http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4760 Recent articles about Dwyane Wade en-us The story is the same. I thought maybe things had changed, but while doing my homework and research to write this piece, I found out that nothing has changed. It is still talent and athleticism (USA) versus activity level, physicality and cohesion (Spain, Argentina and Greece). On talent alone, the USA will always be favorites, and the chemistry is supposedly better than in years past, but Spain, Argentina and Greece will have something to say about that. The United States is more explosive and athletic, but Spain, Argentina and Greece bring the fight all night long. I was reminded that in the past, Team USA not only got outplayed in the basketball sense, but that they also got their behinds kicked physically. All three threats are capable of turning missed shots and turnovers into easy fast break points, so it will be a treat to see how the competition will turn out in Beijing. ( Full report after the jump ) Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:58:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301886 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301886 With the Olympics opening up this weekend, FIO staff writer Dan Rossi discusses the fantasy implications of some fantasy studs playing in Beijing (specifically focusing on injuries). Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:55:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301883 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301883 Jay-Z and the New Jersey Nets? Mike D'Antoni and the New York Knicks? Heck, the Cleveland Cavaliers' strongest competition for LeBron James' long-term services could be the deep-pocketed new kid on the block -- Europe. A person close to James said Tuesday that the Cavaliers' superstar would strongly consider playing overseas if he was offered a salary of "around $50 million a year." James' current contract expires after the 2009-10 season, and while several NBA teams are working to create salary cap space for his impending free agency, none could offer a contract beginning at even $20 million a year. The Russian team CSKA Moscow and the Greek team Olympiacos, which recently gave Josh Childress a contract approaching $30 million over three years, have already contacted James, according to the person close to him. The person added, however, that no monetary or contractual discussions have taken place. While $50 million a year seems outlandish, it is within the realm of possibility, considering the reported $250 million contract David Beckham received two years ago to join Major League Soccer, the $33 million Michael Jordan was paid by the Chicago Bulls for the 1997-98 season, the strength of the euro in comparison to the dollar, and the fact that European clubs are not bound by a salary cap. While several NBA players have left the league this summer for more lucrative contracts in Europe, no stars have done so -- or even considered it. Joel Litvin, the NBA's president of league and basketball operations, said the league is not concerned about this developing trend. "I don't want to say it's much ado about nothing, but we think it's overblown a bit," Litvin said. "It's not something we're losing sleep over. " But losing a player of James' magnitude would be nothing short of a nightmare for the NBA. "For the most part, the league considers the players to be fungible products," an official from the National Basketball Players Association said. "But LeBron is one of the three or four players the league would definitely hate to lose. If a team lost him or Kobe [Bryant] to Europe, it would lose its mind. It would be devastating." But both Litvin and the NBPA official said they don't foresee anything -- even the loss of a superstar -- leading the NBA to eliminate the salary cap and thereby compete financially with the European teams. "It would be disappointing to lose one of our star players, but I have no concern at all about the best players playing anywhere but in the NBA for a long time to come," Litvin said. "I'd be surprised if one of our top players chose to go to Europe but if it did happen, there are many players who would step up and fill the void." The source close to James said LeBron would play in Europe only for a year or two before returning to the NBA. He said James would view it as an opportunity to popularize the game and himself overseas. He added that James would not consider himself to be playing in the "minor leagues." "Not at all," the person said. "He believes those guys are pros also." The entire scenario falls in line with James' stated goals of becoming a billionaire and "global icon." But the representative from the players' association will have to see James in a European uniform before he believes it. "First of all, we don't know that there's going to be a $50 million offer," the official said. "And secondly, he wouldn't be able to accomplish over there the things that he wants to do over here, which are to win NBA championships, MVP awards, etc." But he could become filthy rich and a global icon. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:26:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301751 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301751 Team USA is playing like the Nuggets of 2007-08. This isn't a good thing. Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:06:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301478 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301478 Slam Dunk Central Managing Editor writes about the ugly victory that Team USA had over the Australians on Tuesday. Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:11:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301376 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301376 Today concluded the final exhibition game for the U.S Men's basketball squad. They faced Australia, contender to at least take the bronze in these Olympic Games and proved their no nonsense basketball by almost ousting Argentina a couple days back. Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 22 in the 87-76 win and in my very honest opinion a quite embarrassing one over the boys from down-under who played without their best player Andrew Bogut! www.rawsportsblog.com Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:32:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301277 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/301277 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 [...] Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:46:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300447 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300447 Nothing says "the cold war is so over," like watching Bucknell Holden shine on the Russian Olympic team. In Shanghai. Couldn't shake the "remember to e-mail plot idea to Tom Clancy - American team made up of superstar millionaire ballers plays Russian basketball team led by American ex-Super 10 star in communist China" feeling. Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:11:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300352 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300352 The combination of the weakening dollar and a quickly growing European league might put the NBA and David Stern in jeopardy of losing Lebron James (our savior in the post Jordan era). Apparently Greece's Olympiakos is preparing an offer to Lebron of $40,000,000 per year when he becomes a free agent for the 2010 season. Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:53:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299907 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299907 There was one thing I missed in the film session that I remembered later, and it's pretty important to Team USA's play and identity development. Is this a team of smug, quiet confidence or of cocky, ruthless showboating? It's a question that needs to be asked after a play in the USA-Turkey game: Kobe and Carmelo are leading a 2 on 0 fast break, Kobe with the ball. He slams the ball off the ground in front of the basket and Carmelo throws in a dunk off the bounce. Kobe did the right thing, rewarding Melo for running the break with him, but in this game it's all about the methods...[continued] Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:57:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299370 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299370 Kobe Bryant harassed longtime nemesis Sarunas Jasikevicius into a miserable night and helped the U.S. Olympic basketball team roll to a 120-84 exhibition victory over Lithuania on Friday night. Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, Dwight Howard had 17 and LeBron James 15 for the Americans, who raced to a big early lead, then pulled away again after Lithuania got within single digits early in the second half. Bryant finished with 13 points, nine during the big U.S. first quarter. The Americans, who shot 64 percent, swept two games here and leave Saturday for Shanghai, where they will play European champion Russia and Australia. Michael Redd finished with 16 points and Carmelo Anthony added 11 in a rematch of the bronze-medal game from four years ago. Jasikevicius was just 2-of-8 from the field for nine points, with three turnovers. Rimantas Kaukenas led Lithuania with 17 points. The United States needed a quarter to warm up in its first two games, but was sharp right from the start this time. Howard had three consecutive baskets, James dunked twice, and the Americans were already up by double digits barely 2 1/2 minutes into the game. Minutes later, Bryant had two jumpers and a 3-pointer in a quick flurry that made it 24-5. Howard had 10 points and Bryant nine in the first 10 minutes, with the Americans opening a 31-15 lead. Lithuania kept the deficit in the teens from there, then opened the second half with a flurry of 3-pointers to make it a game. Jasikevicius had a rare open look and hit the final one to cut the U.S. lead to 61-52 with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter, but the Americans immediately blew it open again. Anthony, Howard and James combined for the next 12 U.S. points, everything coming from inside, to make it 73-55, and Lithuania was never close again. Wade took over at the end of the period and early in the fourth, bringing the fans to their feet with a double-pump dunk on an alley-oop pass from Chris Paul. Wade was 7-of-9 from the floor and Paul had seven assists. Every U.S. player scored. The teams split two meetings in the 2004 Olympics, with the United States winning the second one to claim the bronze medal. Jasikevicius scored 28 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, in Lithuania's 94-90 victory in pool play. He nearly led Lithuania to a stunning victory four years earlier in Sydney, missing a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of a semifinal game as the Americans held on for an 85-83 win. Taking the challenge of defending the opponents' best player, as he frequently did last summer in the Olympic qualifier, Bryant never gave Jasikevicius a chance to get going. The former Indiana and Golden State point guard found little room to dribble or shoot when Bryant was near him. He missed both shots and had a turnover in the first quarter and was still frustrated long after Bryant had checked out for good, screaming at the referee after throwing up an air ball on a 3 with about 4 1/2 minutes left. Lithuania plays Turkey here Saturday and opens the Olympics against defending gold medalist Argentina on Aug. 10. More Articles in Sports » Get customized industry news. Automatically. Learn how. Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:07:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299303 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299303 To get ready for the upcoming NBA season, I am going to preview all 30 teams in just 30 days. After a brief rundown of last season and a look at their offseason moves, I will break down each team's rotation and suggest how how their minutes might be divvied up in '08-09. For fantasy purposes, I will mention at least one player to not sleep on as well as one player to be careful of for each team. I will also give you my early season projections on where each key player should be drafted. Use this as a guide to get ready for '08-09, but keep in mind that it's still only August. For certain cases, I will also analyze recent management decisions and predict how their team will fare in the future. Since there tend to be more question marks and position battles over the summer surrounding the worst teams in the league, I will start with last season's best record and work my way down. Enjoy! Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:43:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299167 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/299167 I was able to watch the first half of Team USA's exhibition against Turkey before coming to work this morning (a bright spot about the Olympics being on the other side of the world.) The US beat Turkey because of defensive pressure and superior athleticism. It certainly wasn't because of offensive creativity. Did I miss an announcement that Mike Brown was team USA's offensive coordinator? The offense consisted of one or two passes at best, with a lot of isolation 'plays'. It looked more like an all-star game to be honest with you, than an organized offense. The announcers even used the phrase "hockey assist" when referring to a play involving LeBron, Derron Williams and I believe Dwayne Wade. Surely that has Mike Brown written all over it right? (For the record, Mike Brown has no actual involvement in team USA.) LeBron finished the game with 20 points, going 8 of 9 from the field, to lead the US. It was his first real action since spraining his ankle in practice over a week ago. He certainly looks ready to play. Team USA plays Lithuania tomorrow, then has tune-ups against Russia and Australia Sunday and Tuesday. Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:46:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298674 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298674 It's the dog days of summer for Celtics fans. Too early to think about training camp and nothing is going on with the team. There were no new basketball articles in the Globe and the Herald just had one about Deng's new contract and Artest's trade. I still think Danny has something up his sleeve. We get little tidbits like Boston offered a sign and trade for Delonte but nothing definite. Makes you wonder who Danny was including in the trade from the Celtics. Personally I think the Cavs need a glue guy like Scal. It seems like a long time till training camp. The schedule is due out next week and that may give us something to talk about for awhile. There will be the Olympics and speaking of the Olympics, the Celtics 2nd round draft pick didn't look too bad on the Turkish national team against team USA. We can look forward to seeing him with the Celtics in a year or two. Another observation: D Wade is one of those players who just doesn't look right bald. NBA front-office sources are reporting that the Lakers were very disappointed not to land Artest. But, L.A. was reluctant to part with Lamar Odom and were even more reluctant to take Kenny Thomas along with Artest. Sacramento ultimately relented on its insistence that any team acquiring Artest take Kenny Thomas, as well, dropping that condition and agreeing to Houston's offer because the Kings are essentially coming away with two first-round picks for Artest. Artest for his part is thrilled to be rejoining Rick Adelman who was his coach when he first arriced in Sacramento. Yao is a bit concerned about the Rockets' new acquisition and had this to say about it: "We worry about the new attitude to the team. We are adding talent to the team and we need that, but building team chemistry is important. This is not bad. I don't mean he is not welcome to Houston. But a new player always needs some time. "Also, he was the biggest part of a team in Sacramento. He was a star player. We need more chemistry and more communication." "There's worry. Obviously, yes," said Yao. "We will think about it, of course. Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands. I'd say that Yao has good reason to be concerned. Artest has caused problems everywhere he has gone, both on and off the court. He has been charged with domestic abuse and animal cruelty. He has charged into the stands and attacked a fan. He has decided to take time off from playing to promote his rap CD. And, he has caused chemistry problems in both Indiana and Sacramento. However, he did seem to behave when he was playing for Rick Adelman so maybe Yao can relax a little, hopeful of his coach's ability to control the loose cannon that is Ron Artest. The Bulls finalized a six-year, $71 million contract with Luol Deng on Wednesday and the new deal includes incentives that could increase the total value to $80 million. With new contract in hand, Deng is scheduled to leave for the European Championships, where he will play for the British team. The Bulls remain far apart in negotiations with Ben Gordon. Gordon's agent has told the Bulls that Gordon should be the highest-paid player on the team because he has led the team in scoring each of the last three seasons. Deng got the big contract in spite of his declining from 18.8 points per game to 17 in an injury plagued season last year. The Bulls aren't expected to guarantee up to $80 million over a maximum six years for Gordon, so if negotiations continue to stall, the sides might pursue a sign-and-trade deal. Gordon would have to approve such a move. Gordon also has strongly considered signing the team's qualifying offer of $6.4 million for next season, after which he would be an unrestricted free agent. Along with signing Deng and negotiating with Gordon, the Bulls have been busy pursuing trades as well. They were very interested in trying to acquire Nenad Krstic before he decided to go to Europe. They have also had discussions with Sacramento about center Brad Miller according to a league source. Reportedly, the Bulls are offering Nocioni as trade bait. The Bulls also had some interest from teams wanting guard Larry Hughes, as long as they're willing to take a big contract back in return. Since the Bulls need to thin out their backcourt rumors are that the possibilities include Joel Przybilla, Jared Jeffries, Erick Dampier or Kenyon Martin. The Denver Nuggets announced on Wednesday that they have signed Dahntay Jones to a contract. Jones was a former first-round pick by the Boston Celtics in 2003. He was sent to the Grizzlies in the trade that brought Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins to the Celtics and he played his first three seasons in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Clippers have been making news by signing players and losing players and now they have waived one. On Wednesday, the Clippers announced that they had waived 6'9" forward Josh Powell. Powell averaged 5.5 PPG, 5.20 RPG and 0.7 APG in 19 mpg last season. The Clippers got a real deal when they signed Ricky Davis for $2.3 million a year. I really like Ricky and hope he can finally shake off all the negativity that has in most cases followed him. The Clippers are also trying to re-sign free agent point guard Shaun Livingston. He is an intriguing prospect. If he can stay healthy he could be something very special. Former Cavs guard J.R. Bremer is the latest NBA player to jump to Europe. Bremer has signed a two-year, $5 million deal with Moscow Dynamo Triumph. He will join former New Jersey center Nenad Krstic on the Triumph roster. Krstic signed a two-year deal worth $3 million euros (about $9 million U.S., when figuring in taxes). There have been rumors from the Suns that both Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa are on the trading block. The Cavs have been rumored to be interested in Barbosa but now, an NBA source said the Suns may not be making him available after all. However, the source said that Boris Diaw might be available to be traded. The Suns are still looking for a point guard to back up Steve Nash. They have to keep going back to the 2007 draft and kicking themselves for giving away Rajon Rondo to the Celtics. The Lakers have confirmed that they have invited Robert "Tractor" Traylor in for a private workout to be conducted Thursday. Traylor has not played in the NBA since the 2004-2005 season, when he averaged 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 74 games with the Cavs. If the workout goes well, Traylor likely would be signed to a non-guaranteed contract and invited to training camp. Traylor was the 6th pick in the 1998 draft and has never come close to fulfilling the expectations for him. He has the distinction of having been picked before both Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce and we all know how both of those players worked out. Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:05:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298612 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298612 Breaking down the 2008 USA Basketball Team and their chances for gold in Beijing. Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:21:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298487 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298487