http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/wbc2006/news/story?id=2568543

This is terrible. We were playing good basketball but we still lost to Greece. I was one of those that blamed Larry Brown for not winning the Olympic gold a few years ago. I cant pin that on him anymore. We aren't as good as I thought we were. We are no longer the dominant force we used to be in the 90's. Its a shame.

Still no shooters on the US team....and thats a big problem.

Shocking! I think Andrew may be right about perimeter shooters. From looking at the boxscore though, it looks like the US had no trouble scoring at all but simply couldn't defend anyone.

The USA is always going to be at a disadvantage because we bring a group of players together for a few weeks and the other countries have teams that have been playing together for years. It is a prime example of how team chemistry and cohesiveness can overcome superior talent. This team was coachable and wanted to win. They just went up against a better "team." But the new USA program is just getting started. Hopefully, by the time the Olympics arrive, our team will obtain the chemistry needed to beat the top international teams. We also need to add more shooters. The international game is all about 3pt shooting. We need to add at least 2 more 3pt specialist to the team.

To add something else, I still do think the new program is a good step in the right direction.

They may not win gold this time, but that will help them be more careful next time provided most of them came back.

Im pretty sure lebron, wade and anthony, who have their 2nd "infamous" bronze medals, will have that target in sight every single year till they brought back the gold.

The Game and Raven: I agree with both of you guys 100%. We are still in this mental mode(not the players but the fans) that we can slap together a bunch of talented guys and voila, championship. I think most of us are starting to see that you have to develop as a team in order to be the best. That it can't be about the individual. It can't be "we lost because LB was our coach". It has to be "we lost because they were the better team and we need to get better". We are so individually focused that everything we do is designed around the individual. We don't market LA vs. Boston and then Bird vs. Magic. Today it's Bird vs. Magic period. Our rules are designed to open up the court, limit the defense and allow one on one players to shine. Our team systems are designed so that players can have their freedom and show their one on one abilities. It makes for a great product to watch. But when these players get into situations where something is different. Whether it's rules, or teams or players we have no real fundamentals to fall back upon.

Now I'm not going to "bash" this team because I still think this team understands their shortcomings and will make the necessary improvements instead of fighting and blaming the coach for their shortcomings. I also think we have the right coach for this brand of players unlike the Olympics. I also feel that the world is far to good for anyone to put a team together in a couple weeks. We are finally learning this. Individual talent is great in the battle for one on one supremacy. But team talent is what wins world championships.

I hope the KNicks are watching.

baby shaq (sofo) killed the knicks - demolished elton brand

Posted by Silverfuel:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/wbc2006/news/story?id=2568543

This is terrible. We were playing good basketball but we still lost to Greece. I was one of those that blamed Larry Brown for not winning the Olympic gold a few years ago.

What did I tell you Silver?

I've been saying this for awhile, the international game has completely changed, talent alone will NOT win the US anymore gold medals. The rules of the international game are not condusive for our players becuase they don't play contact basketball. The international game is alot like soccer, alot of pulling tugging, pushing, completley different from the NBA and it shocks alot of our players, their not used to it. Tim Duncan said he wouldn't play in the olympics again because he didn't like these rules and it's no wonder he picked up as many fouls as he did. Team USA also needs shooting, with alot of teams playing very loose defense, shooting is imperative and you look up and down this roster and rosters from previous years, theres no dead-eye shooters, all this international players can knock down any shot, any time. Another problem is that alot of US players do too much one on one, international requires alot of passing and alot of movement, alot of times, these guys are just standing around watching one another. This team really could've used Bowen, I hate the guy but he would be a great international player. Michael Redd would have helped immensely as well. It's a completely different game now.


[Edited by - nyk4ever on 09-01-2006 10:24 AM]

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by Silverfuel:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/wbc2006/news/story?id=2568543

This is terrible. We were playing good basketball but we still lost to Greece. I was one of those that blamed Larry Brown for not winning the Olympic gold a few years ago.

What did I tell you Silver?

Yea, you were right. The structure of the team was flawed so your cant really blame Brown or Marbury or any one person for the Olympic team loss. Would defense have really helped this time around? I mean, they shot over 60%! And it wasnt just one guy. What would Bowen do on a team that shoots like that? Damn, this was really disappointing. I wanted gold this time.

[Edited by - Silverfuel on 09-01-2006 11:00 AM]

The Dream Team was probably the greatest basketball team ever assembled. However, I think the primary thing that separated that team from this team is not talent, but experience. LeBron, Wade, and Anthony and the others are talented, hungry, and willing to work together. However, they have not been through the years of basketball playoffs that Jordan, Pippen, Ewing, Bird, and Magic had been through. The Dream Team had talent and experience, so they could adapt to the international game. Those players had gone through years of playoffs were you have to learn to adapt to a different team each series. Plus, the Dream Team had better outside shooters.

Regarding Spain and Argentina, it is true that their NBA players don't play all year round, but those countries still have 85%-90% of their team playing together almost year-round. Adding one or two guys to a team, especially when those guys probably grewup playing with the players on the national team, is alot easier that putting together 12 guys that have never played with each other.

We should think about having a national team core of 7-10 guys whose sole function is to play on the USA national team year-round (non-NBA players). Then add 2-4 NBA allstars at key positions during the major tournaments. If you keep the same NBA players and the same role players on the team, the NBA all-stars can learn more complicated team offenses and defensive schemes and will play more of a team game instead of reverting to 1-on-1 basketball. You then hire a full team national team coach whose sole function year-round is to prepare the team for international play. I think that would solve many of our problems.

Speaking of the ORiginal dream team: Was there a guy on that team(besides Ewing) that wasn't considered a good-great passer?