The ref thing is going to happen to the US regardless, so that's just something they're going to have to play through.
Training camp doesn;t always mean a thing and thats what sad about it. Some people who didn't have a good training camp will get cut becasue it could be due to many different reasons. Training camp vs real game is pretty different. Training camp is almost like an individual game where guys who are fighting for position on the team and stats makes a big diff.
International flavor? How about obnoxious! Free form whistling is fine. That is like our booing over here. But AIR HORNS? Actual metal whistles? That is over the line. It is annoying for me as a TV viewer, it would be doubly annoying for me as a fan at the event. NBA fans are boring at some games, but they get excited at others like at Arco Arena with the thunder stix and cow bells and rally towels. Those are great. But general obnoxious noise makers like AIR HORNS and legit whistles are lame and over the line. Nothing creative about that.
Maybe you're more p!ssed about the lost then blaming the annoying sounds? I like it. It gives me the excitement of the game with all those different sounds and how involve their fans are.
S. Jasikevicius played college ball with the Maryland Terps. He was a decent player but nothing special then. He's improved tremendously.
" fa7999 After watching nearly all games at the Olympics, I have to say that the top 5 teams apart from US are as follows: 1) Spain 2) Argentina 3) LTU 4) Italy 5) Serbia " Apparently you haven't watched the Serbian games, they're 1-3. I'm so sick of people saying the US put this team out to "sell jerseys." If the team they had selected had actually gone, nobody would be close. PG: Kidd, Bibby SG: Bryant, Iverson, Rip Hamilton SF: McGrady, Ray Allen PF: Garnett, Boozer, Odom C: Duncan, Okafor (as the college alternate, though Gerry McNamara and JJ Redick would've been smarter) That team has outside shooting, good defense, and players who know what they're supposed to do. It's also incredibly more experienced and made of veterans. Because the majority of great US bball players turned down the invite and they get an inferior young team, people say they're trying to sell jerseys. Give me a break. Who else are you going to put out there?
Not really. I mean I am not happy we lost but I wouldnt say pissed. I could rant about the game itself but nothing in this game was anything different than the previous games. Same faults, same situations our team is up against. It is like a broken record. The reason I am posting about the sounds is because this was the FIRST time it has happened in the tournament. And the NBA actually has RULES AGAINST those types of things, for good reason. Involved fans are great. I love that. I love what that brings to the game. But we will have to agree to disagree about the "over the top" sounds of the game. Fans during the Greece/USA game were pretty excited. Fans in Sacramento, Dallas etc are excited. And none of them resorted to bush league tactics like over the top noise makers. Once again, Props to the NBA for not allowing these bush league tactics.
Brent Barry and Michael Redd for starters. When all the top US players turned down the team the selection committee didn't do a good job of replacements. When you see a Ray Allen and Mike Bibby leave then you need to replace them with players that have similar SKILL SETS not just players that are all stars. Those players were originally chosen because of their skills sets. Why go back on that now? Collecting raw talent might have been a way to do it in the past but no more. We need a good mesh of players. If you can't get Allen or Bibby, then replace them with players with simlar skill sets such as Brent Barry and Michael Redd.
"When you see a Ray Allen and Mike Bibby leave then you need to replace them with players that have similar SKILL SETS not just players that are all stars." That is a very good point.
What a game! Both team put out their best effort. Sorry to see that one has to lose. I think it is ok to lose this way. If USA can keep improving like this, they might have a shot at gold. You guys should be more positive.
=\ Whoever chose those guys are stupid. Good game though, watched the last 4 minutes in a hospital...
It's not just the players. The clubs also has their agendas. Why would the Euro bosses send their star player to NBA for free to gain money for the American bosses ??? NBA can't just make the whole international community their own colleage back yard and draft free players from it year in and year out. They need to set up some trading schems, like sending some NBA scrubs back and more cash in return etc.
