USA vs Argentina

[smeagol]

You better watch out smeagol, he's gonna break your passport!

Don't worry . . . I can use my American one . . .

[Kori Ellis]

I moved that other thread to the Political Forum. I'm not moving this one too. If anyone insists on keeping up with the racial/national/political/general stupidity in this thread, they'll be banned for a week.

Thanks.

[smeagol]

Ok, I'm out.

[ShoogarBear]

Crap, you mean now I have posts in the Political Forum?

How embarrassing.

[ChumpDumper]

Chump, didnt the deal in a roundabout way get us Udoka as well?

The trade made room for it. The Spurs FO has historically been allowed to go slightly above the luxury tax, so the ownership certainly hasn't maximized their profits the way they could have. Spending will always remain a concern though, so we spurfans should be used to that.

[Manu'sMagicalLeftHand]

These threads are getting boring.

How long 'till the regular season starts???

[ducks]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print...795&type=story
LAS VEGAS -- Kobe Bryant's strong start quickly took the drama out of the most-anticipated game of the FIBA Americas tournament.


Now comes the only one that matters.

Bryant scored 27 points -- 15 in the first quarter -- and the United States cruised into the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament as the No. 1 seed by beating Argentina 91-76 Thursday night.

Carmelo Anthony added 18 points and LeBron James had 15 for the Americans, who will face Puerto Rico in Saturday's second semifinal game. A victory there gives them a berth in the 2008 Olympics.

"It was a little stagnant at the start and I came out and got hot early and we rode that for a little bit and helped us get off to a quick start," Bryant said. "We're close to accomplishing our goal."


Kobe Bryant scored 15 first-quarter points as Team USA reached the FIBA Americas tournament semis.

The Americans took control early and were never threatened in the matchup with the defending Olympic gold medalists, who also came in undefeated despite playing this qualifying tournament without the core of their team.

"Tonight we had in the back of our minds was going to be one of the biggest games of the tournament," Anthony said. "We knew that, we knew we had to come out here and be aggressive."

An Olympic berth seems likely for a U.S. team (8-0) that had overwhelmed its opponents before playing its toughest foe in the finale of round-robin play.

The Americans averaged 117.6 points while beating their first seven opponents by 42.7 per game, not too far from the 121.2 points and 51.5 victory margin averaged by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and the rest of the Dream Team in the Olympic qualifier 15 years ago.

While this game was closer, it wasn't much harder. Bryant hit his first three shots to get the Americans off to a quick start, and they led by as many as 25 points in a game that was never in doubt after the opening minutes.

"The U.S. is difficult enough to play with the score, let alone when you are 10, 15 points down," Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said. "It was a more physical game than we wanted to play. We wanted to play a smart game, control the ball, but we were down too fast."

The anticipated game brought the most energetic crowd of the poorly attended tournament -- Las Vegas entertainment icon Wayne Newton had a courtside seat -- with a group of singing, flag-waving Argentineans sometimes drowned out by chants of "USA! USA!"

Argentina beat the U.S. in the 2002 world championships, then did it again in the semifinals of the Athens Olympics. The Americans avenged that loss with a victory in the bronze medal game at last year's worlds.

But the Argentineans arrived in Las Vegas without some of the top players from those teams. Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, starters for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, opted to rest this summer along with Chicago's Andres Nocioni and Charlotte's Walter Herrmann.

"Argentina is Argentina," Anthony said. "The guys they had out there was still good players, we couldn't sleep on them. We studied film just as if they were going to have their whole team. We wish that their main players were here, but obviously they couldn't be here. We had to take care of business regardless."

That left Luis Scola, who scored 20 points, and Carlos Delfino as the mainstays of those teams who opted to play. A victory over Brazil on Saturday would guarantee their teammates could return in Beijing.

"We've been doing a great job in this tournament, but I don't believe in stars," Scola said. "At the end of the game, it's what you did. Today we were down 26, 28, but the reserves come in and we finished down 15. Everybody has to do what it takes."

And while they had won their first seven games here, it hadn't been easy for the Argentineans. They were forced to overtime twice, including Wednesday night's victory over Brazil in which they erased a 17-point deficit, and were playing for the eighth straight day.

The Americans quickly jumped on them, as Bryant made three 3-pointers and was 6-of-8 from the field in the first quarter to help open a 28-13 lead. The U.S. lead was 49-30 at halftime, with the Americans shooting 59 percent from the field. Argentina missed 11 of 12 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes.

"It was a little stagnant at the start and I came out and got hot early and we rode that for a little bit and helped us get off to a quick start," Bryant said.

The lead grew to 25 in the third quarter when Bryant raced upcourt with a loose ball, shook off a bump near midcourt by putting the ball between his legs, and made a layup while being fouled with 4:09 left.

[MajorMike]

you´re a pussy.if I ever meet you,I´ll take away your Argentinian Passport,and brake it.
Go get the US citizentship,pussy.
talking about disgrace....

I'm so glad we have a couple other argie posters, because I would hate for the only interaction people on this board have with an argie native to be with this dolt. People here would think that all argies were pompous loud mouth idiots that continually spout insane bather and don't care how stupid they look continually.

[ducks]

Anyone who still has their panties in a bunch over the Scola trade was never a true Spur fan to begin with. The Spurs front office is the best in the league, period. I've said this before, if the Mavs had the Spurs front office we would have about 2-3 championships by now. Look at what we've gone through. Letting a 2 time MVP walk for nothing in return, Dampier's contract, paying Finley to play for a contender, Shawn Bradley's contract, the Tariq Abdul Wahad fiasco, etc.

If your real allegiance is with Argentinian players, not the Spurs, then just quit ing and go watch the Rockets, it's that simple.

I'm willing to bet that Scola is nothing more than a role player in the league. I seriously doubt he makes any all-star games. If he does THEN, and only then, will you have a legit reason to complain.

[Kori Ellis]

I think I said enough of the nonsense more than once.

This is a thread about the basketball game.

Everything else needs to be put aside. Thanks.

[ducks]

The lead grew to 25 in the third quarter when Bryant raced upcourt with a loose ball, shook off a bump near midcourt by putting the ball between his legs, and made a layup while being fouled with 4:09 left.

[hendrix]

For a moment I thought... Is ducks learning to write?? Then I realized: He copied and pasted.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

wait, wait! I have ammo on the guy

Here's a private message the sent me threatening me for having made an ass of him earlier this year

Si no te gusta lo q digo,ignorame.
Si no te estoy respondiendo a vos o hablando de vos en las conversaciones del forum,te pediria q ni te tomes el trabajo de responder a mis comentarios.
Ahora si lo queres hacer,hacelo con respeto,a no ser q yo te lo haya faltado antes a vos al respeto,atacame,todo bien.
Pero si yo a vos no te doy bola,no te ataco,y ni me importa las boludeces q decis,dejame de romper la pelotas porque te vas a comer la cagada de tu vida pendejo de mierda.
Gracias.

Turns out English is not the only language he's awful at...

Hey ArgSpursFan, you might be proud to be an Argie, but the rest here are ashamed that you are one. Live with that.

Just wanted to sneak that one in, Kori, had to

[Solid D]

not just internet,believe that

"Uh, I believe you need to go sit in the corner".

[Ariel]

wait, wait! I have ammo on the guy

Here's a private message the sent me threatening me for having made an ass of him earlier this year


Turns out English is not the only language he's awful at...

Hey ArgSpursFan, you might be proud to be an Argie, but the rest here are ashamed that you are one. Live with that.

Just wanted to sneak that one in, Kori, had to

He did the exact same thing with me at another Spurs forum, where he wore out his welcome. He sent me a PM, which I also made public, which he responded with a "cerra el orto negro quilmeño". I could be a green midget for all he knows. But anyway, this guy just doesn't get it, and he eventually turns the whole forum against him. This is not his first time, and chances are, he'll do it again somewhere else in the future. The most unfortunate thing is, he'll drag us all with him in the process. What a shame.

[smeagol]

ArgArgArgArgFan has been outed for what he is.

[wildchild]

Attention-getting

The all argies bigs controlled Amare easily. Really, Amare sucks. Howard>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Amare.

[ArgSpursFan]

ArgArgArgArgFan has been outed for what he is.

you still mad at me? gringo wannabe?

[Switchman]

peep teh sig.

[my2sons]

Top prospect?

What do you think Scola is going to do in this league?

Give me some stats.

If he was a top prospect why wasn't anyone else offering more for the guy. Rokets got him on the cheap, it would not have cost much to take him away from the rockets with a better offer. Aparently no one else thought enough of the guy to take a chance, so ya, i would say he is a prospect. He is one of the biggest role of the dice type players, not a sure thing. the best thing for houston is that if he craps out, it didn't cost anything.