08.09
His hometown notwithstanding, Canucks could do a lot worse than pulling for the likable Bosh, whose multifaceted game could make him a star for the U.S. team at his first Olympics.
“He’s the perfect international player,” Leo Rautins, a Raptors colour man and the head coach of Canada’s ill-fated national team, told CBCSports.ca. “He’s inside, outside, he shoots the ball, he can put it on the floor, he runs.
“The U.S. team knows [that] and that’s why they’re thrilled to have him.”
“First and foremost, when I think about the Olympics, I think about when I was a kid and watching the ‘92 Dream Team win it all, winning the gold medal,” the first-time Olympian told Toronto radio station The FAN 590. “It’s the prestige of the gold medal, the prestige of the Olympics that is so big to me.
“It’s about that before anything else, just competing with the USA on my chest, that’s like a dream come true for me.”
NBA All-Star, and USA Basketball player, Chris Bosh will be checking in with regular video installments for FanHouse. In this debut episode, Bosh shows how hard he had to work just to get to the Olympics. Highlights include: one-handed chin-ups, one-handed bench presses, and one unlucky youngster that dares to get in CB4’s way on the track.
Check back with FanHouse for more comedic gold (and hopefully gold medals) from the tallest video artist on the planet.
Sure, Graham scored the most points but he also fouled and turned the ball over the most, which is not something a player entering his fourth NBA season should do in the summer league.
Graham’s main challenger for playing time next season, newly signed Hassan Adams, didn’t fare that much better, as he averaged a mediocre 10.6 points during his Summer League action. Adams did have a lot less turnovers and fouls though, and the 2.4 steals he averaged were quite impressive. My only knock on Adams, other than his limited offense skills, were the fact that he shot only 65% from the free throw line. I can definitely see Adams being used as a defensive sub off the bench and taking minutes away from Graham.
The only other big name on the team was 2nd round pick C Nathan Jawai, who got into two games during the summer and showed his inexperience. In the first game, he scored 8 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots. But Jawai also picked up 4 personal fouls in 24 minutes, and it took him a while to get to those 8 points, as he missed 6 of his 9 shoots from the floor, to go along with 5 of his 7 free throws.
Solomon’s size and length also could be of great help defensively, as he could guard some of the bigger PGs in the Eastern Conference, such as Chauncey Billups, that have given Toronto trouble in the past.
Honestly, I’d never heard of Solomon, but the more I read about him the more I like him. Besides, I also trust Toronto’s European scouts, as they have brought us some great players such as Parker and Calderon over the last few seasons. Besides, his nickname is King Solomon, and that alone is something positive.
Chris Bosh began to understand the magnitude of the Olympic Games and the place American basketball plays on the world stage when Michael Phelps approached him in the athletes’ village with a question.
“Will you take a picture with me?” the Olympic swim star asked.
“And I thought that was funny,” Bosh said. “I said, ‘I should be asking you for a picture.’ ”
Bosh laughed as he related the story, his eyes uncharacteristically expressive, the excitement of being here evident in his voice. As the Toronto Raptors star looked around, you could sense this is clearly the highlight of his young career. He wants to take in everything that is Olympic. He wants to soak it all up. He wants to play basketball, win a gold medal, get to watch track and field, swimming and boxing, meet the Williams sisters and, if possible, avoid Kobe Bryant.
“People’s reaction to Kobe is pretty crazy,” Bosh said. “(When it happens) I have to walk the other way. It’s sheer excitement. I saw a guy Kobe gave an autograph to and he took off running and jumping and laughing like he had go tell somebody. It must have been pretty special to him.”
This trip is pretty special to Bosh, who has two countries cheering for him. He won’t be asked to be the star he is with the Raptors. He is a complementary player on a stacked American lineup. He understands his role and can’t wait for the tournament to begin.
“I’m proud to be representing myself, my family, and also that team that I play with and my country. I have a lot riding on this,” he said.
“The whole thing has been kind of a whirlwind. It has been a bit of an adjustment because you’re going here, you’re going there, and you always have to wear your credentials . . . Just the massiveness of this event. I’ve never seen a city so locked down, with so many volunteers, so many people. It has been pretty cool to see.”
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