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August 10, 2008 - LeBron Shines As U.S.A. Wins
LeBron James is taking his leadership role on Team U.S.A. seriously. The self-appointed leader of the "Redeem Team" scored 18 points to go along with six rebounds and three blocks in guiding the U.S. Men's team to a 101-70 victory over Team China on Sunday, April 10 in the first game of the group stage of Olympic basketball competition.Though the game did not begin ideally for the U.S. team -- Yao Ming hit a three-pointer for the first points of the game, to wild applause from the Chinese home crowd -- they gelled in the second quarter and rode brilliant performances by King James and Dwyane Wade to an emphatic victory.
Wade showed once again that he is fully-recovered from injury as he finished with 19 points, two assists, and two steals. D-Wade was also perfect from the field, making all seven of his shots from the court. He was the first man off the bench for the U.S.A. team and provided a flurry of action in the second and third quarters, including a number of firework dunks.
In fact, the most jaw-dropping play of the game came at the end of the second quarter as Wade lobbed a beautiful transition alley-oop to a sprinting James, who finished with a thunderous one-handed tomahawk dunk.
That play was indicative of the hustle that James showed throughout the game. He exploded for rebounds, muscled his way to the basket in transition, and delivered three emphatic blocks. The first block was a terrific come-from-behind rejection that came in the opening quarter. After Yao rejected a Kobe Bryant layup on the other end, LeBron hustled back on defense and pinned a seemingly wide-open Sun Yue layup to the backboard. Yue is a 6'9" guard who recently signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. He finished with eight points and two assists.
LeBron's second block was even more emphatic. As China's point guard Liu Wei tried to muscle a layup past him, LeBron rose over Wei and erased the shot with a two-handed stuff. The play was representative of the tough defense of Team U.S.A.. The Redeem Team turned up the defensive heat in the second quarter and that defense led to a 16-3 second quarter run which put them up by 12 points at halftime.
In the end, Team U.S.A. was able to force 18 turnovers by China; 14 of which came from steals.
Leading the way on defense was King James, who finished with three blocks and a steal. But the Redeem Team also received strong defensive performances from Chris Bosh (3 steals), Jason Kidd (2 steals, 1 block), and Deron Williams, who hounded the Chinese point guards. In contrast to the tight U.S.A. defense, the Chinese national team mustered only two steals.
Yi Jianlian was particularly weak on defense. Yi, a first round draft pick in the 2007 NBA draft and current member of the New Jersey Nets, had the tough assignment of guarding James. He failed miserably on that end. James often exploited Yi's lack of strength by powering by Yi in transition.
Yi did finish with nine points. But he shot only 4-13 from the field and scored the majority of his points in the fourth quarter, when Team U.S.A. brought in its subs.
Another advantage for Team U.S.A. was in the amount of free throw opportunities. The Americans earned 25 trips to the free throw line, while China only went to the line 15 times. Leading the way in that department for Team U.S.A. was Wade. The crafty guard made all five of his free throw attempts.
While LeBron led the charge for the U.S. team, Yao Ming stumbled a bit as captain of Team China. Yao did lead his team in scoring, with 13 points. But he struggled mightily with his shot, going only 3-10 from field goal range. Yao was also constantly challenged on the defensive end by Team U.S.A.'s lightning-quick guards.
Despite recent injuries, Yao fought hard, though. He finished with a game-high 10 rebounds and also managed to block three shots. One of those blocks was a monster rejection at the dispense of reigning NBA MVP Kobe Bryant.
Speaking of Bryant, he played well, but perhaps not as well as expected. Like a number of his Team U.S.A. teammates, Bryant struggled from the three-point line, making only one of his seven attempts from beyond the arc. He also led his team with three turnovers.
On a positive note, Bryant did deliver a couple of impressive dunks. He also played well on the defensive end, finishing with two steals.
Though Team U.S.A. ultimately won in a rout, outside shooting was a primary concern for them throughout the first half. While China lit it up from outside -- the Chinese went 8-12 from downtown in the first half -- Team U.S.A. shot only 1-12 from three-point land in the opening 20 minutes.
Against stiffer competition -- say, Argentina or Spain -- this could prove to be a thorn in the side of Team U.S.A. Then again, when you have a powerhouse like LeBron James leading the way, concerns like that are slightly less troublesome.
The Redeem Team is in action again on Tuesday as LeBron and company take on Angola.
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