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CHBB2
Guest
Casual "fans" maybe but even they would watch it if it was everywhere the way the FIFA World Cup is.
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Unimane2
Guest
In basketball, the Olympics are the equivalent of the FIFA World Cup, just as most don't care about soccer in the Olympics.
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CHBB2
Guest
Not true. Please stop trying to educate me on this as if I haven't been following the sport (basketball) my whole life. There is currently no basketball equivalent to the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Cup is for one sport and yet is as big as the Olympics. The Olympic Basketball Tournament on the other hand is one of many events and is only all that big because the FIBA World Cup isn't yet. Real basketball fans would probably much prefer the FIBA World Cup if it were to replace the Olympics as the major basketball event because it's a global event for nothing but basketball and in 2019 will be 32 teams as opposed to only 12 for the Olympics. The Olympics is watered down compared to the FIBA World Cup.
I disagree that soccer doesn't care about the Olympics, also. Did you watch it in 2012? They seemed to care a great deal.
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kamikaze2
Guest
Americans do not care about their national basketball teams whether they play in the Olympics or the world championships. And this will not change even if you send NCAA players or U23.
And I do not think anyone should belittle the world cup by sending U23 players. And that Yahoo sports article was written by someone who really hates coach K. There are many Duke haters out there.
And I do not think anyone should belittle the world cup by sending U23 players. And that Yahoo sports article was written by someone who really hates coach K. There are many Duke haters out there.
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Unimane2
Guest
Of course it's not the same level as the FIFA World Cup. You missed the analogy. In basketball terms, the Olympics are seen as the premiere event, while the World Championships/Cup are not that critical. If they attempt to change over to the World Cup as the premiere event, they are going to find a difficult transition for creating a following out of almost nothing. An Olympic gold will always carry more wait and it would be a exercise in futility for FIBA.
Also, if you follow soccer, you would know that those who follow international soccer care very little about the Olympics. Ask a soccer fan who won the 2012 Olympics or, even more, 5 players whom were on the winning Mexican team.
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CHBB2
Guest
The guy who wrote that is really only good for getting inside information about trades, etc. He doesn't know anything about basketball whatsoever.
I didn't "miss" your analogy. It was a bad analogy.
Yes, they are seen as the "premier" event because up until 2010 the FIBA World Cup was never that big. It's not that the Olympic basketball is that big. It's that it's never had legitimate competition for its "premier" spot.
It's not out of "almost nothing". This is why I can't stand casual USA fans, because you act like because YOU don't care about something that nobody does. Sorry, couldn't possibly disagree more. Olympic gold carries weight in typical Olympic sports. It only carries more weight in basketball than FIBA World Cup gold because that's how it has been. Basketball is not the premier Olympic sport anymore. Really it never has been. It's just the one that makes the most money for the IOC. Team USA for the Olympics has become less and less of a big deal ever since they won in 2008. If FIBA doesn't make the Olympics U-23 and make the World Cup the "premier" event, then interest in international basketball will decline sharply very soon. Even the US men's soccer team is starting to get more coverage and more exposure. The Olympics are only the bigger of the two events because of history. It's been 22 years since the Dream Team happened. An entire generation has grown up without ever seeing them play. Olympic gold is becoming less and less important with each passing Olympics because Team USA last lost in 2004. Kids don't dream about the Dream Team anymore. Expecting the future to be the same as the past is lazy and is failing to understand the past you're speaking of.
I would highly doubt that. They might not care as much as they do for the FIFA World Cup but I guarantee you they care.
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Unimane2
Guest
So, basketball is not a PREMIER (terrible that I have to make mistakes on my little cell phone) Olympic sport, but makes the most money? What exactly is your logic there?
The analogy still stands and I've been watching USA basketball since the '84 Olympics throughout all competitions, so I'm not really able to recognize what your rambling response is, ultimately, maintaining. In any event, if FIBA wants to force feed the World Cup as the PREMIER event in international basketball, they are going to find the going very rough. It will never invite the amount of interest in the international competition as the Olympics does absent two things , (1) find a way to make it very competitive for the Americans with their best players or (2) find a lure the equivalent of the Olympic festival, which draws in tons of viewers to a whole host of sports on a quadrennial basis. Those two things aren't happening any time soon to garner an American audience, especially when the competition occurs at the same time as the opening weeks of the football season.
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CHBB2
Guest
It makes money due to endorsements. Everybody knows that. Nothing sells like Team USA jerseys and no other Olympic athletes are anywhere near as marketable as basketball players.
That's the problem. You still see it how you remember it and it has the impression on you that it has for probably most of your lifetime. The next generation of players and fans aren't you and they aren't me. The fact that the Olympics have so many sports is exactly why interest in Team USA is declining the way it is. They're overshadowed by the other sports. The attention that was given to Team USA could easily be given to Team USA in a FIBA World Cup if we actually sent our best players and made the Olympics U-23. All the media has to do is give it the same coverage, which shouldn't be difficult as Team USA in the Olympics is not anywhere near what it used to be. It doesn't matter anymore that it's happening at the Olympics. All that matters is that the best players are there. There's no reason that if FIBA was promoted the way the Olympic USA team used to be that we couldn't build it up the same way.
Rambling? Sorry but just because you disagree with it doesn't make it rambling.
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Unimane2
Guest
The interest is declining because there's no lure to draw them in. Simply promoting the event means nothing if there's no reason to watch, nor a habitual process on the viewer's part. The Olympics have become a viewing staple. What exactly is supposed to draw Americans into watching USA basketball beat up on the rest of the world?
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CHBB2
Guest
The same thing that draws Americans into watching the World Cup. The fact that it's on TV and it's out there wherever you look. In this age where more and more NBA stars are international, the idea that even casual basketball fans wouldn't want to watch their favorite international players play on their national teams is absurd. This year's FIBA World Cup was a down year because so many of the best teams didn't get in thanks to not having enough spots. That won't be the case in 2019, and in 2019 a lot of the young NBA prospects of these teams will be entering their primes. Wiggins, for example, will be 24. 2019 needs to be the one that changes the dynamic as the set up is there for exactly that to happen. Also, keep in mind that many of the best players on international teams aren't the stars on their NBA teams so they don't get a chance to really show what they can do in the NBA.
You're acting like U-23 for the US would be disastrous. Think about the players who would be playing for the US in Rio if it was U-23. It would be more stacked than our current FIBA team by far. It would be as stacked as the current Olympic team, just in a different way. It would make the rising stars of the NBA even bigger names the way 2010 did for guys like Durant, Kevin Love, Rose, Westbrook, etc. It would also make all of the FIBA teams stronger as they would have to develop their young talent and throw them into the fire.
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Mr. Cam2
Guest
Just in case you EUROPEANS have failed to see the obvious. 99.99% of AMERICAN basketball fans DO NOT CARE about FIBA or
Internatrional basketball in general. For American basketball fans, the FIBA moniker or motto "We are Basketball" is laughable, a FARCE,
a JOKE, a trite phrase uttered by the mentally defective.
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http://lithuania2013.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/13/fu19w/news/p/nid/57373/article.html
CONNECTICUT - There's no time for Breanna Stewart to sit back, put her feet up and savour her second gold medal at
the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women, or being deservedly hailed as the best player on view in Lithuania.
Instead, the phenomenally talented USA star is engaged in a race against time to prepare herself for a visit to The
White House with national team colleagues Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson. The USA Basketball rep-
resentatives will make the visit not because of their success in Klaipeda [FIBA World Under 19 Women's title], but
as part of the traditional recognition of the NCAA champions and through their involvement with UConn.
---------------------------
The ONLY International Basketball competition that the causal American sports fan recognizes and RESPECTS is
the GOLD Medal Final of the Olympics. For an American team, ANYTHING less than a GOLD MEDAL is A FAILURE!!! The
ONLY exception to that is the 1972 ROBBERY by FIBA in the GOLD MEDAL Final - USA vs. USSR. That Olympic Silver
Medal remains to this very day, UNCLAIMED, in a Swiss vault where it will ROT before Basketball USA ever claims it.
The players were blamed for the the 1988 & 2004 losses in the Olympics. Post 2004, changes were made, and now
we have put everything into ORDER.
For the American player, basketball trophies are ranked:
1. NBA Title - Parade in the WINNING city - Absolutely
White House visit? Maybe
Olympic gold Medal - Parade anywhere in the U.S.? Never
White House visit? Maybe
2. NCAA Title - Parade in the WINNING city? Maybe - Reception or Pep rally at the
WINNING school? Absolutely
White House visit? Maybe
3. FIBA "World" Title - Parade anywhere in the U.S.? Never
White House visit? - ROFLMAO!!!
4. State High School Title - Parade in the WINNING city? Maybe - Reception or Pep
rally at the WINNING school? Absolutely
And remember - ONLY NBA title teams get a parade, and even that is limited to the
WINNING city.
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http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/2014-fiba-basketball-world-cup.2000135/page-3
USA vs Serbia for the gold.
Master O Serbia's gonna get mauled...
Member+
Joined:Jul 7, 2006
Country:United States Master O, Friday at 7:16 PM
Post #64
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http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/2014-fiba-basketball-world-cup.2000135/
Post Number 20
Master O
Member+
Joined:Jul 7, 2006
Country:United States
zohee said:
The quality is still there. And with Rose looking like he's got something to prove, they're still the
team to beat.
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In America's team sports, the USA rarely fields its best teams (excluding the Olympics), because their
clubs in the NBA quietly nudge their players into not participating for financial reasons. Money usually
trumps any kind of patriotism American athletes may have. Why risk careers playing against nobodies
and scrubs from places, like Lithuania, Slovenia, Nigeria or New Zealand basketball? Excluding Spain,
the basketball world flat out sucks against the US and stands no chance at all of being even remotely
competitive. This is also why you see USA basketball having to shame players into representing their
own country for the FIBA World Cup. At the end of the day, money talks.
As far as representing their country in basketball goes when they are actually interested, Americans in
general hold the Olympics as the highest sporting event Americans can compete in. The Olympics are
used by Americans to assert their total dominance in sports over the world in general, not just in basketball.
Taking this into account, the Olympics also have a great financial and marketing impact for the US basketball
players who compete in it. This is why you see the best USA basketball players there, and not the FIBA World
Cup. FIBA's "World Cup "is considered a nuisance, a joke, and a distraction from the "real" season, meaning
the NBA regular season and playoffs.
Master O, Aug 8, 2014
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CHBB2
Guest
How many times do you plan on copy and pasting this crap, new guy?
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Unimane2
Guest
Americans watched the World Cup because it's the biggest sporting event on the planet and have an actual interest in watching an underdog American squad compete with the outcome in doubt, especially as an underdog. Creating a u-23 Olympics wouldn't be a disaster, but, if you are thinking that a World Cup of basketball can create the same type of interest as Olympic basketball without a real reason for people to watch, then you are kidding yourself.
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CHBB2
Guest
Sorry, but Americans don't give a crap what the biggest sporting event is on the planet. They watch it because it has been shoved down our throats and it is everywhere on TV. We know our team most likely won't win, and PLENTY of Americans watch the teams other than USA in the World Cup.
No, you're kidding yourself that the rest of the country thinks like you do, a country that is made up of so many immigrants, by the way. People like you are a disgrace to the fans in this country and the crap you spew about how "nobody" this and "nobody" that is not only annoying but disrespectful and insulting. You base your insults and posturing on absolutely nothing and make baseless claims without ever backing them up with anything but more of the same. YOU don't care about FIBA so you think everybody in the country agrees with you.
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Joško Poljak Fan2
Guest
It doesn't have to. Later it all comes down to basic numbers. Olympic tournament 0$/€ from TV rights while in reality earning 100M+ in TV rights for the Olympic committee, World championship earning whatever you actualy get (definately few 10M) and keeping it in our own pocket still makes sense for Stern (haven't yet come across Silver's opinion on this one), NBA and especialy FIBA. Public interest is secondary here.
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DarkoMVP2
Guest
Man, there must be some perfect job out there for CHBB. He's "on" 100% of the time - no matter how innocuous and polite a comment someone makes, he is able to respond every time with a vitriolic, insult-filled rant.
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VIRIATO2
Guest
I like this idea too, following soccer would be a good idea here and agree that with the changes coming up with the basketball World Cup it would make sense to make it the most important basketball event. Let's hope the TV's buy in, here as far as I am aware there where no WC games on TV, had to watch them on the Internet.
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kamikaze2
Guest
Americans do not care about the national basketball team period. Listen to talk radio during the Olympics and they might mention swimming but rarely basketball, or watch ESPN sportcenter during the world championships and they might show a brief highlight but nothing more. Some fans are even furious when their players play on the Olympic team. I was in Miami back in 2008 and the radio host and every caller would call in criticizing D wade for playing in the Olympics.
Americans do not care and sending a U-23 team will not change that. It will only degrade the tournament. Neither FIBA nor IOC wants their tournament degraded. IOC is already unhappy with FIFA for only allowing U23 teams at the Olympics. Sending a college team to loose in the quarter-finals will not make things any better. Today's college teams are not as good as they were in the 1970s and 1980s when the top players like the "Admiral" , Jordan and Spencer Haywood stayed in college for 3 or 4 years
Its a shame most people do not care because this USA team deserves plenty of credit. Far more credit than the previous teams that played at the WC or Olympics. Look at their team stats posted on the FIBA website
1. Points per game: USA was 1st
2. Field goal shooting : USA was 1st
3. Rebounds: USA was 1st
4. Blocks: USA was 3rd
5. Assists : USA was 1st
6. Steals: USA was 1st
7. Efficiency: USA was 1st
These stats speak to a tremendous team effort. ESPN announcer also mentioned that team USA won 9 games by 20 points or more. This has never been achieved before. The USA also produced the tournament MVP. I would say this is the best effort by a USA team. In 1992, the team was stacked and the rest of the world was too far behind. The teams from 2008 to 2012 did not dominate the stat sheet or the scores like this USA team has. Even more amazing is that its a completely new team. Most of these guys have never played with each other. The 2012 teams had played with each other for years. Lebron, Carmelo, D Wade all played in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Americans do not care and sending a U-23 team will not change that. It will only degrade the tournament. Neither FIBA nor IOC wants their tournament degraded. IOC is already unhappy with FIFA for only allowing U23 teams at the Olympics. Sending a college team to loose in the quarter-finals will not make things any better. Today's college teams are not as good as they were in the 1970s and 1980s when the top players like the "Admiral" , Jordan and Spencer Haywood stayed in college for 3 or 4 years
Its a shame most people do not care because this USA team deserves plenty of credit. Far more credit than the previous teams that played at the WC or Olympics. Look at their team stats posted on the FIBA website
1. Points per game: USA was 1st
2. Field goal shooting : USA was 1st
3. Rebounds: USA was 1st
4. Blocks: USA was 3rd
5. Assists : USA was 1st
6. Steals: USA was 1st
7. Efficiency: USA was 1st
These stats speak to a tremendous team effort. ESPN announcer also mentioned that team USA won 9 games by 20 points or more. This has never been achieved before. The USA also produced the tournament MVP. I would say this is the best effort by a USA team. In 1992, the team was stacked and the rest of the world was too far behind. The teams from 2008 to 2012 did not dominate the stat sheet or the scores like this USA team has. Even more amazing is that its a completely new team. Most of these guys have never played with each other. The 2012 teams had played with each other for years. Lebron, Carmelo, D Wade all played in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
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Chigusa2
Guest
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VIRIATO2
Guest
On the U-23 team I see your point, but wouldn't it be possible to send a team of under 23 Nba players? Irving is 22 for instance. And remember this restriction would apply to all countries, not just the US. It would probably be more realistic because it's clear the older guys won't be playing international tournaments every 2 years. It would be a matter of priorities changing towards the WC. And I am sure if the NBA get's more involved with the WC and keeps growing the number of international players it will become very popular with the new format.
Great point on the US team effort, at the end of the day numbers don't lie.
Paulo