We have two pieces of news to pick apart today: The announcement that USA Basketball has released a list of 30 finalists for the 2016 Olympic team, and the “non-commitment” from LeBron James regarding whether he will be part of the party. And yes, it will be a party. The games are in Brazil, after all. And LeBron, whose non-commitment is disingenuous at best, does not miss a good party. So let me tell you a little story about the Brazilians. [Read more…]
The quarterfinals are set for this year’s Eurobasket, as eight teams will play for two automatic bids to next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio. Of the eight remaining teams, seven will be preparing next summer for a chance to play in the Olympic games, as the 3rd through 7th place teams earn bids for next summer’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, in which 18 teams will be fighting for the three remaining bids for Rio. Here is a look at the quarterfinal matchups that
You can complain all you want about FIBA’s way of doing things, you’d probably be right more often than not. Only two teams from Europe can earn berths to the Rio Olympics this summer, while there will be four teams from FIBA-Americas (USA, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina)? But if you are a fan of basketball, this EuroBasket Tournament is an overdose of fun after a long empty summer. The best national teams in Europe go at it day after day nonstop, with
This year’s European Championship, the Eurobasket, will be kicking off this weekend with group play taking place in France, Croatia, Germany and Latvia, with 24 teams fighting for two automatic bids for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Both the champion and the runner-up will automatically qualify for the prestigious competition next summer, with the 3rd-7th place teams earning the right to fight for one of the three final bids for the Olympics in next summer’s three pre-Olympic qualifying tournaments. Team USA is
Once upon a time, Jason Kidd’s son, T.J., dressed up as Brian Scalabrine for Halloween. This was back when T.J. was smallish, the Jason-Joumana marriage was rock solid, and the Nets played in the dreary confines of the Meadowlands, where T.J. had his own locker. I only got to make a brief reference to that small piece of Scalabrine history this morning in an interview on Sirius-XM NBA radio, partly because Scalabrine was busy predicting that Kobe Bryant will shoot 37
The field for the Rio Olympics is up to three, with Australia in. The race for the gold medal remains at one — as it will for the next calendar year. Nobody is going to come within 30 points of Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s SuperTeam next summer, and it will be five long years before we know whether Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Olynyk, Tristan Thompson and coach Jay Triano can build a team good enough to throw a scare into the Americans at
LAS VEGAS — It was a warm, muggy morning in Lafayette, Louisiana on Wednesday as Elfrid Payton was going through his usual daily workout when his cellphone rang. It was his agent, telling him he had been invited to Team USA training camp to help fill out the roster for the end-of-mini-camp exhibition game. A two-hour drive to New Orleans followed, then a restless night, then a 6 a.m. flight to Las Vegas where a room awaited him at the Wynn
LAS VEGAS — The next version of Team USA will be chosen in late June, 2016, and there will be no alternates. A dozen players will be named to the team, a training camp will be held in Las Vegas, and the team will take a domestic tour of the United States before traveling direct to Rio de Janeiro from Houston, Team USA executive director Jerry Colangelo told SheridanHoops.com Wednesday. “We don’t want to have any cuts, we don’t want to have