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Not since 1936, when Nazi Germany prevailed at the Berlin Olympics, had a
country other than the U.S. or the Soviet Union/Russia led the gold medal list.

It was also a satisfying Olympics for many of the world’s weaker sporting
nations. A record 87 nations won medals, seven more than the previous high in
Sydney in 2000, and a dozen nations won either their first-ever gold medal or
first medal of any color.

Populous countries with no medals included Pakistan, the Philippines and
Bangladesh.

There were other breakthroughs—Tunisia and South Korea won golds in
swimming for the first time; long jumper Maurren Higa Maggi became the first
Brazilian women to win a gold in track.

The United States was disappointed by its boxing team (one bronze medal) and
a lack of golds by its sprinters, but was delighted by breakthroughs in lesser
sports such as fencing, as well as by the historic eight golds for
record-smashing swimmer Michael Phelps.

Jamaica’s sprinters and hurdlers—led by triple-gold sensation Usain Bolt—
won 11 medals, one for every 245,000 of its 2.7 million people. With a
population of 21.4 million, Australia won 46 medals, one for each 465,000
people. Cuba won 24 medals, one for each 470,000 of its 11.3 million citizens.

“China has been systematically targeting every single available medal, and
we’re going to have to do that in the future,” said U.S. Olympic Committee
chairman Peter Ueberroth.

Kenya, despite election-related unrest which killed hundreds and disrupted
its preparations, had a great games with five golds and 14 medals overall.
Ethiopian runners Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba each won rare double golds
in the 5,000 and 10,000.

China’s haul of 51 gold medals was the largest since the Soviet Union won 55
in Seoul in 1988. Fielding athletes groomed since childhood in sports academies,
it won medals in 25 different sports, including its first ever in sailing, beach
volleyball and field hockey.

China, of course, has the largest population pool—1.3 billion people—
from which to recruit athletes. Several far smaller nations distinguished
themselves in medals per capita.

“Both on the field of play and off, this will go down as one of the greatest
performances ever for a United States Olympic Team,” spokesman Darryl Seibel
said Sunday.

The United States trailed well behind the Chinese in golds with 36, the
first time since 1992 it didn’t lead the category. But the Americans did break
their own mark for total medals in a non-boycotted Olympics; they won 110 in
all, two more than their previous high set in 1992 and 10 ahead of China’s
overall tally this year.

Overshadowing the entire U.S. effort, however, was a recognition of China’s
arrival as the dominant Summer Olympics power.

If there was a prominent loser at the games, it was Russia, whose team was
deprived of 10 athletes due to doping accusations. The Russians finished a
distant third in both gold medals, with 23, and overall medals with 72—down
from 27 and 92 four years ago in Athens. Germany and Japan also fared noticeably
worse than in Athens.

Two other athletes, in addition to Ramzi, won their countries’ first gold
medals—Panamanian long jumper Irving Saladino and Mongolian judoka Naidangiin
Tuvshinbayar.

BEIJING (AP)—China proved an acquisitive first-time Olympic host, topping
the gold-medal chart with one of the most dominating and diverse performances
ever. The United States, Britain and an array of small nations also had reasons
to celebrate.

Britain, getting an early jump on its host role for the 2012 Summer Games,
had its best Olympics in a century with 19 gold medals—good for fourth place
behind the Russians. Its cyclists and sailors were the class of the field, and
19-year-old Rebecca Adlington stunned the swimming world with two golds in
distance events.

“The resources that they put toward their Olympic team and the population
base and the dedication is fantastic,” he said. “It’s much more difficult for
the rest of the world to compete, but that’s the way it should be.”

Overall, Africa won 40 medals—the most ever. Those included the first-ever
Olympic medals for Togo in canoeing, Mauritius in boxing, and Sudan in the 800
meters. Also winning first-ever medals were Tajikstan, Bahrain (a gold by Rachid
Ramzi in the men’s 1,500), and war-torn Afghanistan.

Tuvshinbayar’s medal triggered raucous celebrations in Mongolia’s capital,
Ulan Bator, and a presidential decree declared him a “hero of Labor.”

He will make about $2.6 million this season and $2.8 million next year. The Timberwolves have options for his third and fourth seasons.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -The Minnesota Timberwolves signed first-round draft pick Kevin Love on Friday.

Love will join teammates including Corey Brewer, Chris Richard and Rodney Carney in Vegas. Craig Smith was scheduled to attend, but will not participate because the restricted free agent has not agreed to a new contract.

The UCLA power forward signed the contract just in time to participate on Minnesota’s Las Vegas summer league team.

It was merely a formality thanks to the NBA’s rookie salary scale. Love was the fifth overall pick in last month’s draft and acquired from Memphis in an eight-player trade that sent O.J. Mayo to the Grizzlies.

Terms of the deals weren’t released.

McLeod and Singleton have played in the NBA, but most recently played in Europe.

Wright last season, in 56 games, averaged a career-high 6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

Wright played two seasons with New Jersey before he was acquired by the Mavs on Feb. 19 as part of the deal that also brought Jason Kidd to Dallas.

New Jersey took Wright with the 15th pick in the 2005 NBA draft.

The 6-foot-2 McLeod played 200 NBA games over four seasons with Minnesota, Utah, Golden State and Indiana. Undrafted out of Bowling Green in 2002, McLeod has career averages of 5.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.3 rebounds.

DALLAS (AP) -The Dallas Mavericks re-signed former Texas A&M standout guard Antoine Wright on Friday and also signed guard Keith McLeod and forward James Singleton

Singleton played for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2005-07, averaging 2.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 112 games. The 6-8 forward was undrafted in 2003.

“Chris could have shopped himself around more, but in the end, he wanted a fit where he felt comfortable and he knew what kind of opportunity he would be getting,” Bradbury said. “He wasn’t worried about trying to find more money on the market or anything like that. He wanted the right situation, and this just felt like the right situation.”

“I am just excited, I am ready to get to work for the Knicks,” said Duhon, the former Duke player who averaged 6.9 points and 4.5 assists in four seasons for Chicago. “It’s a big stage, playing in New York. It’s something every player in the NBA wants.”

Chris Duhon verbally agreed to a deal with the New York Knicks on Friday, the point guard and his agent told The Sporting News.

Duhon’s agent, Kevin Bradbury, told The Sporting News that he couldn’t comment on terms of the deal, but the magazine cited an unidentified source in its Web site report as saying Duhon will get a two-year deal starting at the full mid-level exception. The mid-level exception will be announced July 9, when contracts can officially be signed.

The games will be televised live in the United States.

BEIJING (AP) -The Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors will travel to China in October to play two exhibition games, the NBA and Chinese Basketball Association said on Wednesday.

The NBA China Games tips off with the Bucks and Warriors meeting on Oct. 15 in Guangzhou and Oct. 18 at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena.

The NBA will host events in the cities as part of its Sichuan Province earthquake relief efforts.

The Trail Blazers open training camp Sept. 30 at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin, Ore. The team opens preseason play against Sacramento on Oct. 7 at the Rose Garden Arena.

Fernandez has played the past seven seasons for DKV Joventut Badalona of the Spanish ACB League. Last season he averaged 21.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals for the team, which won both the ULEB Cup and the Copa del Rey.

“My dream is to play against the best players in the world and Portland gave me that opportunity,” he said.

Pritchard said the team would give Fernandez time to acclimate to Portland and find a place to live. The Blazers would work on getting him a tutor to help him with his English.

Portland coach Nate McMillan was an assistant coach for the U.S. team. He and some of the other coaches went to watch Spain during the competition, with Kobe Bryant tagging along.

Fernandez is good friends with Blazers guard Sergio Rodriguez, who is also from Spain.

“It was a good surprise,” Fernandez said. “When I arrived, I say, ‘OK, let’s go practice now. Let’s go.”‘

Portland acquired Fernandez in a trade with Phoenix during the 2007 NBA draft.

McMillan said the team would also give Fernandez time to catch up on the NBA style of play.

McMillan recounted how Bryant said to him: “He’s your kid, huh? He’s pretty good.”

Fernandez played for Spain in Beijing, scoring 22 points in the gold medal game against the United States. The U.S. team won, 118-107.

“But once he does, he’s going to be a special player,” McMillan said.

The 6-foot-6 Olympian arrived at Portland International Airport on Monday and was whisked to the Rose Garden, where the Blazers held a news conference to introduce him.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -More than 100 fans welcomed Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez to the Portland Trail Blazers upon his arrival to the city with chants of “Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!”

“He’s a team player. He’s a great kid,” general manager Kevin Pritchard said. “I think he’ll raise the level of competition for everyone.”

The six-foot-four, 220-pounder played in Italy last season. He attended the Raptors’ free-agent camp in June.

The Los Angeles native is known as a tenacious defender. He was selected in the second round, 54th overall, in the 2006 NBA draft by the Nets.

TORONTO (AP) -The Toronto Raptors signed guard Hassan Adams to a two-year deal on Tuesday.

Adams last played in the NBA in 2006-07, when he averaged 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 61 games with New Jersey.

Adams was added to the Raptors’ roster Monday for the Las Vegas summer league. Toronto’s entry will play its first game on Saturday.

So if you take a center at 10, you tend to take a smaller type at 21. But Thorn said position likely will not matter. The Nets want help at the rim, defensively and offensively. And they would like some shooting but Thorn said "there may be two bigs so you take them or there may be two small so you take them."

Yeah, OK, so who’s going 10? And 21?

Thorn and Vandeweghe said they are locked into no one at No. 10, and deny reports they have given Gallinari a guarantee. But he still may turn out to be the pick at 10, especially if Lopez is gone (and Charlotte may grab him at No. 9). The Nets might also trade back a few spots in order to take Robin Lopez, Brook’s twin - and don’t you want to be at that season ticket-holder meeting when they tell the folks they drafted a twin from Stanford?

"You just don’t know," team president Rod Thorn said. "After maybe four guys, anybody could be there at 10. There really could. There are some real good smaller players in this draft who could be there at 10. Some bigger players that are rated highly. I couldn’t tell you who’s going four. I couldn’t tell you who’s going three. I don’t think those teams have made up their minds."

"Brook, we’ve seen a lot of him," said Thorn, whose club had Robin in for a workout, but not Brook so far. "He’s obviously a guy we’d certainly consider."

And there is just no way of knowing yet who is going to be available to the Nets at the No. 10 spot.

"Ideally, you’re looking for a player who can have an immediate influence," general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. "Generally, you take the best player available. But who you pick at 10, it will have influence on who you take at 21."

So don’t even bring up 21. Or 40 on the second round.

Jordan is another guy who intrigues because of his potential. The consensus is he is very raw and not likely to help right away. But he is enormously athletic with a wingspan that might stretch across Route 3.

There is the post scoring of Stanford’s 7-foot Brook Lopez. There is the potential of 6-foot-9 Italian Danilo Gallinari. There is the size of Texas A&M’s 7-0 DeAndre Jordan. There is the athleticism of West Virginia’s 6-8 Joe Alexander.

"You always prefer a guy who can help right away, obviously," Vandeweghe said. "But if you see a guy with extraordinary talent who eventually can have the better career you often go that way."

Does that clear it up for you? Figure they want Brook Lopez. But figure he’s gone and they take Gallinari.

"They already told me that they need a scoring guard to come right in and score right away," he said.

"We’ll see what happens but eventually I think he’ll go wherever he can get the best deal," Rod Thorn said. "For now, this was the best deal for him."

Douglas-Roberts, the 40th overall pick out of Memphis, looks to provide points off the bench at the swingman position vacated by Jefferson.

"It’s exciting, because we can get to [playoff] level with this group of guys," Anderson said. "To start fresh is great, especially for a rookie like me to step into."

"We had a couple things that were relatively close," Thorn said. "But it just didn’t get done. In some instances, we would have had to take back (a contract) that we didn’t want."

*

A radical roster makeover in the past six months has moved the Nets into full-fledged rebuilding mode. And that suits New Jersey’s trio of rookies just fine.

The Nets tried to beat the Tuesday midnight deadline and work a deal. They had concrete offers, but losing Krstic left them at 15 contracts and they did not want to take anything back in terms of players. Chicago and Memphis were definitely in the mix.

With Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Marcus Williams shipped off in trades, and veteran forwards Nenad Krstic and Bostjan Nachbar signing lucrative deals to play in Russia, coach Lawrence Frank will have to play his youngsters. First-round picks Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson and second-round choice Chris Douglas-Roberts are eager to move into the rotation.

Copyright 2007 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

"I think we’ll be really young and we have a lot of guys that are willing to get their feet wet and get some experience," Lopez said yesterday at the NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at the Knicks training facility in Tarrytown.

Both the seven-foot Lopez (10th pick) and the six-foot-ten Anderson (21st pick) give the Nets options for a very green frontcourt, which will also feature newly acquired Chinese big man Yi Jianlian.

- Additional reporting by Fred Kerber

Vince Carter becomes the elder statesman on a team that finished 34-48 last season, three games out of a playoff spot in the East. With Devin Harris and Josh Boone the only other returning players to average at least 20 minutes per game a year ago, the Nets will be fortunate to find themselves in playoff contention.

"I don’t know if it’s rebuilding, but the Nets organization as a whole is starting over," Douglas-Roberts said. "I feel this is a great rookie class, especially for the Nets. We’re the sleeper in the East."

Krstic officially accepted a two-year deal with Triumph of Moscow. But as long as the Nets make him a qualifying offer each year, as they did before the free agency period started ($2.7 million was the NBA qualifier), the Nets will retain his NBA rights. And he has an opt-out clause after the first year in Russia should he decide he wants the NBA again.

The games will be televised live in the United States.

The NBA will host events in the cities as part of its Sichuan Province earthquake relief efforts.

The NBA China Games tips off with the Bucks and Warriors meeting on Oct. 15 in Guangzhou and Oct. 18 at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena.

BEIJING (AP) -The Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors will travel to China in October to play two exhibition games, the NBA and Chinese Basketball Association said on Wednesday.