USA 79, Nigeria 46

First of all, hooray for the scoreboard people. You guys are really quick studies, I'm impressed.
So we got to the arena at the same time as Team USA. The two vans bringing the players, family members and respective entourage blocked the main entrance, so we had to walk around right when the players were stepping out of the van. Sue, Diana and Tamika were quick to acknowledge the crazy Americans shouting their names Doris Burke-style. The others, namely Alana Beard, Tina Thompson and Michelle Snow, had their ear buds/noise-cancelling headphones on, so they were in their own world.
We are sitting in the yellow section across from the benches. The yellow section behind the benches is closed for the general public and that is very uncomfortable VIP seating, may I add.
We stopped to grab a bite before the game and while I was devouring my delicious hot dog, in walks The Commish. Yup, our very own Donna O., in her summer executive attire. See, I told ya, Bibb, I can see farther than you and I wasn't even standing on the shoulders of giants. The Crazy Americans drew their guns, I mean, iPods, so quickly, Clint Eastwood would be jealous. Donna was nice as usual, but I can't believe nobody asked what she thought about the Mercury and Ann Meyers. Even if it were to get the PC answer. Isn't it funny that Donna O. is here and Val Ackerman isn't even though she's the President of USA Basketball? Why am I not surprised...
The game started out sloppy, but it wasn't called as closely as the game against China, even though this was one physical affair. To quote my friend Keira, the Nigerians can't hit a coconut with a guitar, but can they defend. They were right up there with the Monarchs and Shock in that they were overtly physical sometimes. And not surprisingly, when the going gets tough...D-Nasty gets going. She still has sharp elbows, but the refs were having none of that, so she and Cheryl Ford got called for elbowing their opponents. Talking about rough plays, my impression of the Katie Smith flagrant was that she had intentionally kicked the Nigeria girl while she was down, which is a very low thing to do in my book, so I booed right along with the rest of the arena. Upon reviewing the game tape, I decided it was unintentional, but that had to hurt. A lot. Sorry about that, Katie.
I was happy to see Nigeria convert a field goal in the first quarter as I was sure that wasn't going to happen. Once they started hitting their shots, they got confident. Umoh is a decent PG, she called the right plays, but there isn't one single mid-range shooter on that team. They always took it inside and made life easier for the American posts as they swatted balls with the greatest of ease.
No one impressed me in particular, but it's not surprising that Milton-Jones excelled in a physical game. Sue Bird wasn't as sharp, the guards actually had a tough time getting their shots off at one point, especially when Nigeria went on a 7-0 run to start the second half. They lost steam in the fourth quarter though and the Americans ran away with it in the end. Not pretty, but at least it was a nice night to be out watching a basketball game.
Today, oh man, today. I'm really curious as to what the Russians' gameplan will be. In 2002 they totally mailed it in during their preliminary round game against the US only to make it as hard as they could in the Final.
Will they play dead again? Will the refs let this one get physical, too? Which team will benefit from that?
I can't wait to find out!
Go Svet!