No fuckin' with the US basketball team next time around.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

Wow, USA didn't look too impressive last night at all. Too many wild three point shots with really crappy half court execution. As the announcers said the game was much closer than the score implies. The Germans looked burned out by the final quarter and got really sloppy, but other than that they were in striking distance the whole night despite Dirk not playing too sharp throughout.

[Precious Roy 0]

USA is playing Greece on ESPN2 right now. I'm probably the only jerk watching

[Precious Roy 0]

This Papadopoulos guy is great. Like the Greek Vlade Divac. Why isn't he on the Knicks yet?!!

[Precious Roy 0]

The USA was up 12 and are absolutely collapsing. Greece up 5 now with a minute left in the first half.

 

Same problems for the USA as in other games. Too much 1-1, too many jump shots. And Greece is just picking their D apart with spacing and ball movement.

[Precious Roy 0]

USA down 12 and looking absolutely shell shocked. This is depressing.

[Precious Roy 0]

Time to face facts: We suck at basketball

[Fökai 0]

None of the 4's or 5's got more than THIREEN MINUTES?

[randomguy 0]

What the hell man? I realize these European teams practice together a lot but still, this is weak. We suck. The rest of the world caught up to us damn fast.

[alfdogg 0]

9-28 from three point range.

 

You know who could have helped in this area? Gilbert Arenas!

[alfdogg 0]

...wow, and Spain beat Argentina, too. Meaning *we* now have to beat Argentina to even medal.

[Guest Princess Leena]

7-1. Soon to be, 7-2. With no medal. Hehehehehe.

[Guest wildpegasus]

There's nothing that makes me happier than seeing the US lose at basketball.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

I'm glad team USA lost because perhaps the media might pull back on the non-stop ass kissing of the class of 03. Hate fucking all of them because of it.

 

Also I thought the team was going to be made up of role players? Yet they sent their best one Bruce Bowen home. Might have provided a little defense today.

 

For the 2007 Americas tournament send Kobe, Redd, Allen and actual role players and get it done.

 

What i'll do is pick 4 to 5 star players. Each star along with the USA coaching staff will then pick 2 or 3 teammates of said star to be on the roster. That way you have players that are familiar with one another and know how to play as a group.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I think we are going to the semifinals for sure, but I still doubt that we are shoo-ins for a medal, let alone gold. Spain and Argentina have been bitch-slapping their competition even worse than we have, and even in the games we have won, our flaws have been evident.

 

Told you so.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

9-28 from three point range.

 

You know who could have helped in this area? Gilbert Arenas!

The only person whom it would make sense to replace with Arenas is Joe Johnson, and personally, I think that Johnson does the little things better, and is more effective in his role. Like I said in the other thread, Arenas isn't nearly as effective when he isn't the focal point of an offense, and with Anthony, James and Wade already already established as the focal points of the team, Arenas became expendable.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I think we are going to the semifinals for sure, but I still doubt that we are shoo-ins for a medal, let alone gold. Spain and Argentina have been bitch-slapping their competition even worse than we have, and even in the games we have won, our flaws have been evident.

 

Told you so.

Yeah, but the way you said it created the impression that we wouldn't make it because of Spain or Argentina, when they didn't actually have anything to do with it.

 

[soapbox]

 

And, on a side note to all you haters, fuck whatever sport you like. Basketball probably gets shit on by haters more than any other sport in this forum, and I'm sick of it; fuckers that don't even like basketball pop their fucking heads into basketball threads just to say how much they don't like it, and that's fucking bullshit.

 

[/soapbox]

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Hey Slim, I actually like basketball. I've played the game since I was old enough to bounce a basketball, but I've been disillusioned with the NBA (American) product for years. I don't pop my head in to bash the sport, just the idiots who run the thing.

 

This year's team was destined to fail just like Athens and their predecessors because they still filled the team with stars and impressive athletes instead of creating a unit that would be successul in the international game. The early rounds gave everyone a false sense of hope because this year's team had bigger stars and better athletes, allowing them to run up the score on countries that any of our recent teams (Athens included) would have slaughtered.

[alfdogg 0]

I don't think he was referring to you when he said that.

[alfdogg 0]

The only person whom it would make sense to replace with Arenas is Joe Johnson, and personally, I think that Johnson does the little things better, and is more effective in his role.

Joe Johnson is one the *last* guys who should be cut from the squad, IMO. He's a great set-up man, can play a lot of spots, and is the best shooter of the current bunch. This tournament proved that you do need good post offense, but we don't need THAT many bigs. But you do want Miller's passing/shooting, Howard's prescense on defense, and Brand's...everything. So I'd drop either Bosh or Jamison.

 

Other than that, Paul's a great PG, Hinrich's a good shooter, Battier's a good shooter/defender...I say drop the '03's and try Kobe, Allen and Redd next year, with the same reserves, and see if it works. Maybe even Rip Hamilton in place of Redd. The media might cry a river over it, but it would go a long way towards fixing our biggest problem, shooting, which none of those three can do consistently.

[naiwf 0]

This year's team was destined to fail just like Athens and their predecessors because they still filled the team with stars and impressive athletes instead of creating a unit that would be successul in the international game. The early rounds gave everyone a false sense of hope because this year's team had bigger stars and better athletes, allowing them to run up the score on countries that any of our recent teams (Athens included) would have slaughtered.

 

What he said. Until the USA squad can hit at least 40% of their shots on an "off night", they have no hope of winning international events. The excuse that [insert Team that beat us] "has been playing together for X years" needs to go away too. Our shitty shooting has nothing to do with a team playing together for years. The USA squad has never been manhandled or locked down on defense, they lose when they can't hit the broad side of a barn with the ball. We'll have at least one of those games in every tournament, and that's why we keep playing for the bronze.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Joe Johnson is one the *last* guys who should be cut from the squad, IMO. He's a great set-up man, can play a lot of spots, and is the best shooter of the current bunch. This tournament proved that you do need good post offense, but we don't need THAT many bigs. But you do want Miller's passing/shooting, Howard's prescense on defense, and Brand's...everything. So I'd drop either Bosh or Jamison.

 

Other than that, Paul's a great PG, Hinrich's a good shooter, Battier's a good shooter/defender...I say drop the '03's and try Kobe, Allen and Redd next year, with the same reserves, and see if it works. Maybe even Rip Hamilton in place of Redd. The media might cry a river over it, but it would go a long way towards fixing our biggest problem, shooting, which none of those three can do consistently.

I'd agree with dropping Bosh and either Jamison or Miller; I'd be more inclined to keep Jamison over Miller, if only because he's a better rebounder than Miller, while having the same range on offense.

 

I don't know about replacing all three of the "Class of '03" stars, as I think that Anthony definitely proved that he deserves to be there, and probably Wade, too. I like James, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if he got cut. At the same time, I don't think that Allen, Bryant and Redd would have made this team a winner, either. Personally, I think that the problem is that there are still too many stars and not enough guys that don't have to be the focal point: too many James' and Wades and Anthonys and not enough Ridnours and Wallaces and Okafors. Allen, Bryant and Redd wouldn't have changed that, but Redd would probably be the best fit of the three.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Just embarassing.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

when are people going to get that its a team sport and stop filling the team with "superstars".

 

There should only be ONE member of the 30+ ppg club on the entire team. Maybe two members of the 20 to 25 ppg club on the team (with one on the bench). Everybody else should be role players. A guy who can hit open 3s. A great rebounder, someone to guard their bigs, someone to guard their stars, etc. And no i'm not just saying this now when they lost, you can go back and see when AI was left off i was saying then that in addition they should have left off one or two MORE high volume scorers.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

In the third quarter, Greece looked like they were playing on a completely different level. Flawless execution from the half court on almost every single trip while our defense stood around without a clue. Hell, they didn't have their best player according to the commentary. Rebounding, Anthony, and Hinrick's long distance shooting kept this from being a complete blow out as we were dangerously close to being completely left behind at the start of the fourth.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

when are people going to get that its a team sport and stop filling the team with "superstars".

 

I think people keep wanting to recreate the Dream Teams of the early 1990s. They don't realize the rest of the world has caught up to them.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

so much iso 1 on 1 play, seems like nobody knows how to defend a pick and roll, Greece KILLED US with the pick and roll.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I question how much "role players" could help, because team defense looks like the biggest weakness for the US. They need players who know how to play with one another. I hate to use the "Foreign Team X has played together for 30 years, blah blah.." line, but I think there's some validity to it. And if the US groups up whatever players and coaches from various NBA teams, I think it only continues. Thus, I have no idea how you fix this.

[Fökai 0]

I think it's funny that people trace the problem back to shooting. The team shot over 60% from the field and still lost. Maybe the problem isn't shooters?

 

Instead of winding down the other team with our bigs, we chose to run the floor and have Carmelo shoot jumpshots all night. That boils down to adjustments, and thus the loss falls on the coach. If I'm letting a lead slip away, I'm not letting Carmelo, Wade and Lebron on the court at the same time. All three are still liabilities on the defensive end, and I would've subbed two to get two bigs and keep a scorer on the court.

 

RE: Role players.

 

We are too good to have two Shane Battiers on the court.

[Precious Roy 0]

so much iso 1 on 1 play, seems like nobody knows how to defend a pick and roll, Greece KILLED US with the pick and roll.

 

Yeah. There was a stretch in the 3rd/4th where Greece pretty much scored every single time they had the ball, and it was all on picks, pick and rolls or a third man rolling off it for 3's.

 

It was really pathetic, the USA would defend the pick by switching, and then they'd like try to switch back to their original man and you'd end up with two defenders standing there like idiots while one of the Greek guards blew by them for a layup. And it's not like pick n' rolls are a foreign concept, they're just played differently in the NBA because the lane is so clogged up, these guys are tought to feign a switch until their man can recover, and the Greek players completely exploited and confused the US with it.

 

Another thing, Dwight Howard and Elton Brand not playing almost the entire game made NO SENSE. First, there was this big black guy on the Greek team (future Clipper) who was KILLING US, and we were trying to guard him with LeBron or Joe Johnson. Second, we had no stoppers near the basket to contest the endless stream of layups. Also, Shane Battier should have played more than he did. When he came in in the second half he immediately gave the USA a shot in the arm with some hustle plays and defense, but it was pretty much too late at that point.

 

And probably the most frustrating thing, Carmelo Anthony played very well, he played very well throughout the tournament, but he put up an airball on a crucial possession where we'd FINALLY forced a turnover and had a chance to get the lead down to 2 or 1. That was the nail in the coffin.

[naiwf 0]

I think it's funny that people trace the problem back to shooting. The team shot over 60% from the field and still lost. Maybe the problem isn't shooters?

 

". . . Americans, who couldn't overcome their 32 percent shooting from 3-point range or 59 percent from the foul line."