Let The Show Begin...

As I mentioned in my last blog post, the FIBA World Championships started last Saturday, August 28th in Istanbul, Turkey. There has been so much talk about the USA Men's team in the last few weeks, "They're not that tall" or "They're not that experienced because they're so young," etc. I'm proud to inform anyone that reads this blog that the men's team has been representing the USA very nicely overseas. On Saturday, they dominated over Croatia beating them 106-78 led by Kevin Durant and Eric Gordon. And today, Sunday, August 29th, they beat Slovenia in a 99-77 victory. Even with new rules that they need to adjust to, the USA team has been making fans proud by the great shows they've put on. For a young team who's only played about 7 games together, they're looking ready to get the gold for us with a little more work and experience playing under the FIBA rules. They're next game is tomorrow, Monday, August 30th against Brazil, let's hope these boys keep their good work up and do well in the FIBA World Championships. 

Picture from: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/multimedia/photo_gallery/1008/usa.croatia/images/usa.croatia.3.jpg

Going for the gold

The past week has been quite eventful for the USA Men's Basketball team. The other day they went from having 13 players on their team to now carrying 12. The players are now: Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets), Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies), Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers), Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers), Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves), Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers), and Russel Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).
The team has been preparing for the FIBA World Championships, which will be commencing on Saturday, August 28, in Istanbul, Turkey. They have gone to training camp, played nationally televised scrimmages and recently played a series of exhibition games against Lithuania, last Saturday, Spain, last Sunday, and finally against Greece, yesterday, in which, they came out victorious over their tough competitors. The Men's team is now looking ahead to represent their country well in the World Championships and follow in the footsteps of the 2008 USA Men's Basketball team, that was dubbed the "Redeem Team" when they got the gold for the United States at the Beijing Olympics after 8 years without a gold. Despite the fact that none of the Redeem Team members came back to play for the USA Men's team this summer and the team has had to face numerous challenges, like injury, already, the future looks bright for this young and competitive team that looks like they have the heart and drive to get the gold, or at least put on a good showing, in Turkey this year. 

Picture from: http://www.usabasketball.com/photos/10_mwc_gallery_athens_4.html

In the beginning,

Dr. James Naismith was a PE teacher working in a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. In need of a game that the children could play indoors during the winter in a relatively small space, Dr.Naismith took two peach baskets and a soccer ball and on 1891 the first ever game of basketball was played. The game soon developed as it became more popular. A decade later, bottomless nets started to be used which eliminated the need to manually remove the ball from the baskets after every made shot. Soon more and more changes were made to improve the sport as it got more and more popular. Basketball has definitely come a long way since 1891, it started off as a little game to play when it was too cold out and has evolved into an international sport loved and played by young and old. 

picture from: http://www.kansasheritage.org/people/naismith.html

Introduction

This blog is here to flaunt my passion for the sport of basketball. From updates about the USA National team, breaking news about the NBA during the preseason, and lessons about the history of the sport. This blog showcase all the wonderful aspects about a sport I've grown to love. It will be a testimony to the love and passion just one girl feels for basketball, a sport that, in my mind, is truly amazing.