lead down, France made their free throws and also got the win 71- 64.   Argentina only scored 11 points in the whole 4th quarter, Tony Parker had 11 in the quarter for France. Manu Ginobili finished with 26 points

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Olympics Day #2 Group B: Spain - Australia instant recap.

2012-07-31T08:12:00.001-04:00

1st Quarter

9:02 - After a series of nice passes, Jose Calderon found himself open for the layup and scored Spain's first basket.

5:49 - After two Pau Gasol free throws, the game is tied at 6. Not much offense happening so far, a lot of easy missed shots.

3:04 - Spain isn't running back on defense, they are getting beat with backdoor plays & are not defending like they are capable off. Australia leads 12-10

1:22 - Sergio Scariolo looking for a spark brought Sergio Rodriguez, Fernando Sam Emeterio and Serge Ibaka into the game. The move immediately proved to be a good one and Ibaka got an and one, however, they are still down 17-13.

An alley oop from Matthew Dellavadova to Aron Baynes gives Australia a 19-14 lead after the 1st quarter.

2nd Quarter

7:27 - Timeout Australia. Spain is back now with the lead 22-21, Patty Mills got two fouls early in the first quarter and haven't played in awhile.

6:16 - An alley oop from Felipe Reyes to Pau Gasol gives Spain it's biggest lead of the game (5 points)

2:45 - Both teams have combined for 3 three pointers in a row (Sam Emeterio, Joe Ingles & Rudy Fernandez) Spain leads 34-28.

1:51 - Sloppy play by Spain, leads Patty Mill to two baskets in a row and make this a two point game again.

End of 2nd: Spain 37, Australia 32.

* Rudy Fernandez suffered a blow to the head with a camera while saving the ball out of bounds, He went to the bench with a minute remaining in the second quarter.

Pau Gasol has 11 points for Spain & Joe Ingles 9 for Australia.

3rd Quarter

7:56 - Only Marc Gasol has scored so far, he hit a fade away about a minute ago.

7:20 - Three pointers by Rudy Fernandez and Pau Gasol has the Spaniards leading by 13, their biggest lead of the game.   Spain has outscored Australia 8-0 in the period.

6:13 - After Australia finally made their first basket of the period, no one ran back and Pau Gasol got an easy dunk at the other end which causes Australia to call a timeout.

4:00 Australia has only made two baskets and are down 17.

2:40 - Rudy hits his third three pointer of the quarter. he shot it wit hot hesitating and they have a comfortable lead now.   Spain is winning this quarter 22-5.

1:04 - Spain leads by 20. 62-42

End of 3rd: Spain 63, Australia 42.    Spain won the quarter 26-10, lead by Rudy Fernandez and Pau Gasol.

4th Quarter

8:16 - Sergio Rodriguez found Serge Ibaka for an alley oop, which he completed, Ibaka almost killed the rim there.

7:34 - Patrick Mills missed a wide open three and Ibaka received the ball once again and had a thunderous jam. It's been the Serge Ibaka show here in the 4th, playing with aggression and giving it all out.

5:49 - Australia quickly recovered and scored 7 quick points, Spain still leads by 16.

2:00 - Australia keeps playing to the final buzzer, they have cut the lead down to 10 with exactly two minutes to go in the game. Australia decided to play aggressive and go to the hoop when they were down nearly 30, instead of doing it since the beginning.

Spain got a little too distracted in the fourth quarter, lucky for them time was running out and it was impossible for Australia to catch them all the way.

Final score: Spain 82, Australia 70

Pau Gasol 20 points & 4 boards
Rudy Fernandez 17 points, 6 assist & 3 rebounds
Marc Gasol 12 points & 7 rebounds
Felipe Reyes 7 points and 12 rebounds

Patty Mills had 11 points, Brad Newley and Joe Ingles did their part by scoring 12 points apiece.

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Olympics Day #2 Group B: Russia - China instant recap.

2012-07-31T05:43:00.001-04:00

1st Quarter

Russia finished with a 20-12 lead after the game first 10 minutes, five of Russia's seven field goals were assisted (Alexey Shved got 3 assists) Russia's defense was suffocating China.

Alexey Shved scored 5 points, 3 assists & Andrei Kirilenko had 4 points, 3 rebounds and a block. Yi Jianlian tried to keep China afloat with 4 points and 4 boards.

2nd Quarter

7:56 - Shved dishes the ball to Ak-47 for a basket and a foul, this duo keeps looking for each other and doing so perfectly. Russia leads 23-15

5:57 - A Timofey Mozgov dunk gives Russia their biggest lead of the game, 30-18. Russsia's cutting to the basket, running their offense for easy layups and open baskets, however, China is struggling to even get a clean look, Russia's defense is very good.

4:31 - Yi Jianlian is 2 out of 6 from the field, not exploding offensively like he did against Spain, Russia has him in check.

2:10 - This is a no contest, Russia has stolen the ball at least 3 times in a row against the Chinese, Russia's being doing alley oops, trying passes behind their backs, they couldn't be more relaxed. Andrei Kirikenko has 13 points, 6-9 FG.

End of 2nd quarter - Shved missed a three at the last second and Russia goes to the locker room with a 40-25 lead. Kirilenko lead all scorers with 15.

Russia out rebounded China by 11 (28-17) and forced them to commit 9 turnovers, just one less than all the baskets they made in the first half (10)

Impressive stat: Kirilenko, Shved and Khryapa have scored 25 points, grabbed 15 boards and dished out 7 assists. China as a team has 25 points, 17 rebounds and 4 assists.

3rd Quarter

9:00 - Sun Yue got a beautiful and took layup around AK-47.

6:13 - Russia leads 49-30. Last 2 Russia baskets have been a three by Vitaly Fridzon and a pretty well executed give and go.

5:00 - China started the quarter by making their first 2 baskets, for 5 quick points, but haven't scored in at least 3 minutes.

2:07 - Sasha Kaun has scored 7 points in the quarter (Including last 2 baskets) he's getting really good position and there's nothing China can do. Kaun has 7 points, while China as a team have 9.

China got 5 quick points in the last minute of the quarter and cut the lead from 27 to 22. China finished with 15 points in the quarter, however, there were times i didn't even thought they were going to reach 10.

End of 3rd quarter: Russia 61, China 39.

4th Quarter

9:00 - Yi Anlian took his frustration out and put Timofey Mozgov on a poster. China's down 21 (63-42)

2:30 - Russia has an 18 points lead (69-51) China has actually outscored Russia this quarter 12 to 8.

1:35 - Shved dunked the ball and brings Russia up by 20 again. Biggest lead was 27

Final score: Russia 73, China 54.

China scored 12 points in the first quarter, 13, 14 & 15 in the other three. When was the last time something like that happened in a game? Really a bizarre stat line.

Andrei Kirilenko ended up with 16 points & 9 boards, 14 and 6 for Shved, 13 and 6 for Kaun and 10 points for Mozgov, Yi Jianlian had 16 points and 7 boards for China

China now falls to two losses and no wins, while Russia stays undefeated.

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Quick Recap: Olympics Day #1

2012-07-30T18:44:00.001-04:00

Nigeria 60, Tunisia 56.

Nigeria and Tunisia played in their first ever Olympics, but only one team could come up with their first ever win and that was Nigeria. Ike Diogu had a double double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, his teammate Al Farouq Aminu almost got a double double himself, but failed to grabbed that 10th board, he ended up with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Brazil 75, Australia 71.

Brazil's depth demonstrated it will play a key role for them in this tournament. Barcelona Regal's player, Marcelinho Huertas, had a double double with 15 point & 10 assists, Leandro Barbosa scored 16 and Anderson Varejao finished with 12 points and 7 boards. Australia made a good come back in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to two points, but couldn't take the lead. Patty Mills scored 20 points, David Andersen 14 points, 8 rebounds & Joe Ingles scored 15 for Australia.

USA 98, France 71.

The United States won the first quarter by a single point, and that was taking France's best punch of the day. Lebron James finished with 9 points, 8 assists, 5 boards & 2 steals. Kevin Durant scored 22 points and grabbed 9 boards. Tony Parker had a bad game with only 10 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist for France.

Spain 97, China 81.

Pau Gasol had 21 points & 11 rebounds, Juan Carlos Navarro scored 14, Jose Calderon scored 12 and Spain was too much for China. Spain started off slow in the first period and was only up by two, but they changed that in a hurry by scoring 34 points in the 2nd quarter and they didn't looked back. China's only consistant scoring came from Yi Anlian he played fantastic on the offensive end, hitting mid range jumpers and some impressive dunks, he finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Russia 95, Great Britain 75.

The Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved show was a phenomenal display of basketball. Kirilenko had 35 points (14-17 FG) & 4 rebounds. Shved almost got a triple double, he finished the game with 16 points, 13 assists and 6 rebounds. Great Britain was no match for Russia, there only was so much Luol Deng could do for Great Britain. Deng had 26 points, but shot poorly from the field.

Argentina 102, Lithuania 79.

Argentina's golden generation proved they will keep playing with everything they have, just like they've shown us many times before. Luis Scola scored 32 points, Manu Ginobili had a double double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Carlos Delfino had 20 points (Including six three pointers) Argentina lead 51-39 at the half, but Lithuania couldn't stop them from scoring and lost the game by 23 points. Linas Kleiza scored 20 points and 7 rebounds & Paulius Jankunas contributed for 14 points for Lithuania.

Standings

Group A

United States 1-0 France 0-1

Argentina 1-0 Lithuania 0-1

Nigeria 1-0 Tunisia 0-1

Group B

Spain 1-0 China 0-1

Brazil 1-0 Australia 0-1

Russia 1-0 Great Britain 0-1

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NBA players in the Olympics.

2012-07-28T22:05:00.002-04:00

Many players from the national basketball Association not only compete against each other during the hard fought 82 games schedule, they also represent their national teams in international competitions such as the Olympics. There are 41 players that are part of the league or will be joining it this season competing in the event.

Argentina

Manu Ginobili San Antonio Spurs

Pablo Prigioni New York Knicks

Carlos Delfino Milwaukee Bucks

Luis Scola Phoenix Suns

Australia

Patty Mills San Antonio Spurs

Brazil

Leandro Barbosa Indiana Pacers

Anderson Varejao Cleveland Cavaliers

Nene Washington Wizards

Tiago Splitter San Antonio Spurs

China

Yi Jianlian Dallas Mavericks

France

Nicolas Batum Portland Trail Blazers

Nando de Colo San Antonio Spurs

Boris Diaw San Antonio Spurs

Tony Parker San Antonio Spurs

Kevin Seraphin Washington Wizards

Ronny Turiaf Los Angeles Clippers

Great Britain

Luol Deng Chicago Bulls

Joel Freeland Portland Trail Blazers

Lithuania

Linas Kleiza Toronto Raptors

Jonas Valanciunas Toronto Raptors

Nigeria

Al Farouq Aminu New Orleans Hornets

Russia

Alexey Shved Minnesota Timberwolves

Andrei Kirilenko Minnesota Timberwolves

Timofey Mozgov Denver Nuggets

Spain

Marc Gasol Memphis Grizzlies

Pau Gasol Los Angeles Lakers

Serge Ibaka Oklahoma City Thunder

Jose Calderon Toronto Raptors

Victor Claver Portland Trail Blazers

United States

LeBron James Miami Heat

Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers

Tyson Chandler New York Knicks

Carmelo Anthony New York Knicks

Anthony Davis New Orleans Hornets

Kevin Durant Oklahoma City Thunder

James Harden Oklahoma City Thunder

Russell Westbrook Oklahoma City Thunder

Andre Iguodala Philadelphia 76ers

Kevin Love Minnesota Timberwolves

Chris Paul Los Angeles Clippers

Deron Williams Brooklyn Nets

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London Olympics Preview

2012-07-26T20:59:00.001-04:00

The 2012 London Olympics start on Sunday the 29th until August 12. Twelve teams will be divided by two groups of 6 and only 4 of them will advance to the quarter finals.

Group A : USA, France, Argentina, Lithuania, Tunisia & Nigeria.
Group B: Spain, Brazil, Australia, China, Great Britain, Russia.

*I predict the ones in bold to advance to the quarter final stage.

Here's some information about all participant teams.

Argentina

*Argentina obtained it's first and only gold medal in basketball during the 2004 Athens Olympics by defeating Italy 89-64.

Argentina hopes to get back to the elite level they were at during the 2004 Olympics, which they got the gold medal. Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni are the only four members left from that squad, but they remain very effective. Although they haven't confirm or deny it, many people think this is the last run for them, they are the best group of basketball players Argentina has ever seen, they are called "The Golden Generation"

Roster

Centers
Juan Gutierrez
Martin Diario Leiva

Guards
Emanuel Ginobili
Pablo Prigioni
Carlos Delfino
Facundo Campazzo

Forwards
Luis Scola
Andres Nocioni
Leonardo Gutierrez
Marcos Mata
Martin Diario Leiva
Federico Kammerichs
Pancho Jasen

Coach: Julio Lamas

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Fabricio Oberto, Roman Gonzalez, Paolo Quinteros & Antonio Porta.

*Fabricio Oberto played in the 2011 Fiba Americas Championships, but couldn't participate in the Olympics due to personal problems.

How they got here: Argentina won the 2011 Fiba Americas played in Mar Del Plata, just in front of their own fans. Argentina went 9-1 in the tourney, the clincher game was against Puerto Rico, Argentina won 81-79 and then moved on to face Brazil in the final game. the Argentinians beat Brazil 80-75 & Luis Scola was named most valuable player, he averaged 21 ppg and 6 rebounds per game.

*Argentina celebrating their 2011 Fiba Americas win.

Brazil

*Brazil's last tournament win was in the 2009 Fiba Americas Championships.

Brazil has been a very solid basketball team over the last decade. They won the Fiba Americas 2009 Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico and they also finished in second place in the 2011 Fiba Americas Championships in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. Brazil's main problem has been consistency, they have a lot of talented players, but they have rarely played together on the same team. The Brazilians have everyone healthy this time around, minus Rafael Hettsheimeir, they are looking to prove they deserve to win a medal.

*Hettsheimer averaged 9 ppg and 4 rpg in the 2011 Fiba Americas, he won't be participating in the 2012 Olympics due to injury.

Consistency problems

2007 Fiba Americas Champiionships in Las Vegas.
Leandro Barbosa, Marcelo Huertas, Tiago Splitter & Nene represented their team, however, Anderson Varejao wasn't available.

2009 Fiba Americas Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao, Tiago Splitter and Marcelo Huertas were available, Nene didn't participate.

2010 World Championships in Turkey
Same situation as 2009, Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao, Tiago Splitter and Marcelo Huertas were available to play, Nene wasn't.

2011 Fiba Americas Championships in Marl Del Plata, Argentina.
Marcelo Huertas and Tiago Splitter got Brazil the Olympic clincher. Leandro Barbosa, Nene and Anderson Varejao sat out the tournament.

Roster

Centers
Caio Torres
Maybyner Nene

Guards
Leandro Barbosa
Alex Garcia
Marcelinho Huertas
Marcelo Machado
Raulzhinho Netto
Larry Taylor

Forwards
Anderson Varejao
Tiago Splitter
Guillherme Giovanonni
Marcus Vieira

Coach: Ruben Magnano (Coached Argentina in the 2004 Olympics)

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Everyone, this group of players haven't been in the Olympics.

How they got here: Brazil got the second spot in the London Olympics by ending in second place in the 2011 Fiba Americas. Brazil finished with 8 wins and only 2 losses, their 83-76 win over the Dominican Republic in the semifinals clinched their Olympic spot. Marcelo Machado scored 20 points and 5-8 from downtown in the victory. This will be Brazil's first Olympic appearance in 16 years.

*Most of the Brazilians got Mohawks as a result of clinching a spot in the 2012 Olympics.

United States

*The 2008 "Redeem Team" brought back the gold for the Americans, they had an 8 year drought without any Olympic gold medals. Dwyane Wade and Lebron James lead them in scoring with 16 PPG each.

After losing their first game ever in the Olympics with NBA talent in a 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico in Athens 2004 and finishing with a bronze medal, the United States knew they had to changed their approach to a more serious one. If they still had any doubts, Greece showed them enough was enough by beating them 101-95 in the 2006 World Championships in Japan and with that, the americans ended up with another bronze medal.

Starting in 2008, the United States brought their best players on every competition and they have gone undefeated since then. They won the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the World Championships in Turkey 2010.

They are expected to win every single game and bring yet another gold medal to the states, it will be a huge disappointment if they fail to get anything but the gold.

Roster

Centers
Tyson Chandler
Anthony Davis

Guards:
Kobe Bryant
Chris Paul
Deron Williams
Russell Westbrook
James Harden

Forwards:
Andre Iguodala
Kevin Love
Lebron James
Carmelo Anthony
Kevin Durant

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, Dwight Howard & Jason Kidd.

How they got here: By winning the 2010 World Championships in Turkey, the United States clinched a berth to play in the 2012 London Olympics. Team USA brought their "B" squad that featured Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom and many others.

*Kevin Durant lead the United States in the 2010 World Championships in Turkey with 23 PPG and 8 rebounds.

Spain

Spain have been the kings of Europe basketball the last few years (Runner up in Eurobasket 2007 and winners of Eurobasket 2009 and 2011 ) and also team USA biggest threat so far.

*Spain won Eurobasket 2009 in Poland. Pau Gasol averaged 19 PPG and 8 RPG.

*Spain won Eurobasket 2011 tournament in Lithuania. Juan Carlos Navarro (Middle) won the Most Valuable Player award. Navarro averaged 19 PPG and 3 APG.

Spain has done almost everything, the only thing they haven't done so far, it's getting a gold medal in the Olympics. Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka are the best front court in the world right now, Spain has the ability to play using their big men or use Juan Carlos Navarro from the perimeter, JCN is a living legend, one of the best Spaniards basketball players of all time. If any team can beat team USA for just one day only, it's them. Spain came close to beating the United States in Beijing 2008, 118-107, in perhaps the best gold medal game in the history of the Olympics, can they win it this time?

Roster

Centers
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol

Forwards
Serge Ibaka
Felipe Reyes
Victor Claver

Guards
Jose Calderon
Juan Carlos Navarro
Rudy Fernandez
Fernando San Emeterio
Sergio Rodriguez
Victor Sada
Sergio Llull

Coach: Sergio Scariolo

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Alex Mumbru, Carlos Jimenez, Ricky Rubio, Berni Rodriguez, Raul Lopez and Jorge Garbajosa.

*Ricky Rubio suffered a torn acl in March 2011 in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, he missed the last 2 months of the NBA season and will miss the Olympics as well.

France

*France is going to their first Olympics since 2000.

France is a team full of NBA experienced players, Tony Parker is their main player. He took the team on his shoulders and made sure France wasn't going to miss another Olympic appearance.

This version of France will have Nicolas Batum, Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw, Kevin Seraphin and the latest French player to make it into the NBA, Nando De Colo. However, one important player that won't be joining France in the Olympics will be center Joakim Noah, Noah injured his ankle during the Chicago Bulls first round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs. Mickael Pietrus, Rodrigue Beaubois and Ian Mahinmi won't be available for team France, those three players have been in and out of lineups with injury problems.

Roster

Center
Ronny Turiaf
Ali Traore

Forwards
Nicolas Batum
Boris Diaw
Mickael Gelabale
Yakhouba Diawara
Kevin Seraphin
Florent Pietrus

Guards
Tony Parker
Yannick Bokolo
Fabien Causeur
Nando De Colo

Coach: Vincent Collet

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here: France finished in second place in the Eurobasket 2011 tournament played in Lithuania. France only loss came to Spain in the final game 98-85. France beat Russia 79-71 in the semifinal game to clinched a spot in the Olympics. Tony Parker averaged 22 PPG and 5 APG & Joakim Noah made his debut with team France and averaged 9 PPG and 8 RPG.

Australia

Australia is a team that needs a lot of help in order to compete for a medal, they finished in 7th place in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and 10th in the Fiba World Championships in Turkey. The only competitions they dominate are the FIBA Oceania Championships in which they've finished first in 2005,2007, and 2011 and in second place in 2009.

Roster

Center
Aron Bayness
Aleks Maric

Forwards
David Andersen
Joe Ingles
Matt Nielsen
Mark Worthington
David Barlow

Guards
Adam Gibson
Matt Dellavedova
Peter Crawford
Patty Mills
Brad Newley

Coach: Brett Brown

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Andrew Bogut, Chris Anstey, C.J Brutton, Shawn Redhage, Glen Saville.

*Andrew Bogut played in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, he won't play in London due to various injuries.

How they got here: Australia won the 2011 Oceania Championships, they went undefeated. Patrick Mills averaged 14 PPG & 3 APG.

China

China qualified for the Olympics yet again, however, their goals of winning a medal in the Olympics remain very far away. China didn't win a medal when Yao Ming was there, now it will be even more difficult to win one without him. China has some talented players like Yi Anlian and Sun Yue.

Roster

Center
Max Zhang
Zhizhi Wang

Forwards
Fangyu Zhu
Shipeng Wang
Ding Jinhui
Zhou Peng
Jianlian Yi
Li Yi

Guards
Jianghua Chen
Aliun Guo
Wei Liu
Yue Sun

Coach: Bob Donewald Jr.

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Feng Du, Nan Li, Lei Wang, Yao Ming & Qinpeng Zhang.

* This will be China's first Olympic appearance without Yao Ming in over 16 years, Yao played in his first Olympic games in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

How they got here: China went 9-0 in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships, Yi Anlian was their best scorer, he averaged 17 PPG.

Russia

Russia isn't a lock to win a gold medal. the silver can be a stretch, but they can absolutely win the Bronze Russia has multiple players that can score, four of them averaged double digits in scoring in the 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament: Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved, Sasha Kaun and Vitaliy Fridzon . Russia always plays tough difficult defense on the opponents, very tough to score against them.

Roster

Center
Timofey Mozgov
Sasha Kaun

Forwards
Andrei Kirilenko
Semen Antonov
Sergey Karasev
Victor Khryapa
Sergei Monia
Anton Ponkrashov

Guards
Sasha Fridzon
Dmitriy Khvostov
Alexey Shved
Evgeny Voronov

Coach: David Blatt

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Sergey Bykov, J.R Holden, Victor Keyru, Nikita Morgunov, Zakhar Pashutin, Petr Samoylenko, Alexei Savrasenko & Andrey Vorontsevich.

*J.R Holden retired from Basketball and won't be playing in the Olympics. Holden played with Russia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

How they got here: After finishing a disappointing third place in the 2011 Lithuania Eurobasket Championship, Russia didn't get the spot to the London Olympics right away. However, due to finishing third they were one of the teams invited to play at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifiers in Venezuela.

Russia also finished in the top 3 in this tourney, but that was enough to get into London (Only 3 teams could get to London via the Olympic qualifiers) Andrei Kirilenko had a fantastic tournament, he averaged 16 PPG, 8 RPG & 4 APG, Alexey Shved averaged 11 PPG and 5 APG.

Great Britain

The last time Great Britain went to the Olympics in a basketball competition was in 1948, if that isn't saying much, i don't know what will. Great Britain depend on Luol Deng to do almost all the scoring for them, Joel Freeland helps on the inside more than the rest of their teammates, but they need more help, those two can't do it alone. In last year's Eurobasket 2011, Deng averaged 24 PPG and Freeland contribute with 11 PPG, nobody else averaged double figure scoring.

Roster

Center
Eric Boateng
Dan Clark

Forwards
Luol Deng
Joel Freeland
Pops Mensah Bonsu
Kieron Achara
Robert Archibald
Drew Sullivan

Guards
Andrew Lawrence

Mike Lenzly
Kyle Johnson
Nate Reinking

Coach: Chris Finch

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here: Great Britain finished in 13th place in last year's Eurobasket 2011 in Lithuania, but they got an automatic berth to the Olympics since they will be taking place in London.

Lithuania

* Sarunas Jasikevicius is the oldest member of the Lithuanian basketball team, this will be Jasikevicius 4th trip to the Olympics (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012)

Lithuania is always a threat to compete for a medal in any event they are in Since 2010, Lithuania has finished in the top 5 on every tournament they have played. They finished in third place in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey, 5th in last year's Eurobasket and first in the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Lithuanians have also finished 4th in the last two Olympics (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008) and they feel they have the right mix of older (Songaila, Jasikevicius, Kaukenas) and younger players (Valanciunas, Kalnietis, Kleiza & Pocius) to get a spot into the elite level and finally get the medial they deserve.

Roster

Center
Jonas Valanciunas
Robertas Javtokas

Forwards
Darius Songaila
Martynas Pocius
Paulius Jankunas
Linas Kleiza
Jonas Malaciunas

Guards
Sarunas Jasikevicius
Rimantas Kaukenas
Mantas Kalnietis
Deividas Dulkys
Tomas Delinkaitis

Coach: Kestutis Kemzura

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Simas Jasaitis, Darius Lavrinovic, Marius Prekevicius, Marijonas Petravicius, Mindaugas Lukauskis, Ksystof Lavrinovic.

How they got here: Lithuania finished 5th in last year's Eurobasket. However, they still had a chance to clinch in the 2012 FIBA Qualifying Tournament and they did exactly that by finishing 1st in the tournament.

Sarunas Jasikevicius averaged 11 points and 5 assists during the FIBA qualifiers & rising star Jonas Valanciuns ended up averaging 8 points and 4 rebounds.

Nigeria

Nigeria is a team that no one thought they could get into the Olympics, this is the first time they will be competing in an Olympics. They play as a team, no egos involved and they proved it could work. Nigeria has a lot of familiar names on their roster, Ike Diogu (played 5 years in the NBA), Tony Skinn (Starting point guard of the 2006 George Mason squad that reached the final four) Al Farouq Aminu (Selected 8th in the 2010 NBA draft by The Los Angeles Clippers)

Roster

Center
Olumide Oyedeji
Ejike Ugboaja

Forwards
Al-Farouq Aminu
Alade Aminu
Koko Archibong
Ike Diogu
Ekene Ibekwe
Derrick Obasohan
Richard Oruche

Guards
Tony Skinn
Champ Oguchi
Ade Dagunduro

Coach: Ayo Bakare

Gone from their last Olympic appearance: Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here: In a surprising and shocking turn of events, Nigeria clinched the third and final spot to play in the London Olympics by defeating the Dominican Republic, 88-73, in the 2012 FIBA Qualifying Tournament played earlier this year in Caracas, Venezuela. Ike Diogu was determined to get the win for Nigeria with 25 points and 10 rebounds. This is the first time in Olympic history that two African teams will be among the twelve teams playing in an Olympics. Ike Diogu averaged 17 PPG and 11 RPG and Al Farouq Aminu had 13 PPG and 5 RPG. in the Tournament.

Tunisia

Tunisia was the first African team to qualify to the London Olympics (Nigeria was the other) This will be Tunisia's first Olympic games in their team history, African basketball was dominated by Angola for more than 20 years, but Tunisia beat them during last year's Fiba Africa Championships 67-56 to the surprise of everyone.

Roster

Center
Salah Mejri

Forwards
Macram Ben Romdhane
Mohamed Ghyaza
Mohammed Hadidane
Amine Maghrebi
Radhouane Silmane

Guards
Omar Abada
Lassaad Chouaya
Mourad El Mabrouk
Marouan Kechrid
Marouan Laghnej
Amine Rzig

Coach: Adel Tlatli

Gone from their last Olympic Did not qualified to Athens 2004.

How they got here: Tunisia went 7-0 and ended up first in the 2011 Fiba Africa Championship. Maroaun Kechrid averaged 11 PPG and Macram Ben Romdhane averaged 13 PPG & 6 RPG.

Credit: Real GM for the team rosters.

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Lin is a Rocket.

2012-07-18T19:15:00.000-04:00

The Jeremy Lin saga in New York is now over. The Knicks decided not to match the three year, $25.1 million offer made by the Houston Rockets. The decision by the Knicks of not matching Jeremy Lin's contract is very odd, it doesn't make any sense.

Lin single handily put the New York Knicks in a position to succeed after the team was left for dead and falling out of the playoff picture pretty fast. One of the main reasons the Knicks didn't matched Lin's offer was because of the "Poison Pill" the Rockets made to Lin, the contract is set to give Lin 14.9 million during the third and final year of his contract, Knicks weren't so sure Jeremy was worth that, Carmelo Anthony called it "Ridiculous" so that's one player that wasn't too happy with it.

The Knicks traded for Raymond Felton to replace Lin. Felton played for the Knicks 2 seasons ago, but he isn't the same player as back then and also Mike Woodson wasn't the coach. It's unclear how Felton will fit in a Knicks team that still has players that always look for their shot first, Anthony, Stoudemire and JR Smith primarily.

Jeremty Lin has upside, he still has a chance to be a better player, he loved making his teammates better (Just ask Tyson Chandler) he wasn't scared of taking shots in pressure situations, i don't think Felton will play any better than what he's done in his career so far.

New York is now in a not so good situation at the point guard position, Raymond Felton averaged 11.4 Points per game, but played as horribly as any other PG in the league last year with the Portland Trailblazers, Jason Kidd also had a rough year in Dallas, avg 6 points and 5 assist and newly acquired Pablo Prigioni has been a solid point guard in Europe for many years, however, he hasn't played a minute of NBA basketball and that takes time to adjust no matter how good you are.

The Knicks made a big mistake not keeping Jeremy Lin.

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The Los Angeles Lakers sign Antawn Jamison.

2012-07-18T18:27:00.000-04:00

In order to improve the bench from last season, the Lakers reached an agreement with Antawn Jamison to a 1 year deal for the veterans minimum. Jamison played every game except one last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers and averaged 17.2 Points per game in 33 minutes.

Jamison is a capable scorer, he has averaged more than 15 points per game in at least 12 years of his NBA career, he will benefit from having players around him such as Steve Nash. Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. For the veterans minimum, Antawn Jamison is a low risk, high reward move. Los Angeles now has a player at the small forward position that won't hesitate to shoot when open and it won't make lakers fans cringe when he shoots. Another solid signing by Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak.

Source: Marc J. Spears/Yahoo Sports

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Amnesty victims.

2012-07-18T18:05:00.000-04:00

The deadline to amnesty players for the upcoming 2012-2013 NBA season was yesterday, but before time expired, there were some players let go at the last second.

The Washington Wizards let Andray Blatche go, he has still has 23 million dollars left on his contract. The Wizards didn't feel like Blatche was going to contribute anything to their team, they want to fill their squad with good young players or quality veterans, Blatche was neither.

In an effort to save some cap space, the Los Angeles Clippers waive forward Ryan Gomes. Gomes didn't fit in the Clippers plans anymore, he only averaged 2.3 points per game in only 32 games last season with the club. Gomes had 1 more year under contract worth 4 million.

The Denver Nuggets also used their amnesty clause on Chris Andersen, the move will give them space to sign former Minnesota player, Anthony Randolph. Andersen only played in 32 games last season and had an averaged of 5.3 points per game and 4.6 rebounds.

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Latest NBA free agency news.

2012-07-14T15:03:00.000-04:00

The Houston Rockets upgraded their offer sheet to Jeremy Lin, from 19 million over three years to 25 million over the same amount of years, including 15 million on his final and third year. The Knicks now have three days to match the offer, they are expected to do so.

Source: Howard Beck

The Philadelphia 76ers have reached an agreement with center Kwame Brown, for 2 years, 6 million. It will be interesting to see Kwame play under Doug Collins again, Brown already faced part of his old demons by playing with Michael Jordan's Bobcats two seasons ago.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski

Kyle Korver is heading to the Atlanta Hawks and the move could be part of a sign and trade with the newly acquired Kirk Hinrich.

Source: K.C Johnson

Chris Wilcox signed a one year deal, for the veteran minimum, to remain with the Boston Celtics. Wilcox missed almost all of last season with a heart condition (Enlarged aorta)

Source: The Boston Herald

Elton Brand was amnestied by the Philadelphia 76ers early in the week and the Dallas Mavericks claimed him off amnesty waivers. The Mavs will pay 2.1 million of his contract, while Philly will pay 16.1 million.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski

Luis Scola got amnestied by the Houston Rockets. The Rockets felt it was a necessary move in order to be in position to trade for Dwight Howard and some of the worse contracts Orlando has.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski

The Dallas Mavericks let Brendan Haywood go with their amnesty clause and signed Chris Kaman. Not only is Haywood out of town, Ian Mahinmi was traded to Indiana for Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones.

Source: Marc Stein

D.J Augustin and the Indiana Pacers reached an agreement for 1 year, 3.5 million.

Source: Mike Wells

Darko Milicic was another victim of the amnesty clause, the Timberwolves let him go. Darko had two years remaining on his NBA contract.

Source: Ric Bucher

J.J Hickson will stay with the Portland Trailblazers for one more year.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski

Gerald Green signed a three year deal with Indiana for 10 million.

Source: Mike Wells

After spending half a season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Ramon Sessions will sign a two year deal with the Charlotte Bobcats. Financial details are not yet known.

Source: Charlotte Observer

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Brasil is set for London.

2012-07-13T13:30:00.001-04:00

Marcelo Huertas

After beating Spain's team B and Argentina (without Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino) in the Eletrobras Super four tournament played in their hometown, Ruben Magnano, coach of the Brazilian national team named the 12 players that will officially represent Brazil in the London Olympics. The point guard positio duties will be divided between Marcelo Huertas, Larry Taylor and Raulzinho. Leandro Barbosa, Alex Garcia will spent most of their time as shooting guards. Veterans Marcelo Machado, Guillherme Giovannoni. and Marquinhos will be the small forwards. Nene, Anderson Varejao, Tiago Splitter and Caio Torres are going to be alternating in the power forward and center positions.

Marquinhos (Left) Coach Magnano with Larry Taylor.

Many are underestimating the Brazilians, they are one of the deepest teams in the Olympics, they have the perfect mix of veterans and younger players, they have a point guard that has been through every tough situation, a lot of shooters, post players and guys willing to do the dirty job. Brazil also can play many different styles of basketball, they can play faster with Leandro Barbosa, Marcelo Huertas or they can play methodically dumping the ball to Nene and Tiago Splitter.

L to R: Splitter, Giovannoni, Varejao, Garcia and Machado.

Brazil classified in the Olympics by coming in second in the FIBA Americas Championships last year despite not having players such as Nene, Leandro Barbosa & Anderson Varejao. Brasil almost won the whole thing, but Argentina was able to defeat them. These are the first Olympics for Brasil since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. This group is eager to get a medal, and coach Magnano wants to prove he can also win a gold medial with the Brazilians, he won a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics when he was coaching Argentina.

Nene

There are three exhibition games left for Brazil before the London Olympics, they will meet the United States on July 16, then five days later, they will move on to play France and Australia on consecutive days.

Source: http://lnb.com.br

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Lou Williams and Hawks agreed to deal.

2012-07-11T08:20:00.001-04:00

Former 76ers player and sixth man of the year runner up Lou Williams agreed to a multiyear deal with the Atlanta Hawks with the $5 million mid-level exception. Williams lead Philadelphia in scoring last season, averaging 14.9 PPG, despite coming off the bench.

The Hawks got someone that loves to score and will help them in a big way, they needed a scorer in the worse way since trading Joe Johnson to the Nets. Al Horford, Josh Smith, Jeff Teague and Lou Williams isn't a bad core, they just need a superstar to lead them. Williams spent 7 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Source: CBS Sports

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NBA Offer sheets can be match starting today.

2012-07-11T07:39:00.002-04:00

Starting today, NBA teams can make trades official and also match offer sheets given to their players, they have three days (until the 14th) to match it or let their formers players leave to a new team. Here's a list of all the offers sheets that have been made since the start of the free agency period.

Houston Rockets
Omer Asik agreed to a 3 year, $25 million contract.
Jeremy Lin agreed to a 4 year, $29 million contract.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Nicolas Batum agreed to a a 4 year, $45 million contract.

Phoenix Suns
Eric Gordon agreed to a 4 year, $58 million contract.

Portland TrailBlazers
Roy Hibbert agreed to a 4 year, $58 million contract.

Toronto Raptors
Landry Fields agreed to a 3 year, $20 million contract.

I expect all of these offer sheets to be match by the teams, except New York, i don't think they are willing to sign Landry Fields to 20 million dollars, signing Lin is a priority and they also spent a lot on getting Jason Kidd and Marcus Camby. Eric Gordon and Nicolas Batum have expressed unhappiness with New Orleans and Portland respectively, but there's nothing they can do at this point.

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Super 4 tournament starts today.

2012-07-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Nene and Tiago Splitter.

Argentina, Brasil, Chile and Spain (Team B) will take part of the "Super 4" tournament in Brasil. Argentina and Brasil will use these games for preparation before the London Olympics, Chile and Spain will use it to get better.

Argentina will play against Chile, Brasil will compete against Spain, the two winners will meet tomorrow and the losers will also play against each other. Argentinian coach Julio Lamas will determine his 12th man roster after both preparation games.

7/11/12
Argentina vs Chile
Brasil vs Spain (Team B)

7/12/12
Loser 1 vs Loser 2
Winner 1 vs Winner 2

Photo credit: INB
Source: Basquet Plus

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Rashard Lewis will join the Miami Heat.

2012-07-11T06:30:00.000-04:00

The NBA champions Miami Heat and Rashard Lewis agreed to a two year deal. Lewis will make the veteran minimum, worth about $1.3 million and will have a player option for the 13-14 season.

Lewis, was bough out by the New Orleans Hornets after they acquire him from the Washington Wizards a month ago. Lewis isn't the same player he once was when he played for the Seattle Supersonics and the Orlando Magic, he's been injured the past two seasons and only played in 57 and 28 games. However, he won't be needed to do much for the Heat, if he can knock down a couple of jumpers, that's all the Heat will ask.

Lewis is a 6'10 power forward, who will spread the floor even more for all stars Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Lewis will be reuniting with former Sonics teammate, Ray Allen, they played together in Seattle for five seasons (2003-2007) and lead them to the second round of the playoffs in 2005.

Source: Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida.

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