World Basketball Championship

I have to admit, I've been uncharacteristically caught up in the World Basketball Championships these past few weeks. Partly it's Melo's excellent play. Partly it's Coach K and Jimmy B prowling the sidelines. But mostly its interest in the whole "team" strategy that the US had coming in.

I even thought about watching the quarterfinal, until I realized we don't get ESPN2 in the Fort these days. (If the downgrade to basic basic cable isn't a sign that it's the beginning of the end of the Fort era, I don't know what is. Maybe Fyall departing.) Oh, and I also thought it was 6:30pm tonight, not 6:30am.

I haven't caught any of the games, but I have noticed the photos on ESPN.com. They all show players focusing intently or celebrating happily. Even though I fear that everyone who played in this tournament is going to be too tired to have a great season once the NBA begins, I'm excited about the effort they're putting out there. Proud, even.

Chris Sheridan, who's been doing a fine job blogging on the championship, is standing by his initial prediction that the US will lose to Spain or Argentina. If the US does lose in the finals, I'll only be a little disappointed. But something tells me the Americans won't, that they've got their International swagger back. So let's make it official: US over Argentina in the finals.