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Team USA might indeed win its fourth consecutive Olympic gold next month in Tokyo. But if they do, it will be a story of overcoming adversity. The Americans lost their second consecutive exhibition Monday, this time bested by Australia 91-83 in Las Vegas. Dating to the 2019 World Cup, where they finished seventh, Team USA has lost four of their past five games. They've also lost two in a row now to Australia, a team expected to contend for the gold in Japan. It was a better showing than the loss to Nigeria on Saturday but just reading those words...

“They [the NCAA] just got a contract from CBS (and TNT), $8.8 billion, and if you are making that, I think you have to share some revenue. You can’t expect people to continue to work for nothing on a false hope of, well this is about education, we are getting you an education, we will feed you. It sounds a little like 400 years ago, like slavery. Stay in your hut. Stay in that little house. We’ll give you some food. You do all of the work. All of it. And I am telling you that I will take care...

NEW YORK – It has been five months since the FBI arrested 10 men in a sweeping federal probe into the underbelly of the basketball world. As the three ongoing criminal cases resulting from the investigation plod along, it’s increasingly unlikely there will be another wave of double-digit arrests. More legal charges still could come, but what’s becoming increasingly clear as the discovery portion of the case comes to a close is that the breadth of potential NCAA rules violations uncovered is wide enough to fundamentally and indelibly alter the sport of college basketball.

US now watching 20k Russian armed troops in motorized units on 3Ukraine (sic) border formation by formation. Zero warning time if they move.

From the midweek edition of the Morning Jolt:Perhaps Obama Will Play the Fiddle at Tonight’s Democratic FundraisersToday’s Headlines, from Moscow…In a gilded Kremlin hall used by czars, Vladimir Putin redrew Russia’s borders Tuesday by declaring the Crimean Peninsula part of the motherland -- provoking a surge of emotion among Russians who lament the loss of empire

(AP) DENVER - A postgame comment by Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw about the prowess of Baylor star Brittney Griner caused a stir in the world of social media Tuesday night.

While local authorities kept mum, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama confirmed Monday that the first lady is in the Willamette Valley this week to visit her brother, Oregon State University basketball coach Craig Robinson. An airplane carrying Michelle Obama — who is Robinson’s younger sister — touched down Monday morning at the Eugene Airport. Semonti Stephens, the first lady’s deputy communications director, said Obama is being accompanied on the trip by one of her two daughters. Stephens said she could not say which of the girls came to Oregon with her mother, or disclose the length of their planned stay....

"Next time I'm down here, I'm going to have to -- next time I'm here, I'm going to have to play some hoops," President Obama said during a short visit to the Puerto Rico.

Government March Madness: Nanny State Runs Amok in Delaware as Govt Arbitrarily Tears Down 60-Year-Old Basketball Hoops Context, first, from the estimable Ed Driscoll: Change! In the 1990s, in Bill Clinton’s America, “Midnight Basketball” was seen as one way to improve the morale of otherwise disaffected youth, and thus, potentially lower the crime rate in urban environments. In 2011, in Joe Biden’s Delaware, neighborhood basketball hoops are being tossed into giant state-owned dump trucks.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina and Michigan State are closing in on a deal to play a basketball game on an aircraft carrier next season. Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said on his radio show Monday night that the teams hope to play on Veteran's Day in San Diego on a carrier. Larry Gallo, a senior associate athletic director at UNC, said Tuesday that a contract isn't in place yet. "We feel as though all systems are go, we're just trying to finalize" details, Gallo said. "But until you have a contract, a deal hasn't been consumated."

"Community Organizer" is just a fancy way of saying "B.S. Artist." And the DUmmies are now discovering that The One is a first class B.S. Artist. Yeah, the Gulf of Mexico has been filling up with oil for about 35 days and the biggest response from Obama so far is that he is talking hoops with Marv Albert. I kid you not. But should we be surprised? Here is a guy who barely, if ever, even attended a class at Columbia University. What did he DO at Harvard? Well, he got elected editor of Harvard Law Review but he...

Here is a brief video clip of President Obama shooting hoops with reporter Harry Smith. Obama was asked if he can "go to his right," and Obama said he can, "but I prefer my Left." No doubt about that! Obama is about as "Left" as they come.

Is a new professional basketball league announced this week for real, or is it all just some sort of joke or publicity stunt by former pro wrestling promoter Don "Moose" Lewis? The Augusta Chronicle reported on Tuesday that the All-American Basketball Alliance plans to kick off its inaugural season in June and hopes that Augusta will be one of 12 cities to host teams. But here's the kicker: According to a press release the newspaper and other Augusta media outlets received from the new league, "only players that are natural-born United State citizens with both parents of Caucasian race are...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP)—You could call it the Obama All-Stars vs. the Capitol Hills.</p> <p>President Barack Obama and a few members of his Cabinet played basketball Thursday night at the White House with a handful of House members, two of them Republicans.</p>

This is the first year for the tournament. I couldn’t find anything in the Times – no brackets, no seedings, no analysis, no expert predictions. I have corrected the first of these deficiencies below so at least you all can get those office pools started. I will report back tomorrow with first round results.

1/21/2009 - BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) -- More than 265 children from Buckley Air Force Base had more than just a basketball clinic in common with a 7-foot-1-inch, 325-pound four-time National Basketball Association champion Jan. 14 here. Just like Shaquille O'Neal was, the hopeful hoopsters are military family members. Children ages 6 to 16 flocked to the Buckley Fitness Center to attend the clinic and meet "Shaq." The Phoenix Suns all-star center talked about how he grew up just like them. He recalled moving from base to base, working at the commissary and cutting grass for extra cash....

Obama offers Palin a game of hoops7 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat White House nominee Barack Obama on Sunday offered to go one-on-one with Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin -- but only on the basketball court. Obama, 47, who blows off steam on the campaign trail with games of pickup hoops, however joked that he wouldn't take on the Alaska governor -- and experienced hunter -- with a gun. "She looks like she's got some game, she played in high school," Obama said of Palin's basketball talents on ABC "This Week." "You know, I know she's a sharpshooter,...

My top five (listed in alphabetical order) Tim Duncan Kevin Garnett Lebron James Kobe Bryant Chris Paul