Team usa 2010

[Luíz for 3]

See, this is the problem I have with many of our Euro/international friends. They scrutinize and disect ev-er-y little thing, from how USA shakes your hands before the game to "how dare they not know Athens is the capital of Greece!! Off with their heads!!!!!". I mean, are you guys serious or joking? How do you know that Russel was serious here btw? So what if he didn't know and is telling the truth? You guys have to understand that your international competitions are larger than we consider them to be. USA soccer (football for you) had boners when they defeated Spain in the Confederations Cup last year. Spain took it as a joke and didn't care. What do you expect from a powerhouse team in their own sport?

Spain took it as a joke as you said, because it was the "friendly" Confederations Cup!!!

[CKR13]

With Rondo withdrawing from Team USA, the final 12 is set:

Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets);
Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks);
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors);
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder);
Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies);
Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers);
Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers);
Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers);
Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves);
Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers);
Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls);
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)

[Unimane]

Speaking as an American, here is my issue with threads like this. I am a big fan of two international sports, basketball and soccer (football).

In soccer, the USA is told that they are not important because they are not good enough and the European/World fans and players are justified in ignoring American players and teams due to their lack of capabilities when compared to the big powers.

However, in basketball, the USA is clearly the most dominant, yet still gets criticized for not showing proper respect for the European/World players, teams and leagues, which are all inferior to the American versions.

So, my problem is that people want it both ways in criticizing the American. In soccer, they judge us by our level of play and, in basketball, by our acceptance of the international aspects of the sport.

In reality, the American basketball team is in a no-win situation. Winning is expected and often a relief. Then, you have to deal with countries looking for any reason whatsoever to despise you and you wonder why even to bother. Fortunately for me, I am just a big basketball and USA fan, so I enjoy every win, but I can certainly understand why an American player wouldn't sign up every year to deal with all the crap.

[Unimane]

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/bar...us-in-trouble/

Even if they do bring their best players and they really manage to build a good 12-player group, even if a recent loss has made them realize that others are not trash, they still are miles behind the rest of the competition in terms of scouting, respect of other teams, lack of arrogance and understanding of the international game. After all, they were the best team in 2008, but they managed to finish fist only because of scandalous referee calls and extreme luck (Calderon, Ginobili, Nocioni, all injured in the Final and Semi, Rubio and Raul having 5 fouls early in 4th qtr)

Nobody is blaming the players for not being professional enough to know the players of the other teams during an NBA season, but the scouting team, the coaching staff and the organization should (and doesn't) realize how silly it is for the players to not get even a damn video of the 2008 Olympics finals, or a report of the names of the coaches and the best players of each other team. Plus, the players who are playing in the NBA

The years that the uneducated Americans still thought of Europe as one country are not gone yet. Unfortunately, these guys have surprisingly many chances of even winning the damn thing after FIBA's organized "crime" ready to happen (against Greece and Serbia) and Calderon's injury

By the way, the entire bolded paragraph is entire and complete bullsh-t.

[Dtown]

Unimane, Unimane, Unimane. It's that time of year again. Don't expect little things like facts to stop people from getting their hate on. It's cathartic for a lot of Euros. Let them have their fun. Let what happens on the court be your vindication.

If we lose fine, we didn't have it this year, be a man admit it.

If we win feel good, but don't expect some of these posters to man up and give the US props. 2008 didn't change a thing in some trolls' minds, even if we win this year in 2012 we'll see the same articles about US ignorance and arrogance and how the NBA is the root of all evil.

The Vet US fans need to remember the lessons of 2008, keep cool heads, and if necessary make good use of the ignore button.

[Unimane]

Unimane, Unimane, Unimane. It's that time of year again. Don't expect little things like facts to stop people from getting their hate on. It's cathartic for a lot of Euros. Let them have their fun. Let what happens on the court be your vindication.

If we lose fine, we didn't have it this year, be a man admit it.

If we win feel good, but don't expect some of these posters to man up and give the US props. 2008 didn't change a thing in some trolls' minds, even if we win this year in 2012 we'll see the same articles about US ignorance and arrogance and how the NBA is the root of all evil.

The Vet US fans need to remember the lessons of 2008, keep cool heads, and if necessary make good use of the ignore button.

You are wrong, my friend. We did not win in 2008. The tournament was given to us by shady refs that allowed Americans an unfair advantage of 7 steps before dribbling. Surely, the one loss in six years proves that the rest of the world is as good as the Americans and we are arrogant for not bending down and kissing the ass of every international player as well as acknowledging the clear superiority of Euroleague teams that would win 10% of their games in the NBA.

[christodoulou76]

You are wrong, my friend. We did not win in 2008. The tournament was given to us by shady refs that allowed Americans an unfair advantage of 7 steps before dribbling. Surely, the one loss in six years proves that the rest of the world is as good as the Americans and we are arrogant for not bending down and kissing the ass of every international player as well as acknowledging the clear superiority of Euroleague teams that would win 10% of their games in the NBA.

You are making a very basic mistake. You are finding the stupidest comment made about the US and responding to it. Many people here have posted positive comments about the American team, wished them well, etc. By focusing on the most inane comments, this gives you a justification for hating on some other team or its fans by generalizing about them (i.e. all Greeks must harbor ill will toward the American team so you (or at least Downtown) want them to "fall on their face"). Over the last week I have read the most disgusting comments from some Serbian and Spanish posters (primarily) about the Greek players, the Greek team, Greece as a nation, etc. But I have not responded because it is beneath me to respond. I focus on those posters who say interesting, insightful, enthusiastic things about the teams and players of the upcoming WC. By taking the bait again and again, you are simply perpetuating those aspects of the discussion that are not worth perpetuating. And you are promoting a position that all the sane members of the board already agree with. Does the USA's superiority in the 2008 Olympics need to be defended? Not really. If someone says all Americans are aliens, would you feel the need to defend Americans against this scurrilous attack? No, it wouldn't be worth your time. But of course who am I to suggest what people should talk about. The thing that annoys me is that those who counter inane statements think they are taking the high road. But ignoring such statements would be taking the high road. Responding to them merely perpetuates the agony for the rest of us who have to read these ridiculous exchanges.

[Unimane]

You are making a very basic mistake. You are finding the stupidest comment made about the US and responding to it. Many people here have posted positive comments about the American team, wished them well, etc. By focusing on the most inane comments, this gives you a justification for hating on some other team or its fans by generalizing about them (i.e. all Greeks must harbor ill will toward the American team so you (or at least Downtown) want them to "fall on their face"). Over the last week I have read the most disgusting comments from some Serbian and Spanish posters (primarily) about the Greek players, the Greek team, Greece as a nation, etc. But I have not responded because it is beneath me to respond. I focus on those posters who say interesting, insightful, enthusiastic things about the teams and players of the upcoming WC. By taking the bait again and again, you are simply perpetuating those aspects of the discussion that are not worth perpetuating. And you are promoting a position that all the sane members of the board already agree with. Does the USA's superiority in the 2008 Olympics need to be defended? Not really. If someone says all Americans are aliens, would you feel the need to defend Americans against this scurrilous attack? No, it wouldn't be worth your time. But of course who am I to suggest what people should talk about. The thing that annoys me is that those who counter inane statements think they are taking the high road. But ignoring such statements would be taking the high road. Responding to them merely perpetuates the agony for the rest of us who have to read these ridiculous exchanges.

Actually, I quite like the Greek team (The Spanish, not so much). I was really just engaging in some hyperbole with my American compatriot, but there is a lot of the attitudes expressed against Americans that I expressed above, especially the whole travelling, refs thing from the Olympics final.

[Dtown]

all Greeks must harbor ill will toward the American team so you (or at least Downtown) want them to "fall on their face").

Meh, Like I said it's cathartic. Like hating the Lakers or Heat, or in the Greeks case Panathinaikos or Olympiacos , it's fun to designate a team as "my enemy".

I don't blame people for hating (and most of the time that's too strong a word, with a few exceptions) the USA. In fact its one of the reasons I post here, rivalry makes sports forums interesting.

Though at the same time, I'm not going to get into flame wars over any of this, and I encourage other posters to do the same.

The one bit of advice I'd say going into this tournament. It's one thing to hate a specific team, but keep it at that. Don't make it country vs country, culture vs culture, etc etc. Just remember it's a game, a game we all love mind you, but it shouldn't turn into an obsession that sends some frothing at the mouth.

[bnjamin10]

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/bar...us-in-trouble/

[B]Even if they do bring their best players and they really manage to build a good 12-player group, even if a recent loss has made them realize that others are not trash, they still are miles behind the rest of the competition in terms of scouting, respect of other teams, lack of arrogance and understanding of the international game. After all, they were the best team in 2008, but they managed to finish fisrt only because of scandalous referee calls and extreme luck (Calderon, Ginobili, Nocioni, all injured in the Final and Semi, Rubio and Raul having 5 fouls early in 4th qtr)

So beating every team by at least 30 points except for Spain in the Final whom they had already beat by nearly 40 points means the USA scouting is terrible, they have no respect for other teams, no understanding of the international game and needed extreme amounts of luck to take home the gold. (sorry, didn't want this to be my first post but this comment was ridiculous)

Its not full of nba megastars, but the USA still is arguably the most talented team in the tournament that will undoubtedly play harder with the opportunity than the guys signing new contracts. Billups is a proven winner even if the stats don't show it, Durant/rose are the most exciting young players in the NBA, and the rest of the USA team aren't household names because they play on teams that aren't contenders. (sans odom)

If fiba wants all the best players to play in the World Championships they should change the olympics to a u23 tournament like in football/soccer other wise the US and other counries' stars are going to sit this competition out as they get older. (still can't wait for this to get started)

[Perseus]

or leave it this way and you will see a WC gold after 50 years.

[Panathinaikos Athens]

If there is no arrogance from USA side why did your NT receive their bronze medals in 2006 after the 3d-4th place final game?
Why they didn't stay to receive their medals after the WC final ?
That's how it works.

There's a medal stand after the games with three steps.
The first team get on number 1 stand, the second one on number 2 stand, and the third one on number 3 stand.

Is that because you just didn't like that system, that ceremony after the end of the games, or is it because you wouldn't like a picture of US team as 3d next to the others?

I have no dislike for Americans. I believe that Americans just because they are people from all over the world who gathered in one land and create a Country before 200 years, they love their country, and they have made it one of the best democratic countries of the world.

Many Americans are from other countries. But if you ask them which country they love most, the country of their birth, or the one they live and work for, they will answer you that they love more US.
That is important for a country to make the foreigners who comes to USA and get the American nationality, to truly love the country and feel it as home.

Something we can't make happen with Albanians here in Greece. They take the Greek nationality but they will never feel Greek.

USA is another thing. I respect the country.

But the true is that US team has been arrogance. And i am talking about the basketball team. In other NT of USA you don't see that.
Maybe it is because they feel that they are the power house in this game, which they are of course.

I am sad as a basketball fan because US team don't give us the opportunity to see again a real dream team and all those players we watch in NBA.
That's why am pissed off.

But then again in a second thought maybe it is for our own good that US don't bring a real dream team to WC tournaments and we have our chances to beat them.

[the_black_planet]

Pity for cutting Rajon First Nene,Varejao and Calderon were injured,Udrih withdrawn from Slovenia and now this,some of the best remaining players of the tournament are out,what is remaining now,only Hedo,Rudy,Dragic,Barbosa,Scola,Nocioni,Diaw and some players from Team USA,Durant and Billups the most.It's a very poor sum compared for example to the last WC with Nowitski,Gasol,Ginobili and so...Just hope that some new talents will rise like Ricky,Macvan and Tomic but in overall it's rather dissapointing and will withdraw much interest for the tournament.Really why do you think Rondo was cut?He was maybe exhausted after playing finals this year but in that case someone of similar talent should have been on his position from the beginning,let's say Paul or Deron who didn't go that far in the play offs.Fuck it Rajon was the best name of the tournament so far and maybe the best PG in the game after Nash...Just one objection my friend Luíz for 3,Westbrook to me is not in the same level as Gordon,he had a terrific year with Oklahoma,he looks very matured and controlled player and maybe he will be a nice surprise in this tournament

[planaria]

Where do you read about Varejão been out??? He even played some minutes last night.

And believe. All WC tournament is the same thing. You always start thinking there are no talent left there, but after all you´ll see that big time players were actually playing.

Before the WC 2002, everybody only told about guys like Shaq, TD, Kobe, not playing the tournament.

After the WC 2002, Dirk was pointed as one of the 5 best players in the world, several little known argentines became internacional stars (Manu, Scola, Nocioni, Oberto, Pepe Sanchez, Walter Hermann), guys like Bodiroga earned their passport to HOF, etc etc.

I believe the same will happen after this WC. It´s a good border of careers...

[the_black_planet]

I thought so,I read the he got injured some time and he didn't play for many games lately.Is he playing?A good news at last!(not so big but anyway)