Greece (V-Span) vs. United States (Battier), 6:30 a.m, Friday, Sept. 1

Stats don't tell the whole story. Lebron and Wade played like crap, really.

True concept, but who says we don't have anything to back it up? Even with all the dissapointments of late, is there another team out there that has been consistently better, or won more often than the USA? Don't get me wrong, they're obviously not the best team right now, nor have they been the last few years

But in the grand scheme of things, it's not like there is another team out there that is consistently as good as the US. Nothing to hang their hat on - they should win every tournament, and you bring up solid points about the poor gameplan, etc.

 

yeh, i completely agree with you. I meant as of late. It was in response to people saying the better team lost, but did we really have have the better team, we definitly had the better players. Team-wise, greece played better than us and we really can't dispute it.

Historically, we are the best, but we are slowly losing our reputation as of late. We have to face the fact. Basketball is growing, other countries are catching up. Of all the teams the rockets should know this. We can't just stroll through anymore and we really have to start playing our hearts out. There's only so long we can keep talking, we got to start showing it. Hopefully we will for the olympics.

 

I watched the game this morning when I got up, had taped it.

My thoughts are that US ran inot a buzzsaw. Greece won, simple as that. They deserve all the kudos you can give. US defence was really good man to man, then fell apart on the pick n roll. From the 6 minute mark of the second on, Greece scored 80 points. That's 80 points in 26 minutes. Put that into perspective. That's just slightly more than a half in the NBA and they put up 80 points! The shot lights out, couldn't miss, we couldn't stop them.

My only complaint was that we didn't have a clear game plan on the pnr, once we started to switch it helped some, but then the mismatches Greece caused really exposed Hinrich several times in a row. Coack K seemed a little slow to change things. By then the Greek team was really hot and we were seemingly deflated.

This international game is a lot different than the NBA. The star system with all the fouls and no zones makes the more athletic players shine in the NBA, but the international game that emphasizes good shooting skills, zones and difficulty driving to the rim exposes out NBA stars that they are not always well rounded players.

Greece won, US lost. The plan is to keep this nucleus with Coach K through the Olympics and likely we will play MUCH better team ball by then. I don't think Bowen or Kobe would have made any difference. Greece played fantastic and the good news for Rockets fans is that Spanoulis is a great leader on the floor. Good vision, good passing, penetrating and judgment.

 

Get it off your chest somewhere else. I am sick of stupid comments about Rudy's coaching ability. The guy won 2 NBA championships for us. He was the last coach to win gold in the olympics... Hell in 1998 he almost won gold in the WC's with a bunch of no name scrubs who had never played together before. So don't bad mouth Rudy T in this thread... He didn't lose the game... If Diamantri wasn't their best 3 point shooter he sure was acting like it. I don't care what he did before in this WC's he was shootng lights out. Rudy's scouting was right on. But instead you are going to listen to some stupid reporters about one of the best coaches in the game. Rudy T was a great coach and is a great scout. You don't know what his scouting report said and you don't know if coach K followed it. IMHO If Rudy coached they would have won. If you personally don't like him that's fine but it doesn't have anything to do with USA losing.

 

I guess they must have forgotten the Pythagorean theory or something? Considering that, among players with 20 or more 3 pointers attempted, Daimantidis is 3rd in the entire tournament with 53% from 3 point land, as well as the best on Greece in both % and number of 3 pointers made, that that's a fair assessment to make for hte purposes of this tournament.

 

GREECE is the word...

 

Lack of respect for DEFENSe
they think we can OUTSCORE everyone
and
that is basically
the Euro-Game

Rocket River

 

I think even Rudy would admit that x's and o's weren't his strength as a coach. His strength was getting the most out of his players, getting them to believe in themselves and their teammates, and playing with the heart of a champion. It worked pretty well for RudyT and the Rox - perhaps you should reexamine what it takes for a basketball coach to impress you.

 

the game is now on ESPN2

you guys didnt miss anything yet

the 1 quarter is beeing played

watch it!

 

No sure if this was already pointed out, but the US lost to Greece was probably a fluke. If the US played Greece best of seven, I think the US would adjust and its greater talent and athleticism would win out and the US would come back to win 4-1.

That's the problem with single elimination, an inferior team can get hot while a superior team could have an off-game.

 

damn his defense is great

he is really tough

 

Why is everyone this worked up over the World Championships loss? I thought the only advantage to winning it was the automatic Olympic spot. Now we get more experience in the Tournament of the Americas next year.

I was shocked they didn't win this tournament, but it's hardly the end of the world. By the time the Olympics come around they should be playing how we expect them to.

 

damn the way he switches speed is crazy

crossover is killa

 

Spanoulis dribbles the ball on the break as if he is trying to put dents in the flooring. He just pounds that dribble.

 

There was just an excellent analysis of the game in Greek TV, from the point that USA was ahead 33-21, 6 minutes before half-time and up to the end of the 3rd quarter, in 16 minutes, Greece scored 56 points with 3/4 FT, 19/23 2P and 5/7 3P and had only 1 turnover. The 2 point attempts were 15/15 before they lost the first one. Very impressive

 

watching it right now and i am very impressed with sofoklis schortsianitis

 

Yao had trouble with him at both ends as well, this game just confirms that this guy has some potential. They say he's like Glen Davis but I think he's better.

 

The problem with Sofo is that unless he loses some more pounds, he just can't stay in the court more than 12-15 mins. But he does his job well for the time he plays, I think he has the highest points per minute ratio in the tournament (and this comes from someone who really hates the team he's playing in )

 

they call him the baby shaq

he runs very well and has great hands for a big man

it seems like he is able to create his own shots down in the paint

too bad clippers already have his rights

 

i cant help but think if gundy had coached this team, the outcome would be different. its like the team is clueless on the pnr