I see the multimillionaires of the NBA lost AGAIN, to Spain this time. [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img] After leading by 9 points with 10 mins to go, Team USA turned it up yet again when the pressure was put on them at the end to lose 81-75. The USA is now officially the 6th best basketball team in the world. [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img]
Here's an interesting quote from George Karl, in trying to explain the defeat.
"The money and greed of the NBA. Does that have an effect on our competitive nature? Yeah, you can write that,'' Karl said.
And what about the 2004 Athens Olympics, which the US will now have to QUALIFY for:
The United States must now put together another team next summer to participate in a qualifying tournament for the 2004 Olympics.
No decision has been made yet on where the tournament will be held, and the site could have a huge bearing on which players will agree to represent the United States.
If the tournament is held in Canada or Puerto Rico, the U.S. should not have a problem fielding a team that can clinch one of the three spots for teams from North and South America.
But if the tournament is held in South America, where it will be winter next July, or in a place such as Cuba, where the creature comforts so common to American players are nonexistent, it may be difficult for the American federation to put together a team good enough to qualify for Athens 2004.
USA Basketball better start putting the pressure on FIBA and the IOC to make sure the qualifiers are held in the northern hemisphere, eh.
And how did George Karl view their effort?
"Quit is a very hard word,'' Karl said, disagreeing with that assessment. "They got frustrated, felt the pressure a little bit, didn't finish some plays that they would have completed on their own teams because of their familiarity with each other.''
Whatever happened to doing your best when representing your country...?
[ 09-08-2002, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]