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Argentina did, and the result was a gold medal. But the impact stretched well beyond the South American country’s borders. It spurred further development around the world, including the United States. “They called them the Redeem Team. What were they redeeming themselves from?” Sanchez asked rhetorically. Hall of Famer Larry Brown, the USA coach in 2004 agreed with Sanchez. “Basketball has been getting better around the world because of what the Dream Team did in ’92,” Brown said after the tournament. “Rather than knocking our guys, we should give credit to the guys who won.”
The league has long sought to take advantage of Mexico City’s population of nearly 22 million and the inroads into South America. “It’s a very important market for us,” Tatum said, adding, “There’s also a large Mexican-American population in the U.S., which is fueling our Latino, Hispanic interest.”
Donatas Urbonas: Dainius Adomaitis when asked why three South American referees worked in a game where two great European teams played: "Thank you! Thank you for this question! You don't have to be very smart for this: just give us three European referees! But you should ask this FIBA."
The fans cheered Huertas but screamed over Scola’s words. His intentions were sincere and heartfelt. “South America is a great place. It’s fun,” said Scola, who has been representing Argentina for 21 years. “The way people cheer sports are fun. We just cross the line sometimes. If we could just stop right before the line, it’s going to be the best show ever. It’s going to be beautiful. People are smart. People are creative. If we can just make people to understand that it’s just a game, it’s not [war] and all that, it’s going to be much better for everybody.”
According to “Reuters” the backpack was carried away by a robot and detonated, a spokesman for Rio 2016 confirmed. Detonating unattended bags has been common this Games amid concerns over security at South America’s first Olympics. Still the players had no idea about what was happening. As Pau Gasol after the game: “We thought, I guess nobody came to watch the game. We heard an explosion but we didn’t know exactly what it was or how big it was. We thought it was fireworks or, I don’t know. The arena was pretty much dead empty at the beginning”.
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That Barbosa was able to recover so much of his quickness after undergoing knee surgery three years ago remains something of a medical mystery — a mystery, that is, to everyone except Barbosa, who cites clean living, hard work and a green liquid extract made from the leaves of a South American shrub called arnica do mato. “It burns going down,” said Barbosa, who scored 7 points in 13 minutes in the Warriors’ win Tuesday night. “You kind of feel dizzy if you’re not used to it. I got used to it.”
The Larry O'Brien Trophy returned to South America this weekend when it visited Spurs center Tiago Splitter in his home country of Brazil. Making appearances in the cities of Rio and São Paulo, Larry reconnected with his friends from the neighboring continent. On Saturday, Larry joined Tiago at the Brazil vs. Argentina basketball game in Rio, a warmup for the upcoming World Championships. In front of thousands of fans and the NBA trophy, Tiago registered a team-high 15 points and 12 rebounds. While he was doing work on the court, Larry was doing his thing on the concourse, taking photos and selfies with fans. At halftime, Tiago was honored with the trophy in front of the sell-out crowd, who stood and applauded for the first Brazilian to ever win an NBA title. Also congratulating Tiago were his teammates as well as team members from Argentina. A great way to start off this trip!
“It’s soreness,” Thibodeau sort of explained. “We’re in training camp (when pretty much everyone is sore). This is an important time for us. We want everyone to work. But we also want to be smart. It was unusual with the travel involved. We played those two (preseason) games and then we basically flew all night (to South America). And we had a lot of stuff going on during the day (with NBA activities), so guys couldn’t get off their feet like they normally would because of all the obligations they had with the league. We just wanted to make sure everything was good.”
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo suggested Monday the way is being cleared for Derrick Rose to return to USA Basketball for the 2014 basketball World Cup in Spain and the 2016 Olympics in South America. “Had he not been injured, he would have very likely been a member of the roster for the (2012) Olympics,” Colangelo said on a conference call to announce the additions of Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and Pelicans coach Monty Williams as assistants to head coach Mike Krzyzewski for USA Basketball.
"But the NBA isolates us a little bit, then when things happen, we think perspective, but that’s a natural reality for people in the Sudan, Johannesburg, third world South America. But for us, we live in a world where we read Hoopshype and RealGM everyday, and we don’t pay attention to what’s going on in the world.’’
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"I don't see why there won't continue to be players from Asia, from Europe, from South America, one of these days hopefully from the Philippines, but it is exciting," he told journalists during a promotional visit to Singapore.
Iverson is willing to play in the Caribbean, in South America or even in the D-League if it gives him a chance to return to the NBA, the source said. "Allen only wants to play if there's a possibility that it leads to the NBA," the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "That's the only way he would go to one of these lower leagues. He wants to get back to the NBA and leave the game on his terms."
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