Watching Italy absolutely embarass a team of supposed All-Stars today in Germany has finally confirmed the long-rumored deficiency of fundamental basketball in this country for me... I can only imagine what Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Greg Popovich would give to have sound, hardworking players to coach instead of a collection of poorly trained monkeys who can run, jump, and where cute-looking headbands, but fail miserably in passing, dribbling, shooting, running a fastbreak, executing a half-court offense against the zone, and rotating out to the shooter on defense. Other than Duncan, the USA has a collection of super-athletes who were clearly out-classed by their Italian counterparts in the basic skills of basketball. I'm willing to give the youngsters like LeBron, Carmelo, Wade and Amare some leeway b/c of their inexperience, but for veterans like AI, Marbury, Odom and Marion, the effort and performance they puked out onto the court was pathetic. One perfect microcosm comes to mind as a summary of why the U.S.A. lost... Italians use a pick&roll to set up a dunk... Amare, one of the unskilled freak-of-nature athletes I am talking about, flashes in and uses his incredible jumping quickness to block the shot... LeBron, another of the poorly-skilled freaks, takes it in for the dunk... An unbelievable, Sportscenter-worthy display of the athleticism, but unfortunately, he forgot you can't take 3 STEPS WITHOUT DRIBBLING IN BASKETBALL!!!!!! The NBA officials, probably as instructed by the highlight-infatuated, money-grubbing league office, have bred into these players that it is OK to disregard such basic rules, as long as the result is a dunk or highlight that the league can use in one of its stupid commercials. Heck, as long as LeBron and Carmelo continue to sell thousands of jerseys for Team USA, who cares if they cannot execute a pick-and-roll or execute a fast-break? Right? Unfortunately, the rest of the basketball-playing world still abides by these simple rules, and that is why they are slowly-but-surely overtaking us in a game we invented. Italy won b/c they have smarter players, better shooting, fewer turnovers, and a more disciplined approach. What does the USA have an advantage in? Height...? Vertical...? Strength...? Speed...? All useless unless properly complemented by the skills Euro players, coaches, and fans embrace. Personally, I couldn't be happier, b/c maybe not winning the gold in Athens will force the selection committee to select fundamental players who can execute against a determined opponent without relying on an overwhelming athletic advantage. Of course, it would help if the spoiled NBA b!tches actually had enough pride in the country which has given them everything they have to accept an invitation to represent us in the Olympics, but that is another issue. Assuming there are no invite-rejections this is my team for 2008: Duncan/Brad Miller KG/BWallace/EBrand Carmelo/LeBron Ray Allen/Rip Hamilton Bibby/Kirk Hinrich/DWade Maybe that team could actually put up a fight against an opposing team without a SINGLE NBA PLAYER ON THE ROSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!
"This is a D&D thread?" - IROC it I wasn't really sure if this was the correct forum, but I was so furious watching the team fall apart that I just wanted to get my thoughts out while they were still fresh. As for my intention, I was just hoping to get a good discussion about where the US currently stands in the Olympic competition, how we have sunk so low, and what others on the board feel is the solution to a very obvious and urgent problem. Don't you guys agree that the degeneration of fundamental instruction has taken a back seat to flash? Isn't it a travesty that for a league who claims to play the best quality of basketball in the world, it is a quality that is clearly inferior to that played in other parts of the world? I'm not saying natural athletic talent, mind you, but STYLE of play. What do you think? Was it a fluke, or the inevitable evolution of a domestic basketball culture which emphasizes dunk competitions and crossovers over shooting and winning? I, for one, hope this is the long-needed wakeup that will end the media's glorification of the style-over-substance-behind-the-back-trash-talking-Streetball-as-a-legitimate-form-of-the-game-Steve-Francis-inspired basketball that has become a plague over the entire league, and more importantly, playgrounds across the country. I never thought I would say this, but where is Bob Knight when you need him?
Just pickin' at ya'... I think your observatins are correct. For years I've noticed NBAer's palming the ball, travelling, double dribbling, etc. and the ref's are seeming to just stand there in awe as fans... This should be the "wake up call" for the team.
