((AP story is being updated with quotes, a little tweak in the guru comments and adding russian game)
Some Guru thoughts before moving on with Doug Feinberg's AP coverage from Beijing.
Until Saturday, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird have seen President Bush several times in the Rose Garden at the White House, but he had never seen them perform on the court while in action playing for either the U.S. Olympic team, the University of Connecticut, or in the WNBA.
The duo have been to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to celebrate several UConn NCAA titles, while both were members of the 2004 Gold Medalists in Athens, Greece. Furthermore, Bird has made a triip to the presidential mansion with the 2004 WNBA champion Seattle Storm, while this year Taurasi was in the nation's capital with the defending WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury.
And you won't be seeing this item on Saturday's game in the Washington Post, but those WNBA Washington Mystics loom in the background in the first couple of games off the news.
Bush is a lame-duck neighbor of the nearby Verizon Center, the home of the WNBA franchise.
And considering the price of gas and the cheap cost of the metro, it would have been much less expensive in transportation expenditures to drop by in town to see some of the best in the WNBA, than venturing all the way to the Far East.
But then again, visits were rare to see the Longhorns play when Bush lived in the governor's mansion in Austin, Texas, back in the day,
Though not mentioned in the story below, one of the players seeing action is ex-Mystics all-star DeLisha Milton-Jones. And when the U.S. meets host China in the next game, they'll be opposite Chinese coach Tom Maher, who spent a year doing likewise before joining the largest WNBA alumni organization in the country -- ex-coach of the Mystics, which recently added Tree Rollins to the group.
And now, Doug, take it away, and ask NBC why the download feed from the game to the Guru's Window Media Center operation in his laptop is taking so long)
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Sports Writer
BEIJING -- With President Bush and the first family looking on, the
United States women’s basketball team began its quest for a
fourth-straight gold medal with a rout of the Czech Republic.
Diana Taurasi scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half to lead the
U.S. to the 97-57 victory in the opener Saturday night.
The Americans got off to a slow start, trailing 13-2 giving up layup
after layup to the feisty Czech team. Taurasi finally got the team rolling
much to the pleasure of Bush, who was dressed in a blue shirt and USA cap.
Taurasi’s layup ignited a 20-4 run by the U.S. to close the first quarter.
“Sometimes you think things are going to be easy from the get-go and
they’re not,” Taurasi said. “We’re playing against very good teams that
have been together for a long time.”
The U.S. continued the run in the second quarter behind former Rutgers star Cappie
Pondexter, who scored seven of her 12 points in the period. Her 3-pointer
at the buzzer gave the Americans a 49-31 lead at halftime.
Taurasi and Pondexter also play for the WNBA defending champion Phoenix Mercury.
The Americans continued the onslaught in the third quarter using a
22-5 to put the game out of reach. The U.S. led 75-44 at the end of the
third, sending the President, his wife Laura, and daughter Barbara home.
“I told him if the Czech’s came back and the U.S. lost this game I’d
come and find him,” said USA Basketball president Val Ackerman, who sat
with Bush and his family during the game. “He laughed and responded 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue.”
The President gave a wave to the delighted crowd as he left at the end
of the third quarter.
“It was awesome, I know he had to leave early,” said Lisa Leslie, who
is looking to become the first basketball player to win four straight gold
medals. “It’s an honor that he came out and watched us perform and that he
is a fan of the women’s basketball.”
Sylvia Fowles scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half for the
U.S. to go with 14 rebounds.
“Just to come out here tonight and see how many fans were supporting
us and that our President was out here was good,” said Fowles. “Now I feel
like an Olympian.”
Eva Viteckova had 12 points to lead the Czech Republic, which will
face Mali in their next game.
Even with the first family in attendance, the biggest cheer from the
crowd was for the U.S. men’s basketball team, who were sitting behind the
basket watching the game. At the half the Chinese fans went through a roll
call of the U.S. players, who obliged by standing and bowing to the
delight of the fans.
“We knew the men’s team was going to come today,” Leslie said. “They
were saying all day, ’we’re going to come, we’re going to come.’ “
Up next for the women is host China, which beat Spain 67-64 in its
first game.
China beat the U.S. 84-81 in the gold medal game of the Good Luck
Beijing test event back in April. The Chinese team was at full strength
for the event while the American roster only had four players who are
currently playing in the Olympics.
“We gained some confidence, but know that the Americans were at
half-strength,” Chinese coach Tom Maher said. “We have nothing to lose in
this game, all the pressure is on them.” .
WNBA star Lauren Jackson led medal favorite Australia with 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Opals opened with an 83-64 win over Belarus.
Australia has lost the last two Olympic finals to the United States but comes into the 2008 Beijing Games as world champions. A close 71-67 loss to the Americans in the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament in Hainang last week — the first match between the teams since the Athens 2004 final — highlighted how close the competition could be in Beijing.
The Opals were tentative in the opening stages, but built a 19-12 lead at quarter time and expanded that to 44-28 at the half.
"Our girls were challenged by the fact we have never played Belarus," Australia coach Jan Stirling said. "For us it was a significant game, and I think our recent loss in the Diamond Ball against the USA helped prepare us for today.
"We're just chipping away at a number of things — we've got quite a few things to work on, but I thought we executed pretty well."
In other matches, WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon scored 11 points as Russia beatLatvia, 62-57, Beon Yeon-ha and Choi You-nah each scored 19 points to help South Korea beat Brazil 68-62 in overtime and New Zealand edged Mali 76-72.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was among the crowd at the Olympic Basketball Stadium, which has a capacity of 18,000, for the tournament's opening match.
Suzy Batkovic, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds, said Australia's match against the first-time Olympian Belorussians helped clear "my jitterbugs."
"We have so much more to give. Our chances are extremely high at these Olympics — we've come here to take home gold," she said.
In an afternoon match, South Korea overcame a six-point deficit in the last two minutes of regulation and went on a 11-2 run to start the extra period and never looked back. Brazil had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Micaela Jacinto missed a 15-footer from the corner that bounced off the rim twice before falling out.
Philly.com discussions are intended to be civil, friendly conversations. Please treat other participants with respect and in a way that you would want to be treated. You are responsible for what you say. And please, stay on topic.
These boards are monitored by Philly.com staff. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us in our sole discretion and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. Personal attacks, especially on other board participants, are not permitted. We reserve the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions.