Friday Bolts: 9.13.19
Erik Horne (The Oklahoman) details Team USA’s disappointing finish at the World Cup. They were eliminated from medal contention by Serbia: “The U.S. never was any closer than after Donovan Mitchell made a 3-pointer in the third quarter to narrow the lead to 61-59, but a Bogdanovic answer from 3 stretched the lead again. Serbia shredded the U.S. defense for 15-of-31 from 3, including 7-of-14 from Bogdanovic, who scored a game-high 28 points. The U.S. then went scoreless for the first 3:45 of the fourth as Serbia rebuilt its double-digit lead.”
Jerry Colangelo tells Tim Reynolds (Associated Press) that he blames the players who pulled out from playing for the United States for their performance, and sends a veiled threat that he won’t let them back on next time around: “Going forward for USA Basketball, we’re going to need the cooperation of teams, agents and then there has to be communication with players 1-on-1 to solidify those commitments,” Colangelo said. “I am going to be anxious to see how many players reach out early to indicate that they wish and want and desire to play. But I’ll make this statement: It’s as much about maybe who we don’t want as much as who we want.” (If you didn’t notice when he made sure everyone knew he blocked Carmelo Anthony from this summer’s tournament, Colangelo really wants the credit for building the best theoretical global team.)
And Tinfoil Andrew Bogut wants you to look up his conspiracy about FIBA refereeing.
Chris Haynes (Yahoo! Sports) gets Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta on the record about, among other things, the Russell Westbrook-Chris Paul trade: “I think this is gonna be a great fit for Chris in Oklahoma City. I think Oklahoma City is going to surprise people with how good they are. I think there’s a lot left in Chris Paul’s tank. I think Chris Paul’s gonna surprise people with how good he is and I think it’s going to surprise people with how good Westbrook fits in with James Harden.”
Shannon Sharpe says, considering that recent interview, Kevin Durant owes him apology:
And Redditor u/sideshowpurrp thinks Oklahoma City fans should go max petty by giving a standing ovation to Paul George, which would allegedly “send a message” to KD about fan reactions to superstar departures being incoherent his snake status.
Joe Barnathan (Forbes) lauds Steve Ballmer for bucking a sports owner trend by foregoing public funding for the Clippers’ new arena and pledging to put $100 million dollars into the town of Ingelwood: “Lasry and Wes Edens claim they were justified in asking the city for $250 million. The team argued that if they could not get the public funding, that they’d be forced to moved the team for economic reasons. Of course, they also argued that the new arena will be a boost for the local economy. Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen. For Steve Ballmer and the Clippers, there will be no hand-wringing about whether their new venue will be worth leaning on taxpayers because they didn’t ask for a dime. The optics of a man worth more than $50 billion asking the local government for financial assistance would be awkward to say the least. However, Ballmer could’ve certainly made the argument that it is common practice to secure some public financing. Instead, he made the call that while the public enjoys his team, it is not their responsibility to fund his ventures.”