Now before I get a tirade about "I don't feel sorry for these overpaid crybabies who SHOULD be playing to represent their country anyway", I just want to say that this is a relative question: who do you feel more sorry for/less hatred towards? #1: AI Dude plays all out, he's a captain on a sinking ship, but God bless him he'll go out and play hard and go down with the ship. He's been infamous for being a me-first guy, but he's one of the few marketable superstars who showed up to represent his team (whatever you say, Tim Duncan is NOT marketable). #2: Larry Brown I'm sure if he'd been able to pick his own team, this wouldn't have happened. I'm sure that if he'd had the Pistons, even, this wouldn't have happened. Still, he was thrown in here to be the coach and now he will forever be known as the coach who lost the first game at an Olympics with NBA players. It's not his fault his team is just full of athletic swingmen who have streaky (at best) shots. #3: Emeka Okafor I guess it's just the fact that he's from Houston. Besides, he'll be going to a losing franchise (at first) in Charlotte and I guess I wanted him to be a gold medalist until he has to go back and be the cornerstone of a franchise that will probably reach the playoffs near the end of his prime. Now for the list of people who have been shown to be the frauds they really are. #1: Richard Jefferson I may still be bitter about the EG debacle, but 3-16? Throw in Tierre Brown and he could have done that. Throw in CBA fodder and they could have duplicated that. And it's not just the 3-16...his shots come out of the flow of the offense, he looks for his first, and he is NOT the next superstar he was touted to be. Bill Walton should not bow out and shut up about this "budding star from Arizona" because without Kidd, he is NOTHING. Let the NJ/Brooklyn Nets find that out soon, after RJ has stolen a truckload of money from them. There really shouldn't be anyone else on this list...RJ is just...I don't want to say everything that's wrong with American basketball...but good god... Any comments?
I wouldn't feel sorry for them at all. I mean they're millionaires for godsake. I would feel sorry for the fans who supported them. The only players we should feel sorry for are some of the lowly paid international players who needs to earn a living.
I don't feel sorry for any of them. It's not about one player. It's about a whole mind set that has taken over the NBA for the last 15 years. It's been a slow erosion of the "team" vs the "individual." Many of these kids that are in the NBA now grew up watching, Larry, Michael, Magic, Kareem and Isiah....Three of them left the league early. So, what you were left with were a bunch of young players that thought they understood what they saw on TV. They only saw the flashy dunks and high-scoring points, the allure of the Nike contract, Gatorade, etc... But they didn't understand everything it took to get to *that* level. Plus they forgot so easily the things that aren't so evident; like passing and rebounding. Bird, Jordan, Isiah, Kareem, King, McHale, Drexler....they all knew how to score. Sure. But they also knew how pass and rebound as well. It was a honed skill. Not just an afterthought. Each one of those players above could get 10-15 assist if they tried. Or even 10 rebounds. Not today. Everyone is soooo interested in scoring and "being the man." I'm not saying that a star player isn't *allowed* to show his scoring skills. No. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is that those "star players" don't know how to do anything ELSE BUT show their scoring skills. That's their strong point. Overall, they are completely clueless about getting others involved. Passing is more of a nuisance than desire. It's an afterthought. When you have that type of mind-set, how does a coach expect to mesh them into a "team?" There are some star players that do play the right way. Namely KG and Duncan. They have the complete game. But the league as a whole. No. Don't believe me? Then how are the international teams beating us? It's not because of of their freak-of-nature athletic stars. They have few if any. We trump them in that area. The reasons... 1) The International teams have a mind-set of TEAM FIRST (1st priority). 2) The International teams have become *good enough* physically to at least compete (getting better every year). 3) Team fundamentals learned early 4) Skill fundamentas learned early 5) Chemistry 6) Win first; then the accolades later (As opposed to the USA; Sorry Lebron, it's true). The US can't win against that without a completely new mind-set... Deny it all you want. You will lose!
I don't feel sorry for any of them in the least bit. I am pissed off at them and feel sorry for the millions of fans they let down.
Who knows, maybe these shortcomings in the international game will force American players to adapt and shift their focus a bit to the more fundamental parts of the game. That would definitely be good for the NBA.
"Starbury's" a fraud, put in Hinrich ... or anybody that's more pass-first. Carmello is no good, give me Redd. RJ ... and any other forward on a team with Jason Kidd, for that matter ... is only good for alleyoops and fastbreak passes. Everyone else can stay.
