I'm going to throw my thoughts here, just need a bit of a ramble.
I feel very disappointed by this round of olympics. First of all, it all started last summer when Canada got screwed on a phantom call to hand Venezuela the win. Canada should not have been in that position, some dumb coaching happened, food poisoning, etc. It was a big let down though regardless. The Venezuelans went on to prove they are a tough, talented and passionate team though. Then Canada failed to qualify in Manila, they did well, but lost to a better French side, again disappointing.
Onto the actual tournament. You know why North AMericans hate FIBA and think it is a joke? Look at the Australia vs. Spain game. A toughly contested match came down to the wire and a phantom call gives the win to Spain. It happens far too often and people will always see FIBA as a joke because of that. Also, the American team wins by so much and so consistently that takes a lot of intrigue out of things except for the biggest basketball nerds (us).
Next, a small rant about game times. I live in Asia and found the tournament very difficult to watch. The 9 am games were always rubbish and I'm not watching games at 1 am or 5 am. Even if I did, only the American games are broadcast on TV here. How can I watch the other matches? There is no streaming, no replays. Some countries do, but mine doesn't so I just get what is on TV or I stay up late or get the games in an illegal fashion. I enjoyed the matches I saw but they were often difficult to view or low quality due to the methods in which I saw them. Even using a VPN to head over to cbc.ca didn't work very well. Anyway, I guess this is more personal because a certain area is going to always get screwed time zone wise! 2019 the games are in China which will be nice, especially if the games are all broadcast on livebasketball.tv
Another weird thing I noticed is this, zero discussion of the new qualifying system. I listened to announcers from a few different countries over the course of the games and I didn't hear ONE announcers mention ANYTHING about the new system. Shouldn't that be heavily discussed so people know the change is coming and to get excited (or not)??!?!?! It is only next year, so I'd suspect FIBA would be pushing this so that countries get excited to see their teams on home soil. Very odd that this news has been almost silent and is largely unknown outside of us nerds. I have had to tell all my friends who are only NBA fans about it, they don't have a clue, and probably didn't even know how people qualified before this.
International basketball is a joy when done well and it has the possibility to add a lot to the game of basketball. I like the stagger year for the WC and that it stands alone and will have 32 teams. That should help grow the sport. Furthermore, I hope the WC does become the premier basketball event in the world. Smaller events are what makes the olympics great, swimming, track, handball, sports that don't get love the way the NBA does. As for the actually basketball of the tournament, I enjoyed it. It was cool to see some of the old guard make a last stand, Argentina and Parker. Croatia and Australia seem to have lots of talent for the future.
In the end, Colangelos statements are where the focus needs to rest. America is just too good. But how does the rest of the world, catch up and compete?
America has every single advantage that a country requires. A huge population with a huge net to catch those physical freaks required to be top notch. They have the best league in the world, and also the best developmental league in the world (NCAA) both staffed by the best coaches in the world, which also lead the way in sports science and player development. They are the hub of everything basketball in the world from sneaker companies, endorsements, NIKE hoops summit, AAU, and many other advantages their players can receive. Talent, money and coaching. Few countries have all of those. Lithuania has wonderful coaching, but they don't have a large population. China has a population and money, but the coaching/system just isn't there. Then you have countries like Spain or Brazil who at times will produce generations that are incredible, but they lack the above mentioned resources to do it consistently every year AND have "B" teams that are still world class.
In the end, a fun tournament that America stomped through when they weren't hung over. Perhaps in a few years, we'll see some times rise up to compete and knock them off their pedestal but that is a long road. Which country can become the next Argentina or Spain and truly rival the Americans, and most importantly, be good enough to make me want to wake up at 230 am to watch the game?