This one deserves a brief preview.

Tournament Play So Far

Both squads defeated Greece by comfortable margins and beat host China as well, albeit in entirely different ways. Team USA withstood a strong first quarter from the Chinese and then coasted to a big win. On the flip side, the Spanish found themselves down by as much as 14 late and rallied to win in overtime. Furthermore, the Americans ran past Angola and Team Spain won its last game versus Germany.

X-Factor

For Team USA it has to be a healthy Dwyane Wade. He's come off the bench on fire so far with intensity on both ends of the court. Meanwhile, I'm going with Rudy Fernandez for Spain. The Spaniards have several players that are more household names. Yet Fernandez is second only to Pau Gasol in time on the court and points scored.

Guys I Overrated Heading In

I'm a huge Jorge Garbajosa fan. However, there's a good chance he's still trying to overcome those leg injuries. He's grabbed a respectable 12 rebounds so far. But that's one less than Jose Calderon's total and Garbajosa minutes and points are low. On the American side it has to be Carlos Boozer. I thought he'd see more time. Instead he's either the 11th or 12th man.

Intriguing Subplot

Too easy. Kobe vs. Pau. Ignore the fact that they play different positions. The last time they were on a court together this happened. Still awesome, but I digress. We may learn how to say, "Kendrick Perkins pushed you around at will" plus a few expletives in Spanish, as  Kobe is not afraid to pick up another language. At the same time Gasol could make the case for how real teammates act.

Keys for Spain

No opponent has done the following 3 things to Team USA yet:

1. Handle the defensive pressure.
2. Force the Americans to play a half court game.
3. Shoot lights out from deep for 40 minutes. China did for a half but then fell apart.

There's a great chance Spain can do some, or possibly all, of those. Should be interesting to watch.

Keys for USA

At this point I don't expect an amazing performance from deep or from the line. And thus far it has all been about defense. They have to create steals with smothering D that leads to easy transition buckets. At the same time they must avoid the over the top gambling that leaves them susceptible to easy buckets in the lane. Finally this could be the first game the role players have to do their parts. That means some timely shooting from Michael Redd.

Put Up or Shut Up Time

All of the Jason Kidd talk was geared towards games like this. Can he really be a factor?

Strange Development

I did not envision Team USA as a fan favorite while another squad played the role of villain. I haven't touched on this at all yet because it caught me completely off guard and is bizarre. All I'll say is that it does raise an interesting question: Is it better to refuse to apologize or apologize with a vanilla statement that you definitely don't believe?

When the NBA is in session Kelly Dwyer runs a excellent series of posts called "Behind the box score". To be honest I'm not sure how he watches that much basketball. Well in a somewhat new tradition I'm going to occasionally write "Inside the box score" posts. Pretty much the same thing except far less insight and anyone could do it. Regardless here goes.

Russia/Iran: Any time only 6 players on a squad score (and 2 combine for 5 points) they better be prolific if their team has any chance of winning. Unfortunately for Iran that was not the case. Factor in the Iranians shooting 38.3% from the floor, compared to Russia's 50% clip with significantly more shots, and Iran was in trouble. Russia also enjoyed a significant advantage in the turnover department - 10 to Iran's 22. So while Iran had the advantage in 3-point shooting and rebounds and assists were a wash, Russia earned a decisive 71-49 victory. Bonus points because American J.R. Holden is listed as Dzhon-Robert Kholden.

Germany/Angola: Chris Kaman and Dirk Nowitzki combined for 47 points. That's impressive in a 40 minutes game. Meanwhile the Germans were far more efficient from beyond the 3-point arc (11-20 vs. 9-29). And while the Angolans had 4 fewer turnovers they were absolutely murdered on the boards - 39-22. Long story short Germany pulled out a 95-66 victory.

Spain/Greece: For the most part the Spaniards and Greeks were more or less equal across the majority of the statistical categories. So the fact that Spain was 22-25 from the line compared to Greece's 11-24, stands out. That doesn't account for the entire 15-point margin of victory, but it certainly played a role. Even if the Greeks hit just 10 more, it's a lot more interesting. And yes I still have to watch this game. I was derailed by an epic cookout tonight.

Lithuania/Argentina: You could make the argument that both of these teams are on the wrong side of a cycle of stellar international play. You could also make the case that Lithuania is an excellent 3-point shooting team and Argentina is average at best in that regard. And the 3-point percentages from this one do tell a story. Lithuania connected on 40% from beyond the arc (10-25), while Argentina was far less successful at 23% (5-22). Ouch. Of course this write up does not come close to doing justice to what went down between these two squads. So how about I distract you with a LeBron James ripping a shot out of the air with both hands? I apologize in advance for the quality of the clip:

A Crazy Block by Lebron against China (via ANY9309)

USA/China: I wish I could go back and redo my answers for that roundtable over at Upside and Motor. First off the Carlos Boozer will see more time than Chris Bosh prediction is downright awful. More importantly it's all about LeBron. Forget about the box score. Yes I'm still worried about Team USA's gambling ways on defense, even if it led to 14 steals to China's 2. And the 3-point shooting, particularly by guys not named "Michael Redd" is a concern. Furthermore, 72% from the charity stripe is nothing special either. Just let the record show that LeBron did things on a court that boggle the mind. I'm not even sure the YouTube clip embedded above makes his top 3 plays. He's an absolute freak of nature. Sorry Kobe, Carmelo, and everything else.

Croatia/Australia: Yes the Croatians were more successful and efficient from deep. And the strong front line of the Boomers did not pull a Germany and dominate the glass. A +7 edge is an advantage, just not a back breaking one. Also Croatia actually had more turnovers. At the end of the day, in addition to their 3-point shooting advantage, the Croatians were also better from the field in terms of % and made shots. In addition Croatia's +9 advantage in terms of assists did not bode well for Australia either. Ultimately the Croatians cruised to a 97-82 victory. Give credit where credit is due.

With the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics already in the books and basketball tipping off on the 10th, it's good that these Olympic previews are winding down. Fellow SB Nation blog At the Hive will wrap things up tomorrow with a look at a team that comes from a country which rhymes with "America". Of course you can also check out past reviews in the sidebars at both sites. I'll also give you the option of clicking on the following links: China, Greece, Russia, Argentina, Australia, Iran, Lithuania, Angola, Croatia, and Germany.

Population: 40,491,051

Size in Comparison to a US State: About twice the size of Oregon (slightly bigger)

Suffrage: Universal at 18

Interesting Fact: Why is Ferdinand Magellan (yes he was Portuguese, but he sailed for Spain) credited with the first circumnavigation of the globe when he died in the modern day Philippines on his epic voyage? I understand that on a previous voyage he sailed beyond where he ultimately died. Still a bunch of random, anonymous dudes on his ship made it in one trip. Now that everyone has stopped reading...

Recommended Reading: Can I Keep My Jersey? - Some insight into playing basketball in Spain. Don't read if you are worried about a book slowly altering your mood in a negative way.

World Rank (Courtesy of FIBA): 3

Qualified: 2006 FIBA World Champion

Dream Match Up in Beijing: Argentina

Dream Match Up That Did Not Qualify: Puerto Rico

Recent News: If Spain captures the gold it will serve as yet another big moment in a golden age of Spanish sports.

Catch the players after the jump...

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For anybody who has been watching Team USA's summer has been all about three words - "redemption", "gold medal". And while numerous individuals - players, coaches, and broadcasters - have acknowledged that the world can play basketball there is still a sense that the US can regain the glory days. But there in lies the problem. Those days are long gone. I'm not saying the US can not or should not win gold. Rather the idea that they can cruise, not study their opponents, and just win on their athleticism is a flawed one. And the Australian game was a phenomenal example of everything Team USA is up against. Consider the following points.

1. The Americans cheat on defense looking for steals and fast break dunks. Against lesser teams it works and the US rolls to victories. But consider what Australia did today. The Boomers refused to be intimidated or back down and hung around as a result. In fact Matt Nielsen and Chris Anstey worked a nice two-man game at times, creating easy baskets in the process. If Andrew Bogut had been around to help with depth, scoring, and passing that would have further complicated things.

2. Rick Kamla pointed out at some point in the exhibition run that Team USA's best lineup might be Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and LeBron James. Those guys will create match up nightmares. At the same time they'll get worked in the post and on the glass as well. In general the US, regardless of the lineup is susceptible to physical play down low.

3. I think it's safe to assume the Americans will shoot better than 16.7% (3-18) from 3-point range. At least I hope it is. However, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility that an opponent could best Australia's 40% (8-20). Furthermore, I recognize the fact that the 3-point line is significantly closer. However, the Americans are by and large slashers. Outside of Michael Redd who on the US roster is a pure shooter? Just remember there's a reason the Boston Celtics worked like crazy to make LeBron and Kobe shoot from the outside during the playoffs.

4. Patrick Mills blew by Jason Kidd and Deron Williams. Fair enough. The latter is older and the former is a bigger guard. But Mills left Chris Paul behind as well. Now Mills made some mistakes, missed some shots, and the Australians definitely needed C.J. Bruton to run the point and hit some 3s. Still Mills turns 20 in 6 days. He's going to get better. There will come a time when another squad matches an American roster athlete for athlete. And yet the bigger concern should be who plays the game better.

5. Realistically Team USA and its NBA players will have to adjust and mimic their opponents (Hat tip TrueHoop) at some point.

6. In closing, I realize Zyrdunas Ilgauskas stayed home, at last in part, because of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yet that may be more the exception than the rule. Jorge Garbajosa left the Toronto Raptors to represent Spain and Matt Nielsen paid his own way. In the back of my mind I can't get over the fact that some of these international guys want this well beyond rhetoric. Of course I could be way off on this one. The Americans are giving up their free time and working hard as well.

7. Actually one more point. I'm really concerned about the Americans' offense and defense. At times I was reminded of Kobe Bryant versus the Celtics when he settled for deep shots. For stretches he made some, but they're low percentage shots and over the course of a game and definitely a series they simply were not enough. Meanwhile, I learned a great deal about defense from the Celtics this past season. They rotated like crazy, cut down passing lanes, talked, and outside of Rajon Rondo rarely gambled for steals. On top of all that they were physical. Does Team USA do any of that?

Andrew Bogut is out for this one due to an ankle injury from a previous game against Angola. As a heads up this will probably be the worst live blog ever.

Kobe Bryant gets the US going with a bucket and 1. CJ Bruton answered with a 3.

Kobe misses his next 2 freebies and Rick Kamla points out that he's "shooting blanks from the line." So that happened.

Jason Kidd of all people sends Andersen's fast break attempt into the expensive seats.

Carmelo just earned a trip to the line and the ball because of an intentional foul. For some reason he did the Lamar Odom tongue thing.

Almost 3 minutes in and it has been a sluggish affair.

Kobe forces a shot, misses, and hits the floor. Lakers fans gasp while Brad Newley gets a transition bucket.

We're watching the 2006 Kobe Bryant on the offensive end right now. Someone must have mocked him after the 2 missed free throws.

Patrick Mills in the house. As expected he's not a big guy. I'm excited to see what he can do. Meanwhile, Newley nails a 3. Australia 10, US 7.

The 2008 Jason Kidd can not stay with Mills. Australia leads 10-9 at the first commercial break.

LeBron James just pulled a "nobody else in the world can do this" move and Mills responded with a "I'm the fastest man alive" move. Seriously Mills has jets. I'm going to have to catch a St. Mary's game next year to see what he can do against college kids.

Australia up 17-13. Mills is all over the place and the Americans are simply not taking care of the ball.

Bosh goes 1-2 from the line and then Carmelo attacks the offensive boards to make it 17-16. On the flip side no one can guard Mills.

Wade gives the US the lead with a fast break bucket.

Wade earns a foul on a three-point attempt as time expires in the first. Misses the first. Makes the second 2.

After 1: USA 22 - Australia 19.

Deron Williams finds Dwyane Wade for a fast break dunk to start the second.

And we've got words between Chris Antsey and seemingly all 5 US players. Not sure entirely what happened but Fran Fraschilla explains that it is classic Aussie ball.

The Americans are throwing up bricks. Aussies trail by 3. Can we get some Michael Redd?

LeBron travels after an air balled finger roll by Glen Saville.

We gets some Michael Redd and he misses a 3. In other news the Aussies are doing a great job preventing fast break dunks. Newley gets a fast break lay up and trail by 1 (24-23).

US 26 - Australia 25 and it's a physical affair.

Kobe hits 3 free throws. Apparently he's going by Doberman now. I wish I had a joke. To his credit Kobe picks David Barlow's pocket and assists a LeBron dunk. Another Aussie turnover and the US has the ball up 6. LeBron nails a 3. Up 9, can they pull away?

Kobe is extending some half to 3/4 court pressure.

LeBron misses a three, gets it back and creates an and 1 on a play that few, if any other players can make. Commercial break.

As a side note I'm feel less and less confident about Dwight Howard dominating the Olympics. Damn you atthehive for being right. US up 12.

Williams and Paul check in together as they did in the first.

Williams goes 1 of 2 from the line. Kamla discusses some cryptic Carlos Boozer statements related to his Jazz contract.

LeBron absolutely attacked a Mark Worthington shot and sent it into the third row.

Dwight Howard - still bad from the line. Americans up 38-25.

I demand to know how fast Mills is. He just left Williams in his dust.

Aussies creeping back into it with the ball and down 11. And here comes Kobe Bryant. He joins LeBron, Wade, Anthony, and Williams. Prince replaces LeBron.

After 2: USA 44 - Australia 29.

Quick Analysis - The American defense picked up and LeBron got hot.

Second half after the jump.

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A while back I wrote a post about brining Delonte West back into the fold. At the time I  thought there was a 0% chance. Well it turns out that the Celtics expressed some interest. Of course nothing materialized. Hat tip to CelticsBlog and Red's Army. Not sure why I didn't touch on that earlier.

Of course the bigger concern is the fact that the 15th anniversary of Reggie Lewis' death has come and gone. I'll send you to Red's Army or Loy's Place because for once I'm speechless.

Finally I haven't had much to say about the Paul Pierce Spanish interview that exploded on the scene over the last day or so. I was naive enough to think it wasn't a big deal and also touched upon it back on the 26th. I still don't care.

You may have heard that Paul Pierce recently traveled to Spain. The Canadian Press touched upon it in this article, which caught my eye for three reasons:

1. Pierce maintained that team USA needs a gold more than the C's needed championship 17.

2. Pierce talked about playing in Spain at some point.

3. And then Pierce went out and jumped on the Jason Kidd bandwagon,

"And one individual stands out more than the others for the tournament: 35-year-old point guard Jason Kidd.

'He's able to push the tempo,' Pierce said. 'He's the only guy on that team that hasn't lost a game in international Olympic play. His experience in the Olympics is really going to help.'"

I've watched some footage of Team USA and the Kidd stuff is nauseating. At least twice I've seen players praise the Dallas Mavericks point guard in his presence and he absolutely loves it.

In other Paul Pierce news The Lakers Nation recently posted an English translation of a answer from this interview with The Truth. Granted my Español is not strong. In fact it's borderline non-existent. However, that seems accurate after my use of a crappy translator. Check it out for some Kobe Bryant talk.

CelticsBlog
The Best Way to Lose the Maggette Sweepstakes. Green Bandwagon Note - Similarly I much rather see Posey end up in Golden State instead of Los Angeles (Lakers), New Orleans, or any other contender.
Loy's Place
Signing Day Rumors and Updates.
Red's Army
It's past midnight, do you know where your free agents are?
Sports of Boston
Celtics Four-Point Play 7-9.
Yahoo! Sports
Mantras all new draftees should learn.
Ball Don't Lie
Orlando Summer League: Santa Doc.
Sporting News
Darius Miles could cost the Blazers $27 million. Green Bandwagon Note - This has to be one of the most intriguing sub plots of the whole off season. Seriously if Miles really has something to offer or a team really hated the Blazers...
Lex Nihil Novi
Jerry West on KG vs. Kobe.
Walton: Who's Got the Beer.
Dallas News
Green Can Dunk, but Dallas Mavericks want to know if he can play. Green Bandwagon Note - They're not alone in that regard.
Boston Herald
No worries from Danny Ainge. Green Bandwagon Note - It's hard to tell if James Posey will be back at this point. I'd like to see him back. And I'm even more glad than before that Corey Maggette appears to be headed elsewhere. Yet given the money allocated to Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce I understand how the Celtics have to operate.
Boston Globe
Trying to get past his past. Green Bandwagon Note - Unfortunately questions about Giddens' character will follow him for some time. He needs a couple of productive, issue free seasons in the NBA.
Posey Officially on market.
76ers land Brand as Clippers are caught short. Green Bandwagon Note - All of the sudden the East is a little more interesting.
Maggette to Warriors.
ProJo
Celtics' title run has Paul Pierce hungry for more.
Star Tribune
Swap with 76ers adds bodies plus leverage. Green Bandwagon Note - Mark Blount keeps on giving.
Plain Dealer
Cleveland Cavaliers' focus turns to James Posey. Green Bandwagon Note - Not cool.
Comcast SportsNet
Pierce: I want Doc here. Green Bandwagon Note - It's funny what winning can do.

The Guy I Underrated the Most Prior to the Playoffs

Honorable Mention - Rip Hamilton. Man he's an assassin. On top of that he cared throughout the Celtics series, which did not appear to be the case for some of his teammates. Now on to the winner.

Even after he made the All Star team and dropped 37 points on the Celtics I still felt that David West was a little overrated, largely due to playing with Chris Paul. I tend to make up for overvaluing Celtics by undervaluing players around the league. Then West averaged 21.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.9 blocks during the playoffs. On top of that he had the face-tapping incident with Dirk Nowitzki, the run in with Fabricio Oberto (not sure why that’s on fast forward), and overall a sense that he could lose his cool at practically any moment. At this point I’m sold on West’s talent, wonder if he’s secretly xenophobic, and think New Orleans needs another competent big coming off the bench. Although I do wonder about West's wiring. He might need to tone it down a few notches. And this is coming from a guy that defends Kevin Garnett against all critics.

As a side note did you watch that YouTube Clip of Nowitzki and West? What the hell was Dirk supposed to do? Hit him? The Mavericks got beat soundly as is, but would have been in a much worse state without Dirk for a game. 

The Guy That Reminds Me of My Favorite Fantasy Sports Joke

"Man his team would be unstoppable...in 2002." Note that joke really does not work if it is in fact 2002. But you get the point. And the winner is...Jason Kidd. Not a strong playoffs for him. He put up roughly 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while absolutely getting worked by Chris Paul. And let's not forget Kidd throwing down Jannero Pargo.

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First off I'd like to give a shout out (the free styling is currently having a big impact on my writing) to Parquet Pride for the two stories I'm about to reference.

1. The first one is somehow both surprising and unsurprising, if that's possible. Regardless it is definitely not suitable for work. In fact it's Really Not Suitable For Work - RNSFW. That's because Shaq recently grabbed a mic at a New York club and well check it out.

Shaq Rap disses Kobe (via GameTimeProductions)

- This is one of those "man YouTube changed the way we get news" moments.
- The Patrick Ewing dig came out of nowhere. If he were in Philly would he have gone after Charles Barkley?
- So yeah. I'm not sure what to say. Half way through I wasn't sure I would even post it. But if the Worldwide Leader runs it, so be it.

2. On a more positive note Leon Powe recently did a chat over at ESPN.com (Insider required). Couple of things:

- He appears to know some of the people writing in. How often does that happen?
- I enjoyed his answer to the fake Kevin Garnett question. As a side note will there ever be a chat without a question from someone pretending to be a celebrity? Not complaining, just wondering.
- While Powe does definitely not write in a Curt Schilling tell all style you can still learn some things. Worth a read.
- Powe does not fear the exclamation point.