Results tagged “teamusa”

Despite getting docked 10 points by Xinhua (the state-run news agency is reporting a score of 79-68), the U.S. Olympic basketball team cruised past Russia in the team's first defensive struggle leading up to the Beijing Games. Kobe Bryant led the U.S. with 19 points, much to the delight of the crowd at Qizhong Tennis Center in Pudong. The AP reports: "The sellout crowd of 14,523 at this arena built for tennis clearly favored the U.S. team, and Bryant clearly was the fans' favorite. Besides the familiar 'MVP!' chants, fans booed when he was called for an offensive foul in the second quarter, and generally oohed and aahed whenever he squared up to take a shot." Team USA plays Australia at 8 pm on Tuesday, also at Qizhong. Tickets appear to be available, starting at RMB 500 a pop.

We just got off the phone with a very upset American Steak & Eggs employee who confirmed the diner's forced closure until August 6. They said it was because the teams playing in the USA Basketball International Challenge are training in Jing'an Stadium, which houses the restaurant. "There's lots of security outside right now," she said. "It's really bad." She said Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, also in the building, was also forced to close. This is all quite strange to us — wouldn't the members of Team USA, who we hear are staying at the Portman Ritz-Carlton next door, enjoy some American steak and eggs? Also read: Tongren Lu to close for the Olympics?

Why does an NBA player need a Chinese name, you ask? Well, for one thing, it might help him in his quest for world domination. And it appears LeBron James indeed has plans to dominate the world. Via ChinesePod we learned of this MSNBC story that talks about LeBron's "goal to become the first billionaire athlete" ... and his desire to be able to speak Mandarin in interviews at the Beijing Olympics. During the ongoing World Championships -- which we haven't mentioned lately because there hasn't been much to cheer about China-wise ... until today -- LeBron is reportedly holding private press conferences for the Chinese and Japanese press on days when Team USA is supposed to be unavailable to the media.