How quickly we forget...LB not too long ago..
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rvhoss
Posts: 24943 Alba Posts: 0 Joined: 11/2/2004 Member: #777 Switzerland |
2/26/2006 10:08 PM
Does any of this ring a bell (briggs, evil, martin, fish, etc.)
http://www.insidehoops.com/brown-olympics-090204.shtml Olympics: Larry Brown didn't work wonders By Craig Neslage / Sept 2, 2004 The Olympics are over, and some events went according to plan for USA gold medal aspirations. The unbeatable womens softball team won a third straight gold, breaking 18 Olympic records in the process. The US took home some surprise gold, including womens gymnastics. And then there's men's basketball. Including the exhibition games, the guys' U.S. Olympic basketball team lost four times on their way to a bronze medal. A highly publicized disaster, the blame had to be placed somewhere. Some belongs on the shoulders of Larry Brown and the coaching staff. There is no question in anyone's mind, including the opponents of the US team, that we had the most talent. The squad had more game than EA Sports. Here's what happened: no defense, especially behind the 3-point arc, and no pure shooters to combat the zone D. And this despite the fact that the three-point line was much closer and we had strong defensive players like Richard Jefferson and Tim Duncan? For starters, coach Brown focused way too much on getting production from Duncan. The Spurs big man was neutralized by tough zone D and phantom foul calls. There were way too many times when you saw Brown, after a foul was called on Duncan, looking like his best soldier died. I dont think I'm the only one who remembers seeing Brown with his hands over his head, like he's bracing for the impact of losing Duncan. Hey, Larry, you have 11 other players who are either all-stars or going to be soon. It was argued Duncan was the only true center, though, and therefore Brown emphasized his importance. Well, this is not the NBA, and true centers are not as crucial. Of the 12 teams in the competition, only Lithuania and China had a traditional back-to-the-basket center like the US. What the US needed was an athletic team to respond to the high screen and roll - the play that every team ran against the United States easier than Sunday morning. It seemed the American players kept falling back into NBA-style defense of giving up the long 3 as opposed to a lay-up. The problem is that the international teams run the high screen and roll to get the open three. The logical conclusion is that Brown did not emphasize getting out on those shooters instead of stopping the screeners break to the hoop. Why did we never see a lineup like Amare Stoudemire, Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, with the size to get rebounds and the athleticism to jump out on the screen and cover the shooter and create turnovers? Then, running the break, the US gets nasty. When LeBron got to the open floor he moved faster than Justin Gatlin in the 100 meters. Unfortunately, Brown kept him off-track and on the bench. the US enough opportunities to use their superior skills. The offense had its problems too, often blamed on the lack of shooting. But this team can shoot from 20 feet 5 inches, more than 3 feet closer than the 23 feet 9 inches NBA distance. So, what was the problem? Confidence. Brown tried to play an inside-out game, getting the ball into the post and Duncan on the wing. They should have been attacking the middle of the zone, where a 6'11" player like Odom could shine with 14 foot jumpers. Then, the collapse of the D would open up jumpers for player like Iverson, Marbury, and Anthony, who can shoot wide open shots inside 20 feet when confident. Instead, we saw Duncan getting crushed in the paint like a protester at the Republican National Convention, and shooters with no confidence and guys like Jefferson trying to drive right up into the zone. That's like trying to fend off a shark by swimming into its mouth. It doesn't work. So, when it was all over the US finished with the bronze, the dark meat on the Olympic turkey. Blame the coach just as much as the actual players. RVHOSS - It's like our current season...explain to me again why we are giving him a free pass? all kool aid all the time.
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rvhoss
Posts: 24943 Alba Posts: 0 Joined: 11/2/2004 Member: #777 Switzerland |
2/26/2006 10:13 PM
and another...you guys that are in denial need to stop looking past the real problem...
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/oconnor/2004-08-17-oconnor-brown_x.htm Brown needs to take some of the blame ATHENS — Larry Brown was at it again, playing the blame game before a live mike. His team had just taken out the hosting Greeks, and still he moved to criticize the USA Basketball selection committee for dealing him a team that could not throw the ball in the water off the deck of the Queen Mary 2. Only there was one hitch in Brown's latest back-door play. He had a say in the makeup of this roster, a considerable say. When Rod Thorn, committee member, was asked before the Americans' 77-71 victory why the last spot on the team went to Emeka Okafor, and not a desperately needed outside shooter, this is what Thorn had to say: "The coaches wanted Okafor. At the time they felt that without Jermaine O'Neal and Elton Brand and Kenyon (Martin), we didn't have enough big players." Thorn was asked if some committee members wanted a shooter with that final choice. "Yes," he said. "We looked at Michael Redd, Wally Szczerbiak and Brent Barry, guys like that." But Brown and his staff went with a big college kid who can't get off the United States bench. Brown and his staff neglected their most obvious need, and now have a team that's taken 45 three-pointers and made seven. "Believe it or not," Brown said, "I think we'll make an outside shot sometime in this tournament." Believe it or not, Brown should've been smart enough to sign up a player who can make one. But in Larry Legend's world, the head coach is never culpable. Brown made a dreadful choice in limiting LeBron James to 11 minutes against the Greeks, a choice that nearly made the U.S. 0-2, this after James had established himself as the best player on the floor. In the second quarter, LeBron dunked. LeBron dove onto the floor to earn a jump ball. LeBron dunked. LeBron stole the ball and dunked. LeBron scored after Stephon Marbury stole the ball. Then Brown dunked LeBron. With the U.S. up 31-19, Brown benched the Rookie of the Year after he became the first American player in two games to breathe life into his team. "We're trying to entertain sometimes rather than just play," Brown said. LeBron had preened a bit — he dramatically flew open his hands — after one of his dunks, and 17 seconds later he was gone until late in the third. The preening wasn't tantamount to the wretched displays at the '94 world championships. It sure wasn't as embarrassing as Brown's decision to chase a ref off the court in Sydney. "I contributed and we won," said James, who made five of his six shots. "I can never be disappointed in my minutes." The kid was diplomatic, but his body language on the bench betrayed his true emotions. James even drained a jump shot early in the fourth quarter to give the Americans a six-point lead and — voila — Brown inexplicably removed him 24 seconds later, after the rookie picked up his first foul. "No, I'm not happy with the shot selection," Brown said. "I thought sometimes we shot too quickly....We're open all over the place, but there's a reason why we're open." The reason is simple: everyone here knows the American's can't shoot the way it seems every other team can shoot. "Normally, they do have shooters," Puerto Rico's Jose Ortiz said. But his team's strategy in the opening game was as obvious as the U.S. incompetence. "We were all saying, 'Let them shoot from the outside,' " said Puerto Rican guard Bobby Joe Hatton. Brown barely escaped the Greek sharpshooters, and then started taking his own sharp shots at the very selection committee members — Thorn, Billy King, etc. — who sat in the stands looking as if they were about to take a plunge from the Acropolis. "Other teams accept (their roles) a lot better than our team would, and that's something we've got to be really careful when selecting our team," Brown said. "To find role players in our environment is the way to go, but it's not the way we've been making teams." Brown would've made this team better by asking for an NBA shooter rather than a UConn post man. But this is no time to be crying over the process, anyway. Despite all the no-shows, Brown was given the best player in the world (Tim Duncan), and the best athletes. It's time for him to shut up and win. RVHOSS - How quickly we forget...now it's the players and the GM...it can't be Brown...can it? all kool aid all the time.
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How quickly we forget...LB not too long ago..