basketball brag and beat

[jfish]

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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.

[kidcolin]

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.

[kidcolin]

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.

[Georgia Avenue]

Let's bomb Spain.

[NajdorfDefense]

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.

[kidcolin]

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.

[DoubleTwentyOne]

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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.

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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.

[kidcolin]

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.

[DoubleTwentyOne]

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

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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.

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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.

[kidcolin]

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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.