USA Men's Basketball Reclaims Gold - Barely

Before Sunday's gold medal game between the U.S. and Spain, Dwayne Wade said that, as a fan, he wanted to see a close game, but as a player he just wanted to win. I think Wade better be more careful about what he says next time around if he represents the U.S. in 2012.

But I'll give Wade a pass this time because I doubt the American squad would have maintained its mostly single-digit lead without his opportunistic defense and timely offensive sparks.

However, I can't be so forgiving with Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba has long been my favorite player and his performance proved once again why he's possibly the most clutch player of his generation. But did you notice how close Kobe came to squandering his team's slender lead in the fourth quarter?

At the start of that fourth quarter the U.S. led by a measly nine points. And somehow Kobe felt that the best strategy to build on that lead was for him to bomb away from three-point range. Granted, ball movement was horrible at that point with LeBron in foul trouble and Spain drifting into a zone defense. But there was Kobe, taking those tough jumpers that us Lakers fans are all too familiar with.

I know, I know, there's always the argument that somebody has to take those shots and Kobe was the only player with the requisite frosty blood. I'll buy that reasoning in the regular season, but not on this squad of All-World talent.

As the minutes ticked away, Kobe made the situation worse by gambling for steals on defense and clearing his man a straight path to the rim. Doug Collins called him out on one play that resulted in a dunk over Dwight Howard but I noticed many, many instances of halfhearted D where Kobe failed to even lift his hand in a shooter's face. Where was that "lockdown defender" mentality that Kobe had promised to his U.S. teammates?

Of course, the U.S. did maintain its lead and Kobe scored or assisted on several late possessions to ensure the victory. But what if Kobe had stayed within the gameplan? If he had looked to penetrate and kick out on offense and stayed in front of his man on defense, then the U.S. might not have needed to hold its collective breath over the final few minutes.

And speaking as a fan, I would have been perfectly happy with that outcome.

Men's USA Basketball Reclaims Gold - Barely

Before Sunday's gold medal game between the U.S. and Spain, Dwayne Wade said that, as a fan, he wanted to see a close game, but as a player he just wanted to win. I think Wade better be more careful about what he says next time around if he represents the U.S. in 2012.

But I'll give Wade a pass this time because I doubt the American squad would have maintained its mostly single-digit lead without Wade's opportunistic defense and timely offensive sparks.

However, I can't be so forgiving with Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba has long been my favorite player and he proved once again why he's possibly the most clutch player of his generation. But did you notice how close Kobe came to squandering his team's slender lead in the fourth quarter?

At the start of that fourth quarter the U.S. led by a measly nine points. And somehow Kobe felt that the best strategy to build on that lead was for him to bomb away from three-point range. Granted, ball movement was horrible at that point with LeBron in foul trouble and Spain drifting into a zone defense. But there was Kobe, taking those tough jumpers that us Lakers fans are all too familiar with.

I know, I know, there's always the argument that somebody has to take
those shots and Kobe was the only player with the requisite frosty
blood. I'll buy that argument in the regular season, but not on this
squad of All-World talent.

As the minutes ticked away, Kobe made the situation even worse by gambling for steals on defense and clearing his man a straight path to the rim. Doug Collins called him out on one play that resulted in a dunk over Dwight Howard but I noticed many, many instances of halfhearted D where Kobe failed to even lift his hand in a shooter's face. Where was that "lockdown defender" mentality that Kobe had promised to his U.S. teammates?

Of course, the U.S. did maintain its lead and Kobe scored or assisted on several late possessions to ensure the victory. But what if Kobe had stayed within the gameplan. If he had looked to penetrate and kick out on offense and kept stayed on his man on defense, then the final few minutes might have allowed the U.S. to appreciate the victory without holding our breath.

As a fan, I would have been perfectly happy with that outcome.

Men's USA Basketball Reclaims Gold - Barely

Before Sunday's gold medal game between the U.S. and Spain, Dwayne Wade said that, as a fan, he wanted a close game, but as a player he just wanted to win. I think Wade better be more careful about what he says next time around if he represents the U.S. in 2012.

But I'll give Wade a pass this time because I doubt the American squad would have maintained its mostly single-digit lead without Wade's opportunistic defense and timely offensive sparks.

However, I can't be so forgiving with Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba has long been my favorite player and he proved once again why he's possibly the most clutch player of his generation. But did you notice how close Kobe came to squandering his team's slender lead in the fourth quarter?

At the start of that fourth quarter the U.S. led by a measly nine points. And somehow Kobe felt that the best strategy to build on that lead was for him to bomb away from three-point range. Granted, ball movement was horrible at that point with LeBron in foul trouble and Spain drifting into a zone defense. But there was Kobe, taking those tough jumpers that us Lakers fans are all too familiar with.

I know, I know, there's always the argument that somebody has to take
those shots and Kobe was the only player with the requisite frosty
blood. I'll buy that argument in the regular season, but not on this
squad of All-World talent.

As the minutes ticked away, Kobe made the situation even worse by gambling for steals on defense and clearing his man a straight path to the rim. Doug Collins called him out on one play that resulted in a dunk over Dwight Howard but I noticed many, many instances of halfhearted D where Kobe failed to even lift his hand in a shooter's face. Where was that "lockdown defender" mentality that Kobe had promised to his U.S. teammates?

Of course, the U.S. did maintain its lead and Kobe scored or assisted on several late possessions to ensure the victory. But what if Kobe had stayed within the gameplan. If he had looked to penetrate and kick out on offense and kept stayed on his man on defense, then the final few minutes might have allowed the U.S. to appreciate the victory without holding our breath.

As a fan, I would have been perfectly happy with that outcome.

My Indecent Proposal for Kerri Walsh

The Beijing Olympics have been overflowing with great story lines, from Michael Phelps' gold medal fetish to Team USA's full-court spankings, but my interest for the Games wasn't truly aroused until I heard beach volleyball champion Kerri Walsh's interest in motherhood.

So if you're reading this Kerri, you can spike me anytime.

I'll need you to get back to me on this one quickly since I have a busy schedule of stalking Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson.

Celtics will be hard to beat

The Celtics took the hard route to the NBA Finals, needing twenty out of a possible twenty-one games to square off against the Lakers. With Boston now up 3-2 and heading back to Beantown, it's suddenly very hard to foresee anything but the Celtics hoisting the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy later this week.

Through the first three playoff rounds the C's struggled on the road and their celebrated defense, headed by Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett, wore down under the physical play of big men like the Hawks' Al Horford and the Pistons' Antonio McDyess. But now the Celtics are the bigger and badder team and they've dominated the Lakers front court of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, players who are more finesse than physical. Even the expected loss of center Kendric Perkins shouldn't slow down the Celtics too much when the rest of the squad is playing exemplary team defense.

Anybody in doubt of Boston's defensive prowess need only look at Lakers guard and league MVP Kobe Bryant's numbers, which are down across the board. Bryant shot 51% from the field during the first three rounds of the playoffs. But against KG and Co.? A dismal 42% thanks to stifling individual D from Ray Allen and Paul Pierce and timely help defense. The Lakers offense is a finely tuned machine and the Celtics managed to rip out the ignition when they shut down KB24.

The Lakers did gut out two close victories and almost squeaked by with a third win on their own home court, but they'll find their work cut out for them when they head back to the TD Banknorth Garden for Game 6 and, if they're very lucky, Game 7. The Boston crowd will be loud and obnoxious and young teams like the Lakers are notoriously inconsistent on the road. The Lakers' bench has provided stellar play at times, most notably Sasha Vujacic's twenty-point outburst in Game 3, but they struggled in Games 1 and 2 -- both played in Boston -- and that was before the Lakers faced elimination.

This series will only go to a Game 7 if the Lakers can disrupt Ray Allen's newly-rediscovered shooting touch and plant themselves in front of Paul Pierce's newly-healed body. If Kobe and friends can get some stops on the defensive end then they'll have chances to run, which is the true strength of the Lakers offense. Shutting down L.A. will be hard work, but the Celtics have had plenty of practice this post-season and they know exactly what to do.

Lakers down 3-1 in NBA Finals

Sweet, sweet heartache. Game 4 of the NBA Finals was a game of bests and worsts. The first quarter saw the Lakers commit to their defensive schemes on every possession and run the floor with ease for an NBA Finals record first quarter onslaught of points. During the remaining three quarters, however, the Lakers set a different type of record as they allowed the Celtics to overcome the largest deficit in Finals history -- 24 points -- to steal a win in L.A.

The easy criticism is to say that the Lakers failed to play defense in the second half. Without the stops on one end, they were unable to push the ball as they did in the first twenty-four minutes and attack before the Celts could set up their defense, often freeing up open drives to the basket or uncontested three-pointers.

The Lakers revealed their youth and inexperience in losing Game 4 after they found themselves in a blowout situation within minutes of the opening tip-off and, most importantly, with most of the game yet to be played. The Lakers did have wide margins of victories in previous playoff games, including a thrashing of the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. But in none of those contests did the Lakers reach a twenty-four point lead during the first quarter. It was an outstanding display of ball movement and unselfishness and it completely threw the Celtics off their game plan. Unfortunately, it also threw the Lakers off theirs.

It's unlikely the Lakers will find themselves with such a generous lead in the remaining game(s) of this year's Finals. Chances are they'll trudge through the grind-it-out style seen in earlier games and we'll see how quickly these young Lakers learn their lessons. They'd better learn fast if they don't want to suffer more heartache.

What to Look for in Game 3

Before Game 2, I laid out four things the Lakers needed to fall their way for them to win. They lost and, surprise, surprise, they failed to make headway on my key points. I'll briefly recap.

1) Paul Pierce's Health - Pierce was hitting his jumpers and rarely needed to beat his man off the dribble. If he's not 100% then he's close to it.

2) Celtics' Defense - The boys in green shut down the lane for Kobe and relegated him to tough jumpers all night - and they didn't fall for him.

3) Lakers' Shooters - Game 2 was a strong shooting night for the Lakers, but they didn't start hitting until the contest was too far out of reach.

4) Keeping the Score Close - The Lakers trailed by halftime and let the game slip further and further away until the final minutes of the game. Nobody is good enough to rely on that kind of comeback.

All four points must fall the Lakers' way for them to pull out a win in Game 3 and begin climbing out of their ever-deepening hole. And I add one more requirement.

5) Lakers Must Run - It's easy to say, but the Lakers must get more points in transition. They'll only manage this if they can get some stops on the defense end and limit the "C"s offensive rebounds.

Good luck Lakers.