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Great, now Manu is going to be a Target.
Argentine player continues blasting of Team USA
Argentine player continues blasting of Team USA
March 7, 2006
COMODORO RIVADAVIA, Argentina (Ticker) - Two days ago, it was the coach. On Tuesday, it was an Argentine player bad-mouthing Team USA.
Leonardo Gutierrez, a fringe player on Argentina's 2004 Olympic gold medal team, continued the harsh words toward the United States, claiming the NBA stars do not know how to play as a team.
"They do not play like a team, they do not know how," said Gutierrez, who did not play in either of Argentina's medal round games. "They always played with a star, with a hero. They are not used to playing at FIBA level due to their individualistic style."
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Led by San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, the Argentines defeated the Americans in the semifinals at Athens, Greece and went on to defeat Italy for the gold medal, their first in the Olympics.
The U.S. had won gold in 1992, 1996 and 2000 with NBA players, who in the past struck awe in international foes. But Gutierrez said that no longer is the case for his compatriots, who stunned Team USA in the 2002 World Championships.
"Since we beat them in their home in Indianapolis, the rest of the teams realized any country could beat the Americans," he said. "We do not have to respect them anymore. We do not play against them to take photos - never again."
Gutierrez also claimed that the gap between the NBA and European leagues has narrowed considerably.
"I think Europe is like the NBA," said the 27-year-old Gutierrez, who plays in Argentina's Liga Nacional with Ben Hur. "The teams have important players like in Germany, France or Spain. Those leagues are at a high level. I believe a lot of players from there could play in the United States."
Hours after USA Basketball announced its list of 23 players invited to tryouts this summer, Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez - who recently replaced the highly successful Ruben Magnano - applauded the exclusion of Allen Iverson and claimed LeBron James is more concerned with entertaining than winning.
Gutierrez echoed those claims and maintained the Americans are under heavy pressure to perform at the 2006 World Championships in Japan this summer. Team USA was sixth at the 2002 World Championships and third at the 2004 Olympics.
"They need victories," he said. "For them, the last bronze medal was a failure. In fact, if they do not win all their matches by a 20-point margin, it would be a failure.
"If they have a good pre-tournament preparation, they have a chance of changing their style of play. I heard they want to prepare at the same level as the other FIBA countries."
While USA Basketball's selections included defensive-minded players such as Bruce Bowen and Shane Battier and distributors such as Chauncey Billups and Luke Ridnour, the list does include seven of the NBA's top eight scorers.
While Gutierrez was not hesitant in his criticism, he does acknowledge that Team USA will have a powerhouse entry in the World Championships that he would like to avoid until the later rounds.
"The United States have so many players who are more or less at the same level," he said. "The only thing which is true is the 12 they will travel to Japan with will be the best in the world.
"If we can avoid them in the early rounds of the FIBA World Championship, it would be better. I would accept facing the Americans in the final, but until the semifinals I prefer to avoid them. If they play against us in a motivated night, they could destroy us."
Great, now Manu is going to be a Target.
Argentina is preparing their burial ground
Uh, yeah...that's why they're trying the new thing."They do not play like a team, they do not know how," said Gutierrez, who did not play in either of Argentina's medal round games. "They always played with a star, with a hero. They are not used to playing at FIBA level due to their individualistic style."
Dumbass.
This reminds me of when Derek Fisher used to talk smack when he was in LA. Derek, you're WAY down on the Laker food chain, so STFU.
this guy reminds me of scola
scola thinks he is worth millions playing for the spurs
because he is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good he thinks
Gutierruz doesnt have the right to say this when he didnt even play in any of the medals round? who is he? a n scrub. That usa team was to sell jerseys, if the first preference guys didnt back down to play at the games the athens team wouldve won gold.
Meh.
PG - Billups (3's, defense, poise)
SG - Bryant (offense all over, defense, clutch)
SF - Bowen (DEFENSE, 3's)
PF - Brand (Low Post, shotblocking, rebounding)
C - R. Wallace (Low Post game, 3's, mobile, defense)
for 25-30 minutes per game with the bench of Redd, B.Wallace, D Howard, Marion and Paul.
That team isn't close to the best team the USA could muster, but if they trained for 1 month together then you would have an unselfish team, who would completely dominate.
It has 3pt shooting swingmen (Billups, Redd, Bowen, Bryant), 3pt shooting bigmen (Rasheed, Marion), incredible defenders (Bowen, Rasheed, Brand, BWallace, Kobe, Marion), a couple of great rebounders (BWallace, Howard, Brand), low post offense (Brand, Rasheed) and very importantly it has steady PG play.
Why should the US listen to these guys? It's certainly not in their best interest to tell the US how they should play
this is news? it's not even worth starting a thread for. WTF cares what this dude thinks.
if you do not like the thread do not open it
no one is making you
You shouldn't pay much attention to this guy. Ask manu about it, if you want an argentine opinion. IMO, US team should play together longer than a week, lets say a month. And that's all they need to kick everyone's ass. You don't even need the very very super stars. Any NBA playoff team would do.
Back to the ground, argies. We have failed miserabily everytime we get bigheaded.
There will some trash talk around WC 2006 (just wait til off season), I disagree with some Gutierrez's expression, the only think it is true for me is that USA NT couldn't continue playing like a bunch of stars and believe they could defeate all elite Intl Teams.
This time USA is doing the things well, like almost the entire world does ... Full time coach, comitment, understanding FIBA's rules, paying attention about team, etc.
Last edited by WalterBenitez; 03-08-2006 at 06:08 AM.
You are wrong this time,
1) G ... doesn't care about money ... he's the only 2004 ARG's NT playing in the local league.
2) S... thinks he worths what his buyout is ... which in my opinion is too high
Believe when I say that there many good players never going to NBA, like Bodiroga (S&M) that prefer to stay in Europe, despite of millions he was offered, don't ask me why...
I think that's a pretty ty at ude. Yeah you don't have to be all gaga over them like they used to be back in the day taking pictures getting autos and stuff, but I still think an amount of respect is deserved. If you don't respect your opponents, that's usually when they run all over your ass.
"Since we beat them in their home in Indianapolis, the rest of the teams realized any country could beat the Americans," he said. "We do not have to respect them anymore. We do not play against them to take photos - never again."
This article was written with the intend of this kind of response. If you read carefully, it was cleverly stated at the final paragraph what Gutierrez thinks about Team USA. He said he wants to avoid them at any stage up to the finals and that they will destroy Argentina. Everything else he said, was written to death by US reporters after the olympics, but now as they are trying to bring that feeling of nationalism out they post this kind of articles as if the rest of the world had become bigheaded. Pretty lame in my opinion.
I don't think he is bad mouthing...
"The United States have so many players who are more or less at the same level," he said. "The only thing which is true is the 12 they will travel to Japan with will be the best in the world.
"If we can avoid them in the early rounds of the FIBA World Championship, it would be better. I would accept facing the Americans in the final, but until the semifinals I prefer to avoid them. If they play against us in a motivated night, they could destroy us."
I agree with vanvannen... the article seems to be written to create a response... based on the last paragraphs, I would say some responses included there were probably out of context.
It too agree with vanvannen, the article is deceiving. Noone in their right minds would underestimate US potential to kick some ass! are you out of your mind? Most of those quotes were taken out context, I can almost guarantee it, or at least I hope they were or else we Argies are bound for a world of hurt
Manu to Bowen, "He's just kidding".
And you remind me of an ignorant guy I once knew.
I would go to the WC 2006 with the super stars and still win.
But you need all the super stars[U], one week of preparation and you bring the championship back to the USA.
Nobody could beat a team with:
Shaq, KG, TD, Sheed W, E. Brand, TMac, LJ, Shawn M, VC, D Wade, Kobe, AI.
HONORS & AWARDS
- Argentinean Under22 National Team -97
- World Championships Under22 -97
- Argentinean National Team -99-02
- Argentinean League Champion -99,02
- South American Championships -99,01(Champion)
- Panamerican Games -99
- Argentinean All-Star Game -00
- Liga Sudamericana Finalist -00
- Argentinean League Finalist -00
- Argentinean Liga A All-Star Team -01
- Liga Sudamericana Semifinalist -01
- Cordoba Region Team -01
- Tournament of the Americas (Copa America) in Neuquin (ARG) –01(Champion)
- Goodwill Games in Brisbane (AUS) - 01(Finalist)
- Argentinean LigaA All-Star Game -02
- World Championships in Indianapolis (USA) -02
U took the guys above mentioned to Las Americas Tournament for Men (Pr quallies) and in the most important game against Argentina u barely beat us.
4 Iverson Allen ezail Hamrton, VA 30 1.82
5 Kidd Jason San Francisco, CA 32 1.9
6 McGrady Tracy Lamar Polk County FL 26
7 O'Neal Jermaine Lee Columbia, SC 27 2.11
8 Carter Vincent Daytona Beach, FL 29 1.95
9 Collison Nicholas John Orange City, IA 25 2.05
10 Bibby Michael Henry Cherry Hill, NJ 27
11 Martin Kenyon Lee Saginaw, MI 28
12 Allen DO NOT USE Ray 30
13 Duncan Timothy Theodore St Croix 29 2.13
14 Brand Elton Tyrón Cortlandt, NY 26 2.03
15 Jefferson Richard Allen Los Angeles, CA 25 2.03
I'm not saying u r not able to beat anyone under the right cir stances. The more srsly u take it, the easier u'll win.
He is not metaphorically speaking. Our players participated in tournaments but when they were playing against USA they did take pics and get autos. No joke.
how can I know if I like the thread if I don't open it??...re
plus who wouldn't open a thread led .... player blasts team USA.
still whoever bothers to listen to that guy's crap must be really bored.
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