Far from a baptism of fire, New German Chris Kaman easily swept through his first international contest, against Cape Verde today in the Olympic qualifiers in Athens. Caveman had 10 and 10 in 20 minutes, and the Germans won by 36.
Sadly, with that, Cape Verde has been eliminated from both this tournament and Olympic contention. Joining them among the ranks of the cast aside are Lebanon and Cameroon. The loser of Canada vs. Republic of Korea on Wednesday will also meet its Olympic doom.
Yep, that's right, a team I called a 'wild card' -- based solely on Samuel Dalembert and an affinity for Shareef Abdur-Rahim Grizzlies throwbacks -- could be gone by this time tomorrow. Slovenia destroyed the Canucks this morning. Dalembert was woeful -- 4 points on 1-of-8 shooting, 2 rebounds in 22 minutes of work. Korea might actually be the favorite.
Brazil and Greece match up Wednesday as well, in the best game on paper of the opening round. The winner avoids Herr Kaman and his friend Dirk in Friday's quarterfinals. Croatia and Puerto Rico will also be battling to avoid Slovenia (and, by extension, draw the winner of Canada-Korea).
