Saturday, September 11, 2010

Basketball World Championships Live Blogging: USA - Lithuania 1st Half

The Russian Bear is down, and now Lithuania looms. Can the USA B-Team keep it up? Is it true that Kevin Durant and Kevin Love have agreed to sing a duet of "Ebony and Ivory" if the team wins gold? Will the cognitive dissonance of switching from "The Constant Gardner" to international hoops be too much for your intrepid live blogger? Can I bring the requisite snark with no beer at hand? So many questions!

5:50pm - I gotta say, the Lithuanians have some hot fans. I'm curious what the Russian crowd looked like.

5:55pm - I could definitely have lived without the extreme closeup on Coach K. Thank God I don't have an HD tuner.

6:00pm - I wonder how Kevin Durant feels to be called the second-best player at the tournament?

6:02pm - We have our 1st Dirk commercial! Hopefully the pregame is done and we can get to the hoops.

9:40Q1 - Billups has his man up in the air on a pump-fake and politely waits for him to get reset before forcing the missed three. Then he gets blocked on the next possession. Say hello to Big Shot Chauncey!

7:00Q1 - Apparently the Lithuanians' scouting report didn't say, "Don't leave Durant wide open for 3".

5:00Q1 - It also apparently forgot to mention, "Don't let Durant get the -and 1".

4:30Q1 - Dirk commercial #2! And after the LTU (are they sponsored by the airline?) timeout, all 5 players sprint down to stop the fast break as soon as the LTU shot is in the air. I wonder what they discussed during the TO?

2:30Q1 - It's hard to fault the announcer for calling the USA D "unbelievably aggressive" -- if he's only seen regular season NBA hoops.

1:25Q1 - Rudy Gay is so happy to not be in Memphis that he's smiling as he's called for a stupid foul on a half-assed box out.

Q1 Over! - Dirk #3! Aside from Durant, the USA looks pretty horrible on offense. Think the USA World Cup team without Donovan and Dempsey. It would've been unembarassing if Westbrook had been more concerned with scoring than throwing down a monster dunk. The timeout dancers aren't bad, though.

5:35Q2 - It's been a snoozer with the 2nd teams in. The USA's "offense" is now 1 pass, 1 headfake, then a chuck or a drive. It's basically the Princeton offense. The Princeton Middle School, not Princeton University.

5:23Q2 - If you're going to have HUGE arms (hellllooooo, cycling!) and a shark tattoo, you should probably not toss up an airball on your free throw. Maybe swap out the biceps work for some FT practice?

2:45Q2 - Westbrook with the LeBron! A great come-from-behind swat. His O has been sketchy, but he's a hell of a defender. As is Iguodola.

2:15Q2 - Kleiza just tried the Wesley Snipes ball fake from "White Men Can't Jump". It didn't work.

Halftime - Dirk #6 (I skipped a few)! The USA got their act together, but we look sadly ineffective if Durant isn't getting it done. However, it's a 17-point game, so I'm not going to live blog the 2nd half. You'll get over it, though.



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