are you watching this!?!?!

[daddyphatsacs]

But, I'll take this team.. Because they want to be there. The primadonnas you speak of are the ones that were too lazy to play for their country or too irrationally scared. These guys aren't getting paid more money or getting big cars for being on the Olympic team. And they damn sure aren't over there trying to get the approval of those that wanted to see them fail, including a strong portion of the American public that dislike the urban basketball culture. They deserve some respect, and the embarrassing thing is that the USA is too busy disowning them.

Cry me a damn river. So you are saying that we should respect these guys for taking time out of their busy schedules to make an appearance? It is a [censored]ing honor to play in the olympics, and these guys are too busy whining when a call goes wrong, or making excuses, to improve their game. I'm sure that you will have some use the "wake up call" excuse that they already used in international play, bull[censored]. They got their asses kicked by a totally inferior opponent.

Why should we respect them? What have they done to earn our respect? They are a bunch of overpaid NBA players who are mostly self-centered.

And they damn sure aren't over there trying to get the approval of those that wanted to see them fail

I know that they are not trying to get our approval, they have to have my respect to get my approval. I do not respect these types of "olympic" athletes. I respect the ones who compete for the love of the sport, and international competition, not obligation. Screw this version of the "Dream team", they shouldn't have the privledge of bearing the name.

a strong portion of the American public that dislike the urban basketball culture.

Perhaps this "urban basketball culture" filled team should take a few lessons from the powerhouse of Puerto Rico (weren't they trying to make it a US state?). You can pass the ball every once in a while, and there is such a thing as a jump shot. How about eliminating a few turnovers while your at it. Urban basketball culture is what caused the winning streak to fall.

Whats sad is that we have folks who make excuses for these deprived, overworked athletes. We pay their salaries, they owe it to us to show an effort.

[OH10]

That is bull[censored] and you should know that if you knew half as much as you think you know. There are many factors not related to the individuals on the team, such as:

1. The International Game catching up
2. The International Game is different with teams being able to play the 2-3 zone and the three point line moved in.
3. The Committee did not do a good job of player selection (ignoring the need for multiple shooters and a couple of true point guards)
4. Too many of the USA's best did not want to represent their country (I don't need to list them again, but Tim Duncan should not have been the only true big man willing to don the red, white, and blue)
5. No time to practice together as a team (every other team has the same core players they had last summer during qualifying, while the U.S. had several players pull out - long NBA season does not allow the role players to practice together the months leading up to the Olympics)

Blame these athletes all you want, but you can't bust that zone without a shooter(s). You can't ask pure scorers like Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury to be pure passing point guards when they've never played that way. You can't ask Slashers like Richard Jefferson, Shawn Marion and Lebron James to turn into three-point shooters. You can't ask Tim Duncan to rebound every ball, and to block every shot because he's the only player on the team over 6-9. You can't blame them for being lazy on defense or not hustling, because they busted their asses - If you say otherwise, you didn't watch the [censored]ing game.

If you want to blame somebody and call them an embarrassment, look to the committee that built a team to make a profit off jersey sales or look to the players that turned down invites. But these players were invited and pardon them for accepting. They are there, and if you watched the end of the game today, you would have see some class as Allen Iverson dived for the ball with the game no longer in doubt. You would have seen the Puerto Rico team and U.S. team huddle together and show sportsmenship after an obviously tough loss for the Americans and an emotional upset for Puerto Rico.

And if you want to see real embarrassment, you should have watched the end of the U.S.-Italy men's volleyball game, where the U.S. men wouldn't shake their hands after the game. That's embarrassing.

Edit: By the way, every athlete in the Olympics (whether they are representing the U.S. or not) has my respect. I could only hope to be as good at anything I do.

[gmsbears]

You bring up good points StadiumDorm and I agree that the committee did a poor job. I am also disappointed that Garnett, Allen, Wallace, McGrady and so on did not feel like they needed to represent the US. But there is no way we should see Richard Jefferson airballing 15 ft shots and hitting the side of the back board, people missing shots over and over from point blank range, and on top of that, being totally careless with the ball. Sure these aren't the very top NBA athletes, but its not like they are slouches. They spent half the game crying to the officials when the officials should not have even been an issue. I want to see them bounce back, but I am definitely not counting on it.

[OH10]

GMSBears,

You bring up some good points as well. But, I think it's obvious that the zone defense has the NBA players flustered. It's hard to adjust from the one-on-one skills oriented NBA game to trying to pass the ball around the horn and look for an open shot. Most of these players are used to being able to create their own shot, but that's hard to do against a zone. I don't know how they thought the zone defense and the 24-second shot clock would be compatible, but they have to learn to play within it - unfortunately, they didn't get enough practice time tp prepare for it. As far as the refs are concerned, I wish the U.S. team would walk the walk because they're aware of the different calls made by international officials and they've said they are prepared for that. But the officiating is frustrating, especially for a guy like Duncan who constantly gets hacked down low.

I think the most frustrating thing is that we EXPECT to win the gold in basketball. We'd be extremely pleased with a silver in men's gymnastics, but anything less than gold is basketball is unacceptable. I think that's ridiculous and arrogant. Give the Puerto Rican team some credit for their win, rather than blaming the U.S. team. There's a reason why Jerry Sloan is so high on Carlos Arroyo. It's because he may soon be the best point guard in the NBA outside of Jason Kidd.

[gmsbears]

I agree with almost everything you just said except for the zone defense bothering our offense that much. I just saw way too many open shots completely botched.

I agree with the point about Duncan getting hacked over and over again down low. Hell, I was getting frustrated just watching him get hit down there.

[matz2]

Originally Posted by StadiumDorm

They are there, and if you watched the end of the game today, you would have see some class as Allen Iverson dived for the ball with the game no longer in doubt.

Woopty-freaking doo. That is how you are suppose to play the game. It is an embarrassment that the USA can't beat Puerto Rico. It is sad how you are blaming everyone, but the NBA players, for the loss. It is also sad that an NBA player who is paid millions of dollars a year can't make a 10 footer.

[OH10]

Oh, they played a bad game. I'm not defending that. But, no one lights it up every night. And calling them an embarrassment? No wonder no one wants to suit up for USA. The fans weren't ready to handle an Olympic defeat - something people that know about basketball knew was going to happen. Some of you need to stick to talking about football. Basketball goes way over your head.

[censored], it's like a bunch of Uday Husseins over here. "You're a disgrace Lamar Odom. Take your clothes off and turn around."

[BuckeyeNation27]

{edit}

this team is a disgrace. they get paid millions of dollars. how many people on the freakin puerto rican team get paid millions? i bet that guy who lit it up against us makes close to the league minimum. they are supposed to be the best in the world and they go out there looking like a team of 4th graders.

i dont care what you say ({edit}<EDIT>)...but nobody knows when a loss is going to happen. and a loss shouldnt happen, these idiots cant play team ball and the morons who chose the team couldnt put together a 12 piece jigsaw puzzle.

dont tell me the reason those overpaid losers didnt suit up for the USA was because they were afraid of what the fans would say. its because they are prima donnas. instead of us sticking to football.....{edit}<EDIT>