The Billiken's Bluff

I get the NY Newsday delivered to my apartment. This morning I opened the Sports Section and began reading Shaun Powell's column titled, "Marbury has lost his game at Games". Powell wrote about how Stephon Marbury was one of the few NBA players who immediately accepted the invitation to play in the Olympics, and yet, playing on Team USA hasn't done anything for Marbury other than shatter his confidence. Powell wrote-

More than most of his teammates, Marbury has looked shaky. This is a player, mind you, who has career averages of nearly 21 points and eight assists in the NBA.

Marbury has averaged just 4 points and 3 assists a game in the Olympics on 6-for-30 shooting (2 for 16 from 3pt). The other teams weren't even guarding him through the first 5 games. They were daring him to shoot. I was reading the article agreeing with every word Powell wrote, lamenting that I would have to watch Marbury brick his way through the upcoming Knicks season.

It was 8am and I turned on the TV. The USA quarterfinal game against Spain was at the half. The US had a slight lead and they were interviewing Marbury. He was 4 of 5 from the field with 10 points at the half. A fluke I said.

It turns out Powell was wrong and so was I. Marbury became the first US player in the Olympics to show any sign of a shooting touch. He scored a US Basketball Olympic record of 31 points, including a record six 3-pointers.




He carried the team in their 102-94 victory over Pau Gasol and the Spainiards. They now move on to the semifinal round. Marbury didn't do anything fancy. He was simply able to make a jump shot, a valuable commodity on a team devoid of shooters.

My feelings towards Marbury are definately of the love/hate variety. I loved when he was a talented point guard at Lincoln High School in NYC, who was headed for NBA stardom.



I thought he was foolish to leave Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, where the two young stars would have would have complimeneted one another's game. I loved when the Knicks traded for him to bring some excitement to the Garden. I hated when he looked completely anemic during the pool round of the Olympics. I'm still skeptical about Marbury, but if he can remember how to shoot during the next two games of the Olympics, and throughout the upcoming Knicks' season then he'll have made a believer out of me.