mayonaise 0 Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer04/bas...tory?id=1869300 The best the U.S. can finish now is bronze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaTiger 0 Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,037 Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Maybe if they had let Michael Jordan, Magic, Charles Barkley and some of the other retired Real Basketball players, represent the US, they would have won. This bunch of All Stars are pretty pathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger88 934 Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Oh well, as optimistic as I tried to be, you could see this coming a mile away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthLink02 8 Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 When did it begin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG-91 1,483 Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Can't say I was too surprised, either...the US has to realize that the days of just throwing together a team of names in the month preceding the Olympics are over. Well, maybe they can avenge their loss to Lithuania and get the bronze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CShine 0 Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 Where it comes to the Olympics, I have a hard time believing this team ever had a "dream." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,037 Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Where it comes to the Olympics, I have a hard time believing this team ever had a "dream." That is a great observation CShine! I have thought the same thing about this team and could just not put it into words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duder 238 Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 I still respect the guys for going over there. We have a ton of very talented NBA players sitting at home watching their country lose when they could've done something about it. The group we sent over there may not have been the best but at least they went! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger88 934 Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Where it comes to the Olympics, I have a hard time believing this team ever had a "dream." You gotta be kidding. This tells me more than anything that you didn't really follow the team at all. They wanted the gold medal very badly and had as much of a "dream" as any other dream team. They were disappointed with the semifinal loss but came back and played a heckuva game against lithuania who shot lights out from three point land. This was a young team who maybe thought it would be easier than it was and made some mistakes, but they played hard and were very classy the whole tournament. Not to mention they had the guts to go when many "big stars" backed out due to fear for their own safety :roll: . These guys had the most athletic ability of any team, but played against the odds with the way they were thrown into things. W will get the next gold, imo, there is no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUloggerhead 2,239 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 You gotta be kidding. This tells me more than anything that you didn't really follow the team at all. They wanted the gold medal very badly and had as much of a "dream" as any other dream team. They were disappointed with the semifinal loss but came back and played a heckuva game against lithuania who shot lights out from three point land.This was a young team who maybe thought it would be easier than it was and made some mistakes, but they played hard and were very classy the whole tournament. Not to mention they had the guts to go when many "big stars" backed out due to fear for their own safety :roll: . These guys had the most athletic ability of any team, but played against the odds with the way they were thrown into things. W will get the next gold, imo, there is no doubt. 88, I don't doubt the USA team's desire, patriotism or the fact that they played hard against good, well-coached competition in this tournament. I don't doubt that Larry Brown is indeed a talented coach. But, ... Over the past decade, more than one sportswriter (& former coaches or players) has commented on the fact that current NBA players lack a solid grounding in basketball fundamentals -- team defense, shooting (especially free-throw shooting,) positioning for rebounds, being patient enough to work the ball around for an open shot, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that the WNBA plays a more fundamentally sound brand of b-ball than the actual NBA. Also, the infusion of players from around the world into the NBA is because they are solid in the fundamentals. Meanwhile, here in the good ol' USA, we glorify talented players that jump straight from HS or a year or 2 in college to the pros: LeBron, Kobe, Carmelo (1-yr at Syracuse.) If they can come down the court, take off from the foul line and do a spinning 360 dunk, ... somehow that's considered more valuable than squaring up and popping a 17-ft jumper. Travelling and/or fouls are rarely called on marquee players due to some bizarre reasoning (e.g. "they've earned the right not to be called on this late in important games like the NBA Finals." WTF?) Instead of being held to a higer standard, NBA players are babied. That's why they have trouble competing in the international arena. Unless any changes are made, I simply don't share your confidence that the men's prospects will change in Bejing 4 years from now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,429 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 You gotta be kidding. This tells me more than anything that you didn't really follow the team at all. They wanted the gold medal very badly and had as much of a "dream" as any other dream team. They were disappointed with the semifinal loss but came back and played a heckuva game against lithuania who shot lights out from three point land.This was a young team who maybe thought it would be easier than it was and made some mistakes, but they played hard and were very classy the whole tournament. Not to mention they had the guts to go when many "big stars" backed out due to fear for their own safety :roll: . These guys had the most athletic ability of any team, but played against the odds with the way they were thrown into things. W will get the next gold, imo, there is no doubt. 88, I don't doubt the USA team's desire, patriotism or the fact that they played hard against good, well-coached competition in this tournament. I don't doubt that Larry Brown is indeed a talented coach. But, ... Over the past decade, more than one sportswriter (& former coaches or players) has commented on the fact that current NBA players lack a solid grounding in basketball fundamentals -- team defense, shooting (especially free-throw shooting,) positioning for rebounds, being patient enough to work the ball around for an open shot, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that the WNBA plays a more fundamentally sound brand of b-ball than the actual NBA. Also, the infusion of players from around the world into the NBA is because they are solid in the fundamentals. Meanwhile, here in the good ol' USA, we glorify talented players that jump straight from HS or a year or 2 in college to the pros: LeBron, Kobe, Carmelo (1-yr at Syracuse.) If they can come down the court, take off from the foul line and do a spinning 360 dunk, ... somehow that's considered more valuable than squaring up and popping a 17-ft jumper. Travelling and/or fouls are rarely called on marquee players due to some bizarre reasoning (e.g. "they've earned the right not to be called on this late in important games like the NBA Finals." WTF?) Instead of being held to a higer standard, NBA players are babied. That's why they have trouble competing in the international arena. Unless any changes are made, I simply don't share your confidence that the men's prospects will change in Bejing 4 years from now. Man I thought I was the only one that thought that. I have told many in local leagues that the WNBA actually looked more like the kind of ball we play and were coached to play. I was laughed at but I am really no basketball wizard either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger88 934 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 loggerhead, What you wrote seems right to me. All I was saying was these guys tried their damnedest and conducted themselves with class. They came together under adverse conditions and damn near won the gold. I just don't understand anyones need to slam these guys. They had the balls to go and after a couple of weeks of practice took on teams that have been largely playing together for 10 years +-. Why do so many people feel the need to make this team their whipping boy?(No racial undertones intended at all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I'm of the opinion that had Shaq, Kevin Garnett, Kidd, McGrady and all that crew gone we probably would have taken the gold strictly on athletic ability. It's been a matter of overwhelming the opposition with superior athletes in the past and I think the best of the best would have done that again. That being said, the gap has definitely narrowed in that department and this team didn't just lose because they didn't have fundamentals. These other teams looked to me to be a lot more on par with our guys athletically than in years past. Combine that with team play and fundamentals and they're pretty hard to beat. Things won't be that much different in 4 years because of the way the NBA is set up. Face it, the play is all about one on one, in your face, slam dunk, 3 point show basketball. Fans come to see a human highlight film when they watch an NBA game and the game is set up to provide that with the 24 second clock, man to man D etc. The NBA promotes it that way as well with every game being advertized as "Kobe and the Lakers" vs. "Alan Iverson and the 76'ers". ESPN shows only highlights of in your face, alley-oop, windmill slams and 3 pointers. The game is set up for the fan and they ain't gonna change it just so we can win a gold medal 4 years from now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger88 934 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Don't forget that the dream team at sydney woulda lost in the semi's if lithuanias 3 pointer had gone in. The gap has been closing for awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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