Sometimes it takes 7000 miles to get your swagger back
Since the disastrous 2004 games in Athens, the value of gold worldwide has more than doubled. But for members of the USA Men's Basketball team, the gold they earned Sunday was priceless.
The 118-107 win will elicit calls of, "It was a lot closer than the score indicates." And it was. But Team USA never trailed after any quarter. And they held off a late Spanish charge in the fourth. I had to vomit afterward, but I was rooting for Kobe in the fourth.
So the gold around the American's necks puts the earth back in proper orbit, brought peace to the middle east, and reversed global warming. Order was restored.
According to my count, that's 6 gold medals for players while with the Jazz ( 2 each for Stockton and Malone and now 1 for Deron and Boozer). I believe that's the most for any NBA team. Granted, Boozer didn't see as much time as the other three, but a gold is still a gold.
If you didn't stay up to watch the game, I hope you DVRd it to watch it later. While a blowout would have been nice, it was the kind of game you want to have so long as your team wins.
Some other notes,
- Why were there so few American athletes putting their hand on their hearts during the National Anthem? And almost no one sang along. The only exception I saw to this was with the men's basketball team
- Looks like Deron and LeBron are best buds. Maybe this photo from last year's playoffs was actually predicting the future?
- Don't have to worry about Carlos Boozer getting overworked. Should be ready to go. Nor AK for that matter. Even Deron still looked fresh.
- Wins over Argentina and Spain gives some new fodder for taunts. "We got gold!" I'm sure that there are others that are more creative than that. But when Pau, Manu, or others are on the line, something like that would be great to hear.
- The Spaniards got away with a lot of shoves, etc. And Marc Gasol is a straight thug. I thought I had a screenshot, but when Wade takes the final shot at the end of the half, one of the Spanish players stepped under him. Wade had to be restrained a bit. And then when the game was in hand, lil Ricky started throwing a fit. And how many times did the Spanish bench have to be warned? They came onto the floor, threw towels on the floor, and never got a T.
- Does 4X400 star LaShawn Merritt look like Millsap?
- Now what are we going to do until training camp starts?
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11 comments
Comments
now I wonder
would lbj be enough to loosen up the perverbial financial iron fist of the jazz ownership? that would not be a team i would be excited to play
"Next up, an event we will be following this through Celtic training camp: the Trail Blazers’ fan base competes in sychronized sweating."
--- LaoTzu on Aug 22, 2008 11:51 AM PDT
by ptwnblzr on Aug 25, 2008 5:55 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs
If LHM wouldn't agree to that...
it’s time for him to let someone else make these decisions.
You’d have to think that it’d be worth it if you’d be instant contenders for the title.
The Utah Jazz. The Jazz... duh.
The best NBA team in Utah... no doubts about it!
Playing For Pride. Pirates, Utes, Panthers, and more...
Because, in the end, only one team can "win it all".
by UtesFan89 on Aug 25, 2008 6:05 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
with dwill,
adding lbj would make the jazz instant favorites, with or without bozzer or kirilenko. nothing personal, but i hope it doesnt happen.
"Next up, an event we will be following this through Celtic training camp: the Trail Blazers’ fan base competes in sychronized sweating."
--- LaoTzu on Aug 22, 2008 11:51 AM PDT
by ptwnblzr on Aug 25, 2008 6:45 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
Starting a Jazz blog...
don’t tempt me. :)
I don’t really refresh SLC Dunk every 5 seconds, but since I check my google reader like every minute, it’s pretty much the same thing, no?
I guess it’s time to find new material to blog about… season’s a bit off, roster is pretty much set, and my pieces on why to keep/trade AK are up.
The Utah Jazz. The Jazz... duh.
The best NBA team in Utah... no doubts about it!
Playing For Pride. Pirates, Utes, Panthers, and more...
Because, in the end, only one team can "win it all".
by UtesFan89 on Aug 25, 2008 6:07 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs
basketball john--
is there any chance you can upload the medal ceremony? the feed over here cut out right after the game ended.
by moni on Aug 25, 2008 7:21 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
I’ll see if I can get it up. It might not be up for long though as NBC and the Olympic committee are worse than the NFL as far as taking down stuff.
Did they have at it nbcolympics.com?
by Basketball John on Aug 25, 2008 8:10 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
nbcolymipcs is only accessible if you're in the u.s.
thanks in advance…
i think if you don’t tag the video it’ll have a better chance of staying up…
by moni on Aug 25, 2008 8:35 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's right.
Forgive my American arrogance. I’ll get it up somewhere and post some links.
by Basketball John on Aug 25, 2008 8:57 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
technicals...
I was pretty disappointed not seeing a technical called when the Spanish team jumped up screaming and threw a towel on the court. How could you not call a technical foul on that? The international refs are pretty inconsistent and it made me appreciate the NBA refs all but for a moment. ha ha. If the NBA refs could just get rid of the star treatment and non-traveling calls they’d be much better and I could deal with their garbage. But the international refs were so frustrating. You see guys get whacked, shoved, and taken to the ground and nothing was called. Then you see a clean steal from Kidd on the baseline and a foul is called by a ref that is shielded by the offensive player. How many times did Kobe, Wade, or James get wacked in the face or arm and not get a call. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing Kobe get whacked a few times but it ticked me off when refs wouldn’t make the calls.
Spain is good but I can’t wait to see Gasol’s little brother get the trash kicked out of him when he comes to the NBA. He’s a thug and does nothing but throw his fat body and elbows around. He’s in for a rude awakening. I bet the Lakers were wishing Pao had his toughness. What a baby…
The game was one of the best games I’ve watched in a while. I’ll admit I was a little worried at first but I knew they’d be ok when they weren’t settling for outside shots all the time. It helped watching them shoot lights out from 3 in the first half too. It seemed as though the guys were taking it to the rim and trying to pound it inside as much as possible. Just when you thought Team USA was going to pull away Spain would reel them back in. Great game, great Olympics, and I’m glad they brought the gold back home so we could shut up all the Euro babies.
I also like that Team USA won with dignity and class.
by TWSSO on Aug 25, 2008 8:01 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs
i voted for “refresh slcdunk.com every five seconds” (which to be honest i was/already have been doing since before the olympics began) but if i lived in slc my vote would be for “Learn Deron’s daily habits, go through his garbage, mail yourself to his house.” definitely. and maybe buy him a razor. :p
by moni on Aug 25, 2008 8:46 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

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