What if one-on-one basketball competition to be included in the Olympics?

I didn't care that much for your polls but this is a nice idea! Pairing for competition might pose a problem because you wouldn't want Yao playing Marbury, but if it could get worked out it would be pretty popular.

Maybe I'm on drugs too!

 

i dont think its a good idea because it shows the flaws of the 'US' game even more. i bet the us representatives would most likely win but that doesnt mean that the US TEAM is the best. everyone is critical at the lack of team fundamentals and basketball fundamentals (outside of duncan) the us team is showing and having a 1 on 1 tourament of sorts will just further the influence of kids on streetball and all to just look out for themselves and not play a team game

 

how would america select which players to send?

Also, this is a ridiculous idea. Let's say for example, you have TMac going up against Yao in a one on one game. If TMac gets the ball first (and we play according to normal one on one games where winners get the ball), it's guaranteed that Tmac will win the game 11-0, or 15-0 or whatever score they play up to. If Yao gets the ball first and he decides to post up Tmac everytime, it's guaranteed he'll win the game in a shutout. How would you judge who's the best player then? By who gets the ball first? And don't think this is a hypothetical situation. I've played one on one against guys twice my size all the time and this has always been the situation. I get the ball, I blow right by them everytime and shut them out. They get the ball, they post me and shut me out.

Pretty stupid if you ask me.

 

Alternating possessions won't help if you implement the "win by 2" rule, which would only be fair. In which case, win by 2 will never happen if losers take the ball out. They'll keep trading baskets for long boring periods of time. If you don't implement win by 2 and just go straight to a certain point total, then we're back to it being chance of who has the ball at certain moments. Can you honestly tell me that if Kobe has the ball against Tmac and the score is 10-10 and the game is to 11, that Kobe won't win the game the majority of the time, or vice versa? These are nba players we're talking about.

Thanks for the idea, but basketball was meant to be a team game. I'd rather not see players bounce balls off each other's heads or bounce the ball through his defender's legs anytime soon.

I'm only against this idea because one on one basketball has a lot to do with chance. It's easy to judge in a team situation who's a better player than who...but when you put two players of similar talents against each other, they'll probably split the games they play.

 

How about 1vs1 soccer, baseball, volleyball, waterpolo? Not an Olympic Sport but more like a circus show.

 

I don't know about the others... but I can pretty much guarantee one-on-one vollyeball would be REALLY, REALLY boring.

On the basketball side, some of the matchups would definitely be intriguing and fun. At the same time, you haven't even given serious thought to the more extreme examples of mismatches. Shaq vs. Francis, Yao Ming vs. Tony Parker. Even if the scoring "works out", the contests would still be boring as hell (or just simply embarassing).

I think if we were to do this, there'd have to be different categories, just like they use in wrestling/boxing. I'd probably differentiate based on weight, rather than height. 300 lb+ is one category, 240-300lb is another (PFs), <240 is a 3rd (guards/SF).

 

On second thought, um this idea sucks.

 

im sure the europeans could win this to. All they have to do is stay behind the arc and nail 3's to win a lot faster. We have shown we can't shoot right now.

The only way is everything is just worth 2 points but even then you would have to have different classes of hieght sort of how they class wrestlers by weight.

 

Like I said before, beach volleyball used to be a joke, and now more people watch it than regular volleyball.

It's a good idea if you ask me. So what if you have matchup problems. That's the beauty of one on one basketball. I spent most of my life playing one on one and loved it. Great game.

NBA players may not even make the cut. That's why you have olympic trials.

Two on Two isn't a bad idea either. It's all sport and fun if you ask me. I'd watch.

 

Maybe we'll have to require that all one on one players wear bikinis... wait, I don't wanna see that!

 

For whatever its worth, the rumor is that they actually had one of these, informally, of course, for team USA while training for the last Olympics. Apparently Vince Carter ripped everybody to shreds and it wasn't even close.

It becomes exponentially more difficult to hit those shots off the dribble with Vince Carter or Kevin Garnett flying towards you than it is to spot up on the outside & catch & release. Hell, that's the reasons why the Euros play us zone, they know that playing us one on one is suicide.

 

Maybe with some strange rule changes it could be possible even without weight classes. Offensive player can't play back to the basket, no 3 pt line... as you said, Shaq wouldn't show up in this tourney. I don't think smaller guards (like Tony Parker) would show up, either, they're just at too much of a disadvantage.

Probably best suited for the SF/SG types that everyone loves to watch in the NBA.

 

One on one tournament regardless of size seems like it would give the big man so much advantage. Once they get the ball, they will back up their smaller competitor ala Shaq and in defense, all they have to do is back off and force the smaller player to shoot from the outside. One or two of those outside shots will eventually miss but shaq or yao will never miss from 3-5 ft. If you play the game of percentages, big man has a clear advantage.

What might be fair is play them according to position. Center, Forward and Guard. 3 separate medals. You can also do a best of 3 games per match so it will also be a test of endurance and not just skill.

 

I was thinking about this the other day too. I think it could work out, although it would definitly need some creativity and stuff to work it out right. IMO, this wouldn't be like games played on the street.

About the matchups, I either feel as though they could do a division thing like boxing, wrestling, etc, or just say screw it and let whoever qualifies go to the Olympics. If that means Shaq, Yao, Duncan, etc, are left at home, oh well. It seems as though this would be more geared towards a player with a "perfect" basketball body, like a T-Mac or a Kobe. These guys are big yet they also are quick and can shoot. They can suceed on several different basketball skills.

About the possessions, they don't necessarily have to do it that way. Besides the point that a shot clock and good D could change things, they could just decide to have a game clock instead of just going by possessions. Maybe do something kind of like boxing with a few rounds or whatever. While I don't really like this, if they end up with with the same score, they could have some judges or something kind of like boxing. Maybe Larry Brown could be there and give a player an edge for playing the right way. Or they could just have a jump ball away from the basket and have a sudden death situation where the 1st to score wins.

Also, like mentioned, I don't see too much of a problem with a "streetball" atmosphere. There would probably still be an official who will call any type of travelling or palming or whatever. If they try to embarass their opponents, they will be penalized. Like Herm Edwards says, you play to win the game. A player can do all the tricks he wants, but he isn't going to get gold no matter how many ankle-breakers he performs if he can't hit a jumpshot or make a simple layup. A boxer can act all tough in a ring, but if he isn't focusing, he will get knocked out...unless he just is that awesome...which really just means he is a heck of a boxer who can walk the walk.

The only problem I could see with it is how people would actually feel about watching it. To be honest, I probably wouldn't be setting this on my Tivo while I was away...especially since I don't have one. I would probably rather watch the team game or perhaps some beach volleyball or gymnastics. However, I wouldn't watch probably half the stuff that is in the Olympics. Archery and that horse stuff are two off the top of my head that I have no desire to watch. Unless this is like soccer and everyone except Americans likes these sports, I don't think it matters to much how watchable a sport is. Plus, it could turn out to be a hit still.

JMO, though.