The game was a mixed bag for me... Refs were absurd. Seriously absurd. There was blatant favoritism going on that just left me scratching my head... The starters played pretty well. The second unit played alright, but their youth really showed as they lost their cool quite often it seemed and let their frustrations take them out of the game. The first unit was just more calm & collected. The young guns still need to get some seasoning before they'll play well under pressure and adverse conditions. Still trying to figure out why Serbia & Turkey didn't play a zone d against us... I have a feeling we'll see it in the Olympics and be completely baffled as usual. Iverson is playing better than I expected.
Now I don't know exactly what he was thinking, and I also haven't watched much USA ball yet, unfortunately, but he did include that Duncan doesn't get calls on blocks. I'd assume that he isn't blocking guys standing out at the 3pt line and then getting called for a foul because of it being on the perimeter. It looks like he is blocking guys in the lane and getting called for fouls. And I'm going along with the fact that if someone rips off Duncan's head with his bare hands while TD is posting up, that is not a foul. Just a small point I tried to make. I haven't watched enough international basketball to really understand them, so I won't try to act like I do.
and FIBA refs only seem to when it suits them. again, it has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with enforcement. i have yet to see a call i didn't understand (b/c 99% of the rules pertaining to fouls and violations are the same) but i've seen a ton where why something was/wasn't called made no sense even though it previously was/wasn't called. i tell you one thing we could take some advantage of with our athleticism but that is very hard to train your mind to do is the goaltending after it hits the rim thing. it has to be damn hard to be trained your whole life to leave it alone while it's on the rim and then suddenly try to retrain in a matter of weeks to want to do just that. it's almost one of those things where you freeze in the moment and only realize later you could've done it. hopefully we pick up on it and do it more in the olympics. so far marion is the only one i've seen do it.
Exactly. When you catch the ball off a pass, you have the right to pump fake or jab step with your non-pivot foot before you put the ball on the ground. Sometimes, players move their pivot foot before they put the ball on the ground after a jab step; that is a travel. However, in these games, if you so much as attempt a jab step or a pump fake, the refs automatically assume it's going to be a travel. That's why I think these refs have already made their minds up on certain calls before they actually happen. There's an obvious bias if you watch the games. The nonexistent over the back calls and the constant out of bounds calls going to the other team just strengthens this fact.
Not this Team USA, especially considering that they're playing under international rules. The world's getting too good.
well since we're still playing turkey... offensive foul allen iverson is now the greatest call i have ever seen.
The referees are absolutely rediculous, turkey gets calls shooting jump shots. Duncan is pounding the ball down low and gets hacked every play and doesn't get any call. I'm beyond frustrated
I know everyone thinks that this team isn't built well, but I have to disagree. The team is fine. Sports, not just basketball, but all team sports are about one team trying to impose its will on the other. Trying to take advantage of what it does well. The one thing the Americans have the advantage at is athleticism. So the United States should use their athleticism. The Americans can run everyone of these teams out the gym. That's what they should try to do every game. They are already using a ten man rotation, so do what ten man rotations do, run!!! Watching the Germany game and the Italy game, that was exactly what they failed to do. They let those teams impose their will on them. They let Italy turn it into a half court game. This team isn't flawed. You don't have to build a team according to international rules. The rules are basically the same. To score, you put the ball in the hole for more points than the opponent. That's the only rule that matters. The US has the best athletes and isn't even close. This isn't a weakness, as some of you make it out to be. I swear, reading some of you guys' post makes me think you are just trying to find a way you can get on the court. Athleticism is a strength in every sport. This team just has to do a better job in using it.
i definitely agree that a team with great athleticism is something we should send over because it is our greatest and most obvious strength, and i do think that once the selectors figured they couldn't get the best, they decided they would just get a team all based on one thing, athleticism. in theory, maybe it's good to have a team that will play the same style no matter who is on the court and can just send wave after wave of athletes at you, but in practice, they should've taken a few shooters. i would say 3 of them, maybe only 2, but at least some. athleticism is definitely a good thing (it's why hardly any of these international guys that keep it close like guys on italy or turkey or germany can compete in the nba) and we shouldn't avoid it to play the international game, but at least a little concern for shooting would've been nice. in the nba, how many teams are there where you don't have to worry about any of the guys being able to drain a 3? almost none i would say, everyone puts an athletic product on the floor but keeps an eye to shooting. i'm not sure i have the energy to complain about the calls against wade anymore. i don't even like all the hype the guy gets, but damn give him a call. and that over the back that they gave to turkey, awesome. and if anyone needs another thing to show that international ball and nba ball are completely different, look at turkoglu and okur. these guys just signed $90M worth of contracts in the nba, they should be far and away the best players on their team, and yet when they're on the court, i barely even notice them. okur posts up once in a while, turkoglu shoots a 3 every once in a while, but it's guys like kutluay and aruwan (i have no idea how the guys name is spelled but when they said it it sounded something like that) that make you worry. turkoglu and okur are just role players practically.
Exactly. It's fine to build a team around athleticism, but would the team be any less athletic if instead of selecting 2 more erratic shooting swingmen, they added a Michael Redd and a Wally Szczerbiak? There would still be plenty of athletes to run and press, but now you have 2 shooters off the bench if the game tempo slows down and the opposition starts zoning up. It makes you a more versatile and multidimensional team.
True, athleticism is always good in sport. I mean, all things equal, it's always better to have an athletic chess player than a stiff. Seriously, the criticism is not that athleticism is a negative. The negative is having ONLY athleticism. It's not just international rules. Even in the NBA, having only athleticism with limited skills is not going to get you very far. As many have already pointed out, having a few shooters complimenting the athletes should do a lot better for the team.
Why isn't Wally on the team anyway. Does anyone else realize that there isn't a token white guy on the team. When's the last time that happened?
Gee I guess it was nobody: http://www.usabasketball.com/history/moly_2000.html Okay, so it wasn't that long ago.
