the buzz log

The 2006 World Basketball Championships are underway in Japan, and searches on hoops are flying high. While basketball's biggest world event doesn't net anywhere near as many searches as soccer's World Cup, interest in international basketball is growing incrementally.

Searches on the WBC are up 282% over the last week, and show no signs of slowing down. Related queries on "world basketball," "2006 world basketball championship," and "basketball world cup" are all dunking in the Search box.

However, the back-to-basics approach of the American team doesn't seem to be winning the minds of searchers. Buzz on "usa basketball" is up a meager 6% this week and buzz on "usa basketball team" dropped a stunning 17% over the last seven days. Guess fans aren't excited by a team led by the young triumvirate of LeBron, Carmelo, and D-Wade. Or perhaps hoop fans are turned off by years of middling performances by the American squad at the international level.

Either way, we expect buzz on Coach's K's team to pick up some Search steam if they can fastbreak into the Finals. Anything less will probably cause Buzz to toss up a brick.