i loved when they tried to complain about kobe traveling on that breakaway. not only does he have a breakaway dunk, but he didn't even travel, and you would've thought we just sucker-punched gasol in the face and got away with it.
francis 4 prez, You're overreacting. Spain is only in this because of their 3-pt shooting and the whistle happy referees calling this game far too tightly (both ways). Spain's PnR's are only mildly effective whenever they don't get bailed out by a weak touch foul. Spain has no transition game. No ability to stop our penetration. They are keeping this interesting with their shooting & FT's but Team USA could blow this open at any moment.
we need to just play some hard defense. Thats nearly impossible when stepping on the opponents shoelaces (for both sides, in fairness) is counted as a foul.
Observations, 1 The refs have been so bad in the 1st half, they have almost stolen the show. Calling ticky-tack nonsense in the 1st quarter against LeBron & Kobe early on, doing the same thing to Spain later on and then letting some incredibly obvious fouls go uncalled is shameful. BOTH TEAMS are upset at them, justifiably. 2 Teams USA's defense has gone out the window. Maybe some of it is due to the quick early whistles, maybe not. But in the 2nd quarter they were getting beat by pick-and-rolls on a regular basis. 3 The pace will wear out Spain. No way they can do this another 20 minutes. Regardless of the score, I consider the 1st half pace the equivalent of early round body punches for Team USA that will have an effect in later rounds. On the other hand, Spain will probably slow their offense down and go to a zone defense 90% of time in the 2nd half. 4 I like the way the USA came out determined to attack the rim and not shoot jumpers. But it all fell apart when Kobe & LeBron had to leave the game early. 5 Dwight Howard is playing like a complete moron. 6 I had my doubts (and still do), but Rudy Fernandez may indeed have an impact as a rookie. Lastly, who was it that said Team USA didn't need Wade on the team?
I really hope we stick it to them right at the beginning of the 2nd half. I'd hate for these gauchos to think they are anywhere near our level.
yeah, but we're shooting even better on 3's (with lebron and wade making fairly tough 3's) and have to be at like 22-23 on ft's or something. our biggest concern, shooting, has been out of this world good and there's no guarantee they don't keep calling fouls in the 2nd half or we don't come out and give up a 6-0 run to start the half. we don't want a close game. we haven't been in one yet and we have all the pressure. we want to come out, put the hammer down, and make it a runaway. but you can't do that playing zero defense and having plays like howard committing flagrant fouls, or tayshaun just staring at a pnr like he has no clue or deron taking touch fouls out on the perimeter when we're in the penalty. sure, if the second half goes the same as the first, we keep scoring and win by 16. but if anything goes wrong, we're the ones who will feel the pressure and spain will just get more confident. we need D to crush people's will and we have none. coach K better be pissed in that locker room.
It'll blow out to 20 in the 3rd qtr. Spain look like they're at their limit right now and still are struggling.
What would the outrage be if our players had first names on the backs of their jerseys? How cocky and narcissistic do grown men have to be to put their first names on the backs of their OLYMPIC jerseys, where you're supposed to represent your country in front of the whole world? Gasshole should've gotten a tech for staring down that ref. His sasquatch brother should've been ejected for that dirty elbow to Carmelo. I hope we crush these ignorant melon farmers by 40.
we're also shooting out of our minds on 3s (both teams are). spain is scoring in the paint quite often and going to the line alot (due to our reaching in)
Well i didnt actually see the sequence because i was excited to see kobe finish but this is probably what they were complaining about http://www.prosportsdaily.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263378 "This is something that USA team has had issues in the past (02,04,06)With. In the Nba when you receive the ball you can walk two steps and then bounce the ball so you can attack the ring directly after the pass. In Fiba you have to Bounce and then if you want to enter into the basket can make two steps. Im Warning this because for the moment in the whole tournament the Referees have been "blind" to this infraction by Usa players, they would have still won every game by 20+ but some of the results would have been closer if 5 or 6 infractions that where made had been called correctly. Im not the only one to notice this, Aito Garcia Reneses, Head Coach for Spain has too and he has Ofitially made a declaration asking the Referees to please respect Fiba rules. So if the game is too close for your taste and they start Calling traveling , dont say that its being a rigged game, they are just folowing the rules. In My Opinion Anyway, Referees will go on to be "Blind" since there is a LOT of economic interests for both Nba and Nike in the game and particualry since it is in growing market China, to allow the ref to give the slightest chance of an upset."
who told me i was overreacting? 3 turnovers, a forced shot, lebron hammered with no call. a disastrous offensive start and still no defense. we're losing this game. i can feel it.
kobe and1 becomes a travel. howard can't tip in the ft miss. navarro is making runners everywhere. european teams are frontrunners. when things go well, they are so fired up. and they never miss. beat them down and they give up. we're going to lose.
