Nic tearing it up against Lithuania. The rest of the team (outside of Parker) not so much. Half time 15 pts, 5/7 2FG, 1/2 3FG, 2/2 FT, 2 RB, 1 TO, 1 STL, 1 BLK Should have had at least one good assist if Turiaf didn't stuff it up.
Nic just skyed for a massive dunk over a Lithuanian player, but the Lithuanian took out his legs from under him, and Nic landed heavily on his shoulder. Took a while to get up, but looks OK now. Just winded hopefully.
Probably. I know he landed hard, but for the amount of time he was on the ground, he didn't seem effected when he bounced right back up with enthusiam after being lifeless. Overall, Batum has been very impressive though, intiating offense at times and scoring at will at others. France has really stepped it up in the second half. Lithuania needs Kleiza to get going if they still want a chance to win this one. Compared to their prior matches, he's been invisible. (EDIT: And Batum just came in from the weakside defensively with a really nice block!)
Looks like France has this one. Too little, too late from Kleiza with the three point play. What do you think of Nando de Colo? I was very critical of his play against Team USA, and I'm not sure I've changed my stance. He can score in a variety of situations, but I still think he has too much of a selfish mentality to be an option off the bench for a team like San Antonio. I can see him putting up sporadic numbers with Pops getting really frustrated with his decision making.
Ginobili lite? Could work as a ball handling 2 next to the scoring 1 (Patty) I suppose. But yeah, hasn't looked up to NBA standard in this match.
Nic's stats 34 min, 21 PTS, 7/9 2FG, 1/2 3FG, 4/4 FT, 6 RB, 1 TO, 2 STL, 3 BLK France didn't run any plays for Nic in the second half. Looked like they were really trying to get other players into the game.
Yeah, you can see some streaks of Ginobili-esque play, but overall, he just seems to be too ball dominant to me. I really haven't seen him do too much in the way of setting up his teammates, nor have I seen any real significant movement without the ball offensively, for that matter. He really seemed to only thrive against Lithuania's match-up zone in situations where Lithuania would get beat in man-to-man situations and then misuse their spacing, allowing de Colo to get some easy buckets. It's hard to say how he'll do in the NBA, because the game is evolving every season, and every team's strategy is diffent, but his skillset doesn't seem like it would have fit in with San Antonio's offensive strategy from last season. The disclaimer on my evaluation is that I've only seen him in two and a portion of an international game. None the less, his play has been consistent enough in those games to warrant that evaluation.
De Colo sucks. He looks lethargic half the time, and he thinks he's Kobe, the way he chucks. Not like Manu at all.
De Colo: he drives me crazy. He's gotten better, but he dominates the ball and shouldn't. He's one player who could compare Batum and Claver, as he played with Claver on Valencia.
I see what you mean: [video=youtube;UHPbR-U4PMM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHPbR-U4PMM&feature=player_embedded[/video]
If anyone in this tournament is Ginobili lite, I nominate Alexey Shved. I was more pissed off that the Wolves signed him than I was that they signed Roy. I wanted us to sign him instead while they had their caproom tied up in the offer to Batum.
