Kyrie Irving and Team Shaq lost Friday night but the former No. 1 overall pick still managed to steal the show.

Irving found Brandon Knights trying to check him late in the second half and he went all Uncle Drew on him not once, but three times.

Irving’s handles are really in a class by themselves. He’s so smooth and makes it look so easy. Not even Knight who is a great defender in his own right can keep up with Irving.

Irving’s display was not enough to get past Team Chuck who won the game 163-135 thanks to a 90-point first half.

Kenneth Faried was the MVP scoring 40 points and he got the most help from Ricky Rubio who had 10 dimes in 15 minutes.

Rubio is perfect for this game as alley-oops and sick passes often dominate the game. Faried and his motor only know one speed so going for 40 against the smaller Team Shaq was made easy for him.

There is no better warm-up for the dunk contest than playing in a game like this with Rubio. Faried will compete in the dunk contest representing the Western Conference Saturday night.

This was the second year that the Rising Stars Challenge teams were drafted by Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. Barkley is 2-0 in the series.

FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann and his group plan to propose the sport to have it included in the Olympics as early as 2016.

“Like volleyball has beach volleyball, swimming has synchronized swimming, we want three-on-three to be part of it,” Baumann told USA Today.

Baumann said that 3-on-3 would give more countries a chance to be represented in Olympic basketball and help grow popularity of the sport globally. Each country would be responsible for coming up with a way to rank their best 3-on-3 teams and have one represent them.

It’s hard to imagine NBA players would be participating in this. It seems more likely that this would be an Olympic sport where the U.S. always sent amateurs.

It would be interesting to see the kinds of rules that would be set too. Obviously it would be played half court but usually with 3-on-3, there aren’t officials. You call your own fouls and there is far less structure than what there is in every other Olympic sport we currently have.

It seems like this should be further away from happening than the next Olympics, but four years is a long time to get something done.

For fun, imagine the best USA team we could put together. LeBron-Durant-Howard with maybe Rose as a sub. Rubio-Gasol-Gasol would have a tough time getting the gold from that squad.

Navarro is a very key part of the Spanish team and has played very well against the United States in the past. He had a brief stint in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies and is known for his floater in the paint and quick release on his 3-point shot.

Spain is considered the greatest threat to the United States winning gold in these Olympics but is dealing with a lot of injuries that could hinder them. They are already without Ricky Rubio who tore his ACL last season in the NBA. Rudy Fernandez and Marc Gasol are each also playing through injuries right now.

Spain will be fine in pool play despite these injuries and should still advance to the medal round as the top seed from their group. They are definitely susceptible to an upset though especially if they are not at 100 percent.

Brazil will be the biggest competition for them in pool play and could steal the top seed from them. Russia also has looked very strong so far led by Andrei Kirilenko.

This is why the United States is the best team in the Olympics. They may have some of the top talent but it’s their depth that puts them ahead of any other country.

Spain will play Great Britain in their next game Thursday at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Spain comes into the 2012 London Olympics viewed as less of a threat to challenge the United States for the gold medal than they were four years ago.

In 2008, Spain was looked at as the team with the best shot to knock of the United States who were no longer unbeatable, winning bronze in the 2004 games. The U.S. Redeem Team would come out on top in the 2008 gold medal game beating Spain.

Spain played Team USA earlier this week in an exhibition game and lost 100-78. Spain treated the game as a friendly however and we can expect more competition from them in the Olympics.

Spain opens up the 2012 Olympic Basketball pool play against China today with the tip at 11:45 a.m. EST. Spain is considered the favorite in Pool B and is ranked 2nd in the world by FIBA. China is ranked 10th in the world but still not considered much of a threat against a team like Spain.

Spain brings an impressive cast to London in 2012 led of course by Pau Gasol. Pau will be joined by his brother Marc on the inside as well as Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka.

Ibaka is able to play for Spain as their one naturalized player because although he was not born there, he became a citizen while playing in their professional league a few years back.

The inside is definitely the strength of this Spain team and the biggest thing that will give them an edge over the U.S. but they also have pretty good balance elsewhere.

In the backcourt they will start Jose Calderon at point guard who was fourth in the NBA last season in assists per game. Calderon will be joined by one of the all-time greats from the Euroleague, Juan Carlos Navarro.

A big loss for Spain in these Olympics is that they will not be playing with Ricky Rubio who suffered a torn ACL last season and is still rehabbing. Rubio first came onto the national scene back in 2008 in the Olympics for Spain when he was just 17 years old.

At the wing positions Spain is solid too led by Rudy Fernandez and Victor Claver. Fernandez has played in the NBA for the past few seasons and made a name for himself as a fearless shooter and scorer while Claver will join the Portland Trailblazers next season.

China meanwhile has much less NBA experience on their roster. They are led by Yi Jianlian who now plays for the Dallas Mavericks. Yi was a high lottery pick in the NBA once upon a time but has jumped from team to team in his short NBA career having a tough time finding a good fit.

Yi only played in 30 games for Dallas last season. His best season was in 2009-10 for New Jersey when he averaged 12.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the Nets.

Yi doesn’t have a ton of help but NBA fans will recognize the starting center for China, Wang Zhizhi. Zhizhi is a stretch bit who played some in the NBA spending most of his time hoisting up threes.

Sun Yue will start in China’s backcourt and is one of their best guards. Yue played for the Los Angeles Lakers one season back in 2008-09 and won an NBA title with them but only played in 10 games.

China will be overmatched by Spain in just about every area on the floor. Spain is an experienced bunch confident that they can compete for a gold medal this year. China will not be a team capable of standing in their way.

Spain will be very concerned with winning every game in pool play and winning by as big of a margin as possible. They want the 1-seed so they can avoid the United States until a potential gold medal game.

In Pool B, Spain has a little competition in Brazil and Russia for the top seed. If somehow there is a 3-way tie at the top of the pool, winning margin becomes the tie-breaker so expect to see Spain going all out to win every game starting today against China.

Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

USA Basketball will play its final exhibition game in preparation for the London Olympics today at 4:30 p.m. EST on ESPN2 vs. Spain in Barcelona.

The United States are 4-0 so far in exhibition games beating the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Great Britain and most recently Argentina 86-80 last Sunday afternoon.

Spain is ranked 2nd in the world according to FIBA and will definitely be the biggest test for Team USA so far. Spain is considered maybe the only team with a chance to beat the United States in the coming Olympics and we will find out more about that this afternoon.

Spain beat Argentina by 20 points a few days ago before Argentina lost to the United States by six on Sunday. Spain consists of perhaps the most impressive cast of NBA players besides Team USA with Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon and Rudy Fernandez.

The game will feature four Oklahoma City Thunder players in Ibaka, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Last year’s rookie sensation Ricky Rubio will not be playing in this game or the Olympics as he is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last season.

Spain and the United States played in the memorable 2008 Gold Medal game in Beijing four years ago with the United States coming out on top 118-107.

The balance on Spain’s roster is better than Team USA’s and their talent is high enough to compete as well. The United States are very small and it has been an issue so far in the exhibition games. Spain will do the best job of taking advantage of their inside strength with the Gasol brothers and Ibaka.

The lane to drive will be closed up more than normal for the United States and they will likely continue to settle for jumpers from the short 3-point line. The United States has attempted an average of 28.8 3-pointers in their four exhibition games while shooting .374 percent.

Kevin Durant has certainly led the way leading the team in scoring at 18.8 points per game and has gone 14-for-26 on threes. Durant scored 27 points and made seven threes against Argentina.

Two other gunners for Team USA, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony, have been less effective from beyond the arc. Kobe is shooting just .278 percent on threes and Anthony .250 percent. Kobe and Anthony will continue to look for their shots in general and take a lot of threes. One of the potential weaknesses of this team is Kobe and Anthony shooting them out of a game.

Team USA is at its best with Durant and LeBron James on the floor together. In the four exhibition games, they have each played 101 minutes leading the team. Durant started the last two games but did not in the first two as Anthony got the nod. Durant should continue to start though.

LeBron is second on the team averaging 17.0 points per game. His best game was against Brazil when the outcome was most closely in doubt and he took over scoring 30 points to lead the United States to victory.

LeBron’s role is most weighted on his versatility with Team USA especially because of how small they are. LeBron has basically been playing power forward at all times for the U.S., something that will become more challenging when he is matched up with Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka.

LeBron has shown the capability to contend with the likes of a Gasol on the blocks but for an entire game it is not an ideal matchup for Team USA. LeBron expending that kind of energy on defense will maybe wear him down on offense too, although that shouldn’t be too big of a deal when Durant is on the floor.

The United States has been able to overcome a lack of size by being superior at the wing and guard positions. Their ball pressure on opposing guards is a huge strength although the experience of Spain’s guards, Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro, should hinder that advantage.

The attention USA will have to pay to the interior on defense may open up more outside shooting looks for Spain too. Not many players are as prepared to pull the trigger on treys as Fernandez and Navarro and if they are hitting, Spain could pull off the upset.

We will learn a lot about Team USA today and see just how big of an issue their lack of size is. Spain will want to win but international teams understand that this is just an exhibition and they sometimes play accordingly, not going all out or showing their entire game plan.

Irving was the Rookie of the Year and averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game this season in 51 games. He played only 30.5 minutes per game as he was on a minutes cap because of his injury while at Duke. He also shot .469 percent from the field, .399 from three and had a PER of 21.4.

Rubio took the league by storm in the first few months before tearing his ACL. He averaged 10.6 points and 8.2 assists in just 41 games.

Kenneth Faried and Klay Thompson were third and fourth and then there was a three-way tie for the fifth spot on the First Team between Iman Shumpert, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Knight.

The second team consists of Chandler Parsons, Isaiah Thomas, MarShon Brooks, Derrick Williams and Tristan Thompson.

The only rookie for the Thunder this season was Reggie Jackson who was getting a lot of run as the backup point guard after the Eric Maynor injury and before the Derek Fisher signing.

Jackson played in 45 games for the Thunder and averaged 3.1 points in 11.1 minutes per game. He struggled shooting from the field at just .321 percent and .210 percent from downtown.

Irving is expected to be named the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year early this week. Irving played in 51 games this season and averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game. He only played 30.5 minutes per game and was very efficient shooting .469 from the field and .399 from three.

It was a solid rookie class this season but Irving had little competition for this award.

Ricky Rubio was the talk of the league at the beginning of the season but he leveled out after a great start and then went down with a season-ending injury.

Kenneth Faried and Isaiah Thomas came on strong late but their resumes weren’t as impressive as Irving’s.

Irving will become the first Cleveland Cavaliers player to win the award since LeBron James.

The Cavaliers finished the season with a 21-45 record, third worst in the Eastern Conference. With a deep draft coming up the Cavaliers will have a chance to pair Irving up with another lottery pick.

The groups were announced yesterday and nine countries have already qualified. Two more teams will join Team USA’s group.

Group B consists so far of Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain and Spain.

Spain is being touted as Team USA’s greatest competition. They will have Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon on their roster. Ricky Rubio will miss the Olympics because of the torn ACL he suffered this season.

We’ve seen Tony Parker of France take his game to another level this season in the NBA. He has also taken a larger role in Team France for these Olympics but for whatever reason, France never does too well in the Olympics despite a decent cast of NBA talent.

With the injuries to Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard, a few roster spots have opened up for Team USA. Russell Westbrook who was on the bubble in terms of making the roster will now likely be chosen to the team.

Kevin Durant was the star of Team USA’s world championship run two years ago and will likely be a starter and key contributor in the Olympics a few months from now.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
107.4 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.5 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
95.6 Pace (6th)
57.0 True Shooting % (1st)
51.5 Rebound Rate (4th)

Timberwolves (8-game losing streak)
102.0 Offensive Efficiency (15th)
103.4 Defensive Efficiency (21st)
95.8 Pace (5th)
52.6 True Shooting % (16th)
50.5 Rebound Rate (14th)

The last time these teams played it made for one of the best games of the season with Oklahoma City beating Minnesota 149-140 in double overtime.

Russell Westbrook scored a career-high 45 points in that game and Kevin Durant had 40 points and 17 rebounds.

Kevin Love also scored a career-high in the game with 51 points to go along with 14 rebounds. Love will be out tonight suffering a concussion against Denver a few nights ago.

The Timberwolves have been in a downward spiral of late losing their last eight and are 4-15 after Ricky Rubio suffered his season-ending injury a few weeks ago.

The Thunder are on a back-to-back having beaten the Kings last night at home without James Harden. Harden is still a game-time decision tonight but the Thunder may not need him considering all of the injuries Minnesota is dealing with.

The Thunder are one game ahead of the Spurs for the best record in the West with the same amount of losses and two more wins.

Home court will be big in the playoffs and a win tonight against a wounded Timberwolves squad is crucial considering the Thunder are kicking off a five-game road trip tonight.

We saw Durant and Westbrook find a better rhythm last night and if that carries into tonight the Thunder should find themselves with a win in Minnesota.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 149-140 in double overtime in what might have been the best game in the NBA this season.

The Thunder won despite a career-high and franchise record 51 points from Kevin Love to go along with 14 rebounds and the game-tying three-point shot with 1.0 second left in regulation to send the game into its first overtime.

Oklahoma City got a career-high of 45 points out of Russell Westbrook and 40 points from Kevin Durant who also pulled down 17 rebounds in 52 minutes of action.

Durant dueled from deep with Love at the end of regulation and the first overtime. Before Love’s game-tying trey with a second left in regulation, Durant drilled a stepback bomb from straight away 25-feet to put the Thunder ahead 116-113.

The Thunder trailed by five with 46 seconds left of the first overtime following a breakaway dunk by Anthony Tolliver. Westbrook scored on a runner with 36 seconds left to cut the deficit to 129-126. Then Durant provided perfect pick-and-roll help defense on Love in the paint forcing a traveling violation.

With 10 seconds left, James Harden found Durant in the right corner for the game-tying three to send this game into another overtime.

It was all Thunder in the second overtime, outscoring Minnesota 20-11 with Westbrook leading the way. Russell refused to fatigue scoring nine points in the final overtime and everything coming from strong drives to the rim.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Down the stretch, Scott Brooks elected to go with Derek Fisher and Nick Collison alongside Durant-Westbrook-Harden. Fisher couldn’t buy a basket and was 2-for-11 from the floor and 1-for-5 on threes in the game. Collison plays hard but every now and then you can’t help but notice his undersized frame costing the Thunder on the 50-50 rebounds they easily consume via Serge Ibaka.

In the final overtime, the Thunder offense ran through Harden and executed with the same poetic feel that Harden brings to the floor every night. Harden put together a great all-around game tonight scoring 25 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.

It should be mentioned that in Ricky Rubio’s absence the Minnesota Timberwolves called upon 47 minutes of J.J. Barea tonight and he came through with his first career triple-double notching 25 points, 14 assists and 10 boards.

The Thunder have yielded many great box scores this regular season. It is yet to be decided if this is a good thing or not. One thing is certain and that is that the Thunder are the most exciting team in basketball this year.

Oklahoma City (36-12) is off tomorrow and then will square off in possibly their toughest test yet hosting the Miami Heat (35-11) Sunday night.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
107.2 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
95.8 Pace (5th)
57.1 True Shooting % (1st)
51.3 Rebound Rate (5th)

Timberwolves (1-game losing streak)
101.8 Offensive Efficiency (15th)
101.8 Defensive Efficiency (16th)
96.0 Pace (4th)
52.6 True Shooting % (14th)
51.0 Rebound Rate (8th)

The Thunder looked the best they have in awhile with their win over the Los Angeles Clippers two nights ago. It was also the first game that the Thunder suited up newly-acquired Derek Fisher.

Tonight it will be a Ricky Rubio-less Minnesota Timberwolves squad. The team has lost a lot of luster when Rubio went down with injury. Nikola Pekovic also will not be playing due to injury tonight.

It is the first meeting since opening night between these two teams.

Minnesota has won just two of their last eight games and it won’t get easier tonight in Chesapeake Arena. The Thunder haven’t won back-to-back games since March 5 and 7. They are due tonight.

In the first meeting Russell Westbrook had moments of openly mocking the defenders Minnesota was throwing at him. That was a different Westbrook who wasn’t playing the basketball he is now.

Westbrook will have a huge advantage on offense and this game should be one of those in which he roams around getting any look he wants. Westbrook’s jumper has been on point of late too so look for him to continue to look for that pull-up tonight.

I guess the Thunder are just really good because they probably have an advantage at every position tonight. Minnesota has no one that can give Kevin Durant too much trouble although the matchup with Michael Beasley is an interesting one since the two played high school ball together.

Without Pekovic the main focus down low will be on Kevin Love. Serge Ibaka should have the assignment of covering Love and will need to be focused to keep him off the glass.

A loss tonight would really be troubling for Thunder fans. They finally looked like they got their act together in their last game and the Clippers are a much better team than Minnesota. Expect a win tonight for the home team.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Thunder have the best record in the NBA but they don’t necessarily play the best “team” basketball. The Thunder rely more on isolation scoring than any other team in the league and turn the ball over nearly 17 times per game.

Oklahoma City’s starting point guard, Russell Westbrook, averages just 5.5 assists per game, down from 8.2 last season and 8.0 two years ago. The assist numbers from Westbrook are something that needs to improve without question.

With Kevin Durant and James Harden both having the best seasons of their careers, the fourth option for Oklahoma City, Serge Ibaka, hasn’t improved as much as some thought he would.

Ibaka is leading the NBA averaging 3.2 blocks per game but is only scoring 8.2 points per game. Last season Ibaka averaged 9.9 points per game with that number really going up after the Jeff Green trade.

Not a lot has really changed in Ibaka’s game this year though. He still takes that 16-foot jump shot when he gets it and doesn’t have much of a game at the rim aside from finishing with dunks and layups.

It’s Westbrook’s playmaking that has gone down. Westbrook and Ibaka should be a lethal combination for Oklahoma City and it is when they do it. They just don’t do it enough.

Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

SportVu Technology recently posted a study where they researched the highest field goal percentages by passer. They tracked every pass thrown by every NBA player so far this season.

Paul Pierce leads the league with his teammates shooting .568 percent off his passes. The top combination in the NBA is when Ricky Rubio sets up Nikola Pekovic who shoots .707 percent off Rubio’s passes.

Up there in the top combinations is Westbrook and Ibaka. Ibaka shoots .634 percent on passes from Westbrook. Most of those passes are Westbrook kicking out to Ibaka on pick-and-pops for midrange jumpers or Westbrook finding Ibaka on cuts for dunks and layups.

Using Westbrook and Ibaka together should really become more of a staple of the Thunder offense. Help can’t come easily when Durant and James Harden are also on the floor and by this point in the season, defenses are much more focused on Westbrook trying to score than Ibaka.

Ibaka has played great basketball the last two postseasons and will of course be another key component this year for the Thunder. As the games slow down into more of a halfcourt setting, Oklahoma City is going need a little bump in scoring from Ibaka if they want to make it to the NBA Finals.

It will be up to Westbrook to make this happen.

This year the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge will introduce a new format to the game that historically featured the NBA’s rookies facing off against the sophomores.

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal each drafted teams this year so the players are mixed but the pool still consists of just first and second year players.

The best part about this draft has resulted in Ricky Rubio and Blake Griffin being paired together on Team Shaq. Rubio is already one of the best passers in the NBA this season and we all know the kind of things Griffin can do with a lob pass.

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie point guard Reggie Jackson will not compete in the game. Jackson isn’t having the greatest rookie season, now getting run with Eric Maynor lost for the year with an injury, but has been better lately and is showing promise.

Jackson has played 28 games this season and is averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 assists in 11.9 minutes per game. In February those numbers have risen slightly and will hopefully continue to rise for the Thunder this year.

Jackson holds a crucial position for the Thunder as their backup point guard. Russell Westbrook isn’t exactly a true point guard and it was always nice when Maynor would come in because he was a true point guard that could run an offense.

James Harden has stepped up this year as the playmaker for the second unit for the Thunder but if Jackson can produce a little more scoring and playmaking then the Thunder will become a much better team.

Jackson’s absence in the Rising Stars Challenge is also in part to the deep talent at his position. Rubio, Jeremy Lin, John Wall, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Norris Cole and Brandon Knight are all point guards in the game.

Thunder fans will have to wait until Saturday night to see a Thunder player compete at All-Star Weekend with Westbrook in the Skills Challenge and Kevin Durant in the Three-Point Contest.

ibtimes.com

The new Team USA Basketball uniforms were unveiled yesterday. Nike will sponsor the team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The uniforms are utlizing Nike’s newest “light” technology and should feel like next to nothing for the players.

In the photo above Thunder forward Kevin Durant is pictured on the far right along with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Deron Williams.

Durant was the lone “superstar” on the Team USA squad that won the World Championships two years ago and will be joined by many other superstars from the 2008 Olympics this coming Summer for the 2012 Games.

The team has been heralded as possibly the greatest basketball team ever put together, even greater than the 1992 Dream Team. Durant will certainly be a big piece of that as he will most definitely be one of the starting forwards.

Durant’s game is perfect for international play with his ability to raise up and shoot over almost any defender as a lot of international teams will play zone and the three-point line is closer in.

The projected starting lineup for the team looks something like this: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard. Good luck world.

Although I am most excited for the potential lineup of: Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard. Imagine that team on defense in a halfcourt press just switching everything and running like crazy on offense.

I’m a little down on some of the older stars participating in the games. I used to always want this but now would rather Team USA used mostly the younger crowd instead of Wade, Bryant and James.

The kind of lineup I’m talking about would still feature Durant and surround him with the likes of: Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon, etc. Basically I want a 24-and-under team.

Either way, the competitions will still be stiff for Team USA especially from Spain. Spain will be able to match the United States closely with their lineup of: Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon, Jorge Garbajosa, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and newly added Serge Ibaka who will look strangely out of place on the team.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The field for the 2012 Sprite Slam Dunk contest has been announced today. Thunder forward Serge Ibaka will not be competing this year after he did last year.

Paul George, Derrick Williams, Iman Shumpert and Chase Budinger will be the four players competing this year.

None of these players are big names per say but they all have some hops of course. Williams has emerged in some highlights this year with the help of fellow rookie Ricky Rubio and has specialized in two-handed tomahawks.

Each contestant will receive help from a teammate during the contest, an element that has been present in a lot of the recent contests. It is speculated that Jeremy Lin will be the teammate aiding Shumpert of the Knicks.

Blake Griffin won the contest last year but will also not be competing this year. It seems the only thing that will ever continue to keep the Dunk Contest relevant is big named rookie competing in it and this year’s class just doesn’t have enough young, high flyers.