Argentina is in the Southern Hemisphere,but I know what you meant. Argentina had a great RWC,and most of its national side play in Europe. The San Antone first -rounder looked pretty good tonight-if he starts with Tony Parker,it's the first all-furriner backcourt in NBA history.
Its amazing that it takes "tragedy" for people to wake up. Sportscenter barely noticed the World Championship until the US lost. Then they featured the Argentina game for the first 10 minutes of the show. The NBA stars barely cared , noticed or offered themselves to play. I bet if the US doesnt win the medal, they will be there next time or face calls of non-patriotism. Plus there will be pressure from the NBA and US Basketball for the big names to show up. Very very poor that the games arent being shown, except for the US games. A Basketball WC in the US you would think that every game would be shown, instead it gets ignored. Lack of respect. Argentina today showed them why they should have shown respect to this "tournament" like the bashers like to call it. (ITS A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP and the LAKERS are not a Country so they cant play, sorry). Im glad for the game, Ive been watching all the games and following the ticker online. Maybe next time all the games will be on TV or at least some other than the US matches.
Argentina gets run out of the world soccer championship but looks poised to win the world basketball championship? Who'd a thunk it? Wish I'd seen the game. Maybe they'll replay. I'm off tomorrow. .
Dude we lost by 7 to the BEST ARG had to offer vs 3 good NBA staters and a bunch of scrubs, I think we did ok.
That is exactly how I feel about the whole thing. The Argentines can pat themselves on the back all they want, thinking they beat the best. God help them if they ever have to face the likes of Kobe, Shaq, KG, Duncan, and the other top American players who couldn't bother to play for their country this time around.
That puts it into perspective. If this team were a real NBA team, would they beat the Lakers for the title? With G Karl as the coach? Hey, USA basketball has arrived...I just asked for the coach's head! This team has no real center to go to or to even make the big stop. These Non-USA centers play a different game. They played the match-ups better. No fast break points until like 2 minutes to play for the USA. A few reasons: They made their shots and had an efficent offense They played good defense They played at their pace, dictated the pace They made offensive rebounds and played the goaltending better Good vision, backdoor plays and assists all day, from gaurds and big men I think the NBA should adapt some of the international rules, too.
They're better at basketball. At least right now. Argentina may be the best second tier rugby country, but they aren't really a threat to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or England.
I'm a little ticked off at myself. I've been telling everyone that would listen that I predicted the US would fall in this tournament...I only forgot to post it here. Anyway, this is an absolute disgrace, and I don't care who was on the team. It was a rag-tag team of losers (have any of them ever won an NBA or NCAA national title?). It was obvious to me based on the 2000 Olympics that the US was ripe for the taking if they sent a subpar team. France, for crying out loud, nearly took out the US and Lithuania barely lost. This US team is worse than that one so I knew they would lose at least one game. As others have noted, the best thing to come out of this is that it's a kick in the SS to US Basketball to take these things seriously and realize we can't just walk on the court with any old NBA player and win. Look at all the foreign NBA stars making their mark these past 2-3 years. Congrats to Argentina...they did what they had to do. It's not their fault the US didn't put their best team on the field. I hope Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, et al are enjoying their summer parties...the bastards.
Well, at least the US loss caused lots of movement for this topic But it might be a wake up call for the US team. Even if it's not the best the USA they could dress, don't forget that they tried to get the best ones. Compare this to a soccer situation that Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho don't want to play a soccer WC for Brazil - would be a dramatic loss of quality, but there's still plenty of other talent left and the ones playing will enter the history books for representing their country; in 20 years nobody will care for the circumstances but just for the outcome. Anyway, quarterfinals today: BRAZIL vs ARGENTINA Would be a nice soccer game , but the rivalry will care for a hot game and this though the Argentinans were already playing a dirty style in the other games. SPAIN vs GERMANY Germany rested Nowitzki very long yesterday to have him fresh for the quarterfinal. It's already the biggest WC success for Germany (3rd participation, ranks 12 and 11 before), but Spain can be defeated. Last EC we were better. YUGOSLAVIA vs USA World champion against the favourite. Would be a nice game if Yugoslavia hadn't presented that bad during the tournament. Was the US loss yesterday a wake up call or a shock? We'll see today... PUERTO RICO vs NEW ZEALAND I absolutely know nothing about Puerto Rico but after finishing first they must be the big favourites.
Not to short change them, but Argentina is not exactly a team stocked full of superstars. They seem to be pretty effective at scoring by moving the ball around. It's pretty hard to move the ball around with a couple of human vacuums on the basketball court. This is all that I am saying. I really don't think there are any scrubs on this team. Every player on the roster is without a doubt at least in the top half to top third of the NBA. It comes down to executing an offense and playing team defense. This team does neither very well.
Anyone know if Argentinians pa any attention at all to bsketball? The commentators on te game on TNT seemed to think that te whole nation's spirits would be lifted by this victory, but i'm betting few people in Argentina give a rat's butt about this game. Also, the clown's commenting about the game kept talking about the economy in Argentina, but did not mention the WC disaster from what I saw. Could that be because they had no clue? Didn't watch the whole game so I don't know. My keyboard's shot so you folks will have to bear with the typos.
USA Basketball's flaws finally exposed ESPN's Jay Bilas with an EXCELLENT take on what has happened with USA Basketball.
Yeah, but they can only beat who we put out there - If Kobe, etc decided not to play that's our problem, not Argentina's.
Andy...I was about to post the same thing!! >>USA Basketball's flaws finally exposed ESPN's Jay Bilas with an EXCELLENT take on what has happened with USA Basketball. >> I would only add. The US team reasembled a military unit entering enemy terriory without any concerns thinking that the enemy had no weapons, and then...
What the hell happened!!!! Well I'm surprised over the USA defeat in basketball but to say that I'm shocked would be absurd.This is how I see it,they had to lose eventually,I mean c'mon the rest of the world plays basketball now,not just us.However,I didn't they would lose like this.The USA's "effort" was minimal at the very least considering what the Dream Team(Can we even call them that anymore?)stands for these guys should be very ashamed of themselves. Well I know other people are going to say that the USA was without Kobe Bryant,Shaquille O'Neal,Allen Iverson,Vince Carter,Jason Kidd,Chris Webber and others but that's still no excuse since our team consisted of all NBA players and Argentina only had 4 players.This team is a disgrace to the original Dream Team,the only real Dream Team!!
First and foremost mil felicadades al fanatico de baloncesta argentino. From everything I've read Argentino deserved this win. For me, yeah it sucks that the US lost but it's great for world basketball. Of course, I agree, if the US brought its A team we wouldn't be talking about this. Now the US plays Yugolsavia and that should be a good game. Who would have thought Argentina would do better in the bball world cup than the soccer world cup?
Indy Star has an article today saying that second-round attendances have been disappointing, and ticket prices slashed for semis and final. http://www.indystar.com/article.php?attend05.html
What did I say...I told you what would happen tonight...i told you. YUGO wins. US palys for 5th to 8th and has to play qualifiers next year for the olympics.
the US team are probably worth, in yearly salary, at least 12 times what either yugoslavia or argentina are (probably much more in the case of argentina) ... and yet they got creamed. None of you are mentioning that argentina shot 60% the first half, which is pretty much unheard of in the NBA. I can't believe someone said they play a dirty style, when it was the US players reacting childishly, J Oneal stomping on luis scola, pierce throwing out a foot to trip Sconochini, even reggie miller giving Oberto a two handed push as he ran by... Argentina dunked it more than the US, stole it more, shot better, never gave up the lead, and controlled the game... and didn't allow a turnover point, or a dunk, until the last 5 min. now that yugoslavia has beaten them, with more difficulty but now that they've had their wake up call and most importantly in a direct- elimination game ... the people that claim that the A-team would kick every one else's ass have to realize that their D-team IS more skilled, though not by much; but they lost because they have no team game, which isn't going to magically coalesce if you put iverson kobe shaq and god knows who else... Argentina could have fielded 5 WC teams in Japan, same with Brazil... and who knows how they might have performed- brazil E could easily defeat Brazil A... but the federation has to field the best team the coach picks to face the opposition, which many times is limited by injuries and costs (for ex., argentina is no longer capable of paying for 18-20 1st class flights from europe for every game.. so they will now likely field local players, except for important competitions), not to mention the preferences of the coach. And the coaches may have been discredited by the results, but they are reputable NBA coaches... and like others have said there is nothing other teams can do about the US having sent an "inferior" team (though i don't see how a fictional team is REALLY better) And comparing with soccer, not finishing in the top 3 when hosting an event is just sad... I kind of feel sorry for the US players that did play, because they will be crucified for the arrogance of US basketball and the lack of interest of the so-called patriotic basketball fans the US was supposed to be full of.
the way u.s. players play the game of basketball there is nothing called a team game. just look at the superstars of basketball these days in the nba that are u.s. born and bred... kobe, iverson, pierce, walker, mcgrady, carter. those players are in it for themselves, not the team. they take ill guided shots, dont look for the open pass and think about finding an open shot for themselves on the court, not someone else... its all about team, and in the u.s. mentality of basketball team has no place on the court.
We are seeing the degradation of the US game. Fundamentals are nearly gone, in favor of flash. The playground game has destroyed teamwork, and unfortunately the punks and crybabies that are the current "stars" don't give a damn about anything but themselves. If they're too tired, or can't be bothered to represent our country I say screw 'em. It's so nice to know that (insert most any superstars name) has madd skillz, or izz a playa! It's too bad said playa can't make a simple bounce pass, or make a damn free throw. I do applaud the guys that did care enough, including Reggie Miller. They did the best they could and I respect them playing for the USA!
George Karl's team underachieved and didn't make the playoffs after getting so close to the finals the year before. What is his reward? Coach the USA! We have arrived!