Dirk vs. the U.S.

[dirno2000]

I'm a little surprised. When I started the poll my best guess was that Germany would come in at about 40%.

Dude rooting against the U.S. really surprised me. I’d have bet anything that you’d be right there with U2.

I didn’t vote because I honestly don’t know. On one hand, I think winning is a habit. The more you win the more you expect to win. Dirk holding up a championship trophy would be a great experience and would, by extension, help the Mavs.

That being said, I like the idea of the U.S. being the dominant country in basketball. It’s hard for me to watch Wade but I don’t blame him for what happened in the finals. That’s a league issue. All he can do is go to the line and make the FT’s. I dislike the idea of coach K riding to the rescue of USA basketball more than the thought of Wade getting a medal. Plus, I’m probably the biggest Carmelo fan on the board and even I’m surprised by how well he’s played.

Gun to my head I’d probably go with the U.S. The deciding factor being that the game is in the quarter finals. Even if Germany pulls off the upset, Argentina (a team with two Spurs players and a Spurs draft pick) would hand them their collective arses in the finals.

[Five-ofan]

I voted germany and i do want them to win because dirk is easily my favorite player but its a 52-48 situation. Part of me will be happy and part sad no matter who wins.

[chumdawg]

Honestly, with me it comes down to that I just don't give a shit about the world championships. And even if I did, it would be very difficult for me to translate my fan-inspired disdain for NBA Opponents of the Mavericks into some sort of patriotic support. I don't have that switch I can flip that goes from rooting against a Dwayne Wade when he's a Heat and rooting for him when he's an American.

If I thought it meant a lot to the players, I would of course feel differently. But I don't. Call me jaded, but I don't think that a group of megamillionaires cares a whole lot about representing the country--especially when the country is pretty much widely considered the best in at basketball and it's not even close.

Let the boys play, and I'm all for them. Give me a good set of amateurs, and they have my vote. But I know what kind of lifestyle the Hundred Million Dollar players lead, and I honestly don't care much about them one way or the other.

It may be the case that players from other countries' teams live similar lifestyles (though I doubt it), but I still find it hard to find some kind of patriotic fervor for pampered NBA players.

And plus, this is basketball. This isn't soccer. I highly doubt that other countries are near as fanatical about it as they are about soccer, so why should I be?

Honestly, the whole thing bores me. If Dirk weren't playing, I wouldn't bother to read box scores. But since a little maverick is in the games, I will follow and I will root for him.

In between naps.

[FreshJive]

"But I know what kind of lifestyle the Hundred Million Dollar players lead, and I honestly don't care much about them one way or the other."

This is why I don't give a about Dirk 's Germans. I like the way the Spanish and Americans play so I root for them.

[Male30Dan]

Definitely Dirk!

[Tokey41]

Im Canadian and this is a no brainer, anyone outside of the of the US is not rooting for them because the underdog will always be the favorite, Germany is my underdog obviously because of Dirk. Personally... I hope Dirk murders them, all by himself, just like with Angola and drops a tourney high of 60. Wade scores 4 and bitches about calls...

[alby]

if dirk scores 60 points, i might wet myself.

[Wiley_e]

Originally Posted by Tokey41

Im Canadian and this is a no brainer, anyone outside of the of the US is not rooting for them because the underdog will always be the favorite.

That was not always true. Back in the days of the first (and only!) "Dream Team" everybody just enjoyed watching those great players to perform on the international stage. Of course tose were different days - international basketball grew tremendously since then.

What makes almost every international fan root against Team USA now? I think it's the attitude they are carrying. This "expecting" and "demanding" to still be dominant regardless of the quality of the opponent.
"We invented this stuff so there is no way in hell anybody else is supposed to beat us"
Vince Carter sticking his ass in Frederic Weis' face - as much as it left everybody in awe and astonishment at the same time it is the ultimate sign of disrespect.
And isn't respect the one thing sportsmanship demands from every competitor? Some US players always talk about respect and how they respect others - but that's not what their talk and their body language tells during games.
I don't want to generalize here - it's not the same for all players, but unfortunately you always have more than one of the kind on the roster. I will not start naming players now, but sometimes it's far too obvious don't you think?
And start to admit it to yourselves - in international competition you actually will lose games sometimes, and there's absolutely no shame in that whatsoever (if the effort has been given)!
Pride is one thing - and the US players (and their fans!) really can be proud of the game their players are playing at the world championshisp so far! And i think the way the team has been assembled, the intention to build a real "team" especially for the future, to let them play together a few times every year against international competition could be a way to again become one of the most entertaining and most rooted for teams in international sports that the "Dream Team" once was.
And for christssake stop calling it dream team - be inventive! Find s.th new! Or just be team USA - that should be good enough!

[Tokey41]

Actually Canadians invented the sport... nice try though!

[Wiley_e]

I didn't say who actually did it

Ok, to be correct: a Canadian did it (but he lived in America at the time ;-))

[mqywaaah]

Where there's a Mav, I am too! And besides, I'd love to see the Nowitzki kick the crap out of Wade's team. Kind of a bit of a payback, wouldnt you agree? And besides, I dont like anyone on Team USA's roster, except for Paul maybe.

No diss intended for the Americans and the fans as well, but... I'm for team Germanizers all the way!!

How big is the possibility that this could happen?

[Dark Sun]

Being German, it is quite interesting to see that result.
It's great to see all the support for Dirk's team but it would be absolutely understandable if all of you would root for your own country.
Usually the US Americans are well known for being patriotic and so I expected that here too. So all I can say is WOW.

I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that Wade is part of the US team and that there are no Mavs players.
If Josh Howard would be on the US team, then probaby the result would be a lot different.

Anyway... first of all both teams need to win their matches and then will see.
The chances for Germany would be quite slim against the US team, but you never know.

[MavsX]

dwayne wade can suck deezzzzzzzz n*tzzzz

[Flacolaco]

Why is there such rampant apathy about international competitions in this country?

Unless Dirk puts on a Mavericks jersey while he's playing the US and Mark Cuban turns up somewhere shouting, screw Germany. See you in October Dirk.

Go USA

[Sancho]

I want Dirk to have an incredible individual game in a losing effort. I vote for the Americans to win.

[AxdemxO]

I will never root for the US cuz i m not from here but at the same time i dont like Germany as a country. But Dirk is my favorite player and if rooting for him means that Germany wins it all then soo b it. GO DIRK

[mary]

I'm a little surprised. When I started the poll my best guess was that Germany would come in at about 40%.

The results may be skewed a little bit, due to voting by either bt non-Mavs fans, or non U.S. residents. I know you asked them not to - but most people probably click on a poll option before reading the thread.

[dirno2000]

True, this is not the most scientific poll.

Then again, if you look at the responses from the regulars, the lean towards Germany appears to be even higher than it is in the poll.

[alby]

Originally Posted by dirno2000

True, this is not the most scientific poll.

Then again, if you look at the responses from the regulars, the lean towards Germany appears to be even higher than it is in the poll.

agreed

[V2M]

I'm a US Citizen and, of course, I love most everything about US.

I'm quite neutral to Germany (love Dirk, Graf, Becker, Schumaker, Porsche, etc.,... hate BMW, Benz, Volkswagen, Heineken, Lufthansa, etc.). Don't ask me why... that's just the way it is!

As for Basketball, it's obvious that US has the strongest team and they should win it all... handily beating every other team (yes, even Argentina!). I'll be disappointed if they don't. But when they play Dirk and the Germans... it's a tough choice... but I don't think I can take another one of those Wade wins over Dirk this close to the recent finals' loss. I'm sorry, but I'd have to root for Dirk to dance all over Wade in a sensational come-from-behind upset win for Germany.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by V2M

I'm a US Citizen and, of course, I love most everything about US.

I'm quite neutral to Germany (love Dirk, Graf, Becker, Schumaker, Porsche, etc.,... hate BMW, Benz, Volkswagen, Heineken, Lufthansa, etc.). Don't ask me why... that's just the way it is!

As for Basketball, it's obvious that US has the strongest team and they should win it all... handily beating every other team (yes, even Argentina!). I'll be disappointed if they don't. But when they play Dirk and the Germans... it's a tough choice... but I don't think I can take another one of those Wade wins over Dirk this close to the recent finals' loss. I'm sorry, but I'd have to root for Dirk to dance all over Wade in a sensational come-from-behind upset win for Germany.

"Heineken" is a dutch beer. "Beck's" is the German one.

[kriD]

And it's spelled "SchumaCHer"

V2M, I know you asked not to ask, but what's to hate about Lufthansa? The only thing I can think of are their relatively high prices. ANYthing else?

[V2M]

Originally Posted by kriD

And it's spelled "SchumaCHer"

V2M, I know you asked not to ask, but what's to hate about Lufthansa? The only thing I can think of are their relatively high prices. ANYthing else?

Thanks for the correction, kriD. I knew something didn't feel right as I typed his name. I was just too lazy to look it up.

As for Lufthansa, I don't like 'em for their high prices and poor service... their frequent flier program sucks too!

The only good thing about 'em is the availability. They fly to more destinations than almost any airline I know.

[MavsX]

Dirk is my current man-crush...

[G-Man]

The problem with USA basketball is that I have spent the last 6 years cheering for Dirk to beat every guy on team USA.

Its almost like Dirk vs the rest of the NBA. Take the nationalism out of it and every Mavs fan would love to see Dirk beat Team USA, no matter who his teammates are. As I have 6 years of emotion tied up in rooting for Dirk and zero seconds invested in cheering for Wade and LeBron, I guess I'd get more pleasure out of Dirk making them suffer than I would out of watching team USA be happy.

On the other hand, I do love me some corn rolls.

[The Crippler]

I hope dirk goes for 60 and the US wins by 1. I'm American, I want America to win.

[craggmac]

I say USA. Dirk isn't doing this to beat the USA, he's doing it to represent his country. He's not playing for the Mav's right now. Im going to follow in Dirk's footsteps and go with my country.

[nashtymavsfan13]

I guess I don't really care as much who wins, I just want Dirk to do well.

[#41]

Nigeria.

[mqywaaah]

Originally Posted by nashtymavsfan13

I guess I don't really care as much who wins, I just want Dirk to do well.

Good form. And I respect that. Good form.

[Murphy3]

This team doesn't represent the US in my mind. Give me Dirk and the Germans. Dirk represents the US better than any of the players on the US team.

[mnmpeanut]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

This team doesn't represent the US in my mind. Give me Dirk and the Germans. Dirk represents the US better than any of the players on the US team.

i've seen sentiments similar to this posted elsewhere in this thread and i don't quite understand them. what specifically about this u.s. team do you feel doesn't represent our country?

[rabbitproof]

I reckon it has something about the way they look? Maybe the way they play. Forget that though.

Hey, Dirk is my favorite active athlete in all sports and is the only man I can admit to having a mancrush on. But forget that as well.

There's many problems with the US - from our president to the average size of the American ass. But forget that.

And I don't personally care for any of the individuals. Chris Paul and JJohnson are pretty tight. D12 is a player I also enjoy watching. However, I'm not a fan of any these players. But I'm forgetting this.

I remember this: the boys wearing red, white and blue learned to play basketball on our courts and in our cities. And out of the 200+M persons in the United States, they are the capable and the willing. Like it or not.. agree or not.. they do represent us. They are the basketball products of our country and, for all intents and purposes, are our faces in this little tournie. Yes, it's odd, but somehow all the Americans are playing for the USA.

Even as an American who thinks the USA has to improve in many areas and is in fact SHIT at a lot of things, I would never want us to lose. Even at something as trivial as basketball.

Any American who would like to see the USA ousted is beyond me.

[mqywaaah]

USA outscored Australia 32-6 in the second quarter en route to 113-73 day 9 victory. It's really happening!! Ooh can't wait.

[chumdawg]

Hey, I'm an American. Always have been, to tell the truth.

I don't like the Washington Redskins, I can't stand the New York Yankees, I don't drive an American car, I watch a Japanese TV, most of the clothes I wear were made in the Orient, I listen to a lot of British music, and I don't give two shits about an American basketball team comprised of a bunch of guys who I routinely hate in the course of being a Mavericks fan.

Is that so unusual?

[rabbitproof]

Redskins, Yankees, Heat, whatever - doesn't matter or relate to the US as long as they're not playing against some entity called team USA.

As for goods and services, they're affiliated to other things other then nationalism. Like real fat cats. If anything, a basketball team comprised of Americans is more American then any product you can buy that says "Made in the USA".

That's cool though. Personally, this tournament is a packet of ketchup on the relative scale of things important to me today but I know who I'd back. No questioning.

EDIT: The main thing about this lil'FIBA thingamacallit is that Dirk doesn't get hurt. But to this topic's point - go USA.

[alby]

when is the USA vs Germany game

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

6:30 AM Eastern time Tuesday Morning
5:30 AM Central time Tuesday Morning

[StackAttack]

Actually, it's Wednesday. And I think that's when the telecast is - the actual games at like 2:30 that morning.

[birdsanctuary]

May Dirk rise and may Femmerling break Dwade's leg...