2016 Summer Olympics

[BishopMVP]

Nigeria/Germany soccer just starting and looks like it'll be a great game. Both teams looking to attack and play with pace. (And just before I hit post a brilliant German goal to open the scoring.)

Originally Posted by whomario

feels like we read this about a different sport every year regarding James or other stars ... I also think that this is a specifically american way of thinking and feel a little weirded out that the US coach would play into that.

If James picked up Handball as a 12,13 year old i have little doubt he´d be world class, at 16-18 i give him half a chance to be pretty good. But there is no way any athlete picks up a new sport at 30+ and becomes world class or even "the best player in the world" in it. Period.

And of course it fits you athletes pretty well, you happen to have more and better ones than most of the world And yeah, the "profile" fits better than other sports, not denying that.

p.s.: Dirk played Handball at club level as a youth btw (as well as Tennis), before choosing Basketball thankfully

I agree that people overrate how easily elite American athletes could translate to some sports (the idea that any other than like a Steve Nash who grew up playing soccer could switch over and be world class at soccer is laughable) and I see how people who have spent their lives playing it would be offended, but handball seems to overlap so much, and LeBron is just on that different level athletically than even any other NBA players. If I'm wrong I'd love to hear more about the nuances because I plan to watch a couple more games, but what's different defensively than running an aggressive pressing/trapping scheme (which Lebron is the best in the NBA at)? Offensively, based off my limited looks, it sure seems like they're effectively running a 3-man weave/motion offense up top, sometimes with a big guy or two setting picks at the top of the key and a guy in each corner pulling a defender away from the middle. For the small, discrete, technical skills, ball security would obviously be no problem, I don't think the timing of coming off picks would be considering how P&R heavy the NBA is, he clearly has the field vision, throwing power, hangtime, and body control in the air. The one skill that is never used in basketball I'm not sure he has is that quick pump fake while in the air.

I'll agree that a team of the NBA failures wouldn't be some medal favorite, though I do think the right mix could definitely qualify and compete like the Rugby Sevens, and some great basketball players like Steph Curry or KD might not translate as well, but you throw LeBron + some of those other thick guys who can ball handle and love going through contact like Russell Westbrook, Draymond Green, Marcus Smart, and find a good goalie? I really don't think it'd take more than a few weeks of training and a dozen games or less before that team is competing for best in the world.

Originally Posted by whomario

Yeah, it definitely also paints a picture of Lochte either lacking self preservation instincts or being a little fake-bravado after the fact. (Not in any way trying to take away from the terrible nature of the situation here, just struck as odd)

Everything I've heard from people who knew Lochte in Portland is that he's even dumber than he looks, and might be the most oblivious person ever. His response being "whatever" to a gun pulled on him rings very true.

[SirFozzie]

On the other hand, Nate Ebner has transitioned back and forth between Rugby and American Football pretty well (star on Special teams for the Pats, and olympian in Rugby Sevens)

[stevew]

The world is just begging for an "Unnecessary Roughness" type US Handball type movie to happen.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

On the other hand, Nate Ebner has transitioned back and forth between Rugby and American Football pretty well (star on Special teams for the Pats, and olympian in Rugby Sevens)

Yep. And multiple other players on that team like Carlin Isles were latecomers too.

Steve brings up a good point that dual-threat/option QB's who don't quite have the arm strength or accuracy for the NFL would seem to translate very well as well, though I'm not sure Tebow has the quickness or vertical I'd want (jump throw TD's and all!). The important things in handball seem to be being able to throw well (an American specialty), being able to play through physical contact (if anything, the physicality in handball is less because you can't body them once they leave their feet in that arc), and being able to make some basic reads and lead guys (which again, is something any good college PG or QB has practiced doing for years).

[whomario]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

On the other hand, Nate Ebner has transitioned back and forth between Rugby and American Football pretty well (star on Special teams for the Pats, and olympian in Rugby Sevens)

He also played both at a young(ish) age and with no offense to American Football: The amount of actions a player has to perform in many positions is kinda limited compared to other team sports.

Rugby Sevens also seems a bad example, imo, because of the limited depth of talented teams working in (semi-)professional conditions (at least from what i can tell). I mean, Fiji with his 900k inhabitants is a world power there and in regular rugby.

@BishopMVP: The first problem would be learning to work with the ball, which requires a radically different approach and range of motion from shooting a basketball. I´d wager a baseball pitcher or QB would have an easier time than a basketball player to be honest.

Also: People seem to just assume Handball professionals aren´t good athletes themselves because ... They chose Handball ? I would say that most if not all the German, Croatian or scandinavian 6´6-6´8 guys playing in backfield would test very favorably in a combine setting in comparison to a ton of professional Small Forwards. Of course James (and others) would have an edge, but it´s not going to be as large an edge as people assume they would have.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Nigeria/Germany soccer just starting and looks like it'll be a great game. Both teams looking to attack and play with pace. (And just before I hit post a brilliant German goal to open the scoring.)

yeah, that goal was amazingly well played in the buildup Nigeria recovered after about 20 minutes, dangerous team.
Brazil-Germany would definitely be a Highlight of the games from a crowd standpoint, who won´t care that there is exactly 1 player in the german roster who was there for the 7-1 victory in 2014 (and did not play a single minute all tournament) and i think 3 for Brazil due to the age restriction and limited standing of the Olympic tournament (club teams are allowed by FIFA rule to keep their players).

German team is extremely makeshift and missing a ton of eligible players due to one of the following: participated in the euro cup (Sane, Weigl, Kimmich, Can, Draxler, Tah), playing Qualifiers for the CL/EL (Dagoud, Weiser), just changed clubs over the summer (Volland, Werner, Gerhardt, Karius)

They also met up like 5 days before the first game after participating in their clubs first few weeks of training for the new season. So it´s both a testament to the terrific talent level that has built up here since the early 00s and quite frankly the lack of quality in the tournament.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Runners Nikki Hamblin, Abbey D'Agostino help each other to finish line after fall in 5,000 meters


Good to see this kinda story. It's not just about faster/stronger/higher.

Just to follow up, the American who helped her colleague up after the fall was admitted to the final after a protest (as was the other runner), but sadly, she tore her ACL, strained MCL, and torn meniscus.. and she finished the last 2K with that. Wow.)

[whomario]

Also Spain beat France 92-67 to advance despite Pau going 2-7 for 5 points (still was a +22 in 23 minutes played). Really have been clicking after 2 weak games to start the tournament. Have found some nice ways to keep teams from playing off Rubio and Rodriguez, while those 2 have figured out how to make plays off the move. Mirotic is getting better with each game, ball movement and defense are both up there right now.

[whomario]

Germany beats Nigeria 2-0

Brazil-Germany Soccer match on Saturday, should be 4.30 pm Eastern Time if my math is correct.



USA-Argentina basketball starting shortly. Don´t see much of a chance for Argentina. Bad combination of a lack of depth and age for the key players (Manu, Scola and Nocioni are still their 3 best players along with Campazzo), not enough punch inside.

Maybe the last big game for the core of Argentinas "Golden Generation" !

[whomario]

7 layups in the first 4 minutes for Argentina

[nol]

And then Kyrie Irving got subbed out of the game. Go figure. Between the result and it now being painfully obvious Irving does not need to be playing heavy minutes in this competition, a win-win for America.

[larrymcg421]

Steeplchase drama. Kemboi from Kenya was stripped of his bronze medal for cutting a turn too short after a protest by the 4th place finisher.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Steeplchase drama. Kemboi from Kenya was stripped of his bronze medal for cutting a turn too short after a protest by the 4th place finisher.

There was also a ugandan with medal ambitions crashing into a hurdle head on

[Groundhog]

The Australia-Lithuania basketball game was worth staying up till 2am for. As good as we've been on offense, our defense in particular has been outstanding. We've made it this far a couple of times in the past and haven't picked up a medal, but this is our strongest team ever, especially the starters.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

The Australia-Lithuania basketball game was worth staying up till 2am for. As good as we've been on offense, our defense in particular has been outstanding. We've made it this far a couple of times in the past and haven't picked up a medal, but this is our strongest team ever, especially the starters.

the bench seems to have really profitted from getting plenty of reps in the 2 games to finish the group stage against Venezuela and China, looked good there and today as well really liked how Martin has played, Broekhoff as well. Was Bairstow out injured ?

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by whomario

the bench seems to have really profitted from getting plenty of reps in the 2 games to finish the group stage against Venezuela and China, looked good there and today as well really liked how Martin has played, Broekhoff as well. Was Bairstow out injured ?

Yeah, Bairstow dislocated his shoulder in the Venezuela game. It popped right back in, and he's supposed to be back next game.

Martin has been a lot better than I expected from him, based mostly on the few other times he's played international games for us, but I think the way the refs called the Lithuania game really benefited his physical play. He did foul out, but was probably lucky not to have fouled out in the first half with how physical he is, especially the way he attacks bigs post-rebounds... He gets away with it in our domestic league, but didn't expect him to get away with it at this level.

Broekhoff is great... Like I said I think in the NBA thread here, I think he's an NBA chance. His shot hasn't been dropping consistently, but he's pretty athletic, usually a great shooter, and can defend and rebound at the 3 spot.

[digamma]

That was really fun to see the gold medalist Rollins cheer harder for the bronze medalist Castlin than herself in the 110 meter hurdles.

[digamma]

Separately, there is no one attending these track and field events. Is the weather horrible?

[Logan]

I find myself strangely attracted to like 75% of the women's T&F...field.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by digamma

Separately, there is no one attending these track and field events. Is the weather horrible?

Lots of venues have been empty. It probably doesn't matter much financially, but it saps the excitement from the event.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Logan

I find myself strangely attracted to like 75% of the women's T&F...field.

All three of the US hurdlers there are really beautiful.

[JPhillips]

I really wonder if Lochte is so dumb he concocted this story to cover something inconsequential or if they were doing something serious.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by digamma

All three of the US hurdlers there are really beautiful.

Yep.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I really wonder if Lochte is so dumb he concocted this story to cover something inconsequential or if they were doing something serious.

Looking like so dumb:

Judge orders two swimmers to remain in Rio, but Ryan Lochte is already home

[Ned Doolittle]

What's weird is since no one is being accused of robbing the swimmers then what's the controversy? Bad press for the country? Not for nothing you would think the countless pics of garbage and sewage water and known severe crime would be an embarrassment for Brazil, and not a bunch of swimmers making up a story (if they did in fact make it up). Without anyone being accused of being the robber their alleged concocted story is a victimless crime. Certainly not one where it's fine to detain them.

[Critch]

Liked a comment on reddit that if the Brazilian police are looking for Lochte they should check behind Michael Phelps. Harsh but fair.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Ned Doolittle

What's weird is since no one is being accused of robbing the swimmers then what's the controversy? Bad press for the country? Not for nothing you would think the countless pics of garbage and sewage water and known severe crime would be an embarrassment for Brazil, and not a bunch of swimmers making up a story (if they did in fact make it up). Without anyone being accused of being the robber their alleged concocted story is a victimless crime. Certainly not one where it's fine to detain them.

Filing false police reports is a no-no.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by digamma

Separately, there is no one attending these track and field events. Is the weather horrible?

Without having any idea about how ticketing works at this Olympics, I wonder if it's the fact that they don't have a lot of locals attending due to the ticket prices.

I know with the Sydney Olympics back in 2000 there were lotteries with local schools to get free tickets to some of the, shall we say, traditionally less attended events.

[larrymcg421]

It's amazing that the US swept the Women's 100M Hurdles considering (as I mentioned earlier in the thread) our best hurdler and the current WR holder didn't even make the team. Would've definitely gone 1-4 (and probably 1-5) if there was no limit per country.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Ned Doolittle

What's weird is since no one is being accused of robbing the swimmers then what's the controversy? Bad press for the country? Not for nothing you would think the countless pics of garbage and sewage water and known severe crime would be an embarrassment for Brazil, and not a bunch of swimmers making up a story (if they did in fact make it up). Without anyone being accused of being the robber their alleged concocted story is a victimless crime. Certainly not one where it's fine to detain them.

While I don't think it warrants pulling people off planes and confiscating passports and the circus that it's turned into, wasting police time is obviously an offense, no? Or do you seriously think it's fine if police are running all over town with guns drawn looking for an armed robber that doesn't actually exist?

There was a case locally in Pasadena where a guy claimed he'd been robbed by a kid with a gun, police showed up and shot the kid dead and turned out he was completely unarmed and the guy had just got into a minor altercation and wanted to get back at him. This isn't the exact same thing but it's definitely in the same neighborhood. We have rules against making false police statements and wasting police time for a number of very valid reasons.

[stevew]

nvmd. Read a text wrong.

[bhlloy]

The bit that is really weird to me is how quickly the IOC came out the next day and said it was "absolutely not true"

I suppose there's still somewhat of a feeling that the IOC needs to defend the decision to give the games to Brazil but really with a couple days left, I don't think they are releasing statements defaming one of the more recognizable athletes at the games and calling him a liar to that end. As incompetent as the IOC can be I just can't see them making that kind of statement if they didn't know something was up, and for them to know something being up that early in the process... suspect we haven't heard the end of this by any means

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Logan

I find myself strangely attracted to like 75% of the women's T&F...field.

Sure beats the old days of East Germany, that's for sure.

[tarcone]

Cream rises to the top. Gone are the days of the testosterone fueled femanle athlete.
Now the beautiful are also the talented.

[Logan]

I saw someone write this elsewhere but I think I agree re: Lochte...to me the most likely scenario at this point is that nothing happened, he made up the story about getting robbed but not getting on the ground with a gun to his head in order to impress some girls they were chatting up back in the village, they told someone who told someone, and the word got out and he's just been covering his ass ever since.

If he was somewhere he shouldn't have been and got robbed (but didn't have his wallet, phone, credential stolen for some reason) I see no reason why he would have talked about it...there are probably 10,000 men a day a who get robbed by hookers and don't go to the cops. Then again he's clearly not the smartest guy in the world.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

The bit that is really weird to me is how quickly the IOC came out the next day and said it was "absolutely not true"

I think the IOC only announced it was not true after contacting the USOC and being told by them it was not true.

Until there's definite proof, I'm going to assume they lied about being robbed to cover up that they'd spent all their money on transexual hookers, like Ronaldo (fat Ronaldo) did.

[DavidCorperial]

Guys, about everyone talking about Lochte and the other swimmers wasting the police's time, don't forget that they never talked to the police and assuredly never filed a police report about the incident.

[Logan]

Tired of being mocked, Rio is punching back – at Ryan Lochte

Wetzel makes a pretty strong case here.

Raked over the coals for months now, portrayed as a bumbling, corrupt, polluted cesspool of crime that never should have hosted the Olympic Games, the city of Rio de Janeiro and the nation of Brazil are punching back, hard … at American swimmer Ryan Lochte of all people.

Authorities here do not believe Lochte was mugged at gunpoint Sunday morning, as he has alleged in the media and in an interview with police.

They don’t believe he and three fellow swimmers had their taxi stopped by robbers disguised as police. They don’t believe they had guns drawn on them and they certainly don’t believe an organized criminal crew like that would take their money but not their cell phones and jewelry.

Lochte captured one gold in a swimming relay here but because of past success, his looks and a willing participation in the Hollywood self-promotion machine, he is a big star.

His claims of a wild and dangerous night on the streets of Rio went global. It’s the very headline that government officials dread, scaring off tourists and business investments alike. If four big, strong Olympic athletes aren’t safe riding in a taxi then who is? Your kids? Your employees?

Rio isn’t taking this black eye quietly.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Filing false police reports is a no-no.

According to SwimSwam magazine, they didn't file a police report (neither did any of the Olympic Officials). The investigation started after the media got a hold of it.

"Local police have been investigating an armed robbery of four Team USA Olympic swimmers that took place in Rio on Sunday morning. However, according to the Rio police, no police report was filed by Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen, or any Olympic officials after the incident took place."

But apparently the officials in Rio want to question them to see if they are guilty of filing a false police report.

Isn't that kind of mutually exclusive - you can't be guilty of filing a false police report if you didn't file a report in the first place.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by DavidCorperial

Guys, about everyone talking about Lochte and the other swimmers wasting the police's time, don't forget that they never talked to the police and assuredly never filed a police report about the incident.

Um, yes they did.

[larrymcg421]

Per USA Today:

It was many hours before Lochte met with U.S. authorities, according to Jeff Ostrow, Lochte's attorney. Ostrow told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday that Lochte met with representatives from the State Department, FBI, Tourist Police and the USOC's security team at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday night. It was Lochte's first interaction with police and he gave his statement with Ostrow on the phone.


Ostrow said Lochte cooperated fully with authorities. The meeting was held Sunday night because it was the earliest they could get all parties together, he said.

[nol]

Video of Ryan Lochte being a quintessential bro is about to hit the Internet any minute now...

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Um, yes they did.

No they didn't...they reported it to the media...the police picked up the story.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Breeze

No they didn't...they reported it to the media...the police picked up the story.

And then they met with police and recounted the story.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

And then they met with police and recounted the story.

Right, so I guess this is where the confusion comes in - technically he could be guilty of giving a false statement (though I don't know how you prove he wasn't robbed unless someone confesses the whole thing was made up). But giving a false statement doesn't mean he filed a report...Like I posted above the Rio police admit that none of the swimmers or Olympic officials filed a report...

[larrymcg421]

US Women dropped baton in the 4x100 heats, but looks like Brazil bumped into them. US filed a protest and they're waiting on a ruling.

[Grover]

If I've learned anything from this Ryan Lochte story it's this: Never tell your mother anything.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by nol

Video of Ryan Lochte being a quintessential bro is about to hit the Internet any minute now...

Possibly pissing all over the gas station?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

US Women dropped baton in the 4x100 heats, but looks like Brazil bumped into them. US filed a protest and they're waiting on a ruling.

Looks like they won the appeal and will re-run at 8pm local time (solo).

[larrymcg421]

And they have to beat China's time of 42.70. Would suck for China to be eliminated that way.