I woke up in time to catch the 2nd half of the US quarterfinal win over Australia.  The Americans broke open a 12 point halftime lead with a major spurt to start the 3rd quarter, and the Aussies were unable to climb back into the game.  Bogut spent the 2nd half on the bench nursing his injured ankle.  Final: 116-85.

Kobe led the US team with 26 points including 4 threes (a few from *deep*).  For Australia, the lightening quick Patrick Mills continued to impress me, putting in 20 points.

Earlier, Lithuania dominated the host nation, ending Yao Ming's bid to lead China to a surprise medal.  Jasikevicius had 23 points for Lithuania, while Yao had 19 for China.  Rudy and Team Espana will face the Lithuanians in what has the potential to be a terrific semifinal matchup.

As I type this, Greece and Argentina are locked in a terrific battle, with Argentina leading by 1 with about 3 minutes left.  Delfino has 15 points in the 4th quarter alone for Argentina.  Winner faces the "redeem team" with a spot in the gold medal final on the line.

Oh- wow.  Clutch 3 from Manu.  Argentina up 4.  2:20 left.

I figured it was time for another Olympic thread.  My thoughts on the games so far:

1) Michael Phelps swims fast.

2) Really fast.

3) At least 3 of the Chinese gymnasts were under 16 and you can't convince me otherwise.  I'm not even sure they were all 14 to be honest.

4) Shawn Johnson looks like a chipmunk.  Very adorable.

5) Bela Karolyi is crazy.

6) I've seen a few clips of water polo, team handball and field hockey.  The latter two look like a lot of fun to play-- I wonder why neither is at all popular in the US.  In much of the world, Field Hockey is a popular sport played by both genders but in the US it is pretty much a title IX era women-only sport.

7) I'm looking forward to watching some of the track events, but I think swimming is my favorite "Olympics-only" sport (defined as a sport I only watch during the Olympics).  I've enjoyed watching it enough that I think I would actually tune in to a US Nationals or World Championships to watch Phelps and others swim.

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Ok- your thoughts on the games so far?

Its 10 minutes after 5 am on the west coast, and I'm awake to watch Team USA's last tuneup for the Olympics, against the 70 million dollar man Andrew Bogut and the Aussies.  Its a tuneup for me as well- I need to be ready to wake up early by the time the real games start.  So, if you are up, join me in this thread to discuss the team, the game, and the Olympics.

Update:  The US won by just 11 despite the Aussies playing without Bogut (sprained ankle).  The US was plagued by sloppy TOs and poor shooting from the foul line and the 3 pt line.

Recap

Box Score

Team USA defeated Turkey 114-82 in an exhibition today held in Macau, China and notable for Lebron James becoming comfortable with the FIBA rule allowing you to "goaltend" the ball once it hits the rim.  Chris Sheridan with a solid recap: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=USATurkey-080731

Notable is that the American starting frontcourt (Howard, Anthony, James) went a combined 20 for 23 from the field.  I'm told that's good.

Tomorrow morning, at 5 am Pacific Time, the US plays their first real warmup test against Lithuania on ESPN2 (and ESPN360.com).  Get used to waking up early to watch the games- I think it will be worth it.

Team USA's lack of comfort with the differences between FIBA and NBA rules has been a detriment to them in the past, so its nice to see that they may actually be learning.

Post your thoughts on Team USA below as we get closer to the tournament.

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