MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2024
Curry overtakes France: In the realm of NBA basketball, it's often said that the rest of the world is catching up to the U.S.
Partial reason: The biggest stars who are still in their prime are a passel of oversized Euros.
We refer to Giannis, Jokic and Doncic Also, the next big thing—Wembanyama, 20 years old—is a Euro too.
After the weekend's gold medal games—men's and women's games alike!—we 'd have to say that the rest of the world has surpassed the U.S.
We say that after adjusting for population. Here are the numbers in question:
Population, 2022
United States: 333.3 million
France: 68.0 million
After adjusting for population, the American men's basketball team lost to the French by roughly a hundred points! (The women's team too.) Luckily, for all its talk about equity, the IOC still doesn't keep score that way.
How have the Euros managed to do this? We have no idea. That said, the U.S. men were saved by Stephen Curry's shooting performance in the last three minutes of Saturday's game.
It was one of the greatest individual bursts of all time. We thought we'd record it for you.
With 2:58 to go, Wembanyama made a tip-in for the French which cut the U.S. lead to three points. The U.S. team seemed to be melting down. For the first time, it looked like the French might actually be on their way to a win.
Curry proceeded to make four (4) three-pointers to hold the French at bay. Here's the way it was on the clock, and on the scoreboard too:
Curry's quartet of threes:
2:48: Curry for 3. Makes the score 85-79
1:51: Curry for 3. Makes the score 90-81
1:14: Curry for 3. Makes the score 93-84
0:35: Curry for 3. Makes the score 96-87
As you can see, the French kept scoring—but Curry made four three-pointers in a 2:13 span.
Has anyone ever done that in an NBA game? We haven't seen anyone say.
In an astonishing burst, Curry managed to hold the French at bay. Born (where else?) in Akron, Ohio, he's part of a vanishing breed!
Old hat for Warriors fans.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Dubs fan. When Curry goes off it's not a surprise -- except that it always is!
DeleteYeah, it's but it's kind of a shame that we had to rely on four 3-pointers in a row. Cm'on man. I actually found the women's basketball to be better because they weren't relying as much on 3's - rather, just creative play. There was no shortage of that in the men's, but remember how many 3's were missed? It was stupid to me. Take 'em on, don't just rely on the 3 - unless you have to. Which we had to do 4 times! Women were much more nuanced in that regard.
DeleteI'm just an old-school curmudgeon anyway, don't mind me.
I am not Corby.
ReplyDeleteNobody likes Harris. Her crowds are AI.
ReplyDeleteMore people like her than like Trump. And Trump is either so dumb or dishonest, he said the same thing about her crowds:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XEi3iTqAA8
How did you know?
DeleteCurry endorses Harris for president.
ReplyDelete“Adjusting for population” does not work that way, one hopes this is a lame joke.
ReplyDeleteCurry is not part of a vanishing breed, but a surging breed, as he, along with a plurality of Americans, is helping the Dems score a big win.
It is almost as stupid as saying we beat China in the Gold Medal count as we have less folks. Don't really know what is going on with the old man.
ReplyDeleteA guy throws a ball through a hoop and you people forget all about me?
ReplyDeleteWho are you?
DeleteAs impressive as Curry was, especially that last looping shot, the most remarkable performance of the Olympics was Noah Lyles coming in 3rd in the 200 while infected with Covid.
ReplyDelete