Actually I thought Wade played fairly well. I do agree that Lebron should've played more, but Wade was definitely better than Carmelo. Carmelo would get in a game and then chuck up a shot immediately. Wade is going to be a star in the NBA. Much better than Hinrich as previously argued in another thread. http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=82281
Did you ignore the Easter Conference Playoffs? I can understand if you did, but those playoffs made him the most UNDERrated rookie in a long time.
Who was an All Star? Duncan and Iverson were the only REAL All Stars there, the next best player was Odom and he never made an All Star team. Revenge should be sweet for the US, I can see them busting their tails for that bronze.
This is very true. It's not as if the other teams were stacked with their own Garnetts, Kobes and T-Macs. It's a disappointing loss.
Who had the better Olympics when they actually have a chance to play. Lebron or Wade. And Melo would have been a better option. Wade may have hit 5 jump shots this entire Olympics so far.
The question is, who would of had the better olympics, Lebron or Wade? Lebron didn't play enough to contribute as much as Wade did, probably Brown's biggest mistake, outside of using the media to b**** about his players.
Yes. Yes they do. Why? Because we're the USA. We're the world power in basketball. Everyone guns for the Dream Team. Does any other international team have a nickname that glorifies them? And if it happens over and over again, is that perhaps not an indication that defense is an issue? You can argue about the rules or quality of individual defense or everyone else's ability to play by international rules, but don't act like it's an act of magic for teams to shoot well. The fouls - you make a good point. Just don't discount the fact that the opposing teams put the ball in the hole and kept the USA from doing the same. In the end, I still think this is good for the game of basketball in general (and thus for the NBA). I'm a fan of that. Competition is good and makes everyone better (except the Clippers and Warriors).
WTF??? Did the US team give up with 40 seconds left in the game? They simply stopped fouling. I know we suck at three point shooting, but come on, at least extend the game. It is one thing to have no talent, but to have no heart at the Olympics, that's unforgiveable.
I see no big deal with this loss. The next Team USA could easily consist of a dominant post guy like Jermaine Oneal/Tim Duncan and 4 of the best American 3 point shooters. That team would wipe the floor with the international teams. Like Doug Collins once said "the pieces don't fit". Rockets dealt with that this offseason. Team USA selection committee will deal with that the next time they assemble a team. If Pike has regained his shooting touch, this guy's value is going up everyday due to zone defenses gaining in usage every year. There's the 3 second violation, but most teams can still use all sorts of wierd zone defenses to just make scoring tough as heck for post players and slashers.
Pretty depressing watching this game. Team USA defense is just horrible. Argentina got so many open shots. But the thing I'm most pissed about is the crazy calls on Tim Duncan. Duncan gets called for fouls on offensive rebounds even though he isn't even pushing off with his arms! Duncan being in foul trouble pretty much doomed Team USA. TD is the anchor in the interior defense as well as drawing double teams that opens up for his teammates. Without him Team USA offense just looked out of sync. I give props to Ginobilli, that guy just destroyed us and he was clutch on his three pointers. SIGH
Haven't you noticed? Many of the greatest 3-pt shooters in the NBA today are foreign players, and they're not going to get worse over the next 4 years either. I don't get the bravado. I'd even agree that Team USA will probably win assuming some changes are made, but "wipe the floor"? C'mon. What if all the best 3-pt shooters are busy raising money sending kids to college? (And one more note, all the "charity promotions" the NBA runs are a promotional toy, not true assistance. If McGrady wanted to send kids to college, here's an idea... take 10% out of his annual paycheck and donate it. That'll be enough for 50-100 kids. Or, for that matter, Les can donate 1% of his annual earnings.)
Hey Clutch. Check out the NBA Players Association, the NBA (Commissioner), and owners. They feel that the Olympics is commercial competition. And they don't want their players to go. To them, the Olympics isn't just about "representing ones country" anymore. It's more about Olympic promotion and revenue generation; using NBA players as their "products." So, it's going to be hard to convince our best players to go (more so the vets), since they have the NBAPA, Comish, and owners whispering in their ears to NOT go ("You have a contract w/us! Don't get injured! They are using you!", etc, etc....).
It's true that we can be more selective on what players *should* go; of those that *want* to go. But as far as "wipe the floor w/the international team." Nah-uh...that's not going to happen. In case you missed it. International teams are getting better and better; physically and mentally. So, it's not going to be "92-96" again. Not for a long while. Not until we have a fundamental change in the NBA; in the way the game is played and what/how our players are taught. The problem is much more complex than just "sending Shaq, Kobe, KG, Tmac and Kidd..." (Although, that would help!). We need to get to a point where we don't *have* to send our best and we still win.
"Will be" is the key word. You can't judge the quality of this team based on potential. Because right now, Lebron James, Wade, Anthony, Stoudemire, etc. haven't begun to reach their full potential. They simply aren't that good right now. Not one of them is a top 15 or top 20 player RIGHT NOW. They only have 2 guys on the entire team that have made any All-NBA squads. Only Tim Duncan can be considered a definite top 10 NBA player. They're definitely not scrubs, but they shouldn't be considered our varsity or even junior varsity team. This is more like a freshman team.
You do realize that up until 92 only collegiate athletes were sent to represent the USA in olympic basketball and these college players were pretty much the ages of james,wade,amare,carmelo etc. There were many stars on the college olympic teams but at the time they were still unproven much like how you say. Sure the US had better players at the time in the NBA to send but could not, but i dont think age has anything to do with the US losing its the flaw in the way the younger generation of ball players buying into a 'sportscenter' concept rather than a team concept. The rest of the world has gotten better but I still believe that the collegiate teams of the past would have fared better then the team sent this year. But the lack of fundamentals is what hurt this team not their youth.
The college kids weren't getting it done anymore, that's why USA basketball turned to the pros and the "Dream Team" format. Anyways, I'm not sure what your point is. My point was that having a bunch of kids who "will be" or have the potential to be All-Stars doesn't mean a thing. RIGHT NOW, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, etc. simply aren't that good, and none of them crack the top 20 players in the NBA. Put it this way, nobody would trade Amare Stoudemire for Chris Webber or Lebron James for Michael Redd or Richard Hamilton- but that's based totally on potential and age. Imagine if you were a GM and had to win right now, this season. Chris Webber and Michael Redd or Richard Hamilton would give you the better chance to do that. They're simply better players at this point in time, which is all that matters in the Olympics.
