USA Basketball sucks it up again!

[Hababi]

Haha, Greece beat the US: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/42090/20060901/usargh_greece_downs_america/

That's what you get having a team lead by Carmelo "the cancer" Anthony.

[Reaganista]

I thought coach K was supposed to fix everything

[Hababi]

I thought coach K was supposed to fix everything

Not when you don't have committed defense players and good shooters.

Let's face it: Carmelo Anthony is the worst defender in the history of US olympic basketball.

Here would be a winning team:

PG Chris Paul
PG Kirk Hinrich
G Brent Barry
G/F Bobby Simmons
G/F Raja Bell
G/F Josh Howard
G/F Shane Battier
F David West
F Adam Morrisson
F/C Dwight Howard
C Joel Przybilla
C Chris Kaman

That team wins.

[Prince Charming]

Not when you don't have committed defense players and good shooters.
Agreed.

[Endless Obsession]

I have a winning team for you....

Derek Anderson SG
Michael Doleac PF
Udonis Haslem PF
Jason Kapono SF
Alonzo Mourning C
Shaquille O'Neal C
James Posey GF
Wayne Simien F
Dwyane Wade G
Antoine Walker F
Jason Williams PG

In all honesty i think USA would have won had they just gone with that lineup.

Oh yeah and by the way, Derek Andersons son was on my basketball team this year. He was awesome averaged 24 points, 10 rebs, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 5 blocks per game. This is varsity high school basketball im talkin bout here.

[Reaganista]

Not when you don't have committed defense players and good shooters.

Let's face it: Carmelo Anthony is the worst defender in the history of US olympic basketball.

he picked the team


Here would be a winning team:

PG Chris Paul
PG Kirk Hinrich
G Brent Barry
G/F Bobby Simmons
G/F Raja Bell
G/F Josh Howard
G/F Shane Battier
F David West
F Adam Morrisson
F/C Dwight Howard
C Joel Przybilla
C Chris Kaman

That team wins.

david west blows at defense
blooooooows
and chris kaman is no great shakes
and I'm not even gonna talk about Morrisson

[Endless Obsession]

Here is another suggestion:

Bruce Bowen
Ben Wallace
Ron Artest
Kobe Bryant
Jason Kidd
Tim Duncan
Chauncey Billups
Kevin Garnett
Tayshaun Prince
Marcus Camby
LeBron James
Shaq
D-Wade

[Illmatic]

Here would be a winning team:

PG Chris Paul
PG Kirk Hinrich
G Brent Barry
G/F Bobby Simmons
G/F Raja Bell
G/F Josh Howard
G/F Shane Battier
F David West
F Adam Morrisson
F/C Dwight Howard
C Joel Przybilla
C Chris Kaman

That team wins.

yeah we need defense, so let's send Adam Morrison, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Kaman, Brent Barry, and David West overseas. also, let's send one very good player and 11 average ones out there.

[Endless Obsession]

yeah we need defense, so let's send Adam Morrison, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Kaman, Brent Barry, and David West overseas. also, let's send one very good player and 11 average ones out there.

Thats why its all about my lineup I created right above your post.

[Hababi]

yeah we need defense, so let's send Adam Morrison, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Kaman, Brent Barry, and David West overseas. also, let's send one very good player and 11 average ones out there.

West and Morrisson give offense, namely shooting, which this team basically sucked at. Hinrich is an underrated defender, Barry would be situational for when, again, they needed shooting, and Kaman's a pretty good defender. Meanwhile, Simmons, Battier, the two Howard's and Pryzbilla are all very good defenders. You could sub Earl Watson in for Barry, too, for added defense.

What you have there is a team as opposed to a bunch of big name players thrown together and left out there. Teams win championships. That squad would be cohesive.


Here is another suggestion:

Bruce Bowen
Ben Wallace
Ron Artest
Kobe Bryant
Jason Kidd
Tim Duncan
Chauncey Billups
Kevin Garnett
Tayshaun Prince
Marcus Camby
LeBron James
Shaq
D-Wade


A lot of those guys declined. I included guys who did or would've come, and would play hard.

Ray would just get Carmelo Anthony to junk up the squad again :p

[nitzguy]

bruce bowen and Gilbert should have been on there. And Carmelo can go suck a big one. Hell he bearly leads the nuggets, get a proven leader out there. i thik D-wade should have done more. I like Chris Paul running the point though.

[Dinosawesome]

Is this supposed to be surprising? The USA haven't been the worldwide basketball champions for years- they are outplayed regularly by teams like Lithuania and in this case Greece.

[HereticX]

What the US team needs to realise is that international Basketball is a totally different affair than NBA. "press, steal, dunk, get uber nike contract" doesnt seem to be a viable strategy...:p

On a more serious note, the US team's cohesion seemed to suffer but most of all they all appeared to totally panic when Greece turned the game around in the 2nd quarter. Losing is part of the game, but so is adjusting to the circumstances in order to avoid defeat. Someone forgot to mention that I think.

Anyway, 3rd place in a world championship is nothing to look down to.

PS: Don't forget to watch tomorrow's game where we'll tear Spain a brand new one! :chug:

[Rams]

They went 8-1 in the whole tournament. In their one loss they lost by 6. That constitutes sucking? I'm happy with what I saw.

I don't see anyone talking about the set up of the tournament, the whole win or go home style that makes March Madness so tumultuous. The three point line is close so that basically anyone good enough to play pro-ball should be able to hit them. Leading to a hot, albiet inferior, team to be able to knock down threes and steal a victory. George Mason did it to Michigan State, North Carolina, and UConn, but I didn't read a single article complaining that those teams were set up in such a backwards manner that they should start from scratch.

The international game is closer to our college game, they should probably just send a college team over there. If not these players are going to continue to feel the shock of adjusting to the rules for 3 weeks. The suprising thing is they are still good enough to make it this close.

[Zesty Mordant]

didn't Greece beat them like 2 years ago also?

[StreetlightRock]

Greek, represent, biatches.

Beat yo' American a'sses.

[The 57th Medical Failure]

They need defense. The 100 points a game is great, but where's the defense Coach K?

[MattSharpIsCool]

No one is going to buy a Bruce Bowen Team USA jersey.

However, you bet your little buns people will buy a Carmelo jersey.

That is why we continue to lose. Its about making money, so they pick the players who will bring the most attention.

[Illmatic]

There's no need to blow up the roster and stick 6 guys who can't shoot just because they play good defense.

You don't need to be able to lock down a team all the time, especially not if you can score at will. all you need to do is get stops when you need them.

and get a different coach. Coach K is great for bossing college kids around, but please tell me why an NBA star should listen to him. you may as well have Pitino out there, and we know how well he did with NBA players.

[MattSharpIsCool]

I dont see any problems with Coach K running the team.

NBA players should listen to him because the guy has been to 10 final fours, and won 3 national championships. I dont care if it is college, that still commands respect.

Besides, the international game is a lot more like college than the NBA. So it makes sense to me to have a college coach.

The US team is just going through an adjustment period. For a long time, they had no competition to worry about. Now the world has caught up to them, so they need to adapt their game style. You can't do that overnight, it might take a little while.

Before the Dream Team began, when college players were still playing for the US team in the olympics, the US was just another team. Now its kind of back to that level.

[Illmatic]

NBA players should listen to him because the guy has been to 10 final fours, and won 3 national championships. I dont care if it is college, that still commands respect.

Rick Pitino won 2 national championships but NBA players still didn't respect him.

Besides, the international game is a lot more like college than the NBA. So it makes sense to me to have a college coach.

yeah but it's NBA players. the difference between coaching college players and coaching pros is astronomical.

Before the Dream Team began, when college players were still playing for the US team in the olympics, the US was just another team.

yeah but we won the gold metal every time except for twice (and one of those times we were robbed, so that doesn't count). expectations were so high that after he won the bronze in 1988 we panicked and sent nba players.

[moosepirate]

I didn't see the loss against Greece, but I saw a game a little while ago against Italy that stayed close. I don't think it hte lackluster play was a roster problem. Maybe a Ray Allen or Michael Redd addition would've helped, but it was pretty decent. I feel more comfortable about the team that was sent instead of one with Brent Barry and Joel Pryzbilla included. And nobody would support a team like that.
Although I would like to think positively about young NBA stars, the real problem was intensity and preparation. I'm certain there was much more effort in the playoffs this year. The shooting was terrible, and a prototypical 3-point guy wouldn't have helped. The "core" of the team ( Carmelo, Lebron, Wade) are all dynamic scorers, and have decent mid-range shots.
I would like to see "110%" reserved for NBA play, but the team should have coasted to victory. I guess the talent disparity is a blessing and a curse.