Team USA was 24 seconds from the silver medal until Zach Parise found the back of the net to force overtime at 2-2. You could feel the Canadian angst through your television. The momentum Team USA seemed to build as regulation time expired was short-lived. Sidney Crosby came through with a goal like you would expect the second coming of The Great One to do. Sid the Kid beat the wall-like U.S. goalie Ryan Miller to send the country of Canada into a frenzy with a 3-2 OT win. Americans won’t remember this game by the end of the week.

Zach Parise Game-Tying Goal:

Sidney Crosby Gold Medal Winning Goal:

The “Hitler Reacts to…” meme is pretty tired but with Team USA cruising to 5-3 win over Team Canada it’s worth listening to Adolph get pissed off one more time. After seeing how hard AH took Canada’s loss to the U.S. it makes me wonder how mad was he about the Miracle on Ice?

Not as funny as some of the other Hitler reaction videos. The good news is us Americans can look at the 5-3 score from the game for a few laughs.

There’s been a lot of talk about how well Team USA conducted themselves while in Beijing. This basketball team respected its opponents unlike the failed squads from 2002, ’04, and ’06. Glen Saville of the Australian basketball team is telling a different story.

From the Illawarra Mercury:

“Without a shadow of a doubt, Kobe carried himself way above every other person on that team,” he said.

“I’d heard and read stuff about him in the past, but he was a class act all the way through, even going back to when we played them at the pre-Olympic tournament in Shanghai.

“Most of the other guys on that team just acted like prima donnas. They just carried on like pork chops,” he added.

There’s truth mixed with sour grapes in Glen Saville’s statements. He’s bitter because the loser always is, but Team USA is an arrogant, trash talking bunch. This is the second time that a member of the Australian basketball team has complained about Team USA, and Jose Calderon thinks Spain should have won the gold medal game. The United States is back on top in basketball and it has the world pissed off.

The Team USA against Argentina Olympic basketball game can be seen live online for free in the player below. The video will start on its own in a few seconds. Enjoy the game.

Props to Ball Don’t Lie for this video of Dwight Howard meeting former Olympian Dominique Dawes. Something tells me Dwight Howard is a fan of hers.

The rest of the world now knows how to stop Dwight Howard on the basketball court. Break out the old school gymnast. Dominique Dawes was a member of three Olympic teams (’92, ’96, and ’00), and she dominated my fantasies in the summer of 1992. I would’ve been just as excited as Dwight Howard if I met Dominique, but I wouldn’t have been rolling around on the ground.. Unless she asked me too.

Dwight Howard, Dominique Dawes, Team USA, video, youtube

Team Usa cruised to a 92-69 victory over Greece in their third preliminary game in the Beijing Olympics. Dwyane Wade’s ball saving alley-oop to Kobe Bryant was the play of the game, which you can see above if YouTube hasn’t pulled the video yet.

The Greeks were supposed to represent Team USA’s first challenge in Beijing. They were for the first quarter, but the American defense and Chris Bosh pushed Team USA to a 19 point halftime lead. The U.S. shot 35 percent from 3-pt. range (7-20) for the game and continued to miss open three point looks. The poor shooting from distance and the occasional lapse in team play were the only negatives for Coach K’s crew. Next up for the Redeem Team are the racist picture posing ballers from Spain.

Team USA,
Greece,
highlights

Jason Kidd acknowledges Team USA is struggling with the three, but I agree with him when he says at the end of the day the team will enjoy the international line. It’s only a matter of time before the open looks start to go down.

Kidd went on to say that the Redeem Team’s defense is better than Dream Team II’s defense. The 2008 team, which has the most talent since the 1996 team, doesn’t have four guys that can lock it down like Gary Payton, David Robinson, Hakeen Olajuwon, and Scottie Pippen could.

Also, nice subtle slight to Kobe from Kidd when he said the defense begins and ends with LeBron, and then added Kobe a little later. Losing in the NBA finals made it open season on the Mamba. Since the Boston Celtics defeated the Lakers for the championship Shaquille O’Neal, some little kids, Paul Pierce, and Michael Jordan have taken shots at Bryant. If Team USA doesn’t win the gold medal the size of that list could triple.

Jason Kidd, Team USA, interview, youtube

Team USA basketball got off to a good start in their quest for gold with a 101-70 whooping of host country China. LeBron James tore up the first half while Dwyane Wade was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points. Team USA struggled shooting the ball early but got it going in the second half to cruise to victory.

Yao Ming sprained his ankle in the game but he did return to the game. Before he got hurt he welcomed Kobe Bryant to China:

Team USA, China, basketball, video, youtube

Team USA defeated Russia 89-68 in their fourth of five Olympic tuneup games. The Russians slowed the game down and, held Team USA to their lowest point total and 29 points below their 118 point average. The bigger story after the game was Jason Kidd not playing in the second half by coach’s decision. I thought J-Kidd was being given a rest, but there are rumblings that say Jason Kidd is the odd man out in the three point guard rotation.

Team USA, basketball, video, youtube

Team USA basketball began their quest for the gold with a 120-65 blowout of Canada in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. Dwyane Wade looks to be recovered from his injuries, and Carmelo Anthony continues to play well under international rules, but there’s not a lot to be learned from this game. Canada sucks. Chris Sheridan of ESPN broke down Team USA’s defensive performance, and early on it looks like giving up uncontested shots and lack of size are the team’s weaknesses. Team USA will play Russia and Lithuania next week which will give us a better read on the squad.

Team USA, Canada, video, youtube