Today's links:
- In case you missed it, Kevin Seraphin and Nene both were eliminated from the Olympics yesterday, with France losing to Spain and Brazil falling to Argentina. Thus concludes their week-and-a-half long tournament, and after it all, I don't think we really learned much one way or the other about either player. There are different reasons for each.
- With Seraphin, we learned nothing because he barely played. I confess to not understanding the dynamics of the French national team, but I don't quite understand why he didn't see the floor. He got in foul trouble a lot, yes, but so did Tyson Chandler, who averaged three fouls a game last year in the NBA despite having to protect the rim with a team of poor perimeter defenders. This is a FIBA thing, not a Seraphin thing. (And yes, I say this after I posed the question. Let's just say the question was answered). When he did play, he performed a lot like he did at the end of last year, but the samples were just so limited.
- Nene, meanwhile, limped through five games doing typical Nene things. He succeeded with his experience, smart positioning and physicality, not his athleticism. He was rotated in with Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao, both of whom had been with the national team for longer, and that probably hurt his rhythm. Regardless, though, he played like we knew he could play. (If you had to pick out one impressive thing, it's how he defends guards when switching pick and roll. But, again, he's always done that well).
- The bottom line for Nene is health. We have seven weeks or so until training camp. He needs to rest that foot.
- More links below the jump.
- One last point on FIBA: it's amazing how it tailors to different kinds of players than the NBA does. Think about Patty Mills, for example. Like Steve Perrin wrote, he was great for Australia all tournament, yet hasn't done much of anything in the NBA. It's just a different game.
- John Wall was on Jim Rome's new CBS show discussing last season, his offseason plans and why he thinks the Wizards are a playoff team next year. [DC Sports Bog]
- Jerry Sichting is expected to be hired as one of the next Wizards' assistant coaches. Randy Wittman has a big staff right now. [Wizards Insider]
- Roger Mason talked about the importance of having long-term ownership in New Orleans when making up his mind in free agency. [New Orleans Times-Picayune]
- Partial season-ticket plans are now available. [Ted's Take]
- From yesterday, it appears Wall and Gilbert Arenas might be reunited in the August 19 Goodman League Roundball Classic. [DC Sports Bog]
- In case you missed it, Nicolas Batum delivered a violent punch to Juan Carlos Navarro's groin in the closing seconds of Spain's win over France. He then showed his frustration by lashing out at Spain's flopping and the suspicion that they tanked the final quarter of group play to avoid Team USA. A couple hours later,
his PR agenthe issued an apology on Twitter. - As a Bethesda native, this feature from Amy K. Nelson on Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky made me happy. [SB Nation Studios]
- I mentioned the tragic death of Tim Allen, our Timberwolves blogger, yesterday. Here's a place to give a donation in his honor.