By Eduardo Maisonet, III / @edthesportsfan

For FOX Deportes

It’s an analogy I’ve heard pundits and prognosticators lean on all the time when analyzing a team’s chances in an upcoming game…

“If (insert favored team here) players their ‘A-Game’ then they’re sure to win.”

Other than being a lazy analysis, its also problematic to thoroughly comprehend what in the heck exactly is someone’s A-Game. It reminds me of when Bobby Knight used to talk about showing a “gameface” then making funny contortions of his face. Cracks me up every time.

You know what didn’t crack me up? USA’s offensive explosion on Nigeria, as their 156-73 victory was as preposterous as the final tally looks. Here’s “The Five” from Thursday’s trouncing.

1. That Might Be The Greatest Shooting Performance From A Team Ever: Sometimes there’s nothing that needs to be said. This is one of those times. I’ll just let the stats tell the story.

Team USA’s field goal shooting: 59-83 (71.1%)

Team USA’s three-point shooting: 29-46 (63.0%)

Team USA’s free-throw shooting: 9-14 (64.3%)

Only 9-14 free-throwing shooting? That’s just unacceptable USA. *kicks an empty soda can in anger*

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By Jose M. Romero / @RomeroJoseM

For Fox Deportes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Carmelo Anthony held a small American flag uniform patch in one hand, realizing that clutching it was the best way for him to keep it safe.

For this was a uniform accessory that truly has meaning, a flag from a U.S. military serviceman that presumably will be sewn onto the USA Olympic basketball teams’ (men’s and women’s) jerseys to be worn in London.

Saturday in the nation’s capital, the NBA superstars who make up the USA squad – and one rookie, center Anthony Davis – held a practice leading up to Monday’s exhibition game against Brazil in Washington. It was a treat for select American military personnel and their families, who packed the D.C. Armory to see the gold-medal favorites in action as the main attraction of Nike’s World Basketball Festival.

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By Eduardo Maisonet, III / @edthesportsfan

For FOX Deportes

The 2012 NBA Draft just broke all the rules.

Yes, we all knew that AnthonyDavis would be taken with the first pick. Yes, we knew that North Carolina and Kentucky would dominate the draft (10 selected in two rounds). Yes, we knew that there would be a group of players that could possibly fluctuate up and down the board. (Perry Jones 28th?)

There were plenty of givens on draft night, but one of the biggest wild cards in the draft essentially was undrawn out the deck. International players, once sought out as the new frontier of dynamic players in the NBA, weren’t shown a lot of love last Thursday. Only the Denver Nuggets bit on a prime international candidate, that being 6’5” combo guard Evan Fournier from France. Fournier, along with Baylor forward Quincy Miller at No. 38 and Turkish 7-footer Izzet Turkyilmaz at No. 50, are not expected to play for the team at all this year.

Whoop-tee-do.

All except for one year from 2001-2011, at least 11 foreign-born players that did not play college basketball in the United States were selected by NBA teams in a given draft. In 2003, approximately one-third of all draft picks were from outside the United States. This 2012 draft resembles favorably to 2010, where only one player was drafted in the first-round as well in French big man Kevin Seraphin by the Chicago Bulls. (Seraphin was immediately traded to the Washington Wizards.)

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By Eduardo Maisonet, III / @edthesportsfan

For FOX Deportes

The 2012 NBA Draft is set to take place in precisely 48 hours time, which feels odd because just 168 hours ago the actual NBA season came to a close with the Miami Heat disposing of the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games.

Imagine if the series went 7.

That means game 7 would be played…tonight. But I digress.

With the draft being thrust upon us like LeBron barreling down the lane on a fast break, the pundits and the prognosticators are stating that this is the deepest draft in years. Why? Because last year’s lockout skirted my potential candidates for last year’s draft and they held out for one more year? Seems like a logical reason. However, I’m not nearly as sold on many of these players for their future in the league.

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