USA Basketball

[hitmansb]

These guys are an embarassment....they were missing jump shots that high school players make on a regular basis. So much for the 'Dream Team' concept...these guys are a nightmare.

I've always wondered if it wouldn't make more sense to send the NBA Champions (minus foreign players, of course) to represent the USA, with the rest of the team being superstars from other teams. Guys who play together and have won together would be much better.

Tell me the gold wouldn't be a lock if the Detroit Pistons' starters were there instead, with the bench then being made up of guys like Duncan and Iverson:

Rip Hamilton
Ben Wallace
Rasheed Wallace
Tayshaun Prince
Chauncy Billups


All are American, and they played together and won the NBA title this year. Wouldn't that have made more sense?

[Racer814]

I agree with sending a team...just shows that the team concept beats a bunch of hot dogs any day...players dont practice the basics anymore...just want to make sportscenters top ten list...

[pierced one]

sux, i cannot freaking believe we lost at our own game......bullshit

[jmac2222]

Dont blame this team. Dont blame the guys who are there, they at least showed up (kind of). Where is Shaq? McGrady? Garnett?

And how did Larry Brown look at this team and not invite at least two three point shooters? Even some specialty guys, hell Reggie Miller cant run the floor or play defense but we could have gotten him to stand at that Int 3 point line and hit 7 out of 10! Mashburn, Mario Ellis, anybody who could shoot!

[hitmansb]

Good point, jmac....some 'pure shooters' would have helped.

[buccaneer19]

i have to agree with jmac on this one. shaq garnett mcgrady. i mean damn thats ridiculous. still, no team in the world should beat iverson, duncan, lebron, and carmello alone. not to mention names like shawn marion, carlos boozer, emeka okefor, and larry brown coaching. i mean come on

[majoradams]

I just watched you guys kick our ass, actually it was a damn close game up until the last q. Very entertaining to watch. Not a sport i would usually watch but when your country is playing u get pumped. I think it was 89-79

[Shibby]

I don't think you can put it all on the team and what not. Just because you have a bunch of individual players that are great at their position WITH THERE TEAM, does not mean they will be great at their position with unfimaliar players. Being able to anticipate what the other player is going to do, like it's an extention of them selves. (like have a single team as hitman stated) Look at the pro bowl. You have the greateast of all teams but it's pretty much just a joke.

[majoradams]

Originally posted by Shibby
I don't think you can put it all on the team and what not. Just because you have a bunch of individual players that are great at their position WITH THERE TEAM, does not mean they will be great at their position with unfimaliar players. Being able to anticipate what the other player is going to do, like it's an extention of them selves. (like have a single team as hitman stated) Look at the pro bowl. You have the greateast of all teams but it's pretty much just a joke.

Hey bro,you should play basket ball, your tall enough arnt ya

[Shibby]

what the fuck are you talking about?

I think they will still win Gold. The sad thing is that even americans are pulling for them to lose. It is tough for them over there, they are actually living on a ship for security reasons.

[7lok4]

20+ years ago the concept of taking NBA all-stars and making a "dream team" would have been a consistant success. All five guys on the floor would have been solid in their fundamentals and be able to play with each other. The NBA of today is a joke. With a few exceptions you have a bunch hotdogs that have no desire to be team players. The Olympics showcase all that is wrong with the direction the NBA has moved in past years.

Iverson pushed through the pain and played with a broken finger. Tim Duncan and Lebron are playing with class even though Lebron did dunk in that austrailian guys face. These guys all have class and are doing great imo for even going over there with all the security risks.

They are the only olympians making millions, and already nationally recognized before going to the olympics, so I commend the guys for going and not backing down like shaq and garnett, we need to support them.

[hitmansb]

Another loss....to Lithuania this time. These guys are an embarassment. As a Canadian, this is the equivalent to if our World Cup of Hockey team went out and lost to Germany or something.

Originally posted by hitmansb
Another loss....to Lithuania this time. These guys are an embarassment. As a Canadian, this is the equivalent to if our World Cup of Hockey team went out and lost to Germany or something.

Did you watch the game? Or did you just see the score? I watched the entire game. Lithuania is a very good team, they made 50% of their 3 point shots, thats every other shot going in, thats crazy. Very good shooters.

The US played hard, they hustled, the bench was into the game, the played tough defense. The US had the lead pretty much the whole game, then those guys started draining 3's one of them got fouled on a 3 point attempt and made a 4 point play. The usa lost by 4 points.

Also the crowd was blowing whistles the whole time the usa had the ball on offense. One time Marbury even stopped because he thought the ref blew a whistle.

[hitmansb]

I did watch the game....Lithuania is a decent team...and had a couple of shooters that were absolutely on fire...

That being said, the US missed far too many open shots. Their outside shooting has been terrible...it's hard to win basketball games when you aren't hitting many jump-shots...especially with the short 3.

[hitmansb]

Take a peek at the roster and stats for the 1992 Dream Team. The first thing that jumps out at you is that there were plenty of guys who could knock down long 2's and 3's.

Team usa beats undefeated Spain.

ATHENS -- Greek customs must have finally cleared Team USA's box of perimeter shooting.




Nearly two weeks into an Olympics in which the Americans were far and away the worst 3-point shooting team of the 12 participants, Team USA hit 12 of its 22 attempts (55 percent) from 3-point range Thursday, sparking a 102-94 quarterfinal victory against previously unbeaten Spain.

The Americans (4-2) advanced to Friday's semifinals with the victory, while Spain (5-1), the winner of Group A, will play for seventh place.

The most dangerous American Thursday was one who had been all but invisible so far in Olympic play, Stephon Marbury. Not only did the New York Knicks guard make six of his nine attempts from 3-point range, but he was 10-for-15 from the field overall on his way to a Team USA single-game record 31 points. Charles Barkley (1992) and Adrian Dantley (1976) held the previous mark of 30 points in a game.

It was quite a turnaround for Marbury, who was just 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) on 3-pointers in the Olympic tournament prior to Thursday. Overall, Marbury was shooting just 20 percent (6-for-30), and was averaging only 4.2 points per game.

U.S. 102, Spain 94
Marbury heats up
Coaches square off
Game Images
Basketball section front

He said a call to Knicks general manager Isaiah Thomas earlier this week helped spark the revolution in his game.

"Isaiah just told me to attack and draw my gun first," Marbury said. "Just go out and embarrass people. I haven't been playing like I play in the states. Tonight was the first game I've just gone out and played."

And boy, did the Americans need it.

Team USA star Tim Duncan played just more than four minutes in the first half, a result of drawing two fouls early on. With Duncan on the bench, Spain, as expected, turned to 2002-03 NBA Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol. The 7-foot Spaniard responded in a big way, taking advantage of Duncan's absence to score 19 of his team-high 29 points in the first half.

That's where Marbury's newfound accuracy came in quite handy. He scored seven points in the first quarter and 10 in the first half to help the Americans counter Gasol's dominance.

He and fellow starting guard Allen Iverson became even more important in the second half, with Duncan still in foul trouble. Though Duncan was on the floor for much of the last two quarters, he played most of the fourth quarter with four fouls, clearly limiting his defensive aggressiveness.

But whatever the Spaniards got inside because of Duncan's cautiousness, Marbury and Iverson got back on the other end. The two combined for 18 points in the third quarter alone (11 for Marbury, seven for Iverson), and Iverson's jumper with 2:05 left in the third gave the Americans the lead for good.

Iverson finished with 16 points, going a more modest 3-for-8 on 3-pointers. All three were big, however, one of them turning a three-point lead into a six-point advantage early in the fourth.

Carlos Boozer also scored 12 points off the bench, connecting on five of his eight shots.

The Olympic spirit seemed to depart at the conclusion of the game when Spain coach Mario Pesquera took exception to a timeout by Team USA in the final minutes and refused to shake American coach Larry Brown's hand. Pesquera confronted the game's officials, and afterward, had a discussion with Team USA assistant Gregg Popovich. As Popovich tried to make peace with Pesquera, Brown joined the discussion, and things got heated between the two bench bosses.

Popovich said later the Americans certainly weren't trying to show up the Spaniards, and that by international rules, Team USA had requested the timeout several moments before it was awarded.

"Timeouts are different in the NBA than they are here," Popovich said. "In the NBA you call them immediately. In Europe you have to put in for a timeout. We had already put in for a timeout before that moment. We wanted the timeout because we had just lost the ball on the press. We wanted to set our press offense, and the timeout was already there. When there was a dead ball, we asked to take it off. We said we didn't want it now because so much time had gone by, but they blew the whistle and the timeout came.

"It wasn't intentional. Nobody is trying to embarrass anybody."

Team USA will meet the winner of Thursday's Argentina/Greece matchup in a semifinal Friday.

[miamibluntz]

Many stars were invited to play, but they were too busy on their off season to join their countrys olympic team. They were concerned that they might be blown up. These guys are escorted by some bad muthafukers holding assault rifles and have snipers overlooking the area before they set foot anywhere. Bunch of pussys.

[beefcake]

Originally posted by Keiser
Team usa beats undefeated Spain.

Finally, the last of the americans in the olympics to get their shit together. Hopefully it lasts though.

[jmac2222]

Originally posted by hitmansb
Take a peek at the roster and stats for the 1992 Dream Team. The first thing that jumps out at you is that there were plenty of guys who could knock down long 2's and 3's.

THis almost makes me cry when I look at this roster and think about the jerk-offs we have playing in the NBA now. I blame the shoe companies and the referees for turning the pro game into a farce.

The shoe companies for pouring so much money into "superstars" that these guys forget about the team. Look at this roster. Most these guys came into the league before the "shoe deal" was 90% of your income.

The referees dont call traveling or charges anymore. Part of the thing that was really great about a Dr J dunk was that it didnt happen all the time. When refs are calling charges and traveling it's hard to gorilla dunk the ball. WHich is what made it so magical when it happened. Now this all these guys ever do, and it's all they have to do because the league commissioners think this is all the fans want to see.

We are now starting to see where this is all taking US basketball. When the game is called the way it is supposed to, and played with a team concept we suddenly notice that we are not as good as we used to be.

Question: If team USA loses, can the winner of the NBA Finals still call themselves the World Champions?

[hitmansb]

They lost to Argentina....best they can do now is a bronze. Damn, these guys just couldn't get it together to play as a team.

[Tinfish]

unbelievable

http://sports.yahoo.com/oly/basketba...v=ap&type=lgns

[bonebreaker]

OVERPAID, UNDERTALENTED FUCKING JERKS!! THEY SHOULD BE SO ASHAMED AND NEVER BE SEEN IN PUBLIC AGAIN--ASHOLES. BB

[FX4]

Originally posted by bonebreaker
OVERPAID, UNDERTALENTED FUCKING JERKS!! THEY SHOULD BE SO ASHAMED AND NEVER BE SEEN IN PUBLIC AGAIN--ASHOLES. BB

Tell me about it....if their game was as big as their fuckin egos we wouldn't have just got the shit beat out of us ....poor Tim Duncan, who is really a team player

[beefcake]

I guess it would suck to say you belong to the first US olympic b-ball team to not bring home gold in over a decade.