Olympic Basketball diaries: Argentina-Russia for Bronze

Notes from the Basketball Bronze tie at London between Argentina and Russia:

End of the first quarter. 20-18 Argentina.

San Antonio Spur and Argentina superstar Manu Ginobili’s got early fouls and is on the bench. Everybody’s shooting three pointers. Ray Allen should play in an Olympics every year, he’d be the greatest of all time in a snap. Move over, MJ. Argentina are doing their thing where they make it look possible for Russia to beat them but everybody knows Manu is going to go off in the fourth and lead the South Americans to an emotional bronze before announcing his Olympic basketball retirement.

Shved update: Russia’s Alexei Shved pouts more than he makes good basketball plays. Heads up, Wolves fans.

Four minutes to go in the second. 33-27 Russia.

Kirilenko with two quick fast break layups in a ten second sequence. He’s got 9 points. What happened over the last year? This guy is now a beast – the 2 year, 20 million contract is perhaps the best bargain of the offseason if AK47 replicates his Olympic performance in the NBA next season. He looks completely rejuvenated, the rangy, two way force of Utah yore. Luis Scola has been at the center of pretty much every skirmish, channeling his inner Jamaal Magloire. He’s fouling, falling and flopping. Talking about flops, Ak47 had a whopper in the mid-second where Argentinian forward Gutierrez clotheslined him and Kirilenko went flying in every single direction, his arms, head, legs and back creating some sort of quadrilateral. Sure, he got elbowed, but it wasn’t from The Rock or anything.

Shved update: Shved is just like Rubio, only he’s not. Reluctant to shoot, makes the first pass and stands in a corner, waving his hair and looking cool. That’s not how you be Rubio, bro. Shved is having an absolutely perplexing game. He refuses to shoot open threes early in the clock despite having already made two of them. It’s like Reggie Miller finds himself wide open from downtown, looks around, suddenly sprouts shoulder length hair and refuses to shoot the ball because he’s too c0ol for it.

Knicks watch: Pablo Prigioni is awesome. He’s fast and small, I’m thinking J. J. Barea. He should get some legitimate burn next season; after all, his only competition is a dinosaur and a Charlotte Bobcats‘ reject. How hard could it be?

Two minutes to go in the second. 36-33 Argentina.

Ginobili just went on the break to find himself 1 on 4. I thought he’d drive in to the lane and fly over everybody else for a layup. Instead he passes to Gutierrez. Bang. Three pointer. Gutierrez then hits another, followed by a Ginobili three. Argentina are making it rain from beyond the arc. Argentina forward Luis Scola looks simply awful. What does getting a perfectly reasonable contract (3 years, 21 million) amnestied after a 15/10 season do to player’s morale? Neither team is playing inside. Rebounds don’t see to matter either both teams are shooting better than 50%. This one’s going to be a shootout.

Shved update: Shved to Kirilenko alley-oop! One European point guard on the Timberwolves roster is going to be sullen and jealous next season as he watches alley-oops from the bench. Which one is it going to be? (The Shved update is soon going to morph into the Ginobili Explosion Watch. Shved is boring.)

53-48 Russia with four left in the 3rd quarter.

First three minutes of the 3rd, every shot has been a three. Argentina has 10 three point attempts, Russia has six. My Dream Team for the Olympics would definitely feature Reggie Miller, Ray Allen and Larry Bird. Who needs big men?

Russia look like they have this game in the bag. They’ve started attempting passes into the low post. The Russians look pleasantly surprised that this strategy works. Fifty years of basketball strategy right there. Yes, Russia, you have Timofey Mozgov who is the tallest guy in this game by at least three inches.

Shved update: Just as I was writing his obituary, Shved produced two beautiful assists, one of them a crisp bounce pass. He’s got six assists for the game.

58-50 Russia with 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

Argentina are still shooting three pointers. They might have not attempted a single play in the post all quarter. Russia have got tall, long guys who can defend the hell out of a basketball.

Russia update: Some guy named Monia is the captain for the Russia team. He just had what appeared to be his first significant play in the game. Yes, it’s nearly the end of the three quarter.

61-57 Russia at the end of the third.

Wow, Argentina just had a play in the final 10 seconds where three players looked for a three point shot before some dude named Compazzo faked and put up an off balance three with the clock running down. Bang. Argentina is simply refusing to shoot from within the arc. It’s a boycott.

Ginobili alert: Manu? It is time.

62-60 Russia with 7 minutes left in the game.

AK47 just airballed a free throw.

Manu Ginobili sighting: He just did the my-left-arm-is-a-cradle layup past three Russian defenders. Nothing more exciting than Manu in the fourth.

Alexei Shved with the contested three with 6 left to put Russia up 67-64. He has five threes, 18 points for the game. Shved with another jumper with 4: 50 left, 69-66 Russia. Wow, Alexei Shved just had the play of the game. He made a behind-the-back pass to Khryappa, got to the baseline, Khryappa passed back, Shved dunks it. SHVED CAN DUNK! It’s 71-66 Russia with 4:16 left. Shved is clutch. Shved is as clutch as Rubio. Shved is more Rubio than Rubio. Shved boring? I take it all back. The Wolves are going to be the most exciting team next season. Dwight who?

72-71 Argentina with 2:32 remaining.

Ginobili Three! I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Manu! I hate to call this basketball but this wild three point bombing is sure as hell fun. Shved, by the way, is now being a wild and pesky defensive force. Is there anything Alexei Shved cannot do?

75-74 Argentina with 56.5 left.

Shved ran into Manu on a drive. Truly the clash of the titans. Offensive foul called by the refs though I suspect it was a flop. This is perplexing. I have no idea who to root for. Incidentally, Shved is Russia’s go-to guy this game instead of Kirilenko. And he’s killing it.

77-76 Argentina with 43 seconds left.

Ginobili just went and defied the laws of physics! Drove into the lane, switched hands when confronted by Khryappa and finished with a reverse layup. This is now a one-on-one game – Shved vs. Manu. ‘We Will Rock You’ playing in the arena. Everybody’s seemingly a Manu/Argentina fan. This is probably a more exciting game than 95% of last season’s playoffs. Bronze and legacies at stake.

79-77 Russia with 33 seconds left in the game.

Shved hits a three point dagger. How many threes will Shved sink? This is an incredible performance in a high-pressure game. The Trey is probably going to do it for the Russians. Argentina run another play designed to open up a shooter from beyond the arc. Prigioni drrives and passes to Nocioni. Nocioni misses. It’s all over and Russia have their first basketball medal since the Iron Curtain lifted and it’s all because of young Alexei Shved. Watch out for him next season, he looks like he could really make an impact.

One’s got to feel bad for Argentina though; this roster had a dream run – they beat the US basketball team twice and won the basketball gold in 2004. Ginobili must be heart-broken; his Olympic career is probably over. The Russians are ecstatic. World basketball competition, truly at its finest.