Congrats Team USA. We knew you could do it.
-M
Tag Archives: kevin durant
Shocker: USA beats France in Basketball
29 Jul
For those of you up early enough to watch Team USA kick Tony Parker’s France’s ass in basketball, it was an okay game. USA won the game, 98-71. France was seen a more viable competitor because of Tony Parker’s presence but alas it wasn’t enough to move past the Dream Team Status Quo Team. In his first appearance at the Olympics Kevin Durant was the star. Durant scored 22 points and had 9 rebounds. Despite the star power it was a clumsy game with 14 turnovers and 26 fouls. Team USA has one big advantage- the best bench ever. When your bench players are Anthony Davis you know you are in a good place.
Durant was definitely more motivated since his loss with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. LeBron James finished the game with 9 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds. Although James’ stats don’t sound amazing . . . he did only play for 24 minutes.
France was lucky to even have Parker who almost missed the game after the Chris Brown glass in the eye incident. To protect his eyes Parker was forced to sport some nerd chic goggles. Parker not only had to go through eye surgery but also was confined to a hotel room for a week so that probably affected his game.
The highlight of the game for some was the hug and pat on the back from First Lady Michelle Obama. The next game Team USA plays is against Tunisia(it’s in the northern part of Africa) on Tuesday.
-M
Status Quo Team
8 Jul
So last Olympics Team USA Basketball was the ‘Redeem Team,’ taking back the our title in basketball. So I guess this year they should be called the ‘Status Quo Team.’ All they have to do is go there and win like last time. That should be easy right? They have the best talent of the NBA(that’s not currently injured): LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul. Looking at the line-up it is a little troubling that there is only one center, Knicks’ Tyson Chandler. Chandler is great if he doesn’t run into foul trouble.
Team USA just added Thunder’s James Harden and his beard to the mix. Which is definitely a smart move in terms of defense. They also added another great defender 76er’s Andre Iguodala. They will be joining the rest of the team: Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Deron Williams, and Russell Westbrook.
It is a killer team if they can figure out how to play together. But I would still be watching out for Spain and France. Especially since Tony Parker is all good to play now for France.
-M
LeBron No Longer an NBA Loser
22 Jun
Thursday night the Miami Heat embarrassingly beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-106. The Heat won the NBA Championship Title that they should have won a year ago against the Dallas Mavericks. It was a happy day for LeBron James who finally got a Championship ring and Finals MVP title. It was a sad day for comedians and James haters who will have to retire the jokes about him choking in the 4th quarter. What will we make fun of now? His sweat band?
Overall the Finals did not provide the excitement we had all been craving. After Game 1 the Thunder morphed into a different team it was hard to believe they had cruised over the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers. The death match between James and almost MVP Kevin Durant really didn’t amount to anything interesting. James provided that he was the real MVP by carrying his team to victory. Not only that but James did something very different from last year, he shared the ball. He proved the saying is true teams win Championships not individual players. James scored 26 points for the Heat but that was just two points more than Chris Bosh. More interesting old man Mike Miller scored 23 from the bench.
And with that the Thunder went to the locker room crying, a place the Heat remember from last year. There is no doubt that the Thunder will be back next year. Durant and Russell Westbrook will definitely be staying with the Thunder. The question is whether James ‘Please Save Now’ Harden and Serge Ibaka will stay if they become free agents next year.
Even though the Heat won last night commentators are already speculating how many more they will win.
-M
No More LeChoke? Heat Take Lead
20 Jun
Tuesday night the Miami Heat put themselves one step closer to winning the NBA Championship defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 104-98. That means that Game 5 on Thursday could be the last game of the series. The way the Thunder is playing it looking like Game 5 will be their last. The only guy who seems to want to win is Russell Westbrook who scored 43 points and had 7 rebounds. Despite Westbrook having an amazing game he is still deserves some shit for not playing smart. When there were just 13.8 seconds left and the Heat won a jump ball(thanks to the awesome Shane Battier) Westbrook fouled Mario Chalmers. This is was pretty stupid seeing as how Chalmers is a 79% foul shooter. Westbrook should have let him take the shot then tried to drive the ball to the basket. Instead Chalmers made both free throws and put the Thunder in a two possession hole with no time to climb out.
But the real story of why the Thunder lost is not on Westbrook. James ‘the beard’ Harden played terribly, he was missing shots all over the place including wide open 3 pointers. In the last 17 minutes the only players scoring for the Thunder were Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
Where the Thunder stars lacked any support the Heat was the opposite story. Chalmers had his best game of the Playoffs. He had 25 points and managed to score while LeBron James was recovering from a cramp on the sidelines. James had 25 points and 9 rebounds. Dwayne Wade stepped up the plate too adding 25 points for the Heat. Overall, it was a great game for the Heat because they played as a team. And we all know teams win Championships not players.
-M
Russell Westbrook will not be altering his game, thank you very much
16 JunFine Russell don’t adjust . . . let’s just see how that plays out.
-M
Heat Adjust Beat Thunder, 100-96
15 Jun
I had a sneaking suspicion that the Miami Heat were going to figure out a way to come back. I just have an image of LeBron James crying after Game 1 against the Thunder about how he was never going to get a ring. The Heat started out Game 2 strong putting the Thunder in a 17-point hole. James managed to control Kevin Durant and score 32 points at the same time. Durant still managed to score 32 points for the Thunder but was not able to facilitate plays like he was in Game 1.
Dwayne Wade definitely step-up to the plate this game(I’m sure James was pushing him) and scored 24 points. Chris Bosh rejoined the Heat’s starting line-up and helped with 16 points and 15 rebounds. And my favorite Heat player, Shane Battier, did an amazing 17 points. This is Battier first Finals despite being in the NBA for a billion years. It is pretty clear without his outside shots the Heat would not have been able to win.
It clear moving forward that the key for the Thunder is going be not giving the ball to Russell Westbrook for 3′s. He was missing field shots left and right last night and giving the Heat a lot of rebound opportunities. Despite that Westbrook still managed to score 27 points. The extra push last night for the Thunder really came from the offense of James Harden with 21 points.
And the Thunder might just have won last night if it weren’t for the refs making a bad call. With 7.2 seconds on the clock Durant went in for running dunk only be held back by James. Durant missed the shot and worse he managed to give James two foul shots. It was clear to almost everyone that the foul should have been on James not Durant. James made his two free throws and sealed the win for the Heat.
This series is only going to get more interesting. Can’t wait for Game 3 on Sunday in Miami.
-M
Let the LeBron Jokes Begin
13 Jun
The Miami Heat took on the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Thunder pulled away from the Heat in the 4th quarter to win, 105-94. This is nothing new for Heat’s LeBron James who made it to the Finals last year only to loose to the Dallas Mavericks. James has a history of chocking in the 4th quarter. So much so that it inspired a series of jokes. I just thought I would share a few jokes before moving onto game highlights:
1. If you ask LeBron James for change for a dollar, he’ll only give you three quarters in return.
2. Apple has just released the LeBron James iPhone. Only vibrates. No rings.
3. LeBron James skipped college in order to avoid the finals.
4. LeBron James should get married because that’s the only way he will get a ring.
5. LeBron? No I don’t think I know him. Doesn’t have a ring to it.
Oh there are so many more. I love cheesy jokes. Maybe some new ones will arise this year if James doesn’t seal the deal. The match-up of Thunder’s Kevin Durant and James proved what I have always believed Durant should have been MVP. For the Thunder Durant had 36 points and 8 rebounds. Compare that to James’ 30 points and 9 rebounds. More importantly Durant did what James has struggled to do: seal the deal in the 4th. In the 4th Durant ran a fast break dunk and made a 3-pointer that gave the Thunder the lead.
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