Well this entry is going to have to fly from my fingertips, just like the last one. Not only am I once again under a time crunch, but the battery life of my laptop is on a slippery downward slope.
It’s a quarter past five on, let’s see, Sunday. Semi final day. Up first are the Aussies and Brits, followed by the US versus us. Our game doesn’t start til 9:30pm, which is a pretty late tip-off. That means a long day of waiting around. We had a shoot around and walk-through this morning, followed by lunch and video, and then a nap. By the way, the fact that napping is written into the job description of an athlete, and that a non-napper is considered irresponsible or even a little odd, has to be one of the top 5 things I will miss about basketball.
So video. We know the Americans like the back of our hands, and vise versa, which perhaps makes video analysis even more helpful at this stage. It’s crucial to see through the assumptions and habits of mind that grow out of that familiarity, in order to realize that it’s just another game. The tendency is to feel like we have play differently because it’s a big game, and because the US team always tries to up the tempo beyond where its opponent is comfortable playing. If you get caught up in it, then you feel like you’re playing a totally different game, which necessitates that you reinvent yourself on the spot. That’s where Jerry comes in with video showing us that though we have to play quick, we can rely on the same principles as we always to break down the US on offense, and to disrupt them on defense.
Backing up a bit, let’s see, how did we get here. The last time I checked in, it was all doom and gloom. Honestly, it was pretty stuffy and tense for a few days there. But we finished our pool play in pretty strong fashion, handling the Japanese with confidence, and the Iranians with poise. We needed another good dose of poise in the quarterfinals against Israel. We led 20-4 after the first quarter, but only managed to win in the end by 8. They got looser as the game went on, and we got tighter. They had it within 6 a few times in the 4th, but a number of different guys made key plays for us.
So Iran. They’ve been the story of the tournament so far, for a number of reasons. First, they seemed to come out of nowhere. We haven’t seen them at a single major tournament at least since I started in ‘97. If you look a little closer though, you see a slightly different picture. They’ve qualified for a major tournament in the past, but decided not to come. Also, a number of their best players play in the top leagues in Europe and have for several years.
Still, there are mild surprises, and then there’s beating the European champs (Sweden) by 25, and putting 92 points on the board. If I had to explain the Iranian offense in one sentence, I would say that they have good bigs, unselfish low pointers, and an adventurous approach to 3 point shooting. They shoot from everywhere and anywhere – 25 feet, 30 feet, 35 feet – and made enough of them that it somehow did not seem completely insane. In our game, they were only down 5 midway through the second quarter after hitting back to back 3’s from half court – I exaggerate only slightly – and they had a tidal wave of momentum. But one of our Dirtbag lineups dug in, and had the lead up to 17 by halftime.
So that was all good stuff. We won, but we got to witness the emergence of an enthusiastic new comer with brass balls and a passionate cheering section. They finished third in our pool and were all lined up for an entertaining quarterfinal matchup with the Americans. A breath of fresh air all around.
But it couldn’t last. Not because the Americans beat them. They weren’t even given the chance. The Iranians boycotted. It turns out that someone, somewhere in Iran was less than thrilled about the idea of playing the US, so they received orders to pack up and go home. We will miss them.
So that’s where things stand. I need to be sitting down to dinner in a few minutes, so I’m signing off. Not before I mention our women’s team though. They had an amazing run of top 3 finishes that will end here, and we’re proud of them. It’s not easy to handle the expectations when you’re at the top, let alone for two decades. I’d say they held up pretty well.
September 15, 2008 at 2:47 pm |
Pat!
So thrilled to hear your news from Beijing. I just heard on the CBC that you play Australia next. No doubt you guys will shine.
Thanks for the updates and see you back here soon in Vancouver at the Wired Monk.
Christina