Thanks to NO TV other than US games, I have to follow everything through FIBA.com. Current early scores: Brazil 5 x 6 Argentina Spain 8 x 13 Germany I predict a Yugo win over the US tonight.
HALFTIME Brazil 29 x 29 Argentina Brazil obviously doing much better than the US did against Argentina. Low scoring game. Spain 31 x 40 Germany Winners play each other in semifinals.
go to www.clicktv.com and you can get tv listings for your cable network, and maybe NBA TV will be listed
holy ************ well, it will be interesting to see what they have to say now... semi finals are: yugoslavia vs new zealand argentina vs germany looks like argentina and yugoslavia are favorites for the final ... wow what sucks is that the nbc coverage will probably get a crap rating and the stadium will likely be emptier than before vamos argentina
That's insane. What the European teams have improved upon is their defense. It used to be that they just couldn't keep up with quality NBA players. In this game, Yugoslavia put the clamps on the US down the stretch. It's a far cry from the days of Drazen Petrovic.
the best part about the loss by the united states... they will have to qualify for the olympics through the regional qualifications now. and you thought nba players didnt wanna play in the world championships? what makes you think they will want to play against cuba, barbados or trinidad & tobago? hysterical. goes to show what nba players from the united states are really all about; themselves
Exactly. If the NBA "stars" had any pride, or real love for their country they'd play these tournaments. The excuse that it's "too tiring" is absolute BS, as they play pickup games all year anyway. I've lost even more respect for Kobe, Iverson and the rest of the NBA's prima-donna pansies who care for nothing but themselves. Soccer superstars have more class and pride in their pinkies than these NBA thugz-n-gangsta wannabe's have in their entire bodies. On another note, kudos and congrats to the Yugo's and Brazilians! It's nice to see the best athletes in their nations show the love for their country that our "superstars" only pay lip-service to. I do commend the athletes that did care enough to represent our country! They played as well as they could really, and I for one am proud of their effort and thank them wholeheartedly!
Germany vs Spain really was a Hitchcock yesterday. Secure lead at halftime, but then a 6-21 quarter - but great how the Germans fought back into the game. Also very nice of the Spaniards that they always fouled Marko Pesic at the end - he's not as secure as Nowitzki, but he's the one with the best nerves in the German team. Now against Argentina and despite them being the favourites, there is still a good chance as Nowitzki & Co had a bad day in the group loss against them. The team wants a medal and now everything is possible.
Blame Kobe Bryant, not Paul Pierce. Shaq "im going to get surgery done during training camp not the beginning of the summer," not Ben Wallace. And finally blame George W. Bush. Notice how under Bush II American basketball teams have been slipping up.
Yeah, the NBA players only care about themselves... I mean look at the makeup of this "Dream Team" How many of those players on the US squad would one consider "above average"? Paul Pierce Eldon Brand How about "Average" Michael Finley Reggie Miller (a bit old) Andre Miller How about "Stiffs" Remainder of squad (including clueless Jermaine O'Neal)
These guys aren't that bad. They just can't play as a team. There are at least 50 American players at every position in the NBA. Can you really name 20 to 30 shooting guards better than Reggie Miller to make him simply average? Or the same number of point guards to make Andre Miller average? Every one of the guys on this team would be considered a top 15 player at his position and above average. How many players would play ahead of these guys, if available: Payton, Kidd, Iverson (point) Allen, Bryant (shooting) O'Neal, Garnett, Rahim, Duncan (big men) T-Mac, Carter (swing players) you could probably add a couple more names if you wanted, but players on the team are all above average to all-star caliber players who reflect the sad state of American hoops in general. other teams are taking advantage of our inadequacies.
Again, I will state, there were no "winners" on this team. These guys are all great in meaningless NBA games but are shrinking violets with the game on the line. A team of Dominique Wilkins', if you will. Not one of these twelve players would've made a true US National team roster. Not even close. Jermaine O'Neal is a petulant, immature loser who had no business buying a ticket into the stadium letting alone representing our country.
I'll agree with for the most part Ian. Many of these guys are "soft" and undisciplined. J. O'Neal has got a lot of growing up to do. I doubt he ever does though. We could have benefitted from better point guard play with guys like Payton and Kidd over Miller and Davis. Then again, most of this guys are the shrinking violet type you refer to, but who still in the league isn't? Most of these guys aren't the guys who demand the ball with the game on the line, but who is? How many "winners" do we have left in the league anyway? O'Neal, Bryant, Duncan, Jordan. Miller wasn't 100% and he has never won a title, but no one disputes the guy steps up when the game is on the line. Iverson does the same, but you'd be hard pressed to label the guy a winner. Have McGrady, Webber, Garnett or most of the other guys people have been screaming for ldone anything that places them in the "winner" category?
It's really harsh to compare this crop of Team USA to the previous generation. The teams you see in Barcelona came from the golden generation of the NBA. Just look at the caliber of the players, that generation has much more legends than the current generation. Expansion or not, even if the current league has only 24 teams, I would say the same thing. Beyond that, we are talking about every great player in the golden generation eager to participate in the Barca Olympics, beginning with Bird, Magic, Jordan, Barkley, Malone ..., while not a top player in the non-golden generation want to participate in the current WC. Put it this way, put the current Team USA vs the 1992 Dream Team, it will be a 25-point blow out.
That is being too kind. To be fair, if you could stop laughing at my request for a second, 1992 was special for many reasons. These guys had a mission. Being the first is always easy because you can count on 100% focus, support, etc. These guys were going to Barcelona in the summer which is quite the place to be. These guys had sweet accomidations. The novelty was seeing these stars, which the current guys are not, together for the first and only time. Heck, they didn't even have to stay in the Olympic Village. Regardless if I can make up more excuses for the current guys and I am not, it is the definition of unfair to ever compare the two teams.
Damn that Dubya. He had to cut the taxes, so now kids can use the bit of extra money they got to go watch the Lakers instead of staying home playing hoops. The rich save enough on taxes to go to their luxury boxes and the poor save enough to sit in the cheap bleachers. Is that fair? The bottom line, is everybody is at Staples center and nobody is playing hoops. If only Al Gore was president, everybody would be paying taxes, playing hoops, and the dream team would beat Argentina. Damn!
And of course we wouldn't be back to Reagan-Bush deficit spending again and the inevitable future tax increases.