Getty Images LAS VEGAS — Before Anthony Davis’ fourth-quarter entrance into Thursday night’s Team USA demolition of the Dominican Republic, LeBron James grabbed him, said a few words hugged him and tried to pump him up.
When Davis drained a three and was fouled on the play for a four-point play, the USA Bench erupted right next top him, with the world’s best players jumping up and down screaming for the No. 1 pick.
It was their way of saying, “welcome to the team, kid.”
We knew how this would turn out last night but it became official on Friday morning. Blake Griffin has a torn meniscus and will have knee surgery in the coming weeks — he has officially withdrawn his name for consideration for the Olympics. Davis has been added to roster in his place.
“Blake is one of the best players in the league,” USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said Thursday night. “Anthony Davis at some time is going to be one of the best players in the league, but Blake is a proven commodity. And if we don’t have him that’s a big loss. He was playing really well for us.”
Davis played only in mop up duty when the USA was up by 40 points on Thursday, and that may be the case throughout. He’s the 12th guy on the bench. We are not going to see a lot of the brow in London.
“Davis is not a key person,” Coach K said of his role. “He played eight minutes tonight and was really good. But for us to be staying with Argentina and Brazil (two of the taller teams in the Olympics) it’s going to be these guys (pointing to Andre Iguodala, who played some four for the USA Thursday).”
Some people, particularly in the Sacramento area, have suggested this should move DeMarcus Cousins into consideration for that last spot on the team. Cousins has played well for the USA Select Team (after a rough first day) and has turned some heads.
And let’s be honest here — right now he is a better player than Davis. Maybe not in a few years, but he is today. He’s bigger, stronger, not with the range of Davis but Cousins can score inside and be a physical beast.
But it’s not happening. Mainly because Cousins was not on the originally submitted USA Roster or the secondary additions of James Harden and Davis (who were added late and that took arm twisting by USA Basketball president Jerry Colangelo). There has already been the start of drug testing and other steps for Olympic athletes, to get Cousins added to the roster might require an act of congress. Literally.
Colangelo doesn’t seem willing to go there for the 12th man on the roster.
“What (Cousins has) done is put himself into consideration moving forward…” Colangelo said. “Now we had our roster, and we were going to go with that roster.”
That means Davis is part of the team. The brow is on its way to a gold
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That was an epic Game 6. There was great play from both sides, huge shots by Ray Allen and Tony Parker and LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard and… I could go on and on. The players knew it was a great game, too. These are some highlights from the postgame press conferences where they talk…
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AP
With the Heat season on the brink LeBron James needed to change things up… He ditched the headband. Not exactly ditched, but late in the game LeBron’s headband was knocked off — and then he went off. LeBron played a key stretch of the fourth quarter then all of overtime without it. Couper Moorehead of…
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That was as great a fourth quarter, as great an NBA Finals fame as you are likely to see. Miami started the quarter down 10 but LeBron James goes on a tear after getting his headband knocked off. The Heat come all the way back to take the lead, then Tony Parker drains a three…
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LeBron James gets another triple-double, now favorite for Finals MVP
Jun 19, 2013, 4:35 AM EDT
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You’ll have to excuses ESPN for not mentioning LeBron James achieving a triple-double during the Heat’s 103-100 win over the Spurs until Game 6 ended. LeBron grabbed his 10th rebound – capping a 32-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound, three-steal game – on Chris Bosh’s block of Tony Parker’s jumper with 31 seconds left, setting off a whirlwind…
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Reuters
At shootaround on Tuesday before Game 6, Chris Bosh said that hot shooting Spur Danny Green wasn’t going to get clean looks at threes. Then, with the Spurs having one last shot in overtime to tie the game, Bosh made sure his words were good by blocking a Green desperation three to tie the game.…
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‘Devastated’ Manu Ginobili says he has no clue how Spurs will re-energize for Game 7
Jun 19, 2013, 3:29 AM EDT
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MIAMI — After suffering a brutal Game 6 loss that the Spurs had every reason to believe would turn out in their favor, one of the team’s key veterans wasn’t exactly optimistic that they’ll find a way to bounce back emotionally in time for Thursday’s Game 7. Manu Ginobili was the Game 5 hero for…
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Spurs execution fails them when it matters most. Can they get it back for Game 7?
Jun 19, 2013, 2:24 AM EDT
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For three quarters, as it has been for much of the NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs execution was just too much for the Heat to handle — the Spurs shot 50 percent, they played smart defense, they moved the ball, Tim Duncan was playing like a man possessed with 30 points and 14 rebounds,…
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Ray Allen giving Heat exactly what they expected this season, including his clutch 3-pointer in Game 6
Jun 19, 2013, 2:06 AM EDT
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Ray Allen faced a potentially awkward moment before he even played his first game with the Miami Heat. Not only were the Heat facing his old team, the Boston Celtics, his new teammates were receiving their 2012 championship rings. Miami had won a hard-fought seven-game series over Allen’s Celtics on its way to the title,…
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Heat force a Finals Game 7 with thrilling overtime win over Spurs
Jun 19, 2013, 1:53 AM EDT
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MIAMI — The Spurs were on the brink of winning a championship. With 28 seconds remaining in the fourth, they held a five-point lead, were on a 10-2 run over the last four minutes, and fans were heading for the exits while arena staffers lined the court to rope off the crowd in preparation for…
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Chris Bosh, the Heat’s center, was the Miami player who took the necessary step of declaring Danny Green was done getting open looks. When push came to shove, Bosh – the Heat’s center (!) – backed up his words, which really should have come from one of the perimeter players who kept leaving Green open.…
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Ray Allen is amazingly, incredibly clutch. This is exactly why the Heat wanted him from Boston. What a huge shot. If the Heat win this series, that will go down as one of the greatest shots in Finals history. Allen and LeBron James will get credit for making 3-pointers to send Game 6 to overtime,…
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Tony Parker makes step-back 3-pointer, steals ball, makes spinning jumper (video)
Jun 18, 2013, 11:43 PM EDT
Tony Parker, who made the defining play of the series, his twisting, shot-clock beating clincher in Game 1, is at it again. He stepped back to create space for a game-tying 3-pointer, got a steal on the other end and then drove into the paint for a short jumper to put San Antonio up by…
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The Spurs entered the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals with a 10-point lead, but the Heat are fighting back. Two shoes or one, they’re not quitting. I don’t know why the Spurs called timeout after Mike Miller made that 3-pointer without his shoe. I’d want to attack him on the other…
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NBA Finals Game 6: Heat comeback in fourth, win in overtime to force Game 7
Jun 18, 2013, 10:27 PM EDT
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That was a great game. And Game 7 sets up to be something special. For three quarters San Antonio’s execution was too much for Miami and the Spurs entered the fourth up 10 (75-65) and just 12 minutes away from a title. Tim Duncan had been a force, with countermoves spinning Chris Bosh around and…
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MIAMI — The Spurs lead the Heat 50-44 at halftime of Game 6 of the Finals, and if Miami is to prevent a championship celebration tonight on its home floor, they must find an answer from what is developing into an all-time great performance from Tim Duncan. Duncan has been unstoppable thus far, and has…
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Mike Miller remained in the starting lineup, but that merely made him the guy in the way of Kawhi Leonard. This ferocious dunk gave Leonard eight early points after he made a three-point play and a 3-pointer.
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LeBron would like to see Mike Miller more involved for Heat in Game 6
Jun 18, 2013, 8:39 PM EDT
MIAMI — Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra hinted that a lineup change might be possible in advance of Game 6, but wasn’t going to reveal it until absolutely necessary. “I’ll turn in my card at 45 minutes,” he said. There was no lineup change to be found when the time came, however, as three-point specialist…
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Miami has gone very small against the Spurs — and it worked at first, the Heat won a game and forced the Spurs to adjust to them. However a consequence of that has been Chris Andersen has slid out of the rotation. The Birdman’s size was key against the large Pacers front line last series,…
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Kansas’ Ben McLemore was pretty much a top three pick on everybody’s board a month ago, but he may be sliding down some boards right now. In part that is because the smooth-shooting guard out of Kansas didn’t help his cause in some recent workouts, reports Chad Ford at ESPN.com (Insider). Multiple sources told me…
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Reuters
I know, there’s some irony to Chris Bosh talking about physical play. But the thing is, he’s right — the Miami Heat have to come out with their best defensive effort they are not going on to a Game 7. They need to stick with shooters on the perimeter, make crisp rotations and stop cheating…
