When your team is up 25 points late in the game and Carlos Boozer, a 10th man on this team, is guarding perimeter players on the outside - yes it's pretty much the definition of a play that is not really meaningful.
i know, but there is hope. china should be an ideal matchup for germany, because their backcourt sucks as much as ours and our frontcourt should be better. the big problem for germany against good teams is that they can't create their offense. they aren't even capable of finding dirk in the right spots to take advantage of his strengths. the same with kaman. he's an ideal center for fiba basketball, yet, germany isn't able to generate some offense around him. our chances for the china game should be 60 - 40, though, if you go only by the rosters. but make that 50 - 50 if you take the home court advantage into account. it will be great game and i may be rooting for china, i don't know yet.
One thing to point out is that one of the tie breakers in the Olympics is points, so even when a team is losing they should try to get as many points as they can....in case it has to be used as a tiebreaker. DD
Frontcourt is better...? A lot of people would beg to differ. You guys might have a slightly better backcourt though. If China plays physical defense on Germany, China wins for sure. IF they don't (which will most likely be the case), it's 50-50
i don't think it'll come down to the tiebreaker since either team won't get another win. @ lcii: germany has hands down the better front court even if yao was at 100 %. dirk is simply the better player at fiba basketball. of course he's dependant on others getting him the ball, but not as much as yao is. dirk often brings the ball up himself (at least against the non elite teams) and pushes the tempo. i don't think yao can do that. that means, while both teams struggle to find their star players at the right spots, germany still has a major advantage because dirk can do more on his own. after yao vs. dirk it's kaman vs. yi. i don't think there is any question about this matchup. kaman is a better player. china might win the matchup of the 3rd front court player in wang vs. jagla (or femerling) but that's not enough. as a team germany also has the much better defense. so, going by how things look on paper, germany certainly has the better odds. china isn't without any chances, though. it'll depend on yao vs. kaman, both teams defense and on both teams point guards. if kaman can limit yao and score in double figures himself it'll be very, very difficult for china. if germany plays consistent defense and our point guards don't have a very bad day (50 - 50 chance on that one) germany will win this game.
lets not forgot the most important part of the game.. that awesome dwade to kobe play <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AGEc-ayOsjs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AGEc-ayOsjs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I dont know what most of the people here are talking about, Vspan did his thing. If greece wouldve had a better shooting game, the mightve ended up in the same predicatment as the FIBA championship. This "redeem team" still lacks shooting ability, focus,( you never miss the rebound under your own rim on the opposing free throw and they did this twice), and defensive intenisty (they gave up easy lay ups and open jumpers). Greece played immensely sloppy today, didnt shoot the ball well, and seemed nervous. All in all, i feel bad for Team US if they meet a team who shoots the ball well, and plays all 40 minutes with a strict discipline to not turn the ball over. PS why is Jkidd even on this team?
Yeah, USA's suffocating defense had nothing to do with Greece's sloppy play. At all. They were just missing wide open shots (when they weren't being rammed back down their throats by Lebron and Bosh). And all of those turnovers by Greece were unforced
It's easier said than done. The intensity of this USA team is far better the the previous 3. And since they are small, they just switch on every P&R, that makes open 3 look rare. At the same time, you can't use bigs to run with a small team for 40 minutes, sooner or later you run into their tempo. It takes a very disciplined team to slow down the game deliberately and pound team USA inside. Like Lakers did to Suns 2 years ago taking the series to 7. But no team other than Spain has those pieces. We'll see what Spain can do, but I don't think any other team can beat USA now.
Of course it is, but when i first read the comments made on this thread, i thot the US literally destroyed them. I was shocked to see the same mistakes occurring again, and how much the people here hyperbolized the game. Again if greece wouldve been shooting well, it wouldve been an entirely different game, especially since that seems to be a big part of their offense.
No it didnt, i just saw the game. They just played sloppy, did you not see how many open jumpers Greece missed, or how many open lay ups the had? Its incredible how people exaggerate a performance. The only good defensive move was placing Kobe ( a great defender) on Vspan, which limited him at times, but still was able to operate.
Anyway now that I've stopped laughing. Sorry, but Greece was so busy pissing their pants whenever the USA decided to play some defense that they couldn't even hold onto the ball (15 US steals, 25 Greece turnovers). When they did manage to get an open shot, they were clearly rattled and looking over their shoulder for somebody to come flying through the air to add to the 7 highlight reel blocks. The game previews said that both teams would try to impose their style on the game. The Greek team failed to do so, the US imposed their will on them, and the Greeks wilted badly.
V Span being "able to operate" is like watching Captain hook attempt a triple bypass surgery, watching the patient die horribly, and then saying at least he was "able to operate."
I 100% agree, the USA played their game, the Greeks folded like a cheap tent. V-Span however was not one of those folding up....the other guys had major turnovers he only had 2...... I hope they play again, it riles the board up. DD
Thanks Team USA for winning. It finally shuts up those cocky over confident Euros that thought the days of USA domination are over. One win and they were on top of the world. Talking more crap than a ass with a mouth. Now, this beat down should put them back in their places. HA HA HA.
