The Blot woke up early this morning to watch some USA Olympic basketball live and it was definitely worth the lack of sleep. Like with the USA squad’s first game against China, their second game against Angola ended in a blow out with Team USA beating Angola 97-76. It’s nice to see this team come together and start to gel with a 2-0 start. They’re definitely not where they need to be yet. For one thing, our team of NBA players will definitely have to step up their outside shooting as the competition gets stiffer. Greece and Spain, the other two countries in our pool, will be much tougher matchups than our first two opponents.
I have to say, my favorite part of Olympic basketball is how quickly the games are played. And I’m not talking about the Redeem Team’s run and gun style. No, I mean the fact that there are no television timeouts! It is so great to be able to sit down and watch a full basketball game in less than two hours. It is a problem if you need to run and get a drink or go to the restroom, but that’s a problem I can deal with any day. It just goes to show how long and drawn out NBA and even college games have become due to television coverage.
It also helps that each quarter of Olympic play is only 10 minutes long as opposed to 12 minute NBA quarters. Plus there doesn’t seem to be as many fouls called, but that could just be because the United States’ games have both been blowouts. Regardless of the reason, the games really feel like they have a much better flow to them and it’s something the NBA sorely lacks. I honestly believe if NBA games were shortened it would bring more importance to the first three quarters, instead of just the fourth as things stand now, and it would be hard for fans to lose interest. Just take these Beijing Olympic basketball games for instance, turn the channel during one of Team USA’s games and you might miss half a quarter.
The Blot woke up early this morning to watch some USA Olympic basketball live and it was definitely worth the lack of sleep. Like with the USA squad’s first game against China, their second game against Angola ended in a blow out with Team USA beating Angola 97-76. It’s nice to see this team come together and start to gel with a 2-0 start. They’re definitely not where they need to be yet. For one thing, our team of NBA players will definitely have to step up their outside shooting as the competition gets stiffer. Greece and Spain, the other two countries in our pool, will be much tougher matchups than our first two opponents.
I have to say, my favorite part of Olympic basketball is how quickly the games are played. And I’m not talking about the Redeem Team’s run and gun style. No, I mean the fact that there are no television timeouts! It is so great to be able to sit down and watch a full basketball game in less than two hours. It is a problem if you need to run and get a drink or go to the restroom, but that’s a problem I can deal with any day. It just goes to show how long and drawn out NBA and even college games have become due to television coverage.
It also helps that each quarter of Olympic play is only 10 minutes long as opposed to 12 minute NBA quarters. Plus there doesn’t seem to be as many fouls called, but that could just be because the United States’ games have both been blowouts. Regardless of the reason, the games really feel like they have a much better flow to them and it’s something the NBA sorely lacks. I honestly believe if NBA games were shortened it would bring more importance to the first three quarters, instead of just the fourth as things stand now, and it would be hard for fans to lose interest. Just take these Beijing Olympic basketball games for instance, turn the channel during one of Team USA’s games and you might miss half a quarter.
