Preparation Game: USA vs Australia

[Federoy2]

Yes I did watch the ESPN feed via the online broadcast that I posted below. The only deficiencies I picked up from the commentators were that the US has not called a timeout and that the need to. Then finally they called their first timeout in all the games they have played thus far.

Yes there was mention of the "elite" teams Greece, Spain and Argentina and maybe a comment that they need to prepare for them but I didnt hear him put them above the US team.

I personally did not hear much crtisicism on the US team and found it a bit more of "look how great this team is" type commentating. Example like is Redd the best shooter in the world? Isnt Kobe the #1 Time athlete of the year etc

First off, let me school you on how sports broadcasting works in the US; you have a color commentator, whose job it is to entertain the audience by commenting on plays and drawing attention to game action. He usually has basic knowledge of the sport he's commentating on, so he's not considered an expert. An analyst works opposite of a color commentator and provides the audience with detailed breakdowns from a coaching/strategic perspective. Consider the source: the "is Mike Redd the best shooter in the world?" flip and the bit about Lebron (not Kobe) being on the cover of Time (as 1 of 100 athletes to watch in Beijing, not #1 athlete of the year) came from the color commentator, not the analyst Fran Frascilla. Had you been paying attention you would've noticed that Fran has rebuked the team several times during the tour for sloppy play, poor execution on offense, lack of concetration (he said at one point they looked "bored.") and defensive breakdowns, and repeatedly talked about the threat the Greece, Spain, and Argentina posed to the USA. As for him not putting other teams ahead of the US, well he believes the US is going to win gold, so if that's his opinion why should he?