You are right, I shouldn't have implied the American team didn't know how to play as a team, they just didn't take it seriously enough to take the time to start playing like a team? that better? All I'm saying is if the US starts taking these tournaments seriously, then they would probably win every time, but until they do so, the tournament is up for grabs.
oh, and you can't tell me that the NBA in the past decade or two hasn't been all about the superstars and not about the teamOnly now with the emergence of the Pistons, the Spurs, etc has the NBA started realizing that team play is ten times more succesful than superstar hype.
No problem with that.
The US is never going to put International play above the NBA or NCAA championships. They clearly are trying to take them more seriously in terms of preparation. It will be interesting to see how this "three year commitment" for the current team pans out.
This is I believe the whole idea of the article. Just put in someone else's mouth what US journalist have written to death but with the whole new perspective of motivating fans and players.
I wasn't simply referring to the team. I think the organizers were thinking more about jersey sales and the gold medal was a foregone conclusion. While the talent gap has certainly narrowed at the top, US players still have a huge advantage in sheer numbers. The only problem is that you can only have five players on the floor at a time, and choosing the right five and using them properly is becoming critical.
Come on, look at the figures... "shooting a lot"?? Argentina finished #10 in point made from threes, and not even close.
What won for Argentina was defense. You know the saying "Defense wins championships"?
We weren't talking about defense. My point was that you can't win without being able to shoot threes, or at least outside jumpers.
If defense was all that mattered, the US would have won.
I don't agree. USA based their defense on man-to-man way too much, specially when they didn't have any defensive specialist in the perimeter. Iverson, Wade, Lebron, Carmelo, Marbury, they all played very bad help D. Look at the numbers of Arroyo, Jasikevicius, Macijauskas, Manu, Calderon, Navarro, etc, against the US. All of them posted NBA superstar numbers.
We weren't talking about defense. My point was that you can't win without being able to shoot threes, or at least outside jumpers.
If defense was all that mattered, the US would have won.
In the NBA, coaches have man-to-man as THE SYSTEM, which suposedly is the best for crunch moments. But in FIBA, Zone Defense has always been the most used. Now the most common thing in FIBA tournaments are hybrids like box-and-one or triangle-and-two. This is probably the retribution between so many international players and the softer rules against zone D in the NBA. Team USA tried to run way too much isolation plays for the guards, but when you face a zone, a pick 'n' roll, pick-and-pop, a basket cut, a good post up, and of course, accurate 3 point shooting, are the best ways to force man-to-man Defense.
It's not all about 3-point shooting. You also need a strong presence in the paint. Smart players (backcourt and frontcourt) who can find themselves for open shots and set good screens. Except for "one-trick-poney & one-hit-wonder" Italy, all the better teams in the tournament had one or two players in the paint who could open up things in the perimeter (Oberto & Scola, Gasol, Duncan, Javtokas & Songalia). Also, a point guard who can direct things (most FIBA teams have a "pure" point guard who distributes the ball).
So it may sound like a cliché but it's all about teamwork and chemistry. This isn't new for Spurs and Pistons fans, but many other teams in the NBA *cough* Lakers *cough* still base their game on isolations for their superstar.
About the article: Who cares what Gutierrez said? It would be one thing if the involved player was Manu, Oberto, Scola, Nocioni, etc., but Gutierrez? Please...
The writer clearly tried to stir up things too, and I think he did a good job on that.
Save the Ginobili's and drop a bomb on the rest lol
Why would a member of the Argentinean NT and an Argentinean writer want to "light a fire" under the US?
By the way it looks like the coach is in town visiting with Manu and Oberto about it. I wonder what Manu said to him.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...k.ebd711f.html
Argentina's national team coach, Sergio Hernandez, watched the game with the wives of Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto.
Hernandez is in town to meet with Ginobili and Oberto about Argentina's preparations for this summer's World Championships. Both players plan to play in the tournament.
Hernandez met with Detroit's Carlos Delfino and Chicago's Andres Nocioni earlier this week.
"In this part of season, he always wants to visit with the guys, especially because he is new," Ginobili said.
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