basketball brag and beat
 

MY BRAG:

HAHAHAHHAHAH SPAIN TO THE FINAL!!!!!

YOUR BEAT:

USA SUCKS AT BASKETBALL

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
MY BRAG:

HAHAHAHHAHAH SPAIN TO THE FINAL!!!!!

YOUR BEAT:

USA SUCKS AT BASKETBALL

[/ QUOTE ]

This USA roster is half filled with 2nd and 3rd stringers. So I guess you can be proud that your 1st string team can beat our 2nd and 3rd string team? WTG Spain!!!

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

Actually it was Greece who beat you, which is a lot worse than being beat by Spain.

And only 3 important players are missing for you.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

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And only 3 important players are missing for you.

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WTF does that mean?

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

LOL SPANAMENTS

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
MY BRAG:
HAHAHAHHAHAH SPAIN TO THE FINAL!!!!!
YOUR BEAT:
USA SUCKS AT BASKETBALL

[/ QUOTE ]
This USA roster is half filled with 2nd and 3rd stringers. So I guess you can be proud that your 1st string team can beat our 2nd and 3rd string team? WTG Spain!!!

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This smacks of bitterness. Team USA was assembled specifically to win. There were tryouts. There were cuts. We f'ed up in this game big time.

I think come the Olympics in '08, the US will pretty much dominate. They'll have been playing together for 3 years by then, and Paul Pierce, Amare, and Kobe will be back on board.

oh.. and Greece beat the US.. not Spain.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

You are still best at... humm, let me think... humm... well... Football! (Not the real deal, but the american thingie) Kudos to you!

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

That football you play there is so boring.

The three players that I meant who haven't gone to Japan are Shaq,Kobe and Duncan, appart from those 3 you had your best possible team.

I know the Olympics will possibly be a different story, but today you are the 4th best basketball team which is not that bad

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

states sitll have by far the best talent and it isn't even close.
the team was not assembled very well again this time and really isn't a good indicator of anything.

and if nothing else lebron > the world

Greeks beat US team, period
 

Hey, the US lost .... take it like a man and stop whining.

We fielded a fairly talented team, but sucked at 3 point range and on the line. The defense sucked big time.

According to the US team, the Greeks kept just running pick and rolls, or was it backdoor play. Aside from the comedic aspects of a Greek team winning with backdoor play, the US was simply outplayed ...

Re: Greeks beat US team, period
 

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Aside from the comedic aspects of a Greek team winning with backdoor play

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this is so unbelievably awesome.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

mike,

I'm really not sure. We've got the best athletes, by a very large margin. But as far as basketball "skill", when you throw teamwork and proper defensive arrangements and whatnot, the gap shortens by a lot. The hard truth is that the NBA has gone down the toilet since the Dream Tream era guys all left. The NBA have all the "raw" talent in the world, but so many are clueless with defensive rotations, splitting a trap, movement off the ball, etc. Hell, many have a hard time with mid range jumpers. The game has just degenerated in quality here. There was a 3 year stretch that started a year or two after MJ retired where I couldn't even watch the NBA. It was that attrocious.

I largely agree with you though. I think we'll really see what's up in Beijing '08. But you have to give the other countries credit. Ever since the Dream Team absolutely schooled everyone while pretty much horsing around, they've put in a lot of effort developing talent and improving. We won't see that kind of US domination again.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

oh, and as an aside.. I absolutely hate that Battier is on that team. His pick really astonished me. I understand the need for non-star role players, but it just didn't make much sense to me. I feel somewhat similar about the Jamison selection.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

Let's bomb Spain.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

If Spain loses to Greece, does that mean you also suck?

Oh, and as for the real football:
2002 WC: USA QFinals loss to Germany, Spain loss to Korea, noted football powerhouse. Germany beats Korea.

1998 WC: USA out first round, Spain out first round.

1994 WC: USA lose to Brazil in elimation round, Spain loses to Italy. Brazil wins WC.

Spain's WC history is completely mediocre at best.

FC Barca is the nuts, though.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

Najdor,

In spain's defense, their loss in the QFinals in the 2002 WC was an absolute crock. They got so hosed by the officials. It was beyond rediculous.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
Actually it was Greece who beat you, which is a lot worse than being beat by Spain.

And only 3 important players are missing for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

2 of those 3 players (Kobe & Shaq) singlehandedly dominated the entire NBA for 4 years. And we're not throwing in the other dominant forces (Duncan, Amare, Pierce...etc) The fact that they're missing is the whole point!!! Would the Bulls of the 90's have won without Jordan & Pippen? Your comment is a joke.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

Double,

again. You sound bitter. With a team with LBJ, Carmelo, D-Wade at the helm, they should dominate. Especially given the surrounding cast (Paul, Brand, BOSH, Heinrich, etc). Sure, no Kobe, Pierce, Amare, or Duncan hurts (Shaq can't hack it at this point), but on paper, their line-up should be able to beat any comers.

This tourney just shows that the US still has work to do both on the international scene, and with their understanding of the game in general.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
MY BRAG:
HAHAHAHHAHAH SPAIN TO THE FINAL!!!!!
YOUR BEAT:
USA SUCKS AT BASKETBALL

[/ QUOTE ]
This USA roster is half filled with 2nd and 3rd stringers. So I guess you can be proud that your 1st string team can beat our 2nd and 3rd string team? WTG Spain!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

This smacks of bitterness. Team USA was assembled specifically to win. There were tryouts. There were cuts. We f'ed up in this game big time.

I think come the Olympics in '08, the US will pretty much dominate. They'll have been playing together for 3 years by then, and Paul Pierce, Amare, and Kobe will be back on board.

oh.. and Greece beat the US.. not Spain.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're partially correct here. This team was assembled to win GIVEN WHAT RESOURCES WE HAD. Instead of having true dominant veterans backed up by the rising up and comers, we have the up and comers being backed up by role players. As good as Wade & Lebron are, they're still developing players. This tourney would've been a different story if we had the likes of Duncan, Shaq, and Amare down low, and that's not even considering having Kobe in the backcourt. Brand is good down low, but he's not as dominant nor as aggressive as the other big names, plus he can only do so much by himself.

Believe me, if we wanted to assemble another Dream Team, a roster of the best 13 American players, and enter them into a tourney, they'd probably be something like 2-1 favorites to win before the start.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
Believe me, if we wanted to assemble another Dream Team, a roster of the best 13 American players, and enter them into a tourney, they'd probably be something like 2-1 favorites to win before the start.


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Possibly. Might be a little less, but I can't say I disagree. But I also think you're underestimating how poorly US basketball has gotten at developing TEAMwork abilities. I think even our best 13 would have a couple of challenging games, just because those teams understand the nuances of team work that the NBA is sorely lacking right now.

And my point about the old Dream Team and the improvement of the int'l teams still stands. The original Dream Team was all but a lock to win the gold, and the same would've been true for the next best 12 players, and the next 12 after that.

And I think the original Dream Team would be around 98% against the best 13 from today's game, because Bird, Jordan, Magic, etc just flat out understood the game much, much better. The hard truth is that the US isn't as strong as it once was, and the competition has improved. We're just not a lock anymore.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

Yeah, MJ,Magic were just dominant. These new guys can just jump, run and shoot.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

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I think even our best 13 would have a couple of challenging games, just because those teams understand the nuances of team work that the NBA is sorely lacking right now.


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Couldn't agree more with you on this point. I think the infusion of corporate money into the NBA is at least partially responsible for the trend toward selfishness. Nike isn't paying Lebron $100 million to rack up passes and assists.

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And my point about the old Dream Team and the improvement of the int'l teams still stands. The original Dream Team was all but a lock to win the gold, and the same would've been true for the next best 12 players, and the next 12 after that.


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Dream Teams 1 (Barcelona) & 3 (Atlanta) were probably the 2 greatest of all time. The rest were just average/slightly above. DT II was just lucky the world still sucked at the time. DT IV got a rude awakening. A good match wouldn've been between DT 1 & 3, although I believe 3 or 4 players had played on both teams.

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And I think the original Dream Team would be around 98% against the best 13 from today's game

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From today's game, no question. Against DT III it would've been close. Shaq in his prime was a scary scary player, nobody on DT I would've been able to come CLOSE to containing him.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

its very disappointing. we have the best talent, but its a different style of basketball than the NBA. i'll start worrying when euros come over and start running the league instead of for the most part being marginal players.

no KG, Duncan, Kobe, Pierce, Amare, Ben Wallace, Michael Redd, Chauncey Billups. its hard to say we had our best team, we had a collection of good young players.

anyway we lost one game in a freezeout donkament to a team that played really really well, OMG

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

Even a team that is 2-1 will lose 33% of the time. Maybe that's just what happened here.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
Najdor,

In spain's defense, their loss in the QFinals in the 2002 WC was an absolute crock. They got so hosed by the officials. It was beyond rediculous.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is so true

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
From today's game, no question. Against DT III it would've been close. Shaq in his prime was a scary scary player, nobody on DT I would've been able to come CLOSE to containing him.

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This is getting off track, but I would love to see this (ignoring players like Robinson and Stockton being on both). Part of the key here is "Shaq in his prime." You're absolutely correct, he was an absolute freak at that point. But remember, when he came into the league, he had a tough time against the elite big men like Robinson, Hakeem, and Ewing. Even Rick Smits gave him trouble. He hit his prime right as the NBA became devoid of dominant big men, when Hakeem, Ewing and Robinson were at the end of their run. I would've loved to see those big guys battle at their respective primes.

I think DTI would still crush III the vast majority of the time. It contained 3 of the best 5 or 6 all time players (some would argue the best 3 all time, PERIOD), though Bird and Magic were past their primes. The NBA was just freakishly good then.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]

This USA roster is half filled with 2nd and 3rd stringers. So I guess you can be proud that your 1st string team can beat our 2nd and 3rd string team? WTG Spain!!!

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Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 Denver Nuggets
Shane Battier F 6-8 Houston Rockets
Chris Bosh F 6-10 Toronto Raptors
Elton Brand F 6-8 Los Angeles Clippers
Kirk Hinrich G 6-3 Chicago Bulls
Dwight Howard F-C 6-11 Orlando Magic
LeBron James F 6-8 Cleveland Cavaliers
Antawn Jamison F 6-9 Washington Wizards
Joe Johnson G-F 6-7 Atlanta Hawks
Brad Miller C 7-0 Sacramento Kings
Chris Paul G 6-0 NO/Okla. City Hornets
Dwyane Wade G 6-4 Miami Heat

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
Najdor,

In spain's defense, their loss in the QFinals in the 2002 WC was an absolute crock.

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No, they didn't. Reffing is questionable virtually any game. That is a loser's excuse. By the same token, the blatant handball that Germany used to keep the US off the scoreboard was not called, etc, etc.

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Najdor,

In spain's defense, their loss in the QFinals in the 2002 WC was an absolute crock. They got so hosed by the officials. It was beyond rediculous.

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This is so true

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The loser's lament. Fine, the US lost last night because we got hosed by the refs.

Easy, see?

Korea outplayed you guys and deservedly won. Stop whining.

1998 - same excuse? You guys got hosed in the first round *in Europe*.

Spain chokes every WC in soccer. End of story. Another 2nd round implosion this year. Let me know when Spain reaches the semis at the WC, then you'll be at the US' level of basketball. [Which was invented by a Canadian, surprisingly.]

Re: basketball brag and beat
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Najdor,

In spain's defense, their loss in the QFinals in the 2002 WC was an absolute crock.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, they didn't. Reffing is questionable virtually any game. That is a loser's excuse. By the same token, the blatant handball that Germany used to keep the US off the scoreboard was not called, etc, etc.

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Normally I'd agree with you. i.e., the seahawks fans blaming the refs when they played horribly. I found that pathetic. Same with Mark Cuban/the Mavs in this year's NBA finals.

But this game was beyond "questionable." It was absolutely ridiculously poorly officiated. Korea had been getting questionable treatment throughout the WC, but vs. Spain it was just blatant. I mean, did you watch the game? The phantom offsides call? It was horrid.