That is a pretty ridiculous summation. He only had 3 PFs. No matter how terrible they were, 3 fouls for a center is acceptable. I think the stats that stand out are 1) Darko didn't attempt a single free throw, 2) Darko didn't attempt any 3-pointers, and 3) Darko had an abnormally high number of rebounds for him.

You would think he was playing soft because he didn't get fouled, but he also blocked 3 shots and got all those rebounds, which is not playing soft.

Whatever the case, he was a major factor.

Yes, he was a major factor, THE major factor. Even his running mate who has been right up there with him in scoring, did not do much.

And when you are the only real major factor for your team, it is very easy for the opposing players to sag off on you and make your life more difficult.

This experience of being 'the man' will do him well in the upcoming season. He will not have to fill that position in Orlando, but having done it for these games will help.

I wonder if it will attract some of the other NBAers who are from Serbia back to the team next time. I heard it said that there are seven NBAers who would be eligible to play for them in the Olympics.

Anyway, with Delfino, Darko, Arroyo, and Dwight, it has been a very interesting summer of games. I wish I had been able to see more but the stupid Charter Cable in mid-Michigan does not offer NBA-TV or League Pass. That pretty much ruins my NBA season as well, unless I make the break and get a dish.

I wanted to see the Orlando games in addition to the Pistons games, which I will be watching anyway.

Is that my wife I just heard utter a major sigh of relief ??

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Things appear to be at their darkest . . . . . . . . . just before they go totally black!!

Next game up... Greece in the Semi finals.

This is an impressive team... After watching them dismantle China & France here my observations on this team:

They pick up full court on most possesions... they can create several T.O.'s by trapping in the backcourt.
On offense they rarely force a shot... extremely unselfish.... they'll slow it down and make the extra pass.
They have guards that can break down a defense...Spanoulis (I think headed to the Rockets) has a gr8 crossover and is quick.
They have a 6' 7" PG in Papaloukas, that creates mismatches...
Fotis (6' 10" PF) can play inside and out (good 3 pt shooter)
Vassilopoulos is also a big forward with range
The team has several excellent outside shooters... they like to get inside and kick it back out...USA will have to respect the perimeter and not over commit to the drives... you can see why they create problems the way they can stretch a defense
Inside they have good size with Papadopoulos and Schortsianitis (you may recall him as Baby Shaq from the 03 draft)... Baby Shaq is a brute down low and is quick for a 330+ Lb player... he'll present a physical challenge to Howard.... Their bigs get a lot of put back stuff as their guards force opponent bigs to help.
They spread the minutes out amongst 12 players which keeps them fresh.
If I had to pick out a weakness I would say they are not real good in defending in half court... they can be broken down and their bigs foul a lot...
They are physical up front but I think Bron and Melo will have the advantage.
Chris Paul against their guards is the key matchup... he's gonna have to work real hard staying in front of his man and he'll need to make good decisions against the trap.

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http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6137/iverson2ue0.jpg

Greece 101 - U.S. 95


"Done in again by their inept 3-point shooting -- and they weren't much better from the foul line -- the Americans will fall short of a championship in a major international tournament for the third straight time since winning gold at the 2000 Olympics.
The Greeks -- with no current NBA players on their roster -- danced in a circle at halfcourt after their victory".



Greece 101, U.S. 95 - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Oh baby, this one hurts. Coach K and Co. can't get it done. The world (sans the United States) rejoices as the Dream Teamers go down. Looks like the Greeks couldn't miss.

I said they needed shooters...

I didn't see the game, but obviously the main problem was with the USA defense, from this game summary:

I also like how Wade throws the coaching staff under the bus here:

When a team of NBA all-stars is unable to defend the pick and roll, the solution is obviously to...blame the coaches. Nice leadership there, Flash.

Maybe a zone or something... LMAO.

As long as there are no Pistons on the new "Dream Team", then I don't really care that much. Deep down inside, I just wanted to see Wade and Lebron get stiffed on the calls and come up short.

The good news is that we now get to see Delfino play against us. Maybe Argentina should have played him for more than 12 minutes. By the way, didn't we have Pepe Sanchez on the roster for a little while?

What a LOAD OF RUBBISH!!! David Stern is killing USA BASKETBALL!

Where's the SUPERSTAR's call in the FIBA??? None.

I bet the DETROIT PISTONS 2006 would have won the GOLD!!!