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  1. #1
    KoriEllis
    Guest
    With all the ing, moaning, complaining etc about the way this team was assembled, blah blah blah.

    The guys who are there, including your scapegoats of Larry Brown, Richard Jefferson, etc., are the proud Americans who sacked up and went to Greece. They could have spent the summer with their families or relaxing or whatever. So don't fault them. They did what they were asked to do.

    They are out representing our country in these Games. And yes, they were beaten by a better Argentinean team yesterday. But they need to bring home a medal.

    For all those saying, a bronze means nothing. I'm sure it would mean something to these players and coaches.

    I'm sure Tim and the rest of the US team don't want to come home empty handed.

    Go SPURS Go!
    I mean, GO USA GO!


  2. #2
    Whottt
    Guest
    Agree 100%. I've got no problems with people ripping and rooting against the spoiled millionaires that are shaming their country....

    But just make sure it's the right ones...IE the ones who didn't go and represent their country.

    Unfortunately we know it's not going to work that way...the media will be all over the jocks of Shaq and KG next season...like they are heroes.

  3. #3
    Polandprzem
    Guest
    Yes organization was terrible.
    But those guys in Greece realy wanted to win. And they work as hard as possible to get it done in 3 weeks.

    Now- fight for bronze!

  4. #4
    adidas11
    Guest
    Uh, Shaq is 32 years old. There is no way he should have been going to the Olympics. He has retired from international basketball (much like Paul Scholes, and Alan Shearer have retired from the England National Team).

    And as for the other players, I don't blame them for not going as well. The current set up doesn't make it really worth it for NBA players to go in the first place. They get very little time off during the summer, and they are expected to be able to be able to compete at 100% for the NBA season!?

    No, I lame the blame on the fans in the United States (who for a large part, don't even support the team), the NBA (for having a season that is too long), and the Team USA committee for not selecting a full time coach.

    :next3

  5. #5
    Aggie Hoopsfan
    Guest
    They get very little time off during the summer, and they are expected to be able to be able to compete at 100% for the NBA season!
    Well, some of the guys who went farther into the playoffs showed up, that excuse doesn't hold water for me.

    Some of our stars, especially the ones who didn't make the playoffs at all or were sent packing first round, had no excuse.

    Just a bunch of pussies, and just because you feel it's all on the league execs (they deserve a lot of blame) and our lack of a full time coach doesn't mean your opinion is the only one that matters.

  6. #6
    KoriEllis
    Guest
    The point of this thread is not for you guys to keep ing about the reasons it's not working.

    It's to support the guys who are there trying.

    Get out of my thread

  7. #7
    adidas11
    Guest
    Well Kori, I'm getting sick of the pussies who keep blasting the players who chose not to go.

    It's a no win situation. There is almost next to nothing to gain, and everything to lose by showing up. Let's lay the 'blame' where it should be. Us, the fans of United States basketball.

  8. #8
    DuffMcCartney
    Guest
    Well Kori, I'm getting sick of the pussies who keep blasting the players who chose not to go.
    Why? They are a bunch of pussies. Yet everybody wants to point the finger at the players that are there. How about pointing the finger at the little es that didn't go? Cause they were cowards.

  9. #9
    Aggie Hoopsfan
    Guest
    That might be the smartest thing you ever said Duff.

  10. #10
    adidas11
    Guest
    What are you talking about Duff? I'm applauding the players who did go, who were basically put into a no-win situation by our fan base, and by Team USA management.

    But I also realize why a lot of players who were asked to go, chose not to.

    And let me ask you this, would you all be saying the same thing if Tim Duncan had chosen not to go?

    :Q

  11. #11
    DuffMcCartney
    Guest
    yes I would have. I don't care if you realize why they chose not to. That shouldn't nor will it ever take away from what the players that did choose to go accomplished.

    Nobody should just give the guys who were afraid to go and were just cowards a free pass. Like it's okay for them to just bail out.

  12. #12
    smeagol
    Guest
    It's a no win situation. There is almost next to nothing to gain, and everything to lose by showing up. Let's lay the 'blame' where it should be. Us, the fans of United States basketball.
    Adidas11, as much as I respect and agree with most of what to have to say regarding the way Team USA should be set up, I do nt agree with the quote above.

    The best players should have gone!. At least the ones that used lame excuses not to go (I'm getting married, Greece is a dangerous place, I'm tired).

    "There is almost next to nothing to gain . . .". How about the Gold medal and the fact they would've had a chance to continue the domination Team USA made up of NBA players had for the last three Olympic games.

    If I were an American, I would be proud of the guys who showed up to represent the US and I would be fuming with KG and the rest of the pampered superstars that chose to do something else instead of showing up where their country needed them (in Athens).

  13. #13
    T Park Num 9
    Guest
    Nothing to gain???


    A gold medal and making your country proud doesnt mean anymore????


    Bull .



    BTW, the little summer off??

    Where is that BS excuse for guys like Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and others.

    They had quite the long summer.

  14. #14
    hegamboa
    Guest
    I never blasted our guys.... I'm just sad that Duncan and Pop will be guilty by association.

    BTW Kori, I was not alluding to conspiracy theories on that other thread... I was poking fun of LakerLanny's "circle of 7"

    I was simply stating that Stern should have given USA-Basketball more importance than what it currently has in his agenda.

    And the rules thing... well that does annoy me... but I'm in no way using that as an excuse for our struggles. The rest of the world has simply caught up. Especially because they have time to play and get to know each other over the course of years and not weeks.

    But since Manu will win gold... I'm happy for him.

  15. #15
    adidas11
    Guest
    Quote: "A gold medal and making your country proud doesnt mean anymore????"

    That's funny, even the team who went didn't get much support from us. So how can they make a country proud of them, when we as a fan base don't give a !?!?!?!?!

    And where were all of us 'supporters' during the World Basketball Championships (which is a far more important compe ion)????? Those game were held in the United States, in what we call the heartland of basketball, in Indiana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The stands were next to empty, and most of the fans there were for other countries!!!!!!!!!!

    As fans, we are all absolutely pathetic.

  16. #16
    spurster
    Guest
    The fact is that this team played lousy defense from the first exhibition game to the bronze medal game.

  17. #17
    ducks
    Guest
    I think the ones the players that qualified are somewhat to blame that did not go
    they should not have played to qualify if they did not want to go
    those group of guys played together some
    and had more time to play together

    I do not get how the us fans are to blame for the USA team to lose.
    are we suppose to protest and write the compitee and tell them to change the nba season and everything for theses games once every 4 years?
    are we suppose to go to new york and throw a sissy fit that they lost? and need to make changes?

  18. #18
    Shelly
    Guest
    link

    Fall from Greece
    by Steve Kerr, Yahoo! Sports

    August 28, 2004

    As I watched Team USA lose to Argentina in the Olympic semifinals on Friday, one thought continually recurred in my mind: This was no upset.


    America didn't have its best team in Athens. Yes, Kobe, Shaq and KG probably would have made a difference. But Argentina's team was simply better than the team we put on the floor.


    They played with passion and poise, they worked beautifully without the ball, they passed and shot better, and I got the sense they would have beaten Team USA six out of 10 times.


    So the question American basketball fans are asking is, how did this happen? How did we invent a game, dominate it for over 100 years and suddenly forget how to play it?


    How can our national team go from utter dominance a mere 12 years ago to suddenly becoming a mediocre player on the national scene? (If you think we're anything more than mediocre, witness the fact that we finished in sixth place in the world championships two years ago and third in Athens).

    There are probably a lot of reasons for our Olympic failure, but the first thing we have to fix is the selection process.


    Ever since the original 'Dream Team' trampled the compe ion in Barcelona in 1992, selecting the national team has been nothing more than a popularity contest.


    The NBA was interested in promoting its league around the world, so Team USA was comprised of superstars.


    If a star player turned down the invitation, he was replaced by the next biggest star.


    The selection committee has been largely made up of NBA general managers and officials, who frequently are politicking their own players for marketing purposes. Selections were based on star status and exchanged favors, and since we were going to win anyway, nobody cared how the team was picked.


    That is about to change.


    It doesn't take James A. Naismith to figure out that Team USA desperately needed a shooter, and that guys like Brent Barry, Michael Redd or Wally Szczerbiak would have been valuable assets on this team. In the past those names would have never been mentioned. Now they will not only be considered, but recruited and coveted.


    But to place all the blame on the selection committee for the Olympic failure would be wrong. While I believe we could have fielded a more efficient squad, international basketball has improved so dramatically that it's no longer as simple as sending our best players.


    There are more than 80 foreign players in the NBA, so teams from around the world are extremely gifted. In fact, with Tim Duncan on the bench in foul trouble, it was difficult to view a disparity in talent between Team USA and Argentina.


    Manu Ginobili was the best player on the floor, and Andres Nocioni, who will play for the Bulls next season, punished the smaller American guards on the block in the first half.


    Luis Scola, for whom the Spurs hold draft rights, was a strong force inside. And late in the game, Walter Herrmann did his best Dr. J impersonation, swooping to the hole and closing out the Americans with his offensive aggressiveness.


    These guys were awfully good.


    But while the disparity in talent wasn't glaring, the style of play certainly was. I believe that the international teams are now playing the game better than we are.


    Tex Winter once taught me that the best players make their decision to drive, shoot or pass within one second of catching the ball. That creates offensive rhythm and continuity.


    The Argentineans rarely held onto the ball for more than a second or two as they passed, cut and shot us to death. The irony is that they ran a simple offense called the 'flex', which was a staple of American basketball 15 to 20 years ago.


    It involves a pattern of back screens and down screens that are difficult to defend, especially when all five players on the floor can shoot. The Argentineans spread the floor, set great screens and knocked down open shots – something the 'Dream Team' of 12 years ago did from day one.


    But the American game has deteriorated to the point where players are holding the ball for three or four seconds, over dribbling, dumping the ball into the post and not moving or setting screens. That is what Team USA did, and the lack of offensive continuity was glaring.


    The Americans' play was simply an extension of an NBA game, and it was exposed in a tournament where teams employed a more traditional – and more efficient – style.


    So will this Olympic loss spawn a new generation of players and coaches who are dedicated to working on their games and strategies and getting basketball back to what it was in this country just a decade ago?


    Probably not.


    The NBA game has become ins utionalized, with teams playing the same way – running screen and rolls and isolations, feeding the ball to the best player and clearing everyone out.


    Teams are not going to run the 'flex' offense because many players can't shoot, and without shooters the defense doesn't have to honor screens and perimeter play, preferring to simply clog the lane.


    And younger players will continue to enter the league underdeveloped, having played hundreds of AAU games, but not doing what Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were doing 30 years ago – sweating in a gym all summer working on their skills.


    The NBA can learn a lot from the Olympic failure. The league could use more innovation and more coaches – like Don Nelson and Phil Jackson – who think 'outside the box' and value basketball skill over athleticism.


    Perhaps the league can help our young coaches at the junior high and high school levels to inspire kids to develop skills – especially away from the ball.


    Maybe we can adopt some of the international rules and apply them to the NBA. We could allow all-zone defenses, for example, or possibly widen the lane, or even – heaven forbid – call traveling.


    But no matter what we do, the USA will never return to the dominant state it enjoyed for so long. The international game is too good. There are great players all over the world. And our game is regressing.


    So even if we pick a better, more efficient team to send to Beijing in 2008, don't be surprised if we come home empty handed again.

    Steve Kerr is Yahoo! Sports' NBA analyst. Send him a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

    Updated on Saturday, Aug 28, 2004 7:48 pm EDT

  19. #19
    SpursWoman
    Guest
    The best players should have gone!. At least the ones that used lame excuses not to go (I'm getting married, Greece is a dangerous place, I'm tired).


    I know Manu just got married ( ), and he certainly didn't have a problem showing up.

    I feel for that team (the US), because not only were they not really given a chance to work together enough to be as good as they could have been, regardless of whether or not they were the best players or the superstars of the league, they showed up, they played their guts out in extremely unfriendly territory, and have to listen to gutless, bull critism from the unappreciative bas s back home.

    I'm proud of them.

  20. #20
    gettym
    Guest
    It was a terrible situation, If we had won everyone would have blown it off and said "We invented basketball, of course we won" but if we lose we're crucified?

  21. #21
    ShineOnYouCrazyManu
    Guest
    Above all the talk about the international game improving and the USA Team problems, there's a factor that not many people mentioned.

    PRIDE AND GLORY HUNGER.

    Most of the Argentinian players are well considered in their teams with good salaries, and they don't get almost any money for playing with the national team. They're there because of the pride of representing your country.

    Some of them (Montecchia, Wolkowisky, Sanchez) are not stars in their teams, but when they have the white and light blue shirt on them, they transform into very good players. Wolkowisky has been playing with a bad knee over the past 5 years, he could go into surgery in the summer break, but he does not want to miss any tournament with the national team.

    The team also sets very high standards between them, Nocioni and Manu had a go at each other in the Greece game halftime, because a turnover. No hard feelings, both want to win always, so they talk about these things rather than just giving a bad look at each other.

    When I see such a talented pool of players playing with apathy like the U.S. did, I feel furious about it. Maybe it's because our team put a lot of effort in their recent achievements.

  22. #22
    tomyfs
    Guest
    Hi!, Im an argentinian spur fan, and as you´ll think I´m very happy with the gold medal. I just want to say that Scola deserves a place in NBA, I think that he is more useful than Rose, Willis, Marks, Horry, etc in bench.

  23. #23
    tomyfs
    Guest
    uhhh, my first post and wrongly place it. This post over here should be in another topic. sorry

  24. #24
    timvp
    Guest
    Welcome, Tomy FS. Don't worry about it, make yourself at home.


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