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Marbury, Marion, Iverson and Duncan of the US around the Australian paint, in the first half of the game that the Americans won easily in the end.
The Good...
Carly Patterson became the first American to win the all-around gold medal in gymnastics since Mary Lou Retton took gold in 1984, at the Los Angeles Games.
Greece won another gold yesterday, when the 470-class sailing team of Bekatorou and Tsoulfa sailed away with first place a full two races before the end of the event.
Kenteris and Thanou disappeared completely yesterday.
Michael Phelps won the 200-meter individual medley for his fourth gold medal of Games.
The Bad...
The doping scandals continued Thursday. Five weightlifters tested positive for drugs before the start of the Athens Games, the IOC announced: India's Pratima Kumari Na, Hungary's Zoltan Kecskes, Morocco's Wafa Ammouri, Moldova's Victor Chislean and Turkey's Shabaz Sule. All have been suspended. Two more as yet unnamed weightlifters have also been suspended by the International Weightlifting Federation. Myanmar lifter Nan Aye Khine was also thrown out of the Games after failing a drugs test on Monday.
And the Weird...
South Korean judo coach Suh Jung-Bok was expelled by his national federation, for allegedly hitting one of his athletes after she lost a bout. Moving on a journalist's report that Suh struck Ye Gue-Rin after she lost in the quarterfinals of her event, the South Korean Judo Federation expelled the coach from the Games.
nyloo's daily Olympic Diary
We went to a NBA game yesterday. Curiously, it was being held at a brand new, seaside arena, most spectators spoke the language with an Aussie accent, and the ushers wore polo shirts with the five Olympic rings printed one them.
We arrived by tram. We had to get off the first train because the driver had the air, instead of the air conditioning, on and the crowd in the train was on the verge of collapsing from heat exhaustion. No one complained. We got off and hopped on the next one which was fully air conditioned for our riding pleasure.
It took about 35 minutes to run 5 km (about 3 miles) of course, but we would take anything yesterday to get away from the sweltering heat.
The arena was a delight. Brand new, functional, decorated with Olympic banners, drapes, and all kinds of Olympic paraphernalia. The volunteers were smiling and helpful. The crowd was 90% Aussie and American. Everything was perfect.
Except for the team in the white jerseys, which we had come to see. While the Australians pounded the US basket with 3-pointer after 3-pointer, the US mega-millionaires took no shots from outside the paint in the first half. It was ridiculous. "Take a shot!". No, siree.
Coach Brown must have said something or done something during half time because the second half was from another game. Tight defence and incredible fast breaks completely eclipsed any talent that the Aussies exhibited in the first half and turned them into extras for a great NBA-style show. The ball seemed to disappear at times. An easy 10-point win.
"I envy international teams, looking at players showing passion for their teammates, their country, their sport," US coach Larry Brown said afterwards. "It's a beautiful thing that we're missing."
It was hotter on our way back. We took a cab home.
