Which teams do you want to see fail at WBC?

[Darknemo2000]

Serbia dominated world basketball from 1995 to 2002 in unimaginable conditions from NATO bombing, economic crisis and so on. At the time we were a poor country (slightly better conditions now) with a population of 7 M. The referees respected us, they didn't help us. We deserved that respect as we shaped modern basketball the way you know it today. As you can see we are on the way to dominate again. Referees make mistakes, nothing you can do about it.

Most of the national teams are heavily influenced by the Serbian (ex Yugoslav) system established in the 60s. The Spanish team being the best example.

While Serbs had obviously a great team at that time it is pretty obvious that in 1995 Liths would have won the gold if refs would have been neutral.

Many people consider that final to be one of the greatest steals of all time (and not just Lithuanians) because how bad refs were and how clearly they supported Serbs (Yugoslavia). Its bit sad because that even overshadowed the great individual performance of Djordjevic back then.

[Srle]

Please stop bitching we have beat you one year later at Olympic games again. There was no ref roberry in 1995 , simply Yugoslavian team was more talented and better all together

[Srle]

I agree with point one.

Regarding point two, you must be right, since Gasol is a regular player. Only that he is tall and has been lucky to be in good teams.

You can't compare players from differen't era's with today players . If it wasn't for Divac,Kukoc ,Marčiulionis etc paving the way for Pau who knows what would his career look like today

[sseppel]

You can't compare players from differen't era's with today players . If it wasn't for Divac,Kukoc ,Marčiulionis etc paving the way for Pau who knows what would his career look like today

2'15 m guy with many effective post moves, long arms, coordination, soft touch from 5 - 6 meters, outstanding passing ability, good dribling, above average speed for his size...

You can't argue this guy has the tools to succeed anywhen and anywhere. It's true I can't tell how Gasol's career would have been without those guys, but you can't neither. I mean, probably he could be a pioneer in the NBA or dominate Europe. But we all agree that basketball has developed a lot through years, especially when we talk about the physical abilities. And with Gasol being one of the top 3 european players nowadays, it just doesn't seem fair if you don't give him credit because other players paved the way for him.

[Kwijibo]

-Dirk.

Pau had a taste of that vs GErmany in 2005

FAIL TROLLING Pau wasn't in 2005 with nt. Maybe next time you have more luck

[NorCal]

That's a quite extended myth, but I disagree. It was like that the first years, but he had very good teams every time he won the ring. The Bulls finished 2nd in the NBA without Jordan in 93/94 season, with a 55 - 27 mark. Certainly not a bad team.

Jordan had good teammates when he won but not great ones outside of Pippen. To me, that is one of the reasons he is the best ever because he had a lot less talent around him than other championship teams of the last 30 years.

Also, they were 55-27 that year without Jordan but it was only the 6th best record in the NBA. The following year they were down to 47-35.

As for the Galis vs. Gasol debate- it is difficult to compare players across generations. On one hand, Galis obviously meant more to his team but he played during a time when basketball wasn't as developed or competitive as it is today. I like the Nowitzki vs. Gasol debate myself because they both have played during the same era, are from the same continent and both have played significant time in the NBA.

And lastly- I really really hope to see Spain fall hard at this W.C. A little bit of flopping or exaggeration I can handle but the way they play is ridiculous. I'm guessing they get around 4-7 points a game just from their flops

[Darknemo2000]

Please stop bitching we have beat you one year later at Olympic games again. There was no ref roberry in 1995 , simply Yugoslavian team was more talented and better all together

You beat us fair in Olympic but def not in Euro finals. We were the better team that day but you had the refs blowing whistles for you that day all night long and giving Sabas weird fouls. You had a great talent pool but so did we as well, I dont think you were stronger - more like both teams were pretty equal it depended more on who was having the better day. We did had the better day but you still won because of the whistles.

No complains about Olympics - you were simply better that day, but Euros were a completely different story.

[Apollo64]

it just doesn't seem fair if you don't give him credit

I think it is silly to dismiss Pau's worth, in my opinion he is the best big european basketball has ever produced.

[sseppel]

I think it is silly to dismiss Pau's worth, in my opinion he is the best big european basketball has ever produced.

Some people in America agree.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Ranking-the-power-forwards-10-through-1;_ylt=AqwXQxSsDMEx.X5kS3wNouK8vLYF?urn=nba-265161

[Srle]

Nobody is dismissing Pau Gasol talent. I am just saying he owes a lot to the European stars who went to the NBA before him. If they didn't make it in the NBA who knows what would happen with Pau. They opened the door for him made NBA teams interested in European players, some of them did probably influenced him and his career as well As far Pau / Nowitzki debate goes I would chose Nowitzki. It's unbelievable what he has done during his NBA career playing on the perimeter. He led German crappy national team to the gold medal by himself and if it wasn't for crooked NBA officials in 2005/2006 he could of been NBA champion with Dallas . While Pau Gasol could not pass the first round of the play off's as the leader of Memphis Grizzlies . Insert Dirk Nowitzki in La Lakers team he would win NBA Championship too. Don"t get me wrong Pau Gasol contribution to Lakers is humongous Kobe would never win those two championships without him but Nowitzki would done the same with Kobe Also I admired Dirk's loyalty to stick with the same team and try to win the title he even agreed for pay cut just to have the better shot to win

[Kwijibo]

Nobody is dismissing Pau Gasol talent. I am just saying he owes a lot to the European stars who went to the NBA before him. If they didn't make it in the NBA who knows what would happen with Pau. They opened the door for him made NBA teams interested in European players, some of them did probably influenced him and his career as well As far Pau / Nowitzki debate goes I would chose Nowitzki. It's unbelievable what he has done during his NBA career playing on the perimeter. He led German crappy national team to the gold medal by himself and if it wasn't for crooked NBA officials in 2005/2006 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting**************2005/2006******end_of_the_skype_highlighting he could of been NBA champion with Dallas . While Pau Gasol could not pass the first round of the play off's as the leader of Memphis Grizzlies . Insert Dirk Nowitzki in La Lakers team he would win NBA Championship too. Don"t get me wrong Pau Gasol contribution to Lakers is humongous Kobe would never win those two championships without him but Nowitzki would done the same with Kobe Also I admired Dirk's loyalty to stick with the same team and try to win the title he even agreed for pay cut just to have the better shot to win

If u say that lakers are better than dallas, u must say that dallas is better than memphis. Josh howard, jet terry, dampier, stackhouse vs posey, williams, swift omg.
Nowiztki with lakers = champion? We can't know it but we know that pau with lakers is 2 times champions. Nowizkti is better than gasols coring but gasol is better defending, rebounding, blocking, passing. Best team player than nowizki (due to the title of nowitzki and pau)

[sseppel]

Nobody is dismissing Pau Gasol talent. I am just saying he owes a lot to the European stars who went to the NBA before him. If they didn't make it in the NBA who knows what would happen with Pau. They opened the door for him made NBA teams interested in European players, some of them did probably influenced him and his career as well As far Pau / Nowitzki debate goes I would chose Nowitzki. It's unbelievable what he has done during his NBA career playing on the perimeter. He led German crappy national team to the gold medal by himself and if it wasn't for crooked NBA officials in 2005/2006 he could of been NBA champion with Dallas . While Pau Gasol could not pass the first round of the play off's as the leader of Memphis Grizzlies . Insert Dirk Nowitzki in La Lakers team he would win NBA Championship too. Don"t get me wrong Pau Gasol contribution to Lakers is humongous Kobe would never win those two championships without him but Nowitzki would done the same with Kobe Also I admired Dirk's loyalty to stick with the same team and try to win the title he even agreed for pay cut just to have the better shot to win

Germany never won the gold with Nowitzki. And you can't compare the mediocre team that Pau had in Memphis Grizzlies to Cuban's Mavericks, Nowitzki always had better teammates until Pau went to LA.

[Levenspiel]

As far Pau / Nowitzki debate goes I would chose Nowitzki.

I thought it's too obvious to discuss.
Galis was before my time, so i don't know him, but Gasol is hell of a player, I know that much. Nowhere near Nowitzki though. (imho).

We may need another topic if we continue like this.

[Darknemo2000]

Nobody is dismissing Pau Gasol talent. I am just saying he owes a lot to the European stars who went to the NBA before him. If they didn't make it in the NBA who knows what would happen with Pau. They opened the door for him made NBA teams interested in European players, some of them did probably influenced him and his career as well As far Pau / Nowitzki debate goes I would chose Nowitzki. It's unbelievable what he has done during his NBA career playing on the perimeter. He led German crappy national team to the gold medal by himself and if it wasn't for crooked NBA officials in 2005/2006 he could of been NBA champion with Dallas . While Pau Gasol could not pass the first round of the play off's as the leader of Memphis Grizzlies . Insert Dirk Nowitzki in La Lakers team he would win NBA Championship too. Don"t get me wrong Pau Gasol contribution to Lakers is humongous Kobe would never win those two championships without him but Nowitzki would done the same with Kobe Also I admired Dirk's loyalty to stick with the same team and try to win the title he even agreed for pay cut just to have the better shot to win

When did Germany won Gold medal with Nowitzki? I try to remember but cannot recall such event. I know they got Bronze in 2002 (WC) and Silver in 2005 (Euro), but where the heck Gold came from?

Anyways I do agree, that Nowitzki is a great player, so is Gasol or Galis or Sabonis or other past great names - I really don't see the reason to argue who was better.

[Srle]

Germany never won the gold with Nowitzki. And you can't compare the mediocre team that Pau had in Memphis Grizzlies to Cuban's Mavericks, Nowitzki always had better teammates until Pau went to LA.

Nowitzki led crappy team to the Eurobasket finals Gasol had adequate help. So Jason Terry, Eric Dampier, Josh Howard were the greatness Talent pool was similar in both Memphis and Dallas only thing that made difference is Nowitzki being more of the impact player than Gasol. I made mistake he led Germany to the finals which to me was accomplishment equal to the gold medal . That German team was horrible.