Hoop Dreams

Broadcasters in America want the US men's basketball team playing late at night here, so that's exactly what broadcasters in America get.  This is bad news for the fans who had bought tickets for the afternoon session at the North Greenwich Arena (the O2 to everyone outside the Olympics) hoping to see the stars of the US 'Dream Team'.  Also affected are fans of every one of the other seven teams who suddenly find their nations competing in the other session.  Broadcasters in America can do one.

We flash a home-made sign about for a bit, hoping to find a French or Spanish fan who wants to make a trade, but the Americans are the hottest ticket in town, and eventually it's time to give best and accept our new double-bill of Russia against Lithuania and France versus Spain.  The seats are almost in the back row, but have as good a view as you could ever hope for in a venue of this size.  There's the full American-style razzle dazzle, trampolining slam-dunkers at half time and the strange use of a noise that sounds as though Sonic the Hedgehog has collected a magic crystal every time baskets are scored.  These are also, incidentally, the most comfortable seats at the games.  Really depressingly, lots of US fans with premium seats seem to have decided not to bother.

The Russia and Lithuania game starts with a painful lack of quality.  The Russians make handling errors, the Lithuanians are woeful shooters, and the only man who looks like he belongs on a top level court is Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko, the former NBA all-star.  He dominates the paint, collecting rebounds and racking up points for Russia, who build a 14 point lead, to the anger of the huge Lithuanian support in the arena.

After half time, though, the Russians embark on a run of the least adept ball handling this side of the school bike sheds, and Lithuania pull their lead back to a single point.  Eventually the Russian advantage in size and strength pays off though, and they move into the semi finals.

The main event is a local derby between France and Spain.  Both teams have multiple NBA-quality players in their teams, and there's great technique on show throughout.  France run a skilful screen offense, while the Spanish can work through some genuinely talented big men on the inside.  MVP for most of the game is French superstar Tony Parker.  Both teams play great defense, and the final aggregate score ends up lower than the Americans rack up on their own against Australia later on.

Best moment of the session is at the end of the match, where everything turns heated as the Spaniards pull away.  A US - Spain final still looks like an inevitability.  I hope they don't suddenly decide to reschedule it... 

BBC Analysts, and A Word About Basketball

The stars of the BBC commentary team are the greats John McEnroe and Michael Johnson.  Both men combine superb technical analysis with a very uncompromising honesty in assessing performance.  I wanted to give a couple of words of praise for two other members of the stable.

In the aquatics centre, Australian legend Ian Thorpe is becoming one of the most likeable men on television.  He doesn't tend to dwell on the minutae of technique as his American colleagues do, but his tremendous charm and perspective on the human side of the sport could make him as big a success in front of the camera as he was in the pool.

Thorpe and BBC commentary colleague Mark Foster

The most under-appreciated member of the team, for me, is Matthew Syed.  The former British table tennis number one is a student of sport at the highest level.  Fiercely intelligent, he nonetheless analyses in a straightforward manner.  What makes him stand out for me is his honesty.  Asked on tonight's late magazine programme to give an opinion on a cycling ruling, Syed's reply was first that one of the great elements of the Olympics was that nobody was an expert on every sport, and that he'd love to hear a perspective from the cycling world.  Only then did he reveal his gut reaction, as essentially a layman.  So many analysts will bluff their way through a mediocre answer rather than admit a lack of expertise, Syed is a breath of fresh air.

A final note, off topic - amid a glorious day for the British team,  many people will miss the significance of the British basketball losing to Spain by a single point.  This is an absolutely fantastic performance by the home side.  Spain are the only team in the tournament with any serious pretensions to challenge the American 'dream team', and a clear number two in the world.  Going into the final quarter, Britain trailed 61-49, but rocked the Spanish with a stunning run led by captain and NBA all-star Luol Deng, who scored 26 points as GB eventually fell short, 79-78.