NBA Stars and Hopefuls

PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - After two days of competition in the men's tournament, we already have a good feel for what's going on. As expected, Team USA is steamrolling along behing suffocating defence in the passing lanes,youth,talent and a willingness to share the ball led by LeBron James and his altruism.

All is not perfect and these stars are still learning to play together which has led some of the coaches present to announce that USA CAN be beaten on a given night. I doubt it!

The other favorite for the final, Spain, has logically beaten  two opponents but their game with Russia on Saturday looms as the battle for first place in the group, a grand matchup for all lovers of the game. Pau Gasol is as unstoppable as ever from his control tower position in the low post generating good things for his team but if Juanca Navarro can't play, I like Russia in this one.

Future NBA teammate of Andrei Kirilenko in Minnesota, Alexey Shved, is the revelation of the tournament as the assists leader after two games. As Kirilenko said, it's been a while since Russia had such a talented point guard and Shved is long, tall, bouncy and athletic and full of confidence in his own ability.

When Ricky Rubio comes back, the Wolves fans are going to have alot to cheer about this season, believe me. Russia can match Spain's height advantage and the all-around brillance of Kirilenko and Victor Khryapa should be the difference.

It's interesting to note that none of Russia's players played in the NBA last season but they are still in the top 3 teams here. Of course, on a hot shooting day Brazil or Australia can shake up the hierarchy in group B.

Each of these countries possesses a trio of stars that could pull off an upset if they all play well in the same game. In group A, French fans were worried after Team USA crushed France by 27 points but this was an efficient wake-up call for Tony Parker, Nicholas Batum and Nando DeColo who all played much better against an aging Argentina which still has a wonderful small - ball starting five but not much bench.

This time it was France the more youthful and athletic team and it showed on defence and on the boards. Argentina only scored 64 points after putting up 102 vs. Lithuania in their impressive first game when they were fresher and their shared experience over the last ten years was decisive.

France wore Argentina down and hit some big three- pointers (DeColo and Mike Gelebale each hit three) against their "grandpa" zone defence. This opens a clear path towards second place (which permits you to avoid USA until the final) in group A for the Frenchman, if they don't stumble in their next three winnable games. Playing Lithuania tommorrow at nine in the morning might be a dangerous trap!

For Argentina and France, their confirmed NBA players do the bulk of the work but future Spur Nando DeColo looked much more at ease against Manu Ginobili and company than against Team USA.

Lithuania looks like a good candidate for fourth place in the group. So far, their young center Jonas Valanciunas (Toronto) seems under-used and shy.

In general, the Gasol-Kirilenko-Scola generation of thirtysomething NBA players is still dominating play with the notable exception of Team USA but I feel as the games get tougher the older USA players like Kobe Bryant, Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony and James will have bigger roles.

The ability of the latter two to D-up on opposing big men for short spurts is key. After a thick slate of important games next monday, we will know the quarter-final matchups and the hyper-exciting "win or go home" elimination round can begin!

George Eddy

FIBA

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