Baskeball "World Cup" gets no respect

Elwood, I watched the first three quarters and to be honest, I can't recall how long it had been since I saw a game that well played. Both teams shot more than 50 percent from the field in the first half and Nowitzski was obscene.

Sachin

 

One other thing: One of the commentators said the he was amazed that the soccer world cup, played half a world away in the middle of the night got more buzz than essentially a basketball world cup played right here in the USA.

Before anyone goes off, he wasn't bashing soccer, just making a point about how little it matters to the American public at large.

Given the attendences in Indy compared to the World Cup screenings at various MLS stadia, I'd say the reporter has a point.

Sachin

 

Well maybe you should be more polite next time.

 

One other reason a besketball WC can never be as popular as a soccer WC is beacuse we all know who is going to the winner.

 

Might have been the case. I only watched about 5 minutes total, hoping it would get interesting, and this was a few minutes into the 4th. But the 1st time I saw Germany go down the court, the guard took a total of 4 little stutter-steps will not dribbling, no call. So I started watching it closely. I gave up shortly after, though.

I'd say another reason (to me) is that it looks like the US isn't trying. We should either send our BEST or send the college kids. I'm not saying the players that ARE playing aren't trying, but that the US, as a whole, appears to have taken for granted the Gold.

 

No offense (and you can keep saying what you want), but in the US the ONLY international tournament that has EVER mattered on any sort of large scale is the Olympics. You notice how we send our pros now, since the competiton is a bit tougher?

Not to say that the World Championships don't matter to the rest of the world, or a nation shouldn't feel good about any achievements, but the majority of the US just simply doesn't care that we haven't won the most World Championships. We've won the most Olympics and that's all that matters, as a whole, to the US.

 

That's merely your opinion, i.e. contention. Based on my knowledge on basketball and soccer, as well as my first hand experiences, acquaintance of Indians in my working environment (they don't care about cricket), I firmly stand by my contention.

I mean, your first hand experience is no stronger than my first hand experience.

Remember, the number is still 212 vs ???. And you haven't been able to come up with the number of actual fans.

 

That's exactly right. For sports that Americans care, only the Olympics matter. The international federations' own mickey mouse tournaments simply have no appeal to Americans. This is true for FIBA World Championship. This is also true for IIHF's World Championships to Canadians. Look who they send to the World Championships, players from teams that are eliminated by the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. You can't tell me Canadians don't care about hockey, can you?

 

Absolutely correct. And I'm willing to wager that if you took an honest poll of Americans as a whole, winning the Olympic gold in soccer would be held in equal esteem (and maybe even greater esteem) than winning the World Cup, however much we may laugh at that idea.

Sachin

 

This is crazy. What matters around the world is the World Championship? not true when it's Olympic hockey vs World Championship hockey. You see the whole country (Czech in 1998, Canada in 2002) celebrated the gold medal as much as Brazil celebrated the World Cup. Don't see that in the IIHF World Championship...

Just because FIFA has its own tournament that are leaps and bounds more significant than Olympics soccer does NOT mean it's true for other sports.

 

What this proves is that the typical eurosnob assessment of the American sports fan -- that he will only watch something he knows he can dominte -- is a lie. Americans actually do understand, at some intuitive level, the competitive principle (they may want to win, but if anything, they are bored by a non-competitive environment). They'll watch a legitimately competitive soccer tournament more than a non-competitive basketball tournament, even though on average they like basketball more.

Like I say, it should be interesting when the US loses one of these things.

 

I wouldn't. Why do you think if one sport has the Olympics tournament as the most important, then it must be true for another sport.

This is the most important international tournament in the sport:

soccer - World Cup
ice hockey - Olympics
basketball - Olympics

any problem with that?

 

But why bother making this moot point, given that for much of the world in basketball, it is true?

 

I certainly don't have a problem with that, and even most American sports fans would go along with that assessment. But if you do a poll that is representative of ALL Americans (without an "I don't care" category) I would bet that the Olympics would be held in equal esteem. I may lose, but I would make that bet.

Sachin

 

Because I don't think it is true in basketball (that the rest of the world thinks the WC is more important than the Olympics).

 

Yes.

I figured out wht you're missing here. Sachin's point is that Americans could perceive the Olympics to be just as important as the WC (and probably do) without being right about that perception. They could just be out of tune with how the rest of the world thinks about the issue.

And the same is the case here. From what I understand, most of those folks who care about international basketball treat this one bigger than the Olympic tournament. Probably for the same reason Americans treat the Olympics as important, which is that they're used to it from other sports.

 

I wish I could read all 10 pages of this but after six or so, I couldn't go on. There are certainly different perspectives out there and many myths.

Back in my day, I would have dunked most of you anyway so I won't get angry over much of the rather uneducated and biased opinions I have read. As My House said, bball is my #1 sport and can't get enough. I stayed up late nights watching the D league reality TV and some crap games just to get my fix.

I just wanted to add my question.
Is there any TV for this event?

 

Two problems with this:

1) Even though most people think of it that way, it's not an issue of talent. This team is plenty good enough to win it all, and would be plenty good enough to beat a Shaq/Duncan/Pierce/Kobe/Iverson 'Dream Team' if a) you gave the current squad two or three months more to practice than the Dreamers had, and b) they played better as a team (and given the character of the players involved -- guys like Elton Brand, Antonio Davis, Ben Wallace, Reggie Miller and Jay Williams are much more suited to the team concept than the Dreamers would be -- it's highly likely they would).
2) Once a team composed of NBA plyers (and good ones, mind you) loses, you can't put that genie back in the bottle. People won't forget it as easily s you suggest, even if the Dream Team was more dominant (which as I suggest in pt.1, it wouldn't be, unless it prepared a lot better than current USA national teams do).

 

See, this is where the NBA & NHL need to take a cue from Europe and do the following:

* Cut the regular season games in half.
* Intergrate Continental & FA Cup style tournaments into the season.
* Award regular season & playoff champs berths or additional financial rewards.
* Have non-playoff teams play in a tourney for "lottery" draft picks.

One of the best things about the NHL's work stoppage was that the amended regular season schedule elevated regular season play. No need for a Western swing if you're forced to play the Flyers, Penguins and Devils 4 times each in order to make the playoffs.

Anyway, these are just ideas. I think with more Euro(and South American) talent coming into the NBA, international competitions should be encouraged.

 

Worlds?

Bottom line. You support America in world competitions, or you don't. The same reason that a quarterfinal World Cup finish means something, a basketball World Championship means something. I think Sampras is an ****, but if he plays Davis Cup you support him, period!

 

The US has never cared about the World Championships. I agree with Elwood when he says that the only international competition the US cares about is the Olympics. I doubt many Americans even knew there was a basketball world championship tournament. Other countries may have more world championship titles, but I think the reaction of a lot of Americans to this news would be a resounding yawn.