So the USA is 2-0 so far in the World Championships. They looked very tight against Puerto Rico, especially early on, where they looked eerily like the 2004 Olympic team, bricking jumper after jumper against the zone defense Puerto Rico threw out. But early this morning against China, they looked a lot more comfortable and won easily. Team USA gets Monday off and plays again at 5:30 in the morning central time against Slovenia. I stayed up and watched all of Team USA's first game against Puerto Rico and watched the game through three quarters against China this morning before going back to sleep. I honestly believe this team is on the right track to win this tournament. Carmelo Anthony looks great out there. He's hitting jumpshots consistently and he is playing strong in the post. Both point guards, Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich, are playing great out there. And the other people you would expect to do well, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, etc., are doing their jobs. And I don't think enough can be said for guys like Shane Battier and Joe Johnson. Both have been playing intelligently and unselfishly and have consistently knocked down perimeter shots, along with Hinrich, something that was sorely lacking from the '04 Olympics. As much as I wanted Bruce Bowen to make the squad instead of Shane Battier, because I'm a die-hard Spurs fan, I can't argue with what Battier is bringing to this squad thus far. I'm excited to see what this team does the rest of the way in this tournament, and two summers from now in the '08 Olympics.
One thing that has been bothering me so far this tournament though is the tournament itself. Why isn't a bigger deal being made about the World Championships? We had the World Cup of soccer earlier in the summer and it seems like it was the biggest news story in sports while it was going on. Even the World Baseball Classic was getting more publicity than these World Championships. Aren't the World Championships in essence the same thing as both of those events? Why is the extent of ESPN's World Championship coverage a 5:30 AM game and a small blurb on the bottom of the screen on ESPN News? I understand soccer is the most popular game in the world. But isn't basketball the second most popular game? Baseball is popular here in American, in Latin America, and in Japan. It is popular in select other places, but mainly in those three areas. Basketball is popular everywhere in the world. Here in North America, Latin America (Argentina was the Gold Medal winner in the '04 Olympics), Europe, Asia (The tournament is being held in Japan), Australia, and is growing in popularity in Africa. Soccer isn't even that popular here in America (unfortunately), and the United States was eliminated early on in competition. I believe that more needs to be made of this tournament. It's not like there are many competing stories in the sports world right now. Football is in the preseason (wow) and baseball is still over a month away from the playoffs. The only thing that should be remotely close to competing with the World Championships is the Little League World Series. But which would you rather watch: the best basketball players in the world competing for their country, or 11 year olds play baseball?
