The Other Shoe Drops for USA Basketball

So they're trying to lull the world into a false sense of security?

Exactly! Shane Battier is like their Todd Collins. He's no superstar but he knows the system

So when do you think the powers that be in American basketball will finally realize that there has to be something wrong with their system when the team that is undoubtedly 2x more talented than all the others always loses? The problem with NBA basketball is that it focuses on individual play. We baby these guys throughout their lives and when they get to the NBA everything runs through them. It has become and individual game and these guys can't even play a team game. What is scary is that I think this team is as good as we can do based on the current attitudes of our players and the environment in which they learn and play the game. By the way...this is the same reason why basketball falls well short of football in popularity. You can't really root for a team since the team is usually one or two guys and a bunch of nothings.

we had a lack of 3 point shooters.

gil could have helped, or chancey (sp?) or kobe (!). a guy like barkley to rough things up a bit (ie shaq or ron a) would have helped too.

It's just the World Championships, not the Olympics. They played their guts out but didn't want to show too much. They only used 2% of their playbook. They wanted to practice executing specific plays. Really it's just a matter of getting their mental reps down.


Yeah they actually worked on the game plan with Al Saunders, and they decided not to reveil their playbook. But do not worry, they will show the full book when it counts. They cannot wait till the media sees they are the real deal. I mean usually it takes a team long to adopt to a new policy, I mean they only ran two plays, called "Mello shoot" and "LeBron (not even close to Jordan) James shoot".

we had a lack of 3 point shooters.


Yeah even with shorter 3pt lines.

we had a lack of 3 point shooters.

gil could have helped, or chancey (sp?) or kobe (!). a guy like barkley to rough things up a bit (ie shaq or ron a) would have helped too.


great point made there... gil sure could have helped not to mention kobe as well as chauncey But yes an enforcer would have helped a big body in the paint...is there an american player that can fit that bill...?

Ron Artest and Michael Redd are two guys right off the top of my head that team USA could use

artest...might be some controversy there....lol...if he was on the team he needs someone to keep him from running into the stands...lol

Actually, for once, this group of guys actually played hard and played well together. I am not too disappointed this time around, we actually played respectably.

Greece was a good team who had a great night. They earned it.

As mentioned, you do have to remember that a lot of these foreign teams are used to playing with each other and are more established than our "all-star" team that gets thrown together. The foreign teams do have a few NBA guys who join late, but for the most part, they know each other's games already.

Anything less than gold is meaningless in basketball. They are pathetic. I wouldnt even play the bronze game, just send them back home.