Progress in Team USA Men’s Basketball; Simone Biles goes for gold again; NFL tonight!

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🏀 Good morning to everyone, but especially to…

TEAM USA MEN’S BASKETBALL …

Now That looked more like it Team USA Men’s Basketball. Ten days later barely escape What would have been one of the biggest upsets in international sporting history against South Sudan, the Americans turned things up a notch on both sides to pull off a 103-86 victory over the upstart Bright Stars. After trailing 10-8 early, the US went on a 25-4 run and never looked back.

After Le Bron James And Kevin Durant led the way in the Olympic opener against Serbiait was a lesser-known name that shone on Wednesday: Bam Adebayo had a team-high 18 points off the bench. Of Joel Embid not playing (coach’s decision), Adebayo did a little bit of everything, writes James Herbert.

• Herbert: “Jrue holiday provided his usual ball pressure all over the world and Dirk White was absolutely everywhere, but no one made a bigger impact than Adebayo. … In this context, Adebayo does not have to bear the same burden as he does with the Miami heat, but it’s no exaggeration to say he dominated some of this match. He scored 14 of his 18 points before halftime on 6-for-6 shooting while destroying defenses.”

With the win, the United States officially qualified for the quarter-finals and will close the group play against Puerto Rico on Saturday. Team USA will do that returns to the typical starting five for that game, Steve Kerr said.

…AND KATIE LEDECKY AND LÉON MARCHAND

It starts slowly. One body length. Five. Ten. Twenty. By the end of the race there are too many to fit on the TV screen. Katie Ledecky‘s dominance is stunning, breathtaking, hilarious and all-encompassing. The all-time great American distance swimmer captured her eighth Olympic gold medal (and 12th Olympic medal overall) in an Olympic record 3:30:02 PM in the 1500 meter freestyle.

• Ledecky now owns the 20 fastest times ever in the 1500 meter freestyle. Yes, it’s absolutely stupid. She won this race by more than 10 seconds, improving her own Olympic record from 2020 in Tokyo.
• Ledecky’s tie for twelve Olympic medals Jenny Thompson, Natalie Coughlin And Dara Torres for most by a swimmer.
• Ledecky’s eight gold coins tie Thompson for the most by an American woman.
• Torri Huske also medal Wednesday for the Americans.

If Ledecky, 27, is one of the established GOATS, Leon Marchand might just be on its way. The French star won gold in both the 200 meter butterfly and 200 meter breaststroke.

• He is the first swimmer to win both events at one Olympic Games, and he did it on the same night no less.
• That makes him the first swimmer to win gold in multiple individual events on the same day since Kornelia Ender in 1976.

Matt Norlander has more of a unforgettable evening at the pool.

Here’s more from the Olympics:

😃 Honorable mentions

😣 Not so honorable mentions

🤸 Simone Biles and Suni Lee headline the women’s gymnastics all-around final

Fresh out lead the United States to gold in the team competition, Simone Biles And Suni Lee face each other in a historic individual all-around final. It is the first time that two former Olympic all-around champions will face each other in the individual final. Lee, the Tokyo 2020 gold medalist, wants to make it two in a row, while Biles, the 2016 Rio Games gold medalist, wants to go further which has already been a redemptive Olympic Games (and finish with a excellent blow back against a former teammate).

This is what it is about. No matter what happens today, Biles is an icon. A unique force that changed her sport. A gigantic presence despite her height of 1.80 meters. Her eight Olympic medals are the most of any American gymnast.

Lyle Fitzsimmons gives a taste of what should be an epic afternoon.

• Fitzsimmons: “Biles comes into Thursday’s competition having posted Sunday’s top scores in both the vault (15.800) and floor exercise (14.600). … Biles was second among Sunday’s scorers on the balance beam and ninth on the uneven bars. No other athlete had that single-digit qualifying finish in all four events.”

⚾ Why was the MLB trade deadline so quiet, and who could be next?

When we broke down yesterday, the MLB trade deadline was… meh. There were a lot of trade but none of the big ones we thought might be in the works.

Why is that? RJ Anderson did that three reasons why there wasn’t more movement.

But the top trade candidates that didn’t move on Tuesday could move in the coming months. RJ outlined 10 notable names who could be sent elsewhere this offseasonand among them is…

• Anderson: “Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Marlins — How’s this for a wildcard? Alcantara hasn’t pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery last fall. However, he should be ready to hit the road on Opening Day 2025, giving teams plenty of time to monitor his rehabilitation in the meantime. Alcantara had established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball before the injury (he was a year removed from winning the National League Cy Young Award), and a team confident in their risk assessment could try to make a deal for him Close. winter. Remember, Alcantara is about to become (relatively) expensive for the Fish.”

🏈 Which rookies will be the best at each position in 2024?

It’s August! There’s an NFL game tonight! (Just now don’t expect to see Caleb Williams …or many other starters, if there are any.) That means it’s time to kick things into high gear as the season approaches, and we have just the trick: Cody Benjamin projected the best rookie at each position.

This was a lot of fun to read, and considering that six quarterbacks were selected in the first twelve picks, I can’t imagine this was an easy task for Cody. You’ll have to Read the story to see who he picked there, but I liked this selection.

• Benjamin: “CB: Terrion Arnold (Lions) — Quinyon Mitchell He technically went ahead of Arnold in the draft, but he is currently slated for slot duties with the Philadelphia Eagles, while Arnold profiles as a Day 1 perimeter starter in Detroit. The Balance of Youth (e.g Brian Branch, Ennis Rakestraw Jr.) and experience (e.g Carlton Davis) around him should help.”

If Arnold helps lead an improved high school in Detroit, the Lions will have another very good year.

📺What we’re watching on Thursday

🥇 We’re watching the Olympics. Here’s how.
🤸 Gymnastics Women – Final all-round12:15pm on NBC
🏀 Women’s Basketball, 5×5 – USA vs Belgium3pm on USA
🏈 Texans vs. Bears8pm on ABC/ESPN