http://www.msnbc.com/news/954677.asp?0ql=c7p U.S. basketball must show no mercy This time, it should be pay back for the rest of the world COMMENTARY Aug. 19 — The Olympic qualifying basketball tournament is underway, and the United States has a problem — the rest of the world thinks, with good evidence, that Team USA is beatable. This must be remedied. AND SO, THE object for the latest crop of NBA all stars can not be just to show up in Puerto Rico, work up a mild sweat, and grab one of the three available slots in the Olympic Tournament. That attitude worked for a long time, but it outlived itself last year when the United States, whose NBA players had never lost in international competition, finished sixth in the World Basketball Championships. This humiliation was complete. But it should not have been unexpected. The U.S. darned near lost twice in the 2002 Olympics and had to fight like cornered badgers to get by France — you know, where those fearsome and warlike French people live. That was taken by the rest of the world as proof that these swaggering Americans could be had. The world already suspected that the United States was no longer as good as its players and fans thought it was. Astute observers — humility prevents me from saying that I was one of them — said before the 2002 Olympics that the Americans would lose a game in international competition sooner than most people expected. Luck helped the United States avoid that loss in the Olympics, but by last year’s world tournament, the team that was once the most mighty and feared in the world was ripe for the plucking. The NBA players have rationalized the losses by saying that it wasn’t their best team on the floor, they didn’t take it as seriously as they should have, and they would get their revenge. Well, it’s time for the first installment of pay-back. And this time, there can be no excuses. With the exceptions of Shaquille O’Neal, who can’t be bothered, and Kobe Bryant, who has more pressing business in Colorado, it is a team of America’s finest that will take the floor against the rest of the Western Hemisphere. They know what happened last year and they know that countries like Argentina and Brazil think they have a chance to beat them. The time when an American team could lollygag along for 35 or 37 minutes, turn on the afterburners and win is gone. So the object now must not be just to muddle through to victories. It has to be to maim, kill, destroy, and annihilate the competition. Reach down their throats and rip their hearts and lungs out. Then go back for the spleen, liver and maybe a bit of pancreas and stomp it all into atoms - in a sportsmanlike way, of course. It’s time to put a little fear of the lord into the rest of the world, and I’m not talking about a little fear, like shying away from a daddy longlegs. This calls for Old Testament, fire-and-brimstone, Finger-of-God, Hammer-of-Thor, Thunderbolt-of-Zeus, fetal-position, struck-dumb, change-of-underwear fear. The United States invented this game, even if the guy who did the inventing was Canadian. It invented the one-handed jump shot, the behind-the-back-dribble, the no-look pass, the two-handed reverse slam, trash talk, the college entry draft, the sneaker contract, the mid-level salary-cap exemption, and sumo wrestlers at half time. It taught the rest of the world to play and has given the best international players an opportunity to make obscene piles of money to sweat in baggy underwear in public. Now it’s time to show that world that, even though it may have produced some stars of its own, the United States is still the best in the world. It’s not just about winning. It’s about making a statement, about climbing the highest mountain and roaring to the rest of the world, “We’re back. We fell asleep a little bit, but we’re awake and we’re mad and anyone who gets in our way is going to be sorry.” Then go on the court and don’t give anyone even a shred of a hint of a scintilla of a glimmer of a hope that they can beat you, not now and not next year in Athens. Take the lead early, build on it, and keep pounding and hammering until, at game’s end, the janitors have to come out and sweep the debris that used to be an opponent off the court. There’s been enough talk about how much better the United States is than anyone else, and it’s got a hollow ring to it. It’s time to prove it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Celizic writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.
This team is still missing three of the top players in America: Shaquille Oneal, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett. The competetion is so tight, they may regret not having at least Garnett on the team. Oneals a chump. Bryant has a legitamate excuse. But Garnett, he should be on the team, and the competetion is so tight now that the US team may suffer because of Garnetts abscence; he is that much of a difference maker in international competetion, he single handedly kept the US from losing in Sydney. To me Garnett is the best guy to have playing against good international teams with international rules because of his unlimited versatility and his awesome ability to pressure the ball. They're going to miss his presence out there.
If they win they win. If they lose they lose. It's happened before. This is not a big deal anymore. Goliath was beaten and that's that. Now you compete as hard as you can and the better talent will win. it's just basketball now.
I'm just glad they stopped calling these guys the Dream Team. There's only one dream team, and that was the original team, made up of 12 of the greatest players in history. As far as this team showing no mercy, well, they showed mercy the second they put Bibby on the team!
The US team just needs to play playoff caliber defense. The US team needs an identity. Relative to the rest of the world's leagues, the NBA is defensive league, and they need to embrace that as their game....and they need to learn the damn international rules and start swiping misses off the rim. Will someone please explain to them that a soft bouncing FT that normally goes in should be grabbed off the rim. sheesh!
What the hell are you guys talking about, with your analysis and opinion and sh*t? This is a hype article. It was made to get you pumped up while you listen to Lil' Jon in the background. CRUSH, KILL, DESTROY. That's what we need to do. That's what we're gonna do. If those bastards think they can beat us, they got another one coming. They're going to see a real American campaign of "shock and awe." C'mon guys! Lets see some national pride! We go some ass-whooping to do! USA! USA! USA! USA!
