Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Argentina defeats USA in 2004 Olympics

This is a classic game. Just remember this game the next time you are thinking Team USA is too good, with all of its "athletic" stars. Watch the vid, and look at all the huge names playing for USA in this game (including this year's retread "veteran leader" Odom. This was a high-stakes, hard-fought, final four game, winner going to the Gold game (where Argentina won), loser to the Bronze (where USA won).


Scola Highlights

I could only find to links to the Scola highlights from today's game. The first is shot by hand from the Argentina fans in the stands. Very cool, and even includes his steal against Barbosa in the last minute.




The second is edited from a TV show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIB5QvH69eU

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Sweet 16 Rewind

Great games in the so-called Eighth Finals (what we usually call the Sweet Sixteen). Oddly enough, we saw four of the pre-tourny favorites playing against each other, with Spain knocking out Greece, and Argentina knocking out Brazil. Outside of Team USA, it is an all-White final eight, as France, Angola, China all lose. Even the slightly mixed squads of Greece and Brazil lost to the all-White Spain and Argentina.

Luis Scola is the Larry Bird of this generation. He is absolutely amazing. If you haven't seen highlights of his performance tonight, do so, now. He was THAT good.

White stars of the Knockout round:

Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 37p, 9r
Huertas, PG (BRA) -- 32p
Linus Kleiza, SF (LTH) -- 30p, 9r, 2a
JC Navarro, SG (ESP) -- 22p (10 shots)
Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 21p (13 shots), 3r, 2a
Marko Popovic, PG (CRO) -- 21p (12 shots), 5r, 5a, 2s, 1b
Hedo Turkoglu, PF (TRK) -- 20p (10 shots), 4r, 3a
Andrey Vorontsevich, F (RUS) -- 18p (8 shots), 11r, 2s, 2b
J Lakovic, F (SLO) -- 19p (12 shots)
Sinan Guler, SG (TRK) -- 17p (10 shots), 3a
Timofey Mosgov, C (RUS) -- 16p (9 shots), 7r
Nenad Krstic, C (SRB) -- 16p (10 shots), 3r
N Zisis, PF (GRE) -- 16p, 4r
D Diamantidis, G (GRE) -- 16p (8 shots), 4r, 2s, 2b, 2a
A Rasic, G (SRB) 15p (6 shots), 3a, 2s
Rudy Fernandez, SF (ESP) -- 14p (7 shots)

Friday, September 3, 2010

World Championship Day 6 - Scola dominates again

Great day for White basketball fans as the uber-athletic New Zealanders take care of the Afro-French squad, driving their skill home with a last second shot sending the French down to the 4th seed. It was also nice to see Australia take care of Angola. Nothing like the World Championships to do a lot of damage to the myths of Black athletic superiority!

Luis Scola wraps up tournament MVP award with another incredible performance. No one else is even near his level. He is an artist with the basketball.



Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 32p, 7r
Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 25p (15 shots), 3a'
Tim Pleiss, C (GER) -- 23p (12 shots), 9r
O Daghles, G (JOR) -- 22p, 6a
Oguz Savas, (TRK) -- 20p (12 shots), 4r, 2a
JJ Barea, PG (PR) -- 19p, 7a
Rudy Fernadez, SG (ESP) -- 19p, 5r
Dusko Savanovic, PF (SRB) -- 19p, 5r, 2s
Fran Vasquez, PF (ESP) -- 19p (9 shots), 5r, 4b -- in 16 minutes!!!
Goran Dragic, SG (SLO) -- 18p (10 shots), 6r, 2a
Semih Erden, C (TRK) -- 18p (11 shots), 12r, 3b, 3a
Nenad Krstic, C (SRB) -- 18p (10 shots), 8r, 3a
Timofey Mosgov, C (RUS) -- 18p, 4r
M Machado, SF(BRA) -- 18p (5 shots!!!), 3r
Omer Asik, C (TRK) -- 17p, 13r, 2a, 2b
Renaldas Seibutis, SG (LTH) -- 17p (9 shots), 3a, 2s
M Gecevicius, SG (LTH) -- 16p, 4r, 2a
M Teodosic, SG (SRB) -- 16p, 4a, 4r, 3s
Carlos Delfino, SG (ARG) -- 13p, 7r, 4s, 1b
P Prigioni, PG (ARG) -- 13p, 9a, 5s, 3r

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Curious Case of Kevin Love

The entire world is commenting on the lack of playing time for Kevin Love, who is clearly the best big man for Team USA, and among the best overall players on the whole team.

This odd lack of playing time is puzzling to many observers, but the fact is, we here at White Basketball have seen this exact situation time and time again. It is part of very regular pattern. In American basketball, quality White players are denied minutes and starting spots even when they are outplaying and out-producing the Black player in front of them.

The pattern is also holding true that this usually happens under White coaches. Why? No one seems to know. But once you start to look for it, it is everywhere, as I have documented extensively on this blog.

The first step to overcoming this discrimination is acknowledgement of the problem, and I hope this blog will help raise awareness. Getting articles like this publised by ESPN certainly helps:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/19616/team-usa-no-love-for-love-from-coach-k

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- One of the big mysteries surrounding Team USA at the World Championship is why Kevin Love's playing time has been so limited.

He has been, by far, the most productive and aggressive player for the Americans when it comes to producing points and rebounds off the bench, but he is playing behind Andre Iguodala at the 4 spot and behind Lamar Odom (and sometimes Tyson Chandler) at center.

In yesterday's victory over Iran, which I dissected in my postgame column with a critical eye regarding the Americans' offense, Love led the team in scoring with 13 points despite playing the fewest minutes (just under 11) of anyone on the roster.

"I just go out there and try to be productive. Coach said today everybody's in their roles. I think for me, I know Lamar is going to be the starting center, and he's going to play a lot of minutes. So when I get the chance to come in, whether I'm playing 5 minutes or 25 minutes, I have to get the job done. And I feel I've done a good job contributing thus far," Love told ESPN.com.

Love played only 5:20 in Team USA's 2-point victory over Brazil, 13:24 in the 22-point victory over Slovenia and 13:14 in Team's USA's tournament-opening 28-point victory over Croatia.

That's a total of just 42 minutes in five games, yet Love leads Team USA in total rebounds with 28 (Kevin Durant is second with 27, and Odom has 26) and in offensive rebounds with 10 (Iguodala is 2nd with 6). He also has shot 50 percent from 3-point range and 61 percent overall, and he is the team's fifth leading scorer (8.3 ppg) behind Durant (18.8), Chauncey Billups (10.0), Derrick Rose (9.5) and Rudy Gay (9.0).

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

World Cup Round 5 Preview

Well, most of the damage has already been done, and the tournament has definitely not gone down as most would have suspected. Some big games tomorrow as teams jocky for positioning in the knockout round.

The biggie: Group D, France vs New Zealand. If France and Greece win tomorrow, Spain would finish 3rd, playing Greece in the knockout game, then getting USA in the quarter match!!! Wow. Spain is praying for a New Zealand victory tomorrow you can be sure!

France has to beat New Zealand to guarantee the 2nd seed, but with a New Zealand victory over France, a three-way tie would result between France, Spain, and New Zealand (going to a tie-breaker based on point differential).

So France could end up anywhere from 2nd to 4th seed if they lose. The 4th seed plays Turkey in the knockout round. The 3rd seed plays Greece-Russia winner, ending in Team USA's bracket for the quarters. The 2nd seed places Greece-Russia loser, ending in the top bracket against group A winner (Argentina/Serbia). That second seed is the best place to be, for certain.

Lithuania has earned the top spot in group D, with the unfortunate "gift" of facing the dangerous Puerto Rican squad in the knockout round. ***update: wrong, PR blew it against a weak African squad, China took their spot.


We also have a nice match in Argentina - Serbia for 1st in group A.

Australia-Angola is also big in group A, as the loser becomes the sacrificial lamb for Team USA in knockout round.

In group B, Brazil and Croatia play for the all-important 3rd seed. Loser faces the 1st seed from group A (Serbia/Argentina) in knockout.

In group C, Greece and Russia play for the 2nd seed. The placement really doesn't matter much, as they will both end up facing a tough squad from group D in the knockout round, possibly Spain.

World Championships Day 5 - Scola Scola Scola

Some big wins today for White basketball fans, as Russia beat Asian champ China, Euro-power Greece crushed African representative Ivory Coast, New Zealand beat the Black-dominated Canadian squad, Turkey beat the dark Puerto Rico, and Lithuania crushed the Afro-French squad. On other side of the coin, Africa got its first victory, when Angola beat Germany in OT to eliminate Germany and take a spot in the knockout round (as the sacrificial lamb for Team USA in the knockout round, unfortunately for them).

Scola continues to constrict his grip on the MVP trophy with another 30 point game.


Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 30p (18 shots), 13r
Marc Gasol, C (ESP) -- 25p (14 shots), 8r (5 off)
Jan Jagla, C (GER) -- 23p (17 shots), 6r, 3a
Jackson Vroman, PF (LEB) -- 22p (14 shots), 9r (5 off)
Macram BEN ROMDHANE, PF (TUN) -- 23p (8 shots)
Jaka Lakovic, F (SLO) -- 20p (13 shots), 3r, 3a, 2s
Marcelinho Machado, SF (BRA) -- 20p (10 shots), 3s
Tiago Splitter, C (BRA) -- 19p (13 shots), 4r
Milos Teodosic, SG (SRB) -- 19p (13 shots), 3r, 3a, 2s
J Maciulis, G (LIT) -- 19p (11 shots), 3s
Bojan Bogdanovic, SF (CRO) -- 19p (14 shots), 3a
Hamed Haddadi, C (IRI) -- 19p (17 shots), 5r
Novica Velickovic, PF (SRB) -- 18p (13 shots), 9r
Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 18p (14 shots)
Carlos Delfino, SG (ARG) -- 18p (17 shots), 5a
Heiko Schaffartzik, PG (GER) -- 18p (15 shots), 7r, 4a
Sergey Monya, F (RUS) -- 17p (7 shots), 6a, 3r, 2s
Tim Ohlbrecht, C (GER) -- 17p (9 shots), 4 r
Primoz Brezec, C (SLO) -- 16p (8 shots), 3r
Marco Popovic, PG (CRO) -- 16p (10 shots), 5a, 4r
Sasha Kaun, C (RUS) -- 16p (11 shots), 14r (6 off)
Hedo Turkoglu, F (TRK) -- 16p (11 shots), 5a
Nick Calathes, PG (GRE) -- 15p (10 shots), 8a, 7r
Fran Vasquez, PF (ESP) -- 15p (7 shots), 8r
Anton Ponkrashov, SG (RUS) -- 15p (14 shots), 5a
Nenad Krstic, C (SRB) -- 14p (9 shots), 10r (4 off)
Casey Frank, F (NZL) -- 14p (5 shots), 4r
Thomas Abercrombie, SF (NZL) -- 7p, 10r

Josh Heytvelt signs with Lottomatica Roma



Lottomatica Roma, powerhouse club in Italy's Serie A, overhauled its frontcourt on Monday (Aug. 17), agreeing to re-sign center Joshua Heytvelt (6'11"-240, college: Gonzaga) and releasing big man Andre Hutson.

Joshua Heytvelt arrived to Roma in May this year from Oyak Renault Bursa in Turkey. He appeared just twice in Serie A (the highest pro league in Italy, one of the top three in Europe) with 1 ppg and 2.5 rpg, but it seems he showed enough during the off-season to secure another deal with the club.

Heytvelt shined in the Turkish Basketball League last season averaging 17.3 points, 20 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks for 30 games. He ended this season as the second best rebounder and fifth shot blocker.

Eurobasket awarded him with Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League 1st Team and Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League Defensive Player of the Year.

Last season was the first one for Heytvelt as a pro. He graduated in 2009 at Gonzaga averaging 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in his senior year.