US men's basketball team

[connoisseur series500]

suck.

[alocispepraluger102]

  connoisseur series500 said:

suck.

dont you understand that style and athleticism and showmanship and nike are bigger and more important than basketball?

basketball and teamwork are for squares.

[Noj]

The US puts their team together right before the tournament and expects to beat teams who play together year-round. Playing basketball as a team simply doesn't happen overnight. Defensively, they couldn't adjust to a simple pick and roll being run very well by Greece. Though the US team was clearly comprised of fantastic atheletes, many of them are young players who haven't won anything at the professional level (with the exception of Dwyane Wade).

[alocispepraluger102]

  Noj said:

The US puts their team together right before the tournament and expects to beat teams who play together year-round. Playing basketball as a team simply doesn't happen overnight. Defensively, they couldn't adjust to a simple pick and roll being run very well by Greece. Though the US team was clearly comprised of fantastic atheletes, many of them are young players who haven't won anything at the professional level (with the exception of Dwyane Wade).

of course, that's true, but teamwork still doesnt pay or market well.

Edited September 2, 2006 by alocispepraluger102

[ejp626]

Some columnist for SI was predicting that they wouldn't beat Argentina (which was favoured to win -- and might have done so by now), but I think it is pretty shocking that they couldn't beat Greece. Kurt Hinrich at least knows how to play defense -- WTF is going on with the rest of them?

[connoisseur series500]

overpaid NBA hotdogs!

[Jim R]

"As they warmed up before Friday's semifinal against Greece, the U.S. players put on a jam session for the fans. Dwight Howard dunked emphatically. Dwyane Wade bounced the ball off the backboard, caught it and stuffed. Elton Brand jammed an alley-oop pass. Finally, LeBron James flew down the lane for a tomahawk. As the crowd roared, the Greeks lined up at the other end and shot free throws. The moment foretold Greece's 101-95 victory in the semifinals of the world championships."

The U.S. team shot 59% from the free throw line against Greece. 59% I haven't played basketball on any kind of regular basis for decades, and I'm pretty sure with a few weeks of practice, I could shoot over 60% from the FT line. Unbelievable.

[Jim Alfredson]

  Jim R said:

"As they warmed up before Friday's semifinal against Greece, the U.S. players put on a jam session for the fans. Dwight Howard dunked emphatically. Dwyane Wade bounced the ball off the backboard, caught it and stuffed. Elton Brand jammed an alley-oop pass. Finally, LeBron James flew down the lane for a tomahawk. As the crowd roared, the Greeks lined up at the other end and shot free throws. The moment foretold Greece's 101-95 victory in the semifinals of the world championships."

[Chuck Nessa]

I think this team has convinced coach K to stay away from the pro teams. Unless he's a friggin' idiot.

[Jim Alfredson]

  Chuck Nessa said:

I think this team has convinced coach K to stay away from the pro teams. Unless he's a friggin' idiot.

Hopefully. I hate Duke, but I have a lot of respect for Coach K. He needs to stay put and teach his impressionable students the game. Hopefully that will help get the NBA back to the basics of playing basketball.

[rockefeller center]

3rd place - congratulations to the U.S. basketball team!

[connoisseur series500]

USA=undisputed dunking champions.

[Jim R]

  Jim Alfredson said:

  Chuck Nessa said:

I think this team has convinced coach K to stay away from the pro teams. Unless he's a friggin' idiot.

Hopefully. I hate Duke, but I have a lot of respect for Coach K. He needs to stay put and teach his impressionable students the game. Hopefully that will help get the NBA back to the basics of playing basketball.

I'm not sure I follow that, Jim. If you mean stay put as coach of the U.S. team, I can see some logic there (although the NBA stars aren't "impressionable students", and our problems go way beyond who we choose for a coaching staff, imo); On the other hand, if you mean stay put at Duke... how will that change anything?

At any rate, I definitely agree that the NBA players need a wake-up in terms of getting back to basics. Someone suggested to me today that "free throw shooting is not cool". I think there's probably some truth to that. Of course, that's only one part of the problem, but that was the stat (and that's the thing from watching the NBA over the last several years) that really makes me shake my head. FT shooting and defense... those would be two things that definitely need to be re-programmed into young players.

[Jim Alfredson]

I was referring to him staying put and teaching college. How will that help the NBA? For those few who decide to go to college from high school instead of entering the NBA, coaches like him will hopefully a respect for the knowledge and practice of the fundamentals, which, when those students enter the NBA (as some no doubt will), will transfer into the pro game.

It's a long shot, I know.

[Jim R]

Gotcha, Jim. That's what I figured you meant... I agree that although coach K is but one coach at one university, he is doing his part to teach the game to young players, and that can only help the NBA. I guess my point is that the NBA needs something more than what the NCAA coaches have already been doing for years and years. Maybe David Stern will eventually begin to realize that his approach (advertising individual superstars/personalities/highlight reel dunks/etc, instead of addressing the decline of fundamentals and the team concept) needs to change.

I know that there are quite a few ex-players (some of whom are legends, like Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell) who have been outspoken about the league's problems (and in turn, the USA team's problems). Is anybody listening? I'm sure a lot of the owners and coaches are, but I suspect that the young talents (especially those who bypass college) are not paying that much attention, and that's the root of the problem, it seems to me.

[Tjazz]

How much do they pay the coach?

[relyles]

They only lost one game out of ten. If anything our expectations may be a little too high. I definately think that the US team probably has more talent from top to bottom than any other team in the tournament, but for a team that only started practicing together a month before the tournament, while other countries have true national teams, I don't think the US team embarrassed itself at all. It's just expectations are high. Let's face it, similar to jazz, basketball is no longer just a US game. The rest of the world has caught up. Hasn't everyone noticed the continuous rise in non-US players at the college and NBA level?

[Eric]

Absolutely the rest of the world has caught up, which is great (gives us hope for soccer). I think it is the showboating AND the losing that causes me frustration.

[relyles]

  Eric said:

Absolutely the rest of the world has caught up, which is great (gives us hope for soccer). I think it is the showboating AND the losing that causes me frustration.

To some extent the showboating is a natural result of the fact that these players are entertainers known around the world. Many fans do come out to see a show and I think some of the players feel obligated to try to give a show when possible. I think there was probably less showboating during the games - especially the more competitive games. From the little I saw I got the impression that the US players played hard. Unfortunately, they probably played their worst defensive game in the semifinals and lost the only game they did in this tournament. With the games being more competitive, losses should be expected.

[alocispepraluger102]

  Jim Alfredson said:

I was referring to him staying put and teaching college. How will that help the NBA? For those few who decide to go to college from high school instead of entering the NBA, coaches like him will hopefully a respect for the knowledge and practice of the fundamentals, which, when those students enter the NBA (as some no doubt will), will transfer into the pro game.

It's a long shot, I know.

strangely, less dukies than one would expect have done well in the nba.

[Soulstation1]

it's all about the bling bling

the daddy needs to play

[Edward]

  Eric said:

Absolutely the rest of the world has caught up, which is great (gives us hope for soccer). I think it is the showboating AND the losing that causes me frustration.

I agree that the quality of basketball players from other countries has improved markedly over the last 15 years or so, but...

Does anyone really think that if the U.S. team comprised the twelve best American players (taking into consideration the need for balance between post men and shooters on the roster) and that it actually practiced and played on a somewhat regular basis that any other team on the planet would have a chance??? The latest incarnation of the U.S. team lacked Shaq and Kobe and Duncan and Garnett and McGrady and Marion and Hamilton and Carter and Billups and...

Again, I know that it is not merely a matter of collecting the best talent that the U.S. has to offer. The team must actually practice together on a regular basis and there must be a certain degree of chemistry as well as balance in terms of the players' abilities.

Of course, it is all neither here nor there because the bottom line is that such a model for the U.S. team is not going to happen in the foreseeable future for a variety of reasons. The closest Team USA came to this high standard is the original "Dream Team" that had a roster consisting of Barkley, Bird, Drexler, Ewing, Johnson, Jordan, Malone, Mullin, Pippen, Robinson, Stockton, and (egads!) Laettner.

[Cali]

I don't buy the argument that the rest of the world has caught up. I think that US basketball has declined. Someone mentioned the poor free throw shooting by the US team. When you shoot free throws 59% as a team and lose by 6 points, well duh! US basketball players are poor perimeter shooters. Their three point shooting percentage was in the 30% range (and that goes for Kobe, too). They can't consistently hit the 17' jumper, which used to be a prerequisite for making it in the NBA. Dunks can be jaw dropping to the spectators but when you haven't mastered the half court game and your opponent has, you're in trouble.

One reason for the huge influx of foreign players into the NBA is that US players are no longer good outside shooters. They used to be, until dunking and one on one moves became the featured highlights on sports shows.

When most of the "star" players in the NBA play 2 years or less of college ball, of course they don't understand the fundamentals. AND....with them making the salaries they make they are not about to listen to someone who wants to change their game.

The original "Dream Team" was sound in every phase of the game. They were men and not kids and they understood how to win. They were on a mission. They had a meeting before the Olympics and vowed to "beat every team they played by at least 30 points", no matter what they had to do. And they did it. Charles Barkley was roundly (no pun intended) criticized in the US media for body slamming some opponent in one of the opening games. But he established in the beginning that they were not taking any crap from anyone, that they were serious and that none of their opponents should even dream that they had a chance to win. That kind of take no prisoners attitude is what made them champions.

Edited September 4, 2006 by Cali