THE SPORT COUNT

King James will occupy this key role in tonight's clash

In under ten hours, Olympic underdogs Team USA will be pitted against Asia Minor basketball powerhouse Turkey. Boasting NBA starter Hedo Turkoglu amongst their formidable roster, the 12 Dev Adam* present Team USA with their first Olympic-level challenge (sorry, Canada), even with Mehment Okur sitting out.

So many questions arise: can the USA possibly contain Turkoglu? Can they last those FIBA 10-minute quarters against an elite team? What will Kobe and Lebron do in the face of Cenk Akyol and Serkan Erdoğan? Team USA expected a cake-walk last time, only to find themselves in a genuine tussle against this giant of the game. How will they fare in 2008?

Online pundits see a potential upset if Team USA takes this too lightly. But this is mere opinion. We here at The Count advocate science as a means of determining the outcome: following application of complex internal algorithms, John Hollinger’s PER system, critical analysis of plays and match-ups, and consultation of The Count’s trusty ‘City Of Brotherly Love’ sno-globe, we feel we can confidently deliver our findings

Verdict: Kobe and Lebron will play dice courtside; Deron will get a new tattoo while relaxing on the bench; J-kidd will send abusive text messages to his ex-girlfriends; and Boozer will teach Dwight about the extended hours of sunlight in the Alaskan summer. Team USA will still win by 30+ because Turkey are a bunch of Europeans.

*”Twelve Giant Men” in their native language.

Posted by: Alex