Greece beats US Hoops....sonofa...

[Drbio]

Greece just put the US in the bronze medal game.

sonofab*tch

[Flacolaco]

Maybe we should send our womens team to play some more fundamentally sound basketball.....

stupid greeks and their stupid roster without a single damned NBA player on it....

[jthig32]

It all comes down to familiarity, not fundamentals.

Build a U.S. team where the core plays together every summer, like all the international squads do, and we will regain our top spot internationally. Until that happens, we will continue to get beat.

It could get worse. I fully expect the U.S. to lose to Argentina in the Bronze medal game.

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by jthig32

It could get worse. I fully expect the U.S. to lose to Argentina in the Bronze medal game.

Ditto.

Do you think then that if they play together next summer, and then leading up to Bejing in '08 that they can possibly get any better?

[dude1394]

This has been discussed in another thread as well. I still think that the differences between NBA ball and international ball are the biggest differences. The international game defocuses one-on-one play for ball movement and shooting.

Unless you ask jerry west...

“I don’t care who we have playing,” Jerry West said recently, “they’re vulnerable. They are vulnerable, and the reason they’re vulnerable is because the referees over there don’t give them every call. The referees don’t pay any attention to the name on the back of the uniform.”

[dude1394]

This guy has an opinion on it.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ogID=162677200

Jerry Colangelo, the man who is responsible for putting together the USA basketball team, sounded off this morning in response to the United States losing to Greece in the semifinals of the FIBA World Championship. He blamed the US team for being too soft and attributed the loss to the fact that the NBA is such a different game, a much more fluid game. We all know that's crap, because the NBA is nothing but free throws, which is why no one watches it anymore. By the way, we shot 59 percent from the line this morning, another fucking joke...

"It's the nuances of the game: the pulling and the tugging..."
"We need to be more physical."
"There's a lot more flow to an NBA game."
-Jerry Colangelo, town idiot and public liar

As McEnroe would say, "You can not be serious?!" Anyone watch the NBA over the last decade? Yeah, me neither. I was foolish enough to believe the league had gotten better with the great draft starting with Lebron, Carmello, and Wade. It has been slightly more watchable recently, but nothing close to where it was 15, 20 years ago. There was a Pistons/Heat game last year where both teams employed the "Hack-a-Shaq" theory, and purposely fouled the other team's big man knowing they'd both miss the free throws. How is that "fluid", I ask you, Jerry?

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Ditto.

Do you think then that if they play together next summer, and then leading up to Bejing in '08 that they can possibly get any better?

Yes, I do.

[alby]

haha he called the NBA a more fluid game.. sigh

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by dude1394

This guy has an opinion on it.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ogID=162677200

Wow, I comletely disagree with this. People may say that players were better jump shooters 20 years ago, I say that defenses were simply gawd-awful 20 years ago. I watch the old Celtics and Lakers games and come away stunned at the overall lack of athleticism and defensive ability.

Sure, there has been way too little emphasis on fundamenals. But the best basketball players still come from the U.S.

To Dude's other post, I think the style of play has something to do with it, for sure. Not having a truly great shooter, like Redd or Allen, didn't help either.

But I still say, if you get a core of 7 or 8 players that play together for 3 or 4 summers in a row, you will start seeing different results. Not domination, because the other countries' teams have been playing together for closer to a decade, but I think they'll be winning more tournaments.

Also, I still say if you someday have an elite NBA team that is all U.S. players, you could send that team over and they would pretty much dominate. Even the Pistons of the last couple years, with a style that is AWFUL for FIBA rules, would still win that tournament, I think. Familiarity is so important in basketball.

[MavsX]

good

[AxdemxO]

Yoooo that Big guy for Greece...that the Clipps drafted but didnt sign is series....The mini Shaq...i liked watchin him play

[fluid.forty.one]

If they lose wade before the olympics I'll root for them.

[ocelot_ark]

High comedy if you ask me.

[Darke]

NBA: depends mostly on star players, so the game and the rules are made for that (star player = moneymaker - great team without star player = no moneymaker)

Rest of the World: depends on team play

That is one big part of the problem, together with playing more time together for the national team and more emphasis on fundamentals and defensive players/general defense.

[purplefrog]

The terrific trio of Melo, Lebron and Wade had some dismal numbers from 3-pt land (combined for 4-15) and fts (13-23). Why are they shooting so many threes when only Lebron makes them over 30%? Oh well, giving up 100 pts doesn't help either.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Giving up 100 points to a team with no NBA players is just pathetic.

[Dirkenstien]

Pathetic.

[mavsman]

Funniest thing was when in crunch time team USA needed a three and LeBron opted for the absolutely useless highlight-reel-monsterdunk instead. Brought the whole spirit of that team to an essence.

[babbler]

Team USA still doesnt pick the right mix of players in my opinion. Internation bball is team orientated, so why are lebron, kobe and wade always picked. Also where are the pure shooters. players like JET and allen. i know redd, billups, arenas and pierce are in the squad, but they were unavailable. Those four are probably the better shooters in the squad and they were sorely missed.
What does everyone think the squad should be assuming 2 players per position and a couple of spares?

[jleefilled]

I'd like to see Nellie coach team USA.

[bernardos70]

Now that'd be something, Jlee. I'd pay to see that.

[Nash13]

Jason Terry would've been a better fit for the team than any other point guard.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Nellie coaching would be awesome. JT woulda been a great fit for the team.

[fluid.forty.one]

lol I hope you're talking about replacing Kirk and not Paul, but even so I think those two were two of my favorite fits on the team behind Bosh and Howard. I wouldn't put Terry on the team.

[Jerry Stackhouse]

That Dwight Howard only played 13 minutes is inexcusable. Almost fireable.

[spreedom]

That game against Greece was pretty good evidence of why Coach K would NEVER succeed in the NBA.. he has no clue how to substitute.

[mqywaaah]

Still pathetic

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by spreedom

That game against Greece was pretty good evidence of why Coach K would NEVER succeed in the NBA.. he has no clue how to substitute.

In his defense.. that team would be a lot harder to substitute in than a normal team..

This team is stacked with the best players in the league.

[alby]

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

This team is stacked with the best players in the league.

there lies the problem.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by spreedom

That game against Greece was pretty good evidence of why Coach K would NEVER succeed in the NBA.. he has no clue how to substitute.

Yeah right, just blame the coach - it's the easiest thing to do...