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Apparently, Danny Granger’s infamous, but now removed, tweet about Turkish hygiene (screenshot) made its way back to the US coaching staff, and now the players are saying all the right things about the FIBA World Championship’s host nation. Take Rudy Gay, for instance. He was asked about the city, and his praise reminded me of a travel brochure; thanks, undoubtedly, to Coach K’s insistence on acting like respectful world residents instead of a bunch of spoiled, rich, and insulated professional athletes.

Perhaps Granger should be part of this survey…

Thankfully, Gay got the message and represented his country significantly better than Granger, who perhaps should’ve been removed from the team for his ignorant ranting. It’s always fantastic form to insult your hosts.

As a nice cherry on top of his “polite guest” behavior, Gay threw down some monster dunks on outclassed Angola:

Next up for Team USA is Thursday’s game against the Russian National Team. Provided things go well in that game, the US would face the winner of Lithuania/Argentina. My money’s on the Argentines, if, for nothing else, the unstoppable (at least in this tournament) Luis Scola.

While celebrating the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr, the NBA decided to show its March Madness personality last night as a number of games went down to the wire, only to be decided by last-second heroics. The Indiana Pacers fell victim to such a loss, courtesy of Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. This one was probably even more bitter to the Pacers, considering the fact Danny Granger–half man, half platypus, apparently–had just hit a 3-pointer to tie the game up.

Unfortunately for the Pacers, they left just enough time on the clock for some Chris Paul heroics, and boy, that’s just what they got. Paul is not known as a 3-point specialist, although he is shooting a respectable 35 percent from behind the arc. Nevertheless, leaving the most dangerous player on the floor open like that was puzzling. Maybe next time, the Pacers defenders can jump out after they are picked at the top of the key.

Especially when the opposing team hits a game-winning shot to beat the team you are calling the game for. The “You’ve got to be kidding me” response was priceless. As for Danny Granger, he finished the game against Phoenix with 37 points and almost has to be on the upcoming All-Star team, as a reserve, if nothing else. The question is, did anyone think Granger would be this good?