Reply With Quote
I didn't wanna sound like a ignorant American... Wasn't sure if Hedu had led a better win...
NBA players will always have a harder time in FIBA, where there's less room to operate and more contact allowed. Also, yeah, NBA talent (outside of the true elite ones) is overrated, but still, Pop is arguably the GOAT coach. Him not being able to lead an all-NBA roster to a FIBA win would be blemish to his resume.
I didn't wanna sound like a ignorant American... Wasn't sure if Hedu had led a better win...
To be fair, this is a very weak team. It seems to me clearly weaker than even the 2002 World Championship team that finished sixth. There is one true potential perennial All-Star in this team, Donovan Mitc , who is still very young and very raw. Other than that it's a group of mostly role players, without major talent other than athleticism.
For the first time since that 2002 team it will also face the reality that they might have games where the single best player on the court is part of the opposition. Dirk gave them in 2002 but the rest of the team could not compete, so did Manu with a much better team, and then Peja and Vlade were awesome against them. It's clear that Giannis and Jokic are the two best players in the compe ion this year, and neither is with the US.
Therefore no, it shouldn't be seen as a major surprise that this ragtag team could lose. In fact, it should be seen as an achievement if they manage to win it.
Their one saving grace might be that other national teams to me seem to also be on somewhat of a rebuild phase. There is no single international team, I think, as complete as Yougoslavia, Argentina, and Spain were during the '00s. The average talent across the world has improved drastically, but I don't think one single nation has as much star power as those teams did. The best bet is clearly Serbia, it's just that most of its key players are still young and developing. They are also clearly hurt by the Yugoslav break-up. You add Doncic, Dragic, Vucevic to this Serbia team and they become overwhelming favorites even against a much better US roster.
However, looking into the 2020s, it's interesting to see that most of the current American stars are probably done with international compe ion. LeBron, Durant, Curry, Kawhi (the 4 most important players of the decade arguably) are never playing summer ball again. Likely the same for Harden, Westbrook, Paul George, Klay, Draymond, Cousins. It's going to be Kyrie and AD, if they are healthy, and a bunch of still young players.
On the other hand, a large part of the up and coming NBA tier 1 stars are all international players. Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, Doncic, Simmons, Porzingis, KAT are not suiting up for the US. There is a window coming in the next 5-6 years where you could see US teams legitimately lose compe ions even if they manage to get together better rosters than this one - simply due to the fact that the best player on the court might very well be on the other team.
To me it proves athleticism in the game of basketball is overrated. It is not the NFL where the brainless physical freak will always prosper.
Now that everyone in the NBA is tall/lengthy, runs fast & jumps high you need to be able to consistently hit open shots (free throw included) and many times that is mental.
usa players all want to drive to rim but zone defense kills their ambition. non american players more adapted to play diffirence plays. i think it s the biggest problem of usa team. turkey game will push them to work how to offense againts zone.
I think it's been a two-way street. More and more international players have better athleticism to begin with. Some is due to the fact that they come over for college and work at their bodies, some it's because basketball has grown around the world to the point that even European teams can now hire proper trainers for their players since early ages.
The other part is that the game has changed, or at least the way it is now seen and coached. Decision-making and shooting are paramount at every positions, and those are skills that can be coached and taught all over the world.
Last but not least, I think the NBA should really go all-in on this new wave of globalization. It has stars from almost every corner of the world right now in a way that neither soccer does. All team owners should really set aside part of the league's profits and go invest it across the world, build courts and facilities, hold exhibition games with all 30 teams across the world, etc. Yes, the are investing in the game, not the league per se, but sooner or later all the elite talent will come to the NBA. Everyone will profit from it.
spurs about to cost us another gold
Serbia will castrate the USA.
Just imagine if Yugoslavia was still around. That team would be stacked. Might have a chance to beat a Team USA even with the American stars playing tbh.
PAYBACK
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
