The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Charles F. Gardner) reports: The Olympic basketball draw was held in Beijing this morning, and the U.S. was placed in a group with host China, defending world champion Spain and Angola. Two other teams will join the group after advancing from an Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece in July. On the opening day of men’s basketball competition (Aug. 10), the U.S. will play China, setting up the chance for Bucks players Yi Jianlian and Michael Redd to face each other. Bucks center Andrew Bogut and his Australian national team landed in Group A, along with defending Olympic champion Argentina, Russia, Lithuania and Iran. The sixth team in that group will come from the Athens tournament… A Chinese basketball official recently confirmed that Yi will be the first torchbearer on May 4 when the Olympic torch returns to mainland China, in the resort city of Sanya in the province of Hainan.
Day: April 26, 2008
Antonio McDyess has surgery on broken nose
Pistons Forward Antonio McDyess underwent successful surgery to repair his broken nose. The surgery was performed by Dr. Gene Rontal at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. this morning.
McDyess suffered the injury in the third quarter of Game 3 at Philadelphia. He’s questionable for Game 4 on Sunday.
Antonio Daniels talks playoffs
The Cavs lead the Wizards 2-1 in the best-of-7 first round playoff series. Here’s Wizards guard Antonio Daniels:
Antonio Daniels on Game Four: “We have to come out with the same energy from Game Three. That was big. In my three years here that is the loudest I heard this arena by far. It was electric in here. Those fans were amazing. We have to come out with that same energy, that same enthusiasm. We have to use home to our advantage.”
Daniels on the Playoffs: “This is the best time of the year. It’s warm outside, there’s great weather, and then you walk in here and the crowd is going crazy like that. Also, it’s great because every team isn’t here. You don’t have the opportunity to play in the playoffs all the time. So when you have the opportunity to do it you have to take advantage of it. The moment you walk into a playoff game it’s completely different than when you walk into the gym for any of those 82 regular season games.”
Daniels on the Verizon Center crowd: “You really feel the effect of the crowd. When you walk in there and that crowd is going crazy like that, you fell as a team that you can accomplish anything. That’s why home court is so important.”
Daniels on coming off the bench: “There’s such a difference between starting and managing the game, and coming off the bench and changing the game. Coming off the bench and changing the game is something I’ve done for 11 years in my career so it’s something I feel comfortable with.”
Apr. 25: Spurs 115, Suns 99
The AP reports: Phoenix took away Tony Parker’s easy layups just like it wanted to. So he just made jump shot after jump shot after jump shot. The smooth San Antonio point guard burned the Suns for a career-high 41 points along with 12 assists and the Spurs rolled to a 115-99 victory Friday night to take a 3-0 series lead. This was supposed to be a spectacular first-round matchup of potential NBA champions. Instead, it’s been a Spurs smackdown, with Parker leading the way… The Suns cut the lead to 13 points twice in the fourth quarter, the last on Raja Bell’s 3-pointer with 7:35 to play, but Parker countered with his first 3 of the game and the Suns were finished… Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Phoenix, which was last swept in a series when Portland did it in a best-of-five matchup in 1998-99. Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points and O’Neal, who finished 9-for-17 from the free throw line, had 19. Steve Nash, defended ferociously by Bruce Bowen, had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting with nine assists… Kurt Thomas, a surprise starter, converted a three-point play with .3 seconds left in the first quarter to put San Antonio up 33-19.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Spurs shot 56.1%, the Suns 49.4%. The Spurs nailed 6-of-15 three-pointers, while for some weird reason the Suns only took 6, hitting 2. The Spurs hit 17-of-19 free throws, the Suns just 17-of-29. Rebounding, assists and other key stats were fairly even. For the Spurs, Parker had 41 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals. Duncan had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Ginobili (7-of-11, 4-of-7 threes) scored 20. For the Suns, Amare Stoudemire (13-of-23) had 28 points and 11 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa needed 17 shots for his 20 points. Shaq (5-of-11, 9-of-17 threes) had 19 points and just 6 rebounds with no blocks in 31 minutes. Steve Nash (3-of-8) had a quiet 7 points and 9 assists.