I feel ashamed to say it, but the loss to Argentina makes me smile a little. I feel like USA Basketball dissed Steve Francis from the beginning. Yes, I know that he wouldn't have played anyway with his shoulder injury, but at the time, their passing on him was, I thought, a huge disappointment for Rocket fans and simply a tactical mistake for nothing more than political reasons (that I still can't understand). I also hate George Karl, as most long-time Rocket fans do from his days running Seattle's hacking defense. He lead the Bucks from a contender to the lotto and now he's led USA to defeat. I think that he's been exposed as a fraud.
Thats fine that your pissed at them for dissing Steve and the fact that you dont like George Karl, but I am an American before I am a Rocket/NBA fan. I always want the USA to win, I dont care who they are playing. How in the hell could you be happy that we lost to Argentina? Sorry, I just dont understand that.
i feel you man, i am happy yet pissed that some players were not invited or declined to play for them. It should be a honor to play for your country. I hope this loss is the beggining of super dream team rosters. pg. francis,payton,kidd sg. Bryant, T mac, peirce sf. Kg, marion, pf. webber, duncan c. shaq. nuff said. but that won't happen.
I feel embarrassed, but happy for other reasons. Reasons I think are a lot more important than having the best players on team usa. World basketball has taken it's greatest stride forward ever, and US basketball has received it's greatest b****-slap ever. Argentina didn't just win. They dominated with precise, beautiful, team play. I happy because I hope this is a wake-up call to all those players who think freakish athleticism and sweet dunks is all they need to be a player. I'm happy because this is a triumph of team coordination over great individual talent. In fact, I think it would be a shame if people got too caught up in the fact that our best players weren't on the team because that would be missing the beautiful lesson that was just taught us. Yes, a lineup of Shaq Duncan Kobe AI etc. wouldn't have been beaten, but again that's just because of freakish individual talent/physiology. This is a triumph of team play, which is what basketball is all about. Or should be.
I'm hoping (though this may be a false hope) that the loss makes the USA basketball program better in the long run. At the rate it was going, everybody agreed that a loss was inevitable at some point. Now that we've had that loss, I hope it will be a rallying point for creating a true Dream Team. I hope the loss will motivate the true superstars to play for their country and get USA basketball thinking more about talent than politics. Remember, defeat can be a positive experience if you learn something valuable from it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, if I'm happy, it's not because our country lost, but because I feel that Team USA has hit rock bottom and now has nowhere to go but back up to the top, where it should've always been.
yeah if we had all those players we could have still played one on 1 ball and dominated. Iso shaq-2pts,kb8-2,t mac-2, kidd-2pts due to ast. Man we would control the game soooo much. And ithink the fans want to see the best players play as well. Did you see jermaine oneal frustration, that guy was so pissed.
ahh forgot to say this. But the USA team should be ashamed that they lost. The 1st loss since 1968 i think. Thats sad. If i were there i would never play on that team again, and man if they lost to them again if they played again.tisk tisk. its so shameful. Its sad peirce, and was the only all star there that made it due to no injuries. Him and brand were the only guys that averged 20 pts in a season. That is not the best in the nba. freakin francis scores mor epts that the whole team except peirce. **** mobley does too, so does stackhouse, and a bunch of others. Hey nba send the real players there. No more smoke screens. No more fooling around. AND NO MORE MERCY!!!
It's absolutely beautiful I don't mean to kick you while down, but it's good for the game as a whole. Yes, your best 12 with Shaq, Kobe etc WOULD kill anyone else. However, it's been proven here and at the Olympics that your next level isn't that much better. Ten years ago, your top ten teams would beat anyone...now things have changed. That's good for basketball. Who here honestly isn't excited to hear about some kid from Germany called Dirk Somethingwitzki...who turns out to be one of the best in the world. And who hasn't been excited to hear of a 7 foot 5 Chinese guy who could even go # 1 in the draft someday... The game is going global...and it's great.
Actually I'm glad they lost and not because Francis wasn't considered. I don't appreciate a lazy lackluster effort and that is what team USA has been bringing to the court every game. Before tonight, they have expected to win. Everybody needs to be humbled and now maybe some of these guys can get off their high horses and realize that they have an achilles heel. Another reason I like the outcome is that the international level of play continues to make gigantic developments. Just when I thought the powerhouse teams were limited to Yugo, Spain, Germany and the US, Argentina and Brazil come from the blind side to shock the world. Is it their hops? Nope it is a thing called team play. The people who brought basketball to these countries drilled the fundamentals into the players' heads. Team basketball is a lost art in the US, only to be found in past footage. Until the United States starts to play a team game, I'll be rooting for the other teams.
Hats off to Argentina they played a great game out there tonight. But there is no way I am happy about the loss. GO USA!!
Definitively, I love basketball, That's why I am GLAD team USA was beaten! Finally, There is going to be some real competition: Different styles, different ideas from all over the world. Not just freakish athletes running and dunking. I hope that all NBA teams learn from this and starts to show some REAL bb team plays, not just ISO's! Argentina game execution was just BRILLIANT in the three first quarters! If Houston could come with things like that , I would cry of joy even if we would be an average team. This kind of basketball requries that all players on roster has good bb IQ... Show this tape to the rockets they need it (Mobley and Cato particularly!) That's the way forward! THANK YOU ARGENTINA!
maybe agentina was not that good, maybe there coach was the reason they won, if thats the case there coach is one of the best in the world
Team Argentina is reportedly trained together for one year, and Team USA for a grand total of 2 weeks. Karl impersonates Madonna singing:" Don't cry for me Argentina, I'll cry for myself."
Oh boy, here we go...I guess you would never protest against the government in your life because that would be considered "anti-American!" That's called free speech (to protest). Pllluuueezzee!! Spare me the flag waving. I spent 10 years in the Air Force and loved it. But, I'm not a blind flag waver. Sorry. The US lost because they deserved it. This is a case of the US players being more interested in ESPN dunk highlights and forgetting about fundamentals of the game. Sure, we wouldn't have lost if all our our best players were in the game... But, let's face it. Shaq, Iverson, Kobe, TMac, KG, and Duncan would rather be doing something else. Wave your "Hey you, you're anti-American" flag at them. I was hoping that the US got their teeth kicked in!!!! Why? Because this is the only way that NCAA players will wake up and start learning the game the way it should be played. Sure, they can ignore this loss. But, guess who will be getting the 400 jobs in the NBA for the next 20 years if things don't change. Foreign players, that's who!!! Then when we send the "Dream Team" to the Olympics, the best players will be on the other countries team! Hell, Dirk Nowitzki was the best player in this years WBC so far. That should tell you something.
I`m glad Stevie wasn`t on the team. If he were I`m sure the "Francis Haters" would be blaming him for the loss by now I`m never happy when the U.S. loses but Jermaine O`Neal should have been thrown out of the game. That was totally classless. He gets pissed because he got stuffed bigtime(Sportscenter quality block) so he trips the guy and then steps on him. Even if he didn`t do it on purpose(which I don`t believe) he still should have helped him up and apologized. I guess it`s a case of the "Ugly American" strikes again. And props to Scola for not going postal(he looked more puzzled than anything).What do you think the U.S. players would have done if that had happened to one of them? I think it`s obvious that gone are the days when America can just throw any 12 NBAers together for a couple of weeks and expect to dominate(maybe now even win) internationally.
i'm lovin it. the international players are gettin better and this is the prove, i've been saying that the usa team could lose and now they've lost, (it is sweet to be wright)
It's safe to say that, starting next year, the 2nd tier USA team is not a lock for best in the world. Spain has done incredibly well so far. With just Gasol. What if they had Raul Lopez after his rookie year, learning all this new NBA stuff? What about China with Ming AND Wang? What about Turkey with Okur, Turkoglu and Turckan? Teams are on the way up. Argentina will also have 2 improved players from the NBA: Scola and Ginobili. Where's Denver's 7'1 Euro from? Oh year, there's also Nene Hilario. International competition has gone up a notch. Every year, more and more international players enter the NBA, meaning the rate of improvement for international players is improving. They might even be 2 times better next year. I must say one thing. It would completely shock me if Francis was in that game and he DIDN'T take over the game along with Pierce. He's what they needed.
So do you also feel happy when Houston loses or Vancouver wins. Stevie also dissed Vancouver. I am an American and I think it absolutely sucks that we lost. Say waht you want about our talent level, but 12 NBA players should be able to beat a team mostly made up of non-NBA players. Maybe it also shows what a great passing/movement offense can do. I love to watch Sacramento play because they play a team sport (occassionally Weber does go one-on-one in the post but not nearly as much as many othe rplayer sin the league). Not only is that offense fun to watch but it can win you games. I hope with our talent next year that we can goto that style of offense, an extra pass hear or there to create layups and/or open jumpers. But again it sucks that the USA lost.
