Team USA is so damn cocky. I'm happy that Puerto Rico whipped on their ass. These international squads not only want the gold, but want to apply a beating to Team USA.
If you watched the Serbia / Argentina game there's no way you could say that. That game was one of the best bball games I've seen in awhile. I'm happy for good basketball, not USA beating up on people. Jeez.
I sure do hope our players learn their lesson and come back strong. If they are stuck with the mentality of blaming everyone else except themselves, they are going to get their A. whipped again and again.
your a dumbass. it's the biggest b-ball game of his country's existence, the greatest game of his life, and you think he's an ass for pulling on the "Puerto Rico" emblem to show some country pride and give a shout out to all the Puerto Ricans out there. just take the loss. i was very impressed by the class of iverson and other team USA players afterwords saying things such as "it's good for the kids to see how the game's really supposed to be played" and stuff like that. it's a shame you couldn't show the same class.
pathetic, pathetic performance. Why in the freaking world did they choose Lebron, Wade, Jefferson, Amare, Boozer, Okafor and all these athletics guys who can't shoot? LOL even doug collins commented about the 3pt line. its 3 feet shorter and they shot like 3 for 25 or something. What also made it horrible to watch was the officiating. WAAAYYyy too one sided. They didn't call the same calls on both ends. I guess this was to be expected but people still thought with a couple of allstars we could win. when the best players in the league drop their names off, you expect to have worse performances. Imean insert McGrady, or Kobe or even Vince Carter in the team. KG didn't go, Brand didn't go, Shaq didn't go, Kidd, imean Bibby?, Webber imean freakkin Brad Miller would have done better.
Some of the posts here are joke, reminding me of the bitterness of many Laker fans against the Pistons: it's all about Stern and the referees.
Can Shaq be effective in international games? I think most likely he would be fouled out in minutes. I really do not know what big difference our *first-tier* team(shaq/kobe/tmac etc) would bring..
The same dreaming attitude? I personally don't see Team USA can advance to semi-final. They may even get eliminated in the preliminary round!
Nah, either Rafer Alston or Dejuan Wagner could be a better choice. Actually, clone 4 more Starburys and put them on the court together, we would rule.
So what aspect of "playground ball" was it that causes Tim Duncan to miss two foot lay ins and get outhustled for rebounds? Blaming it on "playground ball" is too superficial, and too easy.
The cure is not sending our best players. It's sending a TEAM. saying that if we had sent so and so we would win is just dumb. We need a team that is not thrown together. If the US continues to do this we will continue to struggle in international play. It has nothing to do with street ball or playground mentality. We have the best ball players in the world. The problem is getting them enough time to play and practice to like other teams.
Saw some highlights and that Arroyo kid got some mad skills. Really knows how to run that team. USA plays were just ugly. Maybe they should stop thinking about dunking for their two points and shoot.
I feel so, so terrible for Duncan, Iverson and to some extent Odom, who has played well. They don't deserve this.
Well, not really. Only Shaq Daddy can maybe guarantee a gold medal at this point. Internatinal rules allow teams to pack the lane with 4 or 5 guys. Shaq might be able to overpower them (2 or 3 guys at the same time) if nobody on the US team can shoot the ball. Not Duncan, not KG, nobody else is powerful enough to take 2 defenders. As Shaq grows older, Shaq might not be enough either.
This game tells us three things: 1) The blame on Paul Pierce for the 2002 world championship disappointment is not justified. If the US had PP on the team, things would have been much better because he is a pure shooter. 2) Still cannot believe that US lost to P. Rico by 19. Spain beat this freaking team by 55 points just a couple of weeks ago (Arroyo did not play against the US in the last game so that one does not count). This just tells you how bad P.Rico is as a team. 3) Every opponent from now on is gonna pack the lane and dare the US sissy stars to beat them from outside. I am not sure AI, Star, Melo, Browny et al are up to the task. The US has a better chance of not advaning to the next round than winning the gold medal.
