I mentioned the All Blacks Kiwi Rugby team to a friend once and he thought it was a racial slur. The uniforms are all black. Great Rubgy organization. The Haka is a Maori tradition.
What's the difference between the Tall Blacks and the All Blacks? This article I was reading mentions both. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/basketball/10453116/Tall-Blacks-no-match-for-USAs-NBA-superstars
Supposedly the name dates back to a mis-hearing. "Backs" in Rugby are the ones who run fast (as opposed to the "forwards" who are huge and hulking and form the scrum). When seeing the NZ team play for the first time, a foreign reporter said that they're "all backs" because even the forwards could run fast. That's the story. They only started wearing black after they got the name. (I like the fact that the basketball team is called the "Tall Blacks"...)
I understand why the team USA staff keeps talking up D Rose, they aren't going to throw him under the bus. But at this point if he crapped himself while attempting a layup I would expect to hear something along the lines of "that was one of the greatest plays I've ever seen".
End of 1st quarter, down to Ukraine 19-14. Neither team can hit an outside shot. We already won Group C so maybe that's why, for us. Mike Fratello is the Czar of the Ukraine telestrator.
It's kinda sad, but team USA needs to only play 5-10 solid minutes to blow out an opponent. Could be interesting to see the media coverage if they actually lose a game.
France down 23-13 after 1. I believe France needs a win or Serbian loss to avoid elimination. Serbia plays Spain later today.
We outscored them 30-13 in the 2nd. 12 up. The place is about 1/3 full, maybe 1/4, so there's no crowd noise to feed off. Harden twice with the awful acting job, but the refs call it, so he'll continue.
Pooh Jeter from the Portland Pilots is making shots! Too much Harden. He misses, makes, misses, makes, but he always shoots without passing. His usage number must be very high.
Final 95-71. Boxscore http://www.fiba.com/basketballworld...ed-States-of-America#|tab=boxscore_statistics
