The man came to Las Vegas on a mission. I have heard a lot of stories already: In the lead up to yesterday's first game of the FIBA Americas tournament, he was walking around with a custom-made DVD of Greivis Vasquez, the Venezuelan guy he was going to be guarding. He has elevated the level of practices. He has mixed and mingled and made people feel good. He has infused the team with optimism.
And he was like a hungry wolf on defense. Here's how Mark Heisler tells it in the Los Angeles Times:
The tone was set from the opening tap by, who else, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. Coach Mike Krzyzewski put him on the Venezuela point guard, Greivis Vasquez, a Maryland sophomore, who was challenged even in trying to complete an entry pass.
"I don't know how to explain it," said Vasquez after the game. "That was amazing."
"I grew up watching the NBA. I was in College Park, watching his highlights. All of a sudden, he was guarding me like it was the last game of his life. . . .
"I'm 20 years old. . . . It was tough. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I lost the ball on a couple of possessions. . . .
"But tomorrow's another day. It's all good. I'm glad it happened."
I know he's everyone's favorite villain, and not without reason. But this is how we want our superstars to play, and when they play that way, let it be noted.
He has even stopped eating junk food. The man is a professional.
He also finished one of the funnest highlights I have seen in a long time. You can see it here. Here the play is described by Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Kidd had four assists and made a great hustle play in the second quarter as he saved a ball from going out of bounds, flinging it to Anthony at the top of the key. Anthony quickly found James cutting to the basket and hit him in stride. James then delivered a behind-the-back pass to a trailing Bryant, who finished with a thunderous slam dunk that brought the Thomas & Mack crowd of 6,537 to its feet.
LeBron James' pass was spectacular.
Also, without Kobe Bryant's 2-2, the U.S. shot 33% from downtown. With a short three-point line. And a ton of wide open garbage-time shots.
Now, I know the U.S. won easily, but there were a couple of things to worry about. TrueHoop reader Brandi blew off some law school work to keep detailed notes of the game, and the first quarter looked like this:
[Tayshaun] Prince just set the most illegal pick ever. He shuffled from the threepoint line to three feet behind it to set that screen. *shakes her head* So far I've seen two poorly executed rolls (unless they're not teaching a proper roll in Phoenix ... you'd think Amare Stoudemire would know how to roll, given it's the primary weapon in the Suns' offense) at least three bad passes out of LeBron (I think he got away with a fourth), a horribly illegal pick, and a lot of mugging in the paint. Stimulating first quarter. Walton calls out Venezuela for scoring eight points in the quarter, but we only scored 18 in ten minutes. 18 won't cut it against a full-strength Argentina or Spain.
The other thing worth noting? The U.S. was playing a much smaller opponent. Yet they had no post-up game whatsoever. Synergy Sports logs every play, and records only four possessions when the U.S. posted up at all (compared to 26 three-pointers). The only one of the four that resulted in a bucket was when Carmelo Anthony caught a lob over the top and eventually dunked it. It was really a case of undersized defense more than actual posting up. Tyson Chandler and Amare Stoudemire got nothing done catching the ball in the paint. Which was fine against Venezuela, and may be OK in the long run, but you know what they about teams that live by the jump shot.
And he was like a hungry wolf on defense. Here's how Mark Heisler tells it in the Los Angeles Times:
The tone was set from the opening tap by, who else, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. Coach Mike Krzyzewski put him on the Venezuela point guard, Greivis Vasquez, a Maryland sophomore, who was challenged even in trying to complete an entry pass.
"I don't know how to explain it," said Vasquez after the game. "That was amazing."
"I grew up watching the NBA. I was in College Park, watching his highlights. All of a sudden, he was guarding me like it was the last game of his life. . . .
"I'm 20 years old. . . . It was tough. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I lost the ball on a couple of possessions. . . .
"But tomorrow's another day. It's all good. I'm glad it happened."
I know he's everyone's favorite villain, and not without reason. But this is how we want our superstars to play, and when they play that way, let it be noted.
He has even stopped eating junk food. The man is a professional.
He also finished one of the funnest highlights I have seen in a long time. You can see it here. Here the play is described by Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Kidd had four assists and made a great hustle play in the second quarter as he saved a ball from going out of bounds, flinging it to Anthony at the top of the key. Anthony quickly found James cutting to the basket and hit him in stride. James then delivered a behind-the-back pass to a trailing Bryant, who finished with a thunderous slam dunk that brought the Thomas & Mack crowd of 6,537 to its feet.
LeBron James' pass was spectacular.
Also, without Kobe Bryant's 2-2, the U.S. shot 33% from downtown. With a short three-point line. And a ton of wide open garbage-time shots.
Now, I know the U.S. won easily, but there were a couple of things to worry about. TrueHoop reader Brandi blew off some law school work to keep detailed notes of the game, and the first quarter looked like this:
[Tayshaun] Prince just set the most illegal pick ever. He shuffled from the threepoint line to three feet behind it to set that screen. *shakes her head* So far I've seen two poorly executed rolls (unless they're not teaching a proper roll in Phoenix ... you'd think Amare Stoudemire would know how to roll, given it's the primary weapon in the Suns' offense) at least three bad passes out of LeBron (I think he got away with a fourth), a horribly illegal pick, and a lot of mugging in the paint. Stimulating first quarter. Walton calls out Venezuela for scoring eight points in the quarter, but we only scored 18 in ten minutes. 18 won't cut it against a full-strength Argentina or Spain.
The other thing worth noting? The U.S. was playing a much smaller opponent. Yet they had no post-up game whatsoever. Synergy Sports logs every play, and records only four possessions when the U.S. posted up at all (compared to 26 three-pointers). The only one of the four that resulted in a bucket was when Carmelo Anthony caught a lob over the top and eventually dunked it. It was really a case of undersized defense more than actual posting up. Tyson Chandler and Amare Stoudemire got nothing done catching the ball in the paint. Which was fine against Venezuela, and may be OK in the long run, but you know what they about teams that live by the jump shot.
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