U.S., China await Sunday tip; Bush will watch By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Aug. 8, 2008, 9:21AM icon 14 Comments BEIJING — It’s bigger than Yao Ming. It’s bigger than the Great Wall. It’s bigger than all the tea in the Middle Kingdom. Every one of the participants has played in big games before, but nothing like this. When the NBA stars Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Team USA square off against Yao Ming’s Chinese national team on Sunday, the event will create fireworks that could rival the display in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. “I think close to 3 billion people are gonna be watching that game,” said forward Carmelo Anthony. That’s what they say. That’s what I hear. That’s a lot of people. “The atmosphere is gonna be crazy. We’re playing against the home team to open up the Olympics and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be crazy and energetic in there. Everybody in that building is gonna be jumping. It’s the biggest game on the biggest stage in the world.” The United States enters the Olympic tournament once more as the heavy favorite to win the gold medal, while China will be challenged to advance out of the preliminary round. So the game is expected to be a rout. But the basketball-mad host country playing its first game against the global superstars of the NBA, there is speculation that the world-wide television audience for the game (9:15 a.m. Houston time on NBC) could be the largest in Olympic history. President Bush (the first sitting U.S. president to attend an Olympics in a foreign country) will attend the game along with China’s president Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao. “I will have to take a breath at the beginning of this game,” said Yao Ming. “It is the start of the first Olympic Games to be played in China. It is the event that my country and I have been looking to for seven years, since Beijing was awarded the Games. I am so happy that I have been able to recover from my (foot) injury to be ready. To play against the USA team will be great challenge and a great honor.” The cast of veteran NBA stars, all of whom have been in the playoffs is just as thrilled. It’s gonna be exciting,” said 35-year-old Jason Kidd. “You can take a Game 7 and times it by seven. It’s gonna be something that nobody’s experienced before. I don’t know if anybody’s had a president come to a game to watch them play before.” A huge grin spread across the face of Carlos Boozer as he anticipated the game. “I expect the crowd to be amazing, incredible,” he said. “If you can just imagine and try to wrap your minds around the opening tip with Dwight Howard and Yao Ming. As soon as that ball goes up, every camera in the building is gonna be flashing. “People are saying this is supposed to be the most watched event in basketball history. For us to be a part of that, for our kids, our grandkids, is something that will be something to look back on when we’re older. Honestly, that’s amazing.” Point guard Chris Paul nodded his head up and down. “Just thinking about this first game now, you get goosebumps,” he said. “It’s something we’ll be able to tell our kids and our grandkids that we took part in the largest sporting event ever. And, you know, there’s been a lot of sporting events.” Link
I love how on Team USA's site, they ask Tony Ronzone "If we stop Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, is that enough to win the game?" and his answer is "yes"
The way I see it, due to injury, Yao Ming vs. Dwight will cancel each other out; each will be able to guard effectively against the other, but manage to score with the same frequency (athleticism in the USA system or on the post). Other than that, I'll take Lebron over Yi and either Kidd, Paul, or Deron over Sun Yue. But whether or not USA plays as a team? I think it'll give them challenges. I've got USA by 14
Hey guess on my TV guide on my TV, for NBC at 7:15AM Pacific it doesn't list the game being on....is that just a mistake on their part?
Yi is playing like he just wants some oohs and ahhs from the crowd...not playing any defense... Only chinese guards who can consistently get past half court is Sun Yue and Liu Wei, as expected. Chen Jianghua isn't great, but better than I expected. Feisty and unafraid that is always good. Yao is playing great, not scoring, but setting very good screens which has led to alot of these threes China is getting. I wonder where Mo Ke is....a PF with alot of potential. Feng is an amazing shooter, and so is Wang Shipeng. Onl players playing great for China for now is Feng, Yao, Sun, and Liu.
Not impressed by USA at all. No perimeter defense, they're lucky China started to miss so many open shots after draining almost every one in the first half. No half court fluency, Kobe is playing horrible basketball, and they can't make a 3-pointer to save their life (and to shut me up LeBron just sank one lol). With all that said you may think USA is losing but China's guard play is horrendous and USA is winning by 20 now. Dwayne Wade for mayor!
glad to see kobe playng on sun yue, un is very impressive. wade is being a cherrypicker, but it working, kobe and lebrons defense has been fantatic, along with bosh and dwight down low. id like to see chine get back into the game a bit more, but after the 3rd it looks lke usa are taking this game. but im very impressed with sun yue, looks like he could control things up the top of the key in a triangle offense, setting his team up seems to be his strength, as well as shootin from outside. china 48, usa 74
Carmelo Anthony went 0-3. Wow. BUST Cool, we won by 30. I wanna see what happens when we have to play Spain, Argentina, etc. Btw, is both Dirk and Kaman on Germany? I thought I read somewhere Kaman's playing. If that's the case, we might have a reason to be worried.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Aug 10 2008, 10:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Carmelo Anthony went 0-3. Wow. BUST Cool, we won by 30. I wanna see what happens when we have to play Spain, Argentina, etc. Btw, is both Dirk and Kaman on Germany? I thought I read somewhere Kaman's playing. If that's the case, we might have a reason to be worried.</div> Yeah Twin Towers on Germany USA plays Angola next..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Aug 10 2008, 10:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Carmelo Anthony went 0-3. Wow. BUST Cool, we won by 30. I wanna see what happens when we have to play Spain, Argentina, etc. Btw, is both Dirk and Kaman on Germany? I thought I read somewhere Kaman's playing. If that's the case, we might have a reason to be worried.</div> Yep Kaman got a passport during the summer cause his great-grandparents were from Germany or something. The Germans have four 7 footers on their team which might cause some trouble for the U.S. since they lack size.
