(Hoops)Team USA will not Win Gold, you can thank ESPN!

The NBA is nothing but dunkers and show boating

The World has caught up, and fundamentally has passed the USA in basketball...the best thing that could happen is for this team to lose and not even medal....stop making excuses that the top 5 players aren't there...if we can't send allstar calibur players to Greece and walk home with Gold there's something seriously wrong with U.S. Basketball..

ESPN has conditioned kids into thinking basketball is a game played above the rim with the daily montage of dunks, I cannot believe how poorly our team shoots the ball, even Australia (which led the USA by a large marging at the half) 16-25 from 3 point range...

With Allen Iverson arguably being their best shooter, they won't even win copper...

Excuse me Shrink but AI is a great shooter and a great passer...Duncan and him are the only two REAL players on that team.

Besides AI can barely reach the rim for a dunk.

Australia's BIG MEN ate up Duncan ! They hit sweet turn around shots and jump shots! USA Big men can't hit short jumpers! If dunking in the NBA was not allowed, our big men (CENTERS) would all suck!! Except for Yao which of course would school any American center today!

Journey,

You cant blame ESPN. You have to put the blame on work ethic and coaches allowing players to bully them around. If they are more interested in looking good than winning, than they never were destined for greatness anyway. When is the last time an NBA championship team didnt deserve it?

JMan:

Actually you can thank the USA selection committee and the NBA that put this team together without a decent point guard, no perimeter shooters, no defensive specialists against perimeter shooting, but rather placed a bunch of so-called named players together thinking that would be good enough to win the gold medal with two weeks of preparation.

Somehow, the committee and the NBA forgot that not only has the rest of the world improved significantly in international play but also many of their players have NBA experience. I said at the outset of this tournament that this team might not even medal and only the fact that they are in Group B instead of Group A that they might get to the medal round. This has been a money making go against team since the pre-olympic games. There is still time to get on board.

The mentality of US basketball has changed significantly in the last 20 years...media is partly to blame, the hip hop, MTV , ESPN dunk-a-thon highlight era...

What happened to the bank shot, a solid bounce pass, pick and rolls???

When is the last time ESPN did the highlights without showing dunk after dunk??? LOL- its an epidemic!

After seeing Bogut for Australia play, I finally put my finger on the analogy for these teams vs. USA.
It's like watching a Majerus-coached Utah Ute team cutting and passing and three-pointing their way and playing nose to nose defense versus an athletic UNLV or UCLA or 'Zona squad.
The other teams have twice the talent, but the more fundamentally sound Utes always stay in the game and win lots of times.

ya know...thats a very good comparison...why doesn't Majerus ever leave and coach top notch athletes? Of course now his health is worsening...Majerus got much more out of his teams

I think the Aussies might have played a role in getting the US into the right frame of mind to win the Gold!

I know thats a very IFY call cause they have played ordinary so far but towards the end of the game vs Australia they started running the ball. I am surprised the US don't full court press more and get it into a running game which would suit them. I don't know what players were available to be picked from but how come Brown didn't take some of his Pistons along for the ride? Billups, Sheed..... Eddie Jones from the heat? perfect running player, good outside shooter, great defender, gets to the rack. Baron Davis? maybe he is injured but one of the best marksman from downtown, a leader good team player. I guess i could go on and on but they have picked this team and it's taking time to gel.

Saying that Jefferson is their best shooter is a complete joke. Ray Allen? Even Reggie could do better! Jefferson ain't jack ....

It's a definate problem in the NBA not many of the kids come into the league being good shooters, it's a dying art. But one thing they can do is run and if Brown trys a full court and gets his horses to run the open court like in the second half vs Aussies, no one will touch them! They also have to take the outside shots if given them wide open and not hesitate. AI isn't the greatest 3 point shooter but he can knock em down, they just have to take them.

Boozer? Odom? Jefferson? Stoudamire? all very big question marks right now. Throw in Carmelo and LeBron who to me obviously don't like each other, a late night outing by AI, Stoudamire and LeBron resulting in benching during the warm up games. Team chemistry really isn't a 100% and confidence might be low but i am sure they will be there in the end. Gold/Silver/Bronze?

As much as I love basketball, I really enjoy watching International vs. NBA. The International teams are fundamentally sound, pass, shoot and have the ball movement that used to exist in the NBA. They are a pleasure to watch. I think a lot of people are thinking USA basketball built this team to win. They did not. They built it to market the NBA. Can you imagine Brian Cardinal or Micheal Redd on this team? Who are they? They wanted a star studded lineup for marketing, and could not be happier the USA team is looking ordinary. Nobody like uncompetitive games or the US being better than everyone. Now millions of non American kids will embrace basketball, instead of other games, because the world is seeing you can succeeed in an International competition. Parity is awesome. If you want to see the US dominate, watch women's softball. It is so uncompetitive, the Olympics may drop it. This is the best thing that could ever happen to basketball. My old pal David is thinking and marketing global. Soon you may see global tv ratings, and the NBA may be the number #1 sport besides soccer. And who in the US can watch soccer? I could not be happier to watch the non NBA squads totally outplay our team with fundamentals. That ball movement, those dead eye shooters and the team defense leaves our highlight glory brothers in the dust. I feel this entire fiasco is actually a positive, besides the opportunity to build your bankroll. I can't really blame ESPN, or the media, or the coaches. It is more or less a statement on our American society, and how we are spoonfed as to what is entertainment. The bounce pass, the ball movement and other boring plays are not made for highlight films or instant gratification. But show me that guy taking 4 steps towards the hoop, and slamming it in someone's face makes the highlights, posters and video games. Hell, as long as I remain consistently profitable at the NBA, my entertainment takes a back seat.but for now, I get the rare opportunity to profit and be entertained. Go USA...Best Wishes...OF

Bronze at best!

LMAO...Learn how to play basketball again USA, passing, shooting, thinking...things the USA needs work on,lol...

I believe I said they wouldn't win copper, lol...

It's a travesty that our best players decided not to even show up...

THE SHRINK

Basketball's rating have been going down consistently b/c of the thug atmosphere surrounding many of the players. As unpopular as it is to say, most fans(those buying the tickets are white) yet the white players are not there in large numbers....For another sport, why is it that the hottest Jersey was Urlacher, or Cherbet as a Jet. Same reason, but its taboo to talk about.

very true VT...

and it will only get worse..the only thing that may save the NBA is the International presence...

Who is kidding who here, developing white talent state side is not happening!