It’s true players like LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade and Chris Paul won’t be participating, and because of that, casual fans will probably overlook FIBA’s tournament, but there’s one very, very good reason to tune in when Team USA tries to win the World Championship for the first time since 2002:

The opportunity to watch Kevin Durant burn the FIBA Worlds to the ground.

Sure, Durant will probably defer some to his talented teammates — particularly, the wing players who will/should be joining him — but he also represents perhaps the most “unguardable” player in the tournament.

The 6-9 — well, it’s hard to pigeon-hole Durant into one particular position, but keeping with the theme of this post, we’ll call him a wing player — winger with the feathery jump shot is in a position to bomb Team USA’s “B-Team” all the way to the gold medal. While it’s true I’m not familiar with the rosters of Team USA’s potential opponents, considering the makeup of foreign players in the NBA, while talented, there isn’t one in the bunch who jumps out as a Durant stopper.

A player like Dirk Nowitzki fits the bill — a long, athletic wing player — but he’s not playing, and besides, he doesn’t play the kind of defense it would take to contain a player like Durant. Someone like Scottie Pippen comes to mind, but yeah, that’s not happening.

Furthermore, I don’t know of any potential opponent who fits such a description.

Considering Durant’s ability to score (30 points a game last season), the shorter 3-point line, and a roster (yet to be finalized) that looks like it can facilitate a wide-open game, allowing Durant to operate in the open court — Something like this:

And heaven help the team that decides to zone a Kevin Durant-led lineup, especially if Coach Krzyzewski and Jerry Coangelo include other good shooting guards — players like Stephen Curry, Danny Granger and Chauncey Billups to name a few who look worthy — because what once was a weakness for Team USA (outside shooting) looks like a considerable strength.

Yes, the talk of Team USA’s lack of dominant big man raises eyebrows, but then again, someone like Tyson Chandler could thrive in a perimeter-based offense; one that asks him to set screens and clean up the trash around the rim. Surrounding Chandler with players shooters and perimeter studs is not a bad way to go, especially if Team USA shoots opponents out of zones. Furthermore, as Dime Magazine points out, Team USA won’t be going up against a who’s who of quality foreign big men:

Fortunately for the U.S., several other countries in the WC field will be without their top big men as well. Andrew Bogut is out for Australia, Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman won’t play for Germany, Mehmet Okur is sitting out for Turkey, Darko won’t suit up for Serbia, Yao Ming is sidelined for China, Joakim Noah may not play for France and Luis Scola may not play for Argentina, and Pau Gasol is out for Spain.

All things considered, I’m expecting some eye-popping performances from Kevin Durant. No one in the FIBA Worlds will be able to guard him.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

Kevin Durant To Burn FIBA Worlds To the Ground

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

And We’re Back… Again

After the jump, Deb Harrison, a loving mom, wife, and an underrated Internet marketer — British readers, if you have any web marketing tasks, you should check Deb’s services out here — and a voracious football fan gives us a glimpse into the disappointment the English team returned home with after such a lackluster appearance. Her perspective also reminds us being a fan doesn’t always mean cheering for championships.

There’s a lot of sorrow involved as well, right Cleveland fans?

A Brit’s guide to the English Dream (well, Nightmare!)
Way back at the start of the year when FIFA announced the World cup tables and who would be playing who, I thought England would have a pretty easy ride to our trademark quarter final playoff. USA, Algeria, Slovenia, no problem!! We have a new Italian football manager and has got us this far already (we beat Croatia 5-0). Rooney could score a much needed goal after a dry spell, Lampard will have his final glorious moment and we can make the semis, the final, even win!

So the first game against USA and we’re watching it from the local pub on a big screen. Four minutes in, Gerrard slides Emile Heskey’s pass past Tim Howard. However, no one knew this at the time as ITV (one of our mainstream TV channels) decides then was the time to have a commercial break. It flashes back and we are 1-0 up.

A little later on and Robert Green,( our 3rd choice goalie) lets in the mother of all howlers by catching the ball from Dempsey’s attempt and then for what seems like slow motion, the ball jumps out of his hands and goes over the line. Half of us are thinking (or in my case shouting at the screen) “Get Crouchie on! Get Cole on!” 78 minutes in and Crouch gets his chance when he subs Heskey, but 12 minutes isn’t enough for the tall one. Sean Wright-Phillips and Jamie Carragher also sub. Joe Cole is nowhere to be seen.

So after that farce, Algeria should have been a breeze. Surely the England team would have realised where they went wrong and hopefully improve, right?

Wrong. So wrong. Rob Green wasn’t in the line-up and that was the only improvement (I’ve never been so happy to see Calamity James on the pitch!). I’m surprised the players found the pitch, they were all over the place! Rooney was playing like he’d just been neutered and although England players got towards a goal, they were very much on their own.

In the first half the referee was either asleep or had stuck a replica of himself in the middle of the pitch and then buggered off, because Algeria were striking out at players as well as the ball and nothing was done. However on Mr Referee’s return, Carragher puts a foot wrong and gets a yellow card before we’ve all worked out what it was he had actually done.

Peter Crouch only gets about 10 minutes to make a difference, which again is fruitless. Has Joe Cole been caught with Capello’s wife or something? He’s still nowhere to be seen on the field. Other subs are Defoe and Wright-Phillips (again?).

Rooney gets the huff at full-time at being booed by English fans. What does he expect? A pat on the back and chants of “Oh dear little chap. Never mind we’ll get the Slovenians next time!” Naturally the English papers go absolutely mad and Rooney issues a grovelling apology a day later.

Now, unfortunately I missed the first 15 minutes of the Slovenian match as this coincided with the kids’ school run (I was told later on that I hadn’t missed much). Heskey had been ditched for younger talent Jermaine Defoe.

So I was just sitting down to watch the game and promptly stood up again as Defoe’s close range shot meant England were 1-0 up. Yeeessssss!!!

Rooney must have rediscovered his trouser area again as he was now playing like half the player he is at Man United. He was firing in all directions, but a Roo goal was inevitable. Defoe had a chance in the second half to get us 2-0 up but missed it by 8 yards. Cole this time gets a look in when Rooney is seen limping, and Heskey replaces Defoe for about 6 minutes. Even though we won we could really have put away a couple more goals, just to prove that we can.

At full-time we thought that was it, until we heard that Donovan had stuck in a last minute goal for the USA and suddenly we’re playing on Sunday and not Saturday. And we’re playing Germany and not Ghana.

As a result, the majority of Brits felt rather optimistic for the German match. After all the papers had been bigging up the England team and assuring us that overall the Fritz sucked at penalties.

What they failed to mention was that Germany are a younger team, with more spirit and energy than England who just seemed well, old and tired. Two goals in the first half proved that point. Our first goal from Upson was a welcome relief and Lampard’s goal would have seen us draw, which may have given England the motivation in the second half to carry on. The ball went across the line twice and the ref said he hadn’t seen it!!! (At this point, I am glad to say that since then FIFA have sacked that donkey. Ha ha ha ha ha!).

As a result the second half was agony to watch. Joe Cole is subbed in the 63rd minute, but by then the morale of the England team is so low it’s gone underground. Germany’s defence is merely a brick wall and they rightfully won 4-1.

So yes, the English dream was over again before July had began. The British invented football, but there are at least 8 countries that play it better than us. Sadly they were also playing in the World Cup.

Rooney didn’t get his goal, Lampard had his final golden moment snatched from him by a blind referee and now most of the Brits want to know why we don’t just have a good old English Manager like Harry Redknapp or even David Beckham (the campaign’s on FaceBook).

Will we get to Euro 2012? Only if Capello gets rid of the tired mediocre overpaid brats currently in the England team. And if he has some sort of cosmetic surgery that makes him look less like Postman Pat.

As for the final, well I am just glad that Spain won. Holland may have had the defence but the rest of it was just kicking, pushing and any other pure dirt that they could get away with. Unfortunately for them they had an English referee.

So who’s the Daddy now?

Disclaimer
No, IntentionalFoul.com has not gone away. We’re simply in the middle of a summer break, powered by a lack of sports and a massive website redesign for our parent company, Ticket Solutions. We’ll be back as NFL Training Camps begin. I hope you enjoyed reading about how fanhood, especially the painful side, is the same all over the world, no matter which team you root for. A painful loss resonates, regardless of what hemisphere you reside in.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

England’s Pain: A Fan’s Perspective

According to a new article from Andy Katz, the expansion plans call for the addition of a new first round, one that will pit the last four at-large bid teams against the last four automatic qualifiers, in a newly-created round called the “First Four.” Some details:

The “First Four” will be played either the Tuesday or Wednesday after Selection Sunday. The winners of the four games will advance to what will now be called the “second round” on either Thursday or Friday. The newly named third round — with 16 games — will be Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the tournament — regional semifinals (Sweet 16) and regional finals (Elite Eight) — will remain as they have been, as will the Final Four, which is set for Houston in 2011…

[Tournament selection committee chairman Dan] Guerrero and [NCAA vice president Greg] Shaheen said the last four at-large teams would be put on the seed line the committee decided they earned. So, this could mean that two could be considered No. 12 seeds playing for the right to play a No. 5 and two could be No. 11s vying to play a No. 6 in the second round.

Essentially, these last eight teams will play each other in the “new” first round and the winner advances to play what we recognize as the old first round (now the second). Think of it this way, two teams will fight for the right to be a “12-seed” with the winner facing the traditional “5-seed” in the second round. The other two games will be an extension of the current “play-in game” scenario.

The “First Four” games will be shown on TruTV earlier in the week so they don’t interfere with the traditional start of the Big Dance.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

March Madness Changes To Accommodate 68 Teams

In case you haven’t heard the inspiration for this post, watch, learn and laugh:

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our “motivation” to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

And:

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown “chosen one” sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And “who” we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called “curse” on Cleveland, Ohio.

Yeah, that would be my definition of win. We’ve got to find a way to make this happen. Maybe the folks at YTMND can help.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

Dan Gilbert’s Rage Needs a Remix

Bigger Image

First, there was the awesome “True To My Word” banner idea as a replacement for all the “Witness” billboards in Cleveland, and while that, alone, is awesome enough, Cribbs’ next move trumped.

Before the decision, the address for Cribbs’ personal site was www.joshcribbs16.com. Now, if someone goes to that URL, they are redirected to a site with the following URL: www.burnlebron.com. Evidently, Cribbs feels just as betrayed as other Cavaliers fans, and he has the resources to effectively relay his disappointment; although, I’m not sure “disappointment” is the right word.

Hatred, perhaps.

A quick glance at the new site reveals a deep sense of disappointment, if not downright disgust. For instance, there’s a YouTube of fans burning James’ jersey, which fits nicely with the site’s look and feel. It’s rare to see another professional athlete react in such a manner towards another pro, especially one that doesn’t play the same sport. Of course, Cleveland fans — and yes, I’m referring to Cribbs as a fan at the moment — are a different breed than you and me.

A fanbase can only take scalding rejection and failure for so long before they lash out.

Obviously, Josh Cribbs, now the best professional athlete in Cleveland, is not immune from those kinds of reactions. A word of advice, however:

Don’t leave town for a bigger contract or a better chance to win, Josh; unless, of course, you want to look like a hypocrite.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

Josh Cribbs Has A Message For LeBron

Just in case you didn’t quite get the significance, I’ll repeat it: Usain Bolt just ran a sub-10 second 100-meter on a bad hamstring.

Think about that for a second. Bolt makes a feat that’s faster than all but four 100-meter world records look like a leisurely jog in the park.

While everyone in the free world is riding the nuts of LeBron James, perhaps we should take a moment to recognize the best athlete in the world — one that holds the world hostage with his jaw-dropping athletic performances, and not his decision-making exercises; although, I seem to remember a time when LeBron wowed us too, but that seems like 20 years ago.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

Usain Bolt Makes Me Shake My Head in Wonder

Hopefully, Leo was pulling for ze Germans, otherwise, he didn’t have much reason to toot his own horn.

More images here.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

DiCaprio Doesn’t Suck, He Blows

Click for full-size image

Huzzah.

For my act of rebellion — sorry, I’m not moved by unmitigated egotism — let’s focus on the recently-debuted NBA 2K11 cover, featuring a truly great basketball player, who, like Jason Whitlock says, didn’t call himself “Air.” Yes, it’s true Jordan has(d) an ego; what truly great superstar doesn’t? However, Jordan handled his business on the court. He didn’t hijack the sports world with hour-long specials, announcing his decision to play baseball or retire because his father was tragically taken from him.

He simply held normal press conferences — ones that did not require ESPN specials — announced his intentions and moved on. Obviously, in today’s world of star-f**kers enabling these “stars,” coupled with an ego that’s been placated at least since middle school, something that simple and benign is out of the question. Whatever the case, instead of hand-wringing over LeBron’s decision, I’m going enjoy having Michael Jordan in a next-generation video game.

Good thing it’s coming out on the PC as well because I’m still not ready to make the leap the PS3.

H/t to Kotaku for the find.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

I’ll Celebrate Michael Jordan, Instead

I’m picking the Netherlands, 3-1.

A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, a Ticket Solutions property.

Carles Puyol Sends Spain to the World Cup Finals