SALON

Saturday, Aug 11, 2012 10:45 PM UTC

Olympic Viewing: Men’s basketball finale

By

Topics: From the Wires

Olympic Viewing: Men's basketball finaleduring a men's basketball semifinal game at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)(Credit: Victor R. Caivano)

You’ll be happy to know this, Magic, Michael and Larry. Doug Collins is on your side.

Collins, finishing up his fourth year as NBC’s Olympic basketball analyst, said he believes the U.S. Dream Team from the 1992 Barcelona Games would beat the current United States team in a hypothetical matchup. The 1992 team’s front line is too imposing, he said.

The more important matter at hand for the U.S. team is Sunday’s gold-medal game against Spain. Spain has a solid front line, too, but will succeed or fail on the strength of its guard play, Collins said.

The Americans are “close to where they want to be, but all of the pressure is on them to win the gold medal,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s going to be a failure for them. They know that. It’s gold or bust for them.”

Collins is happy for a day off between games because his day job keeps him pretty busy. The current Philadelphia 76ers head coach has watched from London as the 76ers participated in a four-team megadeal that landed Andrew Bynum from the L.A. Lakers while sending Andre Iguodala to Denver.

Michael Jordan once said that participating on the Dream Team helped him learn some weaknesses of his All-Star teammates, things that he could exploit in later games. Collins said he knows the current players pretty well. The advantage to his analyst’s job comes in getting to know some of the international players, and evaluate whether they could play in the NBA.

Being a current coach also brings him fresh material for his analyst’s role.

“A big part of the Olympics is being able to story tell and to make it personal,” he said, “so you know these guys by more than just their numbers.”

The strength of the U.S. team this year is its versatility, with so many players able to operate all over the court. The team has proven to be explosive offensively when the 3-point shots are falling. Collins said he always believed the team’s supposed weakness in the front court was overstated since the U.S. has steadily outrebounded foes.

London is also providing some family time for Collins, whose son Chris is an assistant with the U.S. team and helps scout opponents and run practice drills.

“This is not only a professional situation for me, but I have a lot of personal ties that make it very rewarding,” Collins said.

WALKING TALL: One of the joys of the Olympics — and of NBC Sports’ daytime coverage — is getting absorbed in an exotic sport you would have no other reason to watch. Saturday’s unexpected pleasure was the women’s 20-kilometer race walk, and seeing if Russian Olga Kaniskina could keep a big lead against younger countrywoman Elena Lashmanova

She couldn’t, and her small body was filled with mental and physical pain at the end.

UNHAPPY SILVER: Tough to remember a group of people looking so miserable receiving flowers as Brazil’s silver-medal soccer team, following the surprising loss to Mexico. The players made American gymnast McKayla Maroney look happy.

PHELPS ON LINKS: What’s next after the pool for Michael Phelps? Improving his golf game. Golf Channel said Phelps has signed on as the next star of “The Haney Project,” the series that depicts Tiger Woods’ former swing coach trying to improve the game of a celebrity guest. Now retired from swimming, Phelps said he’s looking for things to keep him motivated. “We look forward to chronicling Michael’s transition from the most-decorated Olympian in history to a frustrated golfer trying to enjoy playing the world’s greatest golf courses,” said Mike McCarley, network president. “Golfers everywhere will be able to relate to his quest to improve his game.”

RATINGS: Due to processing issues, the Nielsen company said no viewership estimate was available for NBC’s Friday telecast.

UPCOMING: Sunday’s music-filled closing ceremony is expected to make a rousing finish for the games.

More David Bauder.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations