Glutton for punishment: Colangelo to talk to TD about Olympics

[dbreiden83080]

I don't blame Timmy one bit for not wanting to play in the olympics again. It is never going to be like it was when all the great star players in the NBA signed up to go play. In that past if you chose to play it was a fun easygoing experience. Star players like Duncan could show up play like 12 min a night, team USA would win by 35 pts and go home. Now with the advancement in international compe on it is a serious committment. You have to log major minutes, playing in close games, under international rules, with dreadful officiating that is vastly different from that in the NBA. I am sure the Lebrons and the D-Wades of the NBA will go play, but already Duncan has said no, Shaq has said no, i doubt KG will do it since he blew it off last time. So assuming KG is out the 3 best big men in the NBA right now are not going. Timmy has been more injury proned in offseasons without rest anyway. He will be 32 years old at that point so i say stay away, from team USA.

[Catharsis]

Colangelo hasn't learned jack about building a team, still going with a bunch of all-stars.

Where are the shooters? Where are the PGs? Where are the defensive specialists?

Colangelo will it up again for Team USA. Put Pop in there next time to fix things, if you want it done right (dude knows the international game).

I didn't realize the list was already posted. Who are the non-shooters, non-PGs and non-defensive specialists going?

[Catharsis]

Tim's lack of adjustment to, and perhaps his coaches not preparing him for, intl refereeing was really stupid.

Made him look like a fool, and of course ineffective due to foul trouble, and wasted his summer.

Nice insight.

I'm sure the U.S. coaches and Tim did their best to prepare for the international rules and the refs. He couldn't relearn the way he's played the game for the last dozen years and he couldn't control the refs either. People need to get off his back regarding his Olympic performance.

And don't forget that Pops was on the Team USA coaching staff.

[Marklar MM]

I didn't realize the list was already posted. Who are the non-shooters, non-PGs and non-defensive specialists going?

Those are players that have said they will play. They haven't made the team yet I am pretty sure. The roster comes out around all-star break.

[Obstructed_View]

That is the biggest load of Bull I have seen about this subject from either side. There were only two refs, so it was seven on five.

Wow, all the stuff I said, and that's the best you can come up with? Well, I stand corrected and deeply regret my mistake.

[DieMrBond]

At least you guys can about 'only' getting a medal! How about us who didnt even get to the medal round!... check out our team... i wish we could complain about only getting the bronze!

* Centers: David Andersen (#13), Paul Rogers (#15)
* Forwards: Andrew Bogut (#6), Martin Cattalini (#7), Matt Nielsen (#14), Anthony Ronaldson (#4), Glen Saville (#12), Jason Smith (#10)
* Guards: C.J. Bruton (#9), Shane Heal (#11), Brett Maher (#5), John Rillie (#8)

Heck, we didnt even have Andrew Gaze!

[Brutalis]

Yeah . . . that worldwide conspiracy to embarass "Los Americanos".

Sure, there is no way the US NT can lose if the playing field is leveled.

The fact that the US, as a team, played like crap had nothing to do with their demise.

Yes USA played like crap I agree.

But what I think you don't see is the treatment USA got by the fans, the teams they played and the refs. Aside from Argentina's nasty good team, the rest of the teams we played were just dirty. You could watch them all on NBC here in America and it was pretty obvious what was going on. Why do you think several fights almost broke out? VC getting tripped, Duncan getting hacked... it was a mess. And this is why TD isn't coming back. Because a)NBA le is a lot more important, b)why risk injury? and c)im sure he doesnt want anything to do with that ever again cause of how he was done.

In the end, Argentina proved to be the best team in the world. And I'm sure that's all that matters to you anyways.

[Trainwreck2100]

Wow, all the stuff I said, and that's the best you can come up with? Well, I stand corrected and deeply regret my mistake.

Well, I agree with all the you said, but we must accept that the world has caught up to America's B team

[Brutalis]

Well, I agree with all the you said, but we must accept that the world has caught up to America's B team

I don't think America's arrogance will allow that to happen.

[smeagol]

[

Yes USA played like crap I agree.

But what I think you don't see is the treatment USA got by the fans, the teams they played and the refs.

1) I don’t think the fans have any influence in the result of any given basketball game.

2) Teams played rough because they want to do well when playing in the Olympic Games. They probably want to beat the US more than any other team, therefore, when playing Team USA, they played more determined. I saw the USA vs PR game. Pretty normal game, if you ask me. The only odd thing was how Arroyo played out of his mind.

3) I already went over the ref issue.

Aside from Argentina's nasty good team, the rest of the teams we played were just dirty.

C’mon man, quit with the excuses. If all the teams you played against played dirty (which I don’t believe was the case), assemble a better team that can play through that and bring the gold home in 2008.

Why do you think several fights almost broke out? VC getting tripped,

VC? Vince Carter? He was not part of the US roster.

Duncan getting hacked... it was a mess.

Getting hacked? Do you mean players from other teams were purposely trying to injure him? That’s BS! Look, Olympic games are compe ive. Teams want to win and happens. I think this argument of yours that teams were out there playing dirty against the US is BS. If you recall, Marbury hacked Oberto in the US-Argentina game, breaking a bone in his hand. Oberto could not play the gold medal game against Italy and had to wear a plaster for a couple of months. happens. Plain and simple.

And this is why TD isn't coming back. Because a)NBA le is a lot more important, b)why risk injury? and c)im sure he doesnt want anything to do with that ever again cause of how he was done.

I respect TD’s decision not to play again for team USA. It must be hard to play under b-ball certain rules and all of sudden play under a different set of rules for one compe ion a year.

[Trainwreck2100]

[
1) I don’t think the fans have any influence in the result of any given basketball game.

But there have been moments of obvious ref screwjobs, see 1972 Olympic Games

I respect TD’s decision not to play again for team USA. It must be hard to play under b-ball certain rules and all of sudden play under a different set of rules for one compe ion a year.

I don't blame him either when he says a whole governing body sucks, there really is no point to go, cause that will most assuridely guarantee that he gets the same treatment

[smeagol]

But there have been moments of obvious ref screwjobs, see 1972 Olympic Games

But you are quoting my fan comment (that fans have no influence in the outcome of a game (unless you are playing in the Palace )) and mixing it up with comments about refs.

[Obstructed_View]

Well, I agree with all the you said, but we must accept that the world has caught up to America's B team

I think the rest of the world is full of terrific basketball players, and basketball is truly no longer just an American sport. Since it's my favorite sport, I love the compe ion, and it only makes international compe ion more fun to watch. Argentina was an incredible team, and it would have been nice, as a basketball fan, to see the games fairly reffed, because they clearly weren't. I'm not crying about it, because I don't take it as seriously as some apparently do. It's just that I'm not blind.

I doubt the US team that was sent would have been able to get out of their own way enough to hang with Argentina when they were rolling under any cir stances, but it might have been nice to see. The fact that Duncan didn't really about it when playing for the US team was so important to him just shows his class, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let anybody get away with saying that the only reason he was in foul trouble is because he somehow didn't adjust to the international rules. That shouldn't take anything away from Argentina's gold medal, because they beat everybody that was put in front of them.