OT: Men's BB Gold Medal Game - US v Serbia
- Thread starter simons96
- Start date
LBJ's agent said he would rest after the NBA Finals
KD taking over, USA up by 20
chants of USA! USA! drowning out the local crowd . . .
Thanks, I figured he wanted to rest. Of course, LeBron isn't the only marquee name off the team. Where's Steph?
I took a nap. It was like a NASCAR or PGA nap. You watch the beginning and the end and miss very little in between. The USA men and woman's BB squads are so far ahead of everyone else. It's really a snore.
We had a few tight games but these guys showed up and put on a great display when the medals were on the line. The crazy thing about our depth is that a team of American NBA stars who didn't make it to Rio could probably take this squad who just won gold.
Steph
Westbrook
Damian Lillard
Kevin Love
LBJ
Kawhi Leonard
Anthony Davis
LaMarcus Aldridge
Blake Griffin
Chris Paul
John Wall
Gordon Hayward
Mike Conley
Harden
Beal
Iggy
Kenneth Faried
Take the best 12 mix of this pool, if healthy, and they beat the Rio squad in a series imo.
Steph
Westbrook
Damian Lillard
Kevin Love
LBJ
Kawhi Leonard
Anthony Davis
LaMarcus Aldridge
Blake Griffin
Chris Paul
John Wall
Gordon Hayward
Mike Conley
Harden
Beal
Iggy
Kenneth Faried
Take the best 12 mix of this pool, if healthy, and they beat the Rio squad in a series imo.
I root for the guys who chose to represent their country None of the players on your list did. No doubt many, if not all, had good reason. Maybe next time.
we'll never see another Dream Team. kind of scary that the USA can still dominate this sport internationally
It was a blowout yesterday, but there were some good teams in the tournament and obviously some close games for the USA. Believe there were over 30 NBA players on rosters other than the US, so the world-wide talent level is rising.
So far, no other country can bring the defense the USA can, and I don't see a Kevin Durant type weapon elsewhere.
Remember that there was a lull back in 2004 (bronze medal) when the rest of the world was catching up and the NBAers didn't think they had to play team ball or defense. They figured they just had to show up to win (guys like AI and Marbury) and left eating humble pie. It seemed like Carmelo still had that attitude this Olympics, but fortunately the rest of the team figured it out.
correct. And James isn't getting any younger. After playing deep into June, he really needed the time. He's also a father. James said it was hurting him to watch the games and not participate. he left the door open, in fact, he said he'd like to be in tokyo for 2020. At that point, he'd be 35 (IIRC). Local papers are speculating that the 2020 Olympics might be used as his swan song.
kind of interesting that the 2004 USA team had a very young Lebron, Carmelo, and Wade on the roster . . . yeah Iverson and Marbury stunk up that tournament.
but give Argentina credit . . . that team had at least 5 guys who played in the NBA (or would play in the NBA) and Ginobili went nuts in that semifinal game . . .
Westbrook, Iguodala, Love, Harden, Davis, and Paul were on the 2012 team. Curry and Faried were on the 2014 FIBA World Cup team.
I'm not being critical of players who passed this go round, let alone those who previously have represented the US. As I said, many, if not all, had good reason (KD withdrew from playing on the 2014 team). Just get more than a little annoyed by people who point out that the gold medal winners were somehow not the most worthy.
the other issue people don't get . . . YES, you can grab any 12 NBA players and put together an above average team. Notice how the USA got much much better the last 2 games? it is because playing together builds a stronger team.
geez that Argentina team that beat the US in 2004 had guys who had played together professionally for years. One of the faults of this year's USA team was "lack of practice", which leads to a lot of break downs on defense (crikey, how many back screens, picks, and cuts did they miss???), and a lot of isolation plays on offense. (same thing that killed the 2004 team when AI and Marbury went cold)
I'd like to see us get the US guys from the starting 5s of 2 top teams and then sprinkle in superstars. There would be way more continuity and better team play of course.
We will lose again and it will be because we'll be Princetoned to death and have a bad shooting night.
A few more thoughts:
KD is unguardable in the international game. You should have seen him at the last Worlds.
We were like 7-20 in the 1st Q and had hit no 3s - and were still up by 4. Game over.
I read English web sites and they always scoff at us just playing our own sports and being average at soccer. It's nice to see our truly best athletes in action and showing that they should be happy we don't care more about Rugby, Soccer, etc.
