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Basketball at the 2008 Olympic Games will be held at Wukesong Indoor Stadium in Beijing from August 9-24, 2008.

Written by David Horne

Basketball is definitely a global sport that has shown continued growth over recent years. The USA with the NBA and its college basketball system undoubtedly has the toughest competitions in the world that attracts the world’s best players. However, the USA has not always dominated the Olympics and on several occasions they have been embarrassed by some unexpected defeats to lesser known teams.

The USA always enters the Olympics as favorites but their inability to gel and play as a team has brought about some bad losses. The question will be is will they have a team of players who play like individuals or will they put aside their egos and play as a team. If they play as a team then they should win the gold medal.

In 1972 the Soviet Union beat the USA to win the gold in a controversial game. After 1988 the Olympics opened the sport up for professional players to play which saw the greatest basketball team of all time to compete in 1992. The “Dream Team” lead by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were just unbeatable and put on a show for all the world to see. Most of the players on the other teams were star struck by playing against these legends of the game.

In 1992 Michael Jordan was the team’s second highest scorer with 14.9 points per game and he had a tournament high 37 steals. The U.S. defeated Croatia 117-85 in the final and as a result Michael Jordan earned his second Olympic gold medal.

David Stern of the NBA has stated a number of times that they wish to expand and promote the game of basketball in China. As a result they have played and will continue to play more exhibition games in China. The presence of China’s greatest player, Yao Ming in the NBA has helped to increase the popularity of basketball in China.

The following teams have already qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympics: Angola (African Champion), Argentina (Americas runner-up), Australia (Oceania Champion), China (host), Iran (Asian Champion), Lithuania (European Bronze medallist), Russia (European Champion), Spain (World Champion) and USA (Champion of the Americas).

The remaining three positions for the Beijing Olympics will be decided in the twelve team FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men that will take place in Athens, Greece on July 14th. The tournament will involve the following teams: Cameroon and Cape Verde (Africa), Brazil and Canada (Americas), Lebanon, Puerto Rico and the Republic of Korea (Asia), Greece, Germany, Croatia, and Slovenia (Europe) and New Zealand (Oceania). The draw for this tournament will be held on July 20, 2008 in Athens.

The semi finals are scheduled to be played on August 22nd and the finals two days later on August 24th. Although the Americans often underplay the importance of the Olympic Games it is guaranteed that this time they will want to restore their global dominance in basketball by coming out and performing at their best. Anything less than a gold medal will be taken as a failure by many players and supporters in the USA.

Visit Beijing Basketball for Information on the 2008 Beijing Olympics Here >>>>

Civil Suit Against Charles Barkley Is Now Closed.

I knew Charles Barkley would come through, nevermind what all you naysayers are thinking. According to the Associated Press, his $400K gambling debt has been made good on.

On May 20th, Sir Charles first sent the Wynn Casino a check for $400,000 and then went on to pay the the Clark County District Attorney’s office in Las Vegas, $40,000 statutory and bad check processing fees that were incurred that he was initially unaware of. According to Wynn Las Vegas spokeswoman, Jennifer Dunne, the casino has been paid in full for the May 14, 2008 civil suit filed against him.

The 45-year old retired NBA pro has gambled away $10 Million dollars over the years. Charles Barkley, who is currently the NBA Analyst for Turner Network Television (TNT) states that he won’t be gambling any time in the near future. Barkley said, “For right now, the next year or two, I’m not going to gamble. Just because I can afford to lose money doesn’t mean I should do it.”

Charles Barkely gets sued by Wynn Casino for $400K

There is no doubt in my mind that retired NBA all-star Charles Barkley will make good on his gambling debt to the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas. Obviously still proving to be controversial, the fact remains that Barkley is still one of the most respected athletes, with 23,468 career points and one of fifty of the all time greatest basketball players in NBA history. Personally, I think he will won’t waste any time in straightening this situation out.

Please check out the story regarding Barkley’s latest gambling controversy at www.PokerOwnage.com. Here is an excerpt:

Charles Barkley To Pay Up $400,000 Debt to the Wynn Casino.

It was revealed earlier in the week that Hall of Fame NBA star Charles Barkley was in some very hot water with the world-renown Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And when I say hot, I mean $400,000 in debt kind of “hot.”

Legal representatives of the Wynn Casino, which is owned by hotel mogul Steve Wynn, filed a civil complaint this past Wednesday trying to get recourse for the money that was owed up to them by Barkley himself. The Las Vegas Sun got wind of the complaint and made the story public, funneling an array of media bombs that has people now wondering if the former NBA superstar……For the rest of this article, please visit www.PokerOwnage.com.

WTF! Watching CNN today, the topic of controversy was the Vogue Cover featuring James Lebron and Gisele Bundchen (shot by the esteemed Annie Liebowitz no less) and the criticism stemming from it.

Does everything have to be made a race issue? I mean c’mon, the first time I saw the cover I thought it was an amazing photo - I didn’t see a “black man” or “King Kong”. I saw an athlete, plain and simple — to me, James Lebron epitomized the very essence of the intensity an athlete in his prime, dribbling a basketball down the court trying to keep away from opponents. And as far as Gisele’s happy go lucky smile and stance, perky sideline cheerleaders came to mind.

This issue was touted as the “Shape Issue” with Gisele and LeBron featured in the Secrets of the Best Bodies with The World’s Top Models and Star Athletes. Would we really want to see another boring cover featuring two smiling celebs - no; instead we want to see something that will wow us and with Annie Liebowitz at the helm of the camera lens, (who is coveted by museums and celebrities alike for her work) that is exactly what we received. Another thing comes to mind, Liebowitz is Jewish and I’m sure she would be the last one to perpetuate a stereotype that would be so insulting.

Scoring a season high with 32 points, Andre Miller (who has a lower back strain mind you) along with Andre Iguodala and his 25 points brought the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers victory over the San Antonio Spurs and their third win and their fifteenth win out of nineteen games. Final Score: Sixers: 103 / Spurs: 96.

Philly Coach, Maurice Cheeks had this to say, “It was a great game for us. I loved playing in a building like that, rocking like that with the fans cheering for us. It was great.”

During the first half of last night’s NBA game in front of almost 20,000 fans at their home turf at the Wachovia Center, Iguodala went under the net to shoot the ball (pros define it as a “layup”) and brought the first 13 point lead in the game. In addition, The Sixers only had the had the ball stolen from them once (called a “turnover”) whereas The Spurs had the ball stolen nine times.

In an exciting turn of events for the Houston Rockets, they have just won their 19th consecutive game. This is especially exciting since their star player Yao Ming is not playing for the rest of this season because of a stress fracture in his left foot; which he just had surgery on and which by the way, he is treating with Chinese medicinal herbs.

Not the Rockets only amazing feat, but apparently they have also gone down in NBA history as the third team (tied mind you) to win this many games in a row with a double digit score.

……..Something to which my boyfriend was surprised but also happy to hear.

With Houston Rockets: 91 and New Jersey Nets: 73, this triumph skyrocketed the Rockets (excuse the corny pun…tee-hee) over the New Jersey Nets on Monday night’s game.

In other somewhat earth-shattering news related to this incredible game, apparently an estimated 146,400 households watched the historical NBA Houston Rockets game and actually beat out one of my favorite television shows, CSI Miami (Sorry Horatio). Sadly, my household did not partake in the viewing of this somewhat historical NBA game, but my household did catch all the great replays - thank you ESPN!

Anyways, Tracy McGrady was on his game in scoring 19 points, which from what I understand, was incredible in that he did it in a little under three quarters! And congrats to rookie Luis Scola for scoring 12 points!

Interestingly enough, the Houston Rockets are now tied in third place with the New Jersey Nets NBA record for straight wins set by the Jets back in 2004.

Tibit of Info:
The Washington Capitols were the first NBA team to set the third place record for longest consecutive wins with a double digit score back in 1946. They were a charter team for the Basketball Association of America (BAA) which later became the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Washington Capitals were a charter team for the NBA and was coached by Red Auerbach of NBA Hall of Fame. The team played their last game on January 9, 1951. (It is continually confused with the current National Hockey League Team (NHL) team of the same name.)

Tidbit of Humor:
At the time of this writing and while speaking to my boyfriend, I kept confusing the New Jersey Nets with the New York Jets (dyslexic writing at its finest), but I’m all straight now!

Jordan Farmar was the man of the night Thursday scoring 24 points to bring the LA Lakers to victory with 106-88 over Miami Heat making this the Lakers 10th straight win. Another game highlight was Kobe Bryant scoring 21 points, to go along with his eight assists and four steals.

This career-high point score for Farmar had him commenting, “It’s funny, I told my Dad today I was going to get it tonight. I’ve just been feeling good, just being really aggressive. I was joking in a sense, but once the game started going and I started knocking down some shots, I felt that I had an opportunity.” Twenty-one year old Farmar, scored 12 of those 24 points in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers are only one game behind tying their own record for longest winning streak since the 2003/2004 NBA season. They are also on top of the Western Conference with 41 wins and 17 losses with the San Antonio Spurs coming in at a close second with 39 wins and 17 losses, who beat out the Dallas Mavericks Thursday with a 97-94 victory.

Tidbit of Info:

The NBA (National Basketball Association) is made up of twenty-nine teams which are divided up into two Conferences - Eastern and Western; which are divided up even further into four divisions, Atlantic, Central, Midwest and Pacific.

Who knew? Okay, so I just found out this morning that Shaq hasn’t been with the LA Lakers for years. Yes, I sort of watched parts of his big debut last night with the Phoenix Suns, but I still had no idea. So, after a conversation with my boyfriend about The Miami Heat and asking him who Shawn Marion was traded for, is when he broke the news to me. I have a lot of catching up to do with NBA basketball!

Although playing with his pinkie injury and webbed taped fingers, Kobe Bryant scored 41 points, hitting 16 out of 25 shots with 2 steals and 2 blocks in the win during last night’s game;compared to Shaquille O’Neill’s 15 points with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks with assists. The Laker’s 130-124 triumph over The Suns in Shaq’s debut game certainly adds fuel to the Shaq versus Kobe debate.

Considering The Phoenix Suns game strategy is all about the offense with agility and speed paired with knowing what the general public is thinking about his ability, Shaq stated in a press conference, “Steve Nash has instructed me to get my Randy Moss on.” The Point Guard for The Suns comment can only be attributed to NFL football player Randy Moss of The Patriots and his recent awe-inspiring single season record of 23 touchdowns.