The Fundamentals

3 Shades of Blue:  “Continuing our welcome back to school week (we covered civics yesterday) we now have a science lesson for our readers. It has been posited lately that all a team needs to be successful is talent. If the genes are in place the wins will come. Classic examples of team biology defeating team chemistry include LeBron James and the Cavs reaching the NBA Finals over Detroit’s 5 man team concept in 2006, Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers’ run to the finals in 2001 and the Jason Kidd led New Jersey Nets reaching the NBA Finals in 2002. Pure and simple these ‘teams’ were examples of how one incredibly talented individual overcame the accumulated chemistry of well balanced teams. On the opposite side you have Detroit in 2004 when they dethroned the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Monroe and Gary Payton. Clearly the genes were on the Lakers side in that series but the Pistons chemistry carried the day. The Pistons have been to 6 consecutive conference finals with a group of players originally believed to be fringe performers at best but their combined strength was better than their individual excellence. To be a successful franchise you need both chemistry and biology.”

Jennifer Floyd Engel of The Star-Telegram:  “Kobe, LeBron and Co. have been impressive in games and almost more so away from them. Talk about ambassadors. Dream Teamers attended volleyball, tennis, beach volleyball and were watching when Phelps captured gold No. 8. In between playing and watching, they hiked The Great Wall and had pictures taken with what has to feel like all 1.3 billion citizens of China and really had an Olympic experience. And fans love them as a result, a far cry from four years ago, when even Americans had tired of their sorry-butt act.  “They hated us. It seemed like people hated us and, in four years, we have completely turned that around,” Boozer said. “Part of that is changing the culture. Our culture in Athens was terrible. This time around we made an effort to let everybody know we’re good guys.”"

Rick Maese of The Baltimore Sun:  “Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has been an assistant with Team USA for the past three years. That first year, he says, Team USA really struggled. No one seemed to value defense. “We were just outscoring people,” he says. A loss to Greece in the world championships served as a wake-up call for the young players on the American team. They realized how much their style of play was killing them, that they couldn’t simply outscore the world and that their defense had become a major liability. Boeheim says no one has improved more defensively than Anthony and LeBron James. “One hundred percent” was his precise estimate.”

Sekou K Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:  “The next time someone espouses the virtue of the international game and how fantastic it is, remind them that every time one of these international teams gets down big they quit. I mean they just shut it down and take a beating without so much as a frown. If Team USA pulled a stunt like that they’d get roasted the way they did during the past few international competitions when they struggled. That’s something I’m just not used to seeing. NBA teams that get down big always seem to crawl their way back into the game. At least they try to crawl their way back (hey, you remember the Hawks from a couple years back. They were the kings of getting down huge and then storming back only to lose anyway). Apparently that resilience isn’t a part of the package for the Australians. Bogut, the Bucks’ $72 million (with incentives) man was invisible out there. I had to scan the screen several times to make sure he was out there, because he had no presence (his ankle injury flared up again at just the right time).”

Short edition of The Fundamentals this morning.  Check The Highlights for more required reading.  I’ll  add additional links and analysis of Team USA’s win over Australia this afternoon.

- Brandon