Shock Sign 50-Year-Old Lieberman to Seven-Day Contract
ESPN.COM News Services reports "Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman is leaving the broadcast booth for the floor one more time -- and to set one more record. The Detroit Shock have signed Lieberman, the team's former coach and a current ESPN basketball analyst, to a seven-day contract, meaning she will become the oldest player to ever suit up for a WNBA game. She turned 50 on July 1. 'It is an amazing opportunity to continue to play the game I love,' Lieberman said.
| Good as Gold: LeBron Guarantees Olympic Title
In USA TODAY, The Associated Press reports, "no more bronze medals for LeBron James. This time he's coming home with gold - and that's a guarantee. So he says, anyway. James made his guarantee in a Time magazine story that hits newsstands Friday. The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar is featured on one of the covers of the Olympic preview issue. After comparing the feeling of receiving a gold medal on the podium to opening a prized gift on Christmas morning, James was asked if that meant he would lead the Americans to the title. 'Absolutely,' James responded.”
| Team USA Knows Its Achilles' Heel
In the LAS VEGAS SUN, Rob Miech writes "the pick-and-roll, those are the three dirty little words to Team USA. ‘They've hurt us pretty bad,' Kobe Bryant says. ‘We're looking forward to the challenge, to see if we can negate that problem.' Foreign squads have picked U.S. teams apart and rolled them aside, keeping the Americans from playing in the past three international finals — two world championships and an Olympics. That's a record for futility for Team USA. ‘That's the bread-and-butter play for many countries,' Jason Kidd says. ‘In the past, that's something that has hurt us. We haven't communicated as well as we should have.'”
| Size Isn't an Issue for U.S. Gold Medal Favorites
In the USA TODAY, Tim Dahlberg, a sports columnist for THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, writes "size seems to have become an issue for the Olympic basketball team, if only because every other issue has long since been settled. This is a team so deep and talented and full of superstars that winning the gold medal seems assured even if Kobe Bryant and LeBron James never pass the ball to anyone. Chris Paul laughed because he's seen the intensity. He knows the desire. ‘I don't care if they put me at center, it will be fine,' Paul said. ‘We've got 12 of the best players in the world on this team and they all know a lot about how to win.'”
| Scott Likes Options N.O. Has With Posey
In the NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE, John Reid writes "James Posey, a 6-foot-8 swingman, gives Scott and the Hornets plenty of options with his versatility. ‘I just think James can play three positions (shooting guard, small forward and power forward),' Scott said. ‘Offensively, he just doesn't make mistakes. He takes great shots and does all the things he can do, and he doesn't try to go overboard. But that's what you get when you have a veteran guy. ‘Right now, we're looking at him as our sixth man, probably our first guy off the bench. We're fortunate and very blessed to have him. You look at his track record, he's won everywhere he's been. I think we are a better basketball team.'”
| Spanish Hope Rest on Gasol's Shoulders
In a Reuters story posted in the PENNISULA QATAR, "Spanish hopes of adding an Olympic men's basketball title to their world title rest largely on the shoulders of Pau Gasol. The versatile seven-footer will be a marked man in Beijing with Los Angeles Lakers team mate Kobe Bryant declaring his aim was to ‘stop Pau winning gold'. Able to play power forward or centre, the Barcelona-born Gasol averaged 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in helping the Lakers reach the NBA finals this year. LA's defeat by the Boston Celtics could help Gasol's motivation in Beijing as will the memory of Spain's 60-59 upset loss to Russia in last year's European championship final in Madrid. "
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