USA Men's Basketball

[thecarrotdude]

Originally Posted by Bungleau He's an Aussie living in New York... who would you like him to root for?

I don't have a preference who he votes for. I was curious.

Originally Posted by Bungleau In any case, you're making an assumption... that the players will be flexible enough to adjust to each others' styles. In general, I wouldn't count on it... role players can do it easily, but "star" players can tend towards primadonna-land... they can't *all* be the man at the same time

Now YOU are making an assumption. Since we lost over the last 4 years, I don't think our players will be ball hogs or anything, they really want to win this time. Plus even if they did show boat a little, their overall skill would make up for it.

[AlphaAlex]

I'm gonna laugh my arse of if Australia win it! Wouldn't that be funny? Seriously though someone needs to knock the US off their number 1 ranking. It's time for a new gold medalist.

[Yorick]

Originally Posted by thecarrotdude Who are you rooting for anyway?

Bung hit the nail on the head: 'Straya.

[Bungleau]

@thecarrotdude... good point... it would be interesting to know where Yorick's thoughts are.

As for the assumption assumption, you're correct. I'm making the assumption that since the original Dream Team (oDT), the professional desire to play in the Olympics has dropped dramatically. The oDT was comprised of the best players in the league, and they were playing for the Olympics because they'd never had the chance before (as professionals).

Since then, I think the quality of the teams has dropped, primarily because many players are looking at it and saying to themselves, "Hey... do I *really* want to put this in my schedule, or do I want to be rested and healed for my *real* job?"

I believe that's why you've seen a number of players remove themselves from contention... not because they're unpatriotic or anything like that, but because they view it as an optional chore, and they'd rather be healthy for what brings them money.

I think that same attitude from the DT is what enabled them to gel... no one cared who the star was in any game. They were out to win it all. Yes, you can make comments about the rest of the field, but they had to play together.

I think that in the past Olympics, there was a strong sense that they could "just pull it off" without working that hard at it. They were proven wrong... but have "they" (since you're dealing with different players) learned anything?

We'll know in just over a month, won't we?

And to AlphaAlex, they got taken down last time, didn't they? Settling for the bronze, humiliated in many ways... they've put a different focus on it, but we'll see what happens.

Go competition!

[Aerich]

No credit for Chris Bosh? He can play the 5, especially in the international game. He proved a couple years ago that he's a team guy too, playing more of a rebounding specialist role.

I'd be surprised if the USA don't win it. They've got too much talent, they've got a great coach, they've changed around their program after a couple of recent embarrassing performances, and they've got impact players all through their roster.

I really think that the young point guards (Williams and Paul) will be the difference for them. Last time around, it was Kidd and Billups carrying the load. With all due respect to Kidd, Williams and CP3 are better shooters and better defensively, although not in his class as rebounders. They're also better than Billups as distributors and at getting into the paint.

[thecarrotdude]

Originally Posted by AlphaAlex I'm gonna laugh my arse of if Australia win it!

Me too

[Memnoch]

LOL no wonder it sounded familiar. :p

Originally Posted by Yorick Speaking of basketball:

ff

[Memnoch]

Originally Posted by thecarrotdude And the fact that they haven't played with each other very much will not affect their overall game very much.

Dunno mate - I remember a certain team in 2002 that finished 6th in the World Championships (as hosts no less) that included the likes of Reggie Miller, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, Paul Pierce etc. Those guys had heaps of talent, but were thrown together at the last minute and got pwned by Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain.

Talent thrown together can only succeed to a certain point. Because a lesser-talented team that is really well drilled and understands combinations and plays will always beat a more talented team that doesn't understand its chemistry.

[thecarrotdude]

Originally Posted by Memnoch Dunno mate - I remember a certain team in 2002 that finished 6th in the World Championships (as hosts no less) that included the likes of Reggie Miller, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, Paul Pierce etc. Those guys had heaps of talent, but were thrown together at the last minute and got pwned by Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain. Talent thrown together can only succeed to a certain point. Because a lesser-talented team that is really well drilled and understands combinations and plays will always beat a more talented team that doesn't understand its chemistry.

Glad to see you haven't bothered to read any of my posts after this. Or one before.

[Yorick]

Originally Posted by thecarrotdude Originally Posted by AlphaAlex I'm gonna laugh my arse of if Australia win it! Me too

On an aside point, the Australian Opals have a great chance of winning Olympic Basketball Gold, considering they won the world championships in 2006!