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

sheesh, all the more reason for Clutch to close off new membership for awhile, someone ain't gonna be here tomorrow guess who...

VSpan looks nice right now but in a 82 game schedule his bad tendencies will be exposed. But he does have good instincts.

 

You hit the nail on the head.

I was surprised with how technically better and quicker the Greeks were than the US.

Spanoulis is very talented and should fit in well with the Rockets. Seems to be very serious and disciplined.

 

now what makes you think that would offend anybody?

 

Now, we need to get Vspan work on his premiter shooting as soon as he arrives here. If he can be deadly in that department, we have a potential gem in our hands.

 

I read it on the nba dish thread.

 

that's the problem, we need someone to space the floor. nba D isn't international team USA D. getting inside won't be that easy. and we will need him to keep people off of yao and tmac. that's partially why sura was successful, b/c he could hit about 35% on 3's on top of the toughness. we can't have 26% from 3's at the pg spot unless he is just amazing at getting inside like tony parker (but he doesn't as fast).

 

maybe from a moron or someone who was joking.

 

Well USA looked broken when they were down. When teams are down they are suppose to rise up together but in the case of USA they fell down. They couldn't guard the pick and rolls resulting easy layups, they couldn't hit Free throw resulting in the lead staying the same, and couldn't move the ball around.

 

Talking about prejudice -- it is depressing to even think there are people like this in the world...

 

Agreed with most of your post, but don't understand this point. Was it because of the travel in the second quarter? Otherwise, he was the team's best three-point shooter and defender tonight.

 

Congratulation to Greeks fans here! What a victory!

I must admit that I underestimated the mentality of Greeks players (I predicted USA won this game). It's really tough to withhold the leading in the entire 4th qtr against USA and your players controlled the pace really well I believe.

Good luck to your team in the finals.

 

I can't believe the United States lost. I know I am knew to this board and I have no idea how to react to this loss. This was supposed to be the team that dominated the international basketball community. Team USA was acting like they were actually a cohesive unit like the 1992 USA team.

I hope this loss serves as a grave wake up call for all players currently in the NBA. No matter how great they think they are at basketball, even if they make the USA team, they still cannot dominate the international basketball forum. I know it's know real big secret, but based on what I saw tonight and based on the current status of the NBA, nobody can shoot the basketball well. We're absolutely the most athletic, but we are not the most skillful.

I guess I'm just tired of the attitude of the NBA, especially with such swagger (with the USA players doing their "salute" after their slams, their bling, their rides, etc.) and definitely having lost this game tonight.

I long for the days of shooters who have consistently threatening jump shots.

If anything positive comes out of this loss, I think it is three things:

1. Shane Battier is an absolutely excellent on-cour contributor who understands the game and knows his role on the court.

2. Vassilis Spanoulis is going to be great. I think in a few years his game is going to be so great, so unique, he'll blaze his own trail, leaving no previous NBA player to draw a comparison to.

3. Team USA can use this loss as an opportunity to realize the basketball world is much more skilled than ever imagined and takes these next two years to truly create a cohesive, dominant team.

Good night,
Zan Tabak (just kidding)

 

Noticed you have been complainin about FIBA for years(since last olympics)! Basketball is not just all about NBA!!! Stop hating international players like Arroyo, Vspan etc etc.

The game is played fair and square! The US lost because they can defend PnR and for some reasons cant make shots whereas the Greek won because they are able to put the ball in the net! Take the lost as a man stop all this whinning!

As much as i hate your boy Kobe but if he was here, he will win the game for US no doubt about it!!!!

 

Well we can hope he works on his perimeter shot. But his energy of defense was refreshing. He'll do the dirty work like draw charges and stop guard penetration. Something we sorely need.

 

I am so happy that VSPAN is for real. Rockets' got hope for next season.

 

who wants to sex spanoulis?

 

Whoever he is, he's an idiot. How does USA basketball equate to George Bush or even high gas prices?

 

I think the real reason for the US looks so lost when they are down is inexperience. I think players like Kobe and T-mac would have surely helped USA come on the top.

 

I also read it and no he was not joking(i do not remeber who he was) but he was trying to show how this team was maybe better then the dream team.
I think he almost made a bet about how this usa team would win the championships with a average of 20 point differance. But the other guy who called him crazy(can't remember who he was), said that that would not be enough to show that this was just as good as the dream team.
So your other option was correct he was a moron(but we discovered that fact when he made those statements).

 

as an American, you should cry. as a rockets fan, you should love from the deep heart.