Five-ring circus: The Thread of the XXXIII Olympiad

[DanOregon]

 

[DanOregon]

Paris was great, I'll probably be watching all the stuff I missed on Peacock for the next few weeks. I do wonder what kind of world we'll be in four years.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

This is up there with the best Olympics ever. The events. The presentation. Paris set a high standard. I loved the Champions Park, I loved the new look on the track. The crowds at track and the for the basketball finals were just amazing.

And Peacock offering every single event and the amazing GoldZone broadcast...NBC deserves all the high rankings they got from this.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Watched only the last 45 seconds of the women's game. Horrible execution by the US. One player (Cooper?) travels, the commits a foul 30 feet away from the basket, then only makes 1 of 2 free throws, then doesn't close out on a 3-point shooter, who nails it. And why do you have one of your top FT shooters (Plum) inbounding the ball?

Even on the last in-bounds play no one guarded one French player, she got the ball about 30-35 feet upcourt and was able to pass to the player who hit the circus shot. Stewart was smart not to foul her on that last attempt.

Cheryl Reeve doesn't not have to worry about checking her mail for an invite to be on the 2028 staff. All that being said the officiating was even worse than I imagine. Missed calls everywhere and it was on both sides. France came out the gate wanting to make the game a Battle Royale and early the calls were fine, but eventually it just became Fight Night in Paris with no referee.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Booker played team ball pretty well. I think the U.S. was better with White out there because he's a better defender, but he was pretty deep on the bench in the final two games. You're spot on about Ant though, and to a lesser extent, that was happening with Durant as well. (Less noticeable because his were going in more.) That's probably the toughest thing to know when you're building the roster - Are the guys outside of the absolute Top 3 going to be willing to do things like screen and play defense?

I give Booker a lot of credit. He was one guy that came out the gate saying, "give me a role, any role and I'll do it" and he lived up to his word. He hit some shots in some games, he distributed the ball, set screens, dived for loose balls, played defense. He had a great attitude.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Call me insane but I'd rather have the experienced 200 m gold medalist than the 400 runner who had to run the repechage because she couldn't get out of the qualifying round.

Yeah this feels like a case of STFU and take your gold medal, especially since Sydney and Gabby turned a 5-meter race into a 80-meter lead.

Plus, at the end of the day, USTAF is going to showcase their stars. If Gabby Thomas, the Harvard grad medical professional that won gold in the 200M and both relays, says she wants to run. She's running.

 

[TigerVols]

I give Booker a lot of credit. He was one guy that came out the gate saying, "give me a role, any role and I'll do it" and he lived up to his word. He hit some shots in some games, he distributed the ball, set screens, dived for loose balls, played defense. He had a great attitude.

And he started more often than not. Funny how that works.

 

[The Big Ragu]

This had me laughing.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Like ... wow.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Stanford was responsible for damn near a third of the medals. Very impressive for that ACC school.

 

[Webster]

Yeah this feels like a case of STFU and take your gold medal, especially since Sydney and Gabby turned a 5-meter race into a 80-meter lead.

Plus, at the end of the day, USTAF is going to showcase their stars. If Gabby Thomas, the Harvard grad medical professional that won gold in the 200M and both relays, says she wants to run. She's running.

Who also didn't even make the 400 finals (running a time in the semis slower that than Sydney's 400 hurdles time).

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

I give Booker a lot of credit. He was one guy that came out the gate saying, "give me a role, any role and I'll do it" and he lived up to his word. He hit some shots in some games, he distributed the ball, set screens, dived for loose balls, played defense. He had a great attitude.

I do not like watching him in the NBA. The foul baiting, complaining, and chippiness are brutal and, when they're not working, detrimental to his game as he can become unhinged. All that said, he was incredible in these games.

He did everything well and embraced being an overqualified glue guy. I thought Ntilikina was trying to bait him into losing his mind like he would in league play and Book paid him no mind. I remember Barkley saying something to the effect of, "Everyone wants to win, but some guys want to be the reason that you win." It wasn't just lip service from Booker. He really did whatever was asked to help the team.

Kerr has played with and coached the greatest talents and team players in the history of the game, and his praise of Booker spoke volumes.