Good news for bad team:

[MDM4AU 332]

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Sports Buzz

Friday, August 06, 2004

THE HOT CORNER

Good news for bad team:

Here's the way I see it: At least we won't be subjected to the embarrassment of Allen Iverson arriving late at the gold medal stand and cussing out the head of the International Olympic Committee.

Iverson is the captain of this year's "Bad Dream Team," which is a bad idea on the scale of Phil Fulmer being the president of the Tuscaloosa Red Elephant Club.

Iverson's team lost to Italy by, oh, 30 or 40 points and then stunned Germany - a team that didn't even qualify for the Olympics - thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Iverson's team knows how to dunk, but it can't stop a layup. Iverson's team knows about chest-thumping, but can't grasp moving without the ball to get open for a shot.

Bring these guys home so they can sell their $200 tennis shoes and go clubbin' with their posses.

Then, send 10 guys like Antoine Pettway and Mo Finley who are battling to keep their ball-playing careers alive and not squabbling about the audacity of a coach who expects them to be on time.

Mike Perrin --

[tiger88 934]

Well for whatever reasons these guys are going to greece when all the "biggest stars" copped out because of the danger. These guys are young and hungry, but it looks like they may be outmatched. They just started playing together.

We only lost to italy by 17 or 18 points so the guy loses all credibility with me right there. Purposeful exaggeration to try and make his point.

I'm not a big fan of anyone on this team mostly because I don't know them. I think it would be great if they could bring home a medal though.

Let me ask this: Why do you guys think so many people are "playa haters" like this guy appears to be.

[MDM4AU 332]

Well one reason (in this instance) is that this is basically an American sport. We are supposed to have the best of the best when it comes to Basketball players. To get beat at all, much less by 17, 18 or 40 points by teams from other countries is laughable. At one time we had the "Dream Team." We finally got to use our pro athletes in the Olympics. The original team went over, played like it should be played and made a statement. All that followed seemed to be of the belief that America couldn't be beat. They didn't take the other countries seriously and now you have the NBA getting B*^%& slapped by Italy.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Because NBA reflects ZERO and I mean ZERO pride in "america". The guys who decided not to go dont care about how america does in the olymics.

They are worried that they might twist an ankle and mess up a shoe deal. Or give them less leverage in contract renegotiations.

[TitanTiger 20,499]

I'd be willing to bet that if you took Jim Calhoun and his national champion Huskies to the Olympics, they'd do better than these guys. UConn plays hard and they play fundamentally sound basketball. Plus, they have great team chemistry. These bozos spend too much time looking for a highlight on SportsCenter.

[Duder 238]

Young team or not, this is a very talented group of players. We should have no problem beating the rest of the world. BUT, our achilles heel is going to be the ego of the American players. Larry Brown is a great coach, and yes some of these players are young and hungry, but a lot of them are too high-strung for their own good. It is embrassing

[tiger88 934]

Yeah, the celbration could be emabarrassing if we were to win the gold, which I can definitely see happening. These guys are young and cocky. I just hope they show some class.

The team that lost last summer didn't like karl as a coach from what I've heard so they didn't really play that well for him.

These guys could go down because they will have little practice together as a team.

I don't understand why most of the anger people have on this subject isn't pointed at the guy who refused to go. At least these guys stepped up. Some of them even called brown to lobby their way onto the team as the "stars" were dropping out like flies due to security concerns.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

I wish we'd either send over our defending NBA champion or the Div. 1 NCAA champion.

[MDM4AU 332]

It's not a perfect resolution but I wouldn't mind seeing the NCAA champs representing the USA in the Olympics.

[Aubie16 1]

heck, lets just send the Duke team every year with Coach K as the coach...i can guarentee you that those guys would reflect a very positive image of the U.S. and would never embarress us.

Seriously though, i think we should go to sending college players... even if we don't win, at least we would have amateur players that truely have a love for the game and not for their own highlights!

[tiger88 934]

I would rather send the nba all stars, I just hope they behave. I would much rather have someone other than iverson leading the way though.

I don't think the ncaa kids would fare nearly as well as some think. It is a totally different game with the different set of rules. The rest of the world has caught up some with the US. We are still by far the best imo. Karl was a horrible choice for coach last year I think.

[TitanTiger 20,499]

The team that lost last summer didn't like karl as a coach from what I've heard so they didn't really play that well for him.

See, my problem with this kind of attitude is that they aren't playing for Karl, Brown, or any other coach. The initials on their uniforms are U.S.A. and if they can't grow the hell up and play like that means something rather than getting in a snit and half-assing their way through the tourney, screw 'em. I'd rather lose with a bunch of college kids that fight their guts out than with that bunch.

[tiger88 934]

I see your point and it is a good one. However, no coach is gonna be successful w/o the respect of his players and from what I have heard karl and those players were like oil and water, much like he wore very thin with the guys at milwaukee. How in the heck did he even get the job???

Sounds to me like everyone is thinking we're not gonna win the gold. We may not but just remember these were the first three games these kids played together with VERY LITTLE practice. This may be the b team but it is loaded and two more weeks of practice and they may really be something to watch.

Also remember many of these kids were not on last summers team. I hope they win it all. Not pointing the finger at anyone but I get the feeling many would like to see them lose so they can say I told you so.

[jaydubb121 22]

Also remember many of these kids were not on last summers team. I hope they win it all. Not pointing the finger at anyone but I get the feeling many would like to see them lose so they can say I told you so.

I agree with you tiger88 and I think it's why we need to go back to sending amateur players. The guys in the NBA are "supposed" to be the best in the world so anything less than a gold medal is considered failure. I believe as they get more and more exhibitions out of the way they will gel as a team and dominate the Olympic tourney. I admire the players that decided to compete and hope their efforts will be rewarded with American gold medals in basketball.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

Well, they came out and flat laid an egg today...Puerto Rico, let me say that again, Puerto Rico embarrassed us by nearly 20 points. I'd like to think that this would serve as the oft-cliched "wake-up call". That was painful to watch.

[TitanTiger 20,499]

Did anyone stop to consider that we might need someone who can hit a frickin' shot other than a dunk or a layup? That was pitiful.

[tiger88 934]

This could get even more embarrassing. I feel for coach brown and some of the players as well. It just isn't fair to them to expect something so quick. These guys are young and haven't played together much. We have no inside game besides duncan.

Score one for Al Quaeda due to all the pampered nba players afraid to leave home.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

This team really needed a genuine zone-buster lurking on the perimeter...somebody like, say, Michael Redd.

It's one thing to lose, but our guys got jumped on from the start...almost like they weren't ready to play, which is inexcusable.

[tiger88 934]

I didn't watch the game but listened to espn radio this afternoon. They said the same thing they named redd and a couple of other guys. We had better grow up in a hurry.

[tiger88 934]

Well they lost one they shoulda won to lithuania. they have improved tremendously since the 1st game. It is far from a lock, but I can definitely see this team winning the gold. They SHOULD get better every game. They are just getting used to playing together.

It seemed like they let up a little in the 2nd half and no "dream team" can afford to do this anymore. The other countries aren't as good as the U.S.,but they are getting much closer in quality than when the U.S. pro's entered the olympics. Couple that with a team that was put together immediately beforethe olympics with very little practice time, and you have this olympics so far.

I have to ask one question. How in the world do you put together any kind of international bball team without a single true outside shooter? I would gladly sacrifice two athletes for two slow moving shooters in this tournament. The line is shorter than the nba line. Surely there was one or two guys in the nba or college who would have went if asked that can really shoot a good 3.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

They are playing better since that CF against Puerto Rico, but one of the problems with losing too much in pool play is that it will force the U.S. to play one of the better teams earlier.

We can't do any better than 3rd in our pool..Puerto Rico and Lithuania are both ahead of us and both have head-to-head. Assuming a win over Angola, that means that we'd play the second place team from the other pool (Argentina as of today) in the quarterfinals, then get a rematch with Lithuania in the semis. Not the easiest row to hoe.

[tiger88 934]

I see your point slag, but lets look at the silver lining. They shoulda won today but let their guard down a little. They should beat everybody when they are on. They know they are all tough from here on out so maybe they will keep their guard up from here on out.

WHo woulda thunk we'd be fretting over playing argentina in the olympics? I hope thes kids do it!

[tiger88 934]

Looks like our guys may be finally coming around. They whipped spain today 102-94. Spain was the hottest team so far.

I hope they keep their concentration and don't let up.