Quarterfinals, USA vs. Russia

[Federoy]

well when one reads the history of your posts, one notices you are always claiming you are correct and everybody else is wrong..
which sounds a bit.. i dont know what

They're commonly called OPINIONS, which of course everyone has. When have I ever berated someone for thinking differently? Just because I disagree--and tell you so--doesn't mean I'm claiming to know everything. I've been on this forum for six years and my body of work speaks for itself. You just got here..what... a week ago and you're telling me what I'm about? WOW.

[lntrud3r]

so you can tell me what i am about but i cant.. and then suddenly come up with everybody can have their opinions.. which i already said 3 pages ago, but seems it slipped your eyes.. you think you have one of those america-haters harassing you.. you are mistaken.. i never used the tone in my messages you use but still you are so pumped up against me.. but anyway still.. since none of my claims were unsupported, i dont have a weak spot..

They're commonly called OPINIONS, which of course everyone has. When have I ever berated someone for thinking differently? Just because I disagree--and tell you so--doesn't mean I'm claiming to know everything. I've been on this forum for six years and my body of work speaks for itself. You just got here..what... a week ago and you're telling me what I'm about? WOW.

You're suggesting that you're imparial because you don't have Russian or American nationality? That's absurd. Being bias doesn't require national ties. You"ll chide Americans for looking at the game with biasness yet you won't acknowledge that there are Europeans, including yourself, that hold their biasness against the US. Need I remind you, the US is playing the international game not the NBA game, so any rule interpretations are dictated by FIBA officials. This BS about "Americans getting the favorably call" is non-sense. Like that's actually the reason the US is winning these games.

why is the general american reaction is in the tune of "shut up, open your eyes and watch the game".. i mean isnt there a possibility that somebody other than americans having also above average basketball knowledge.. and for your information, you are rooting for your own country which makes you more subjective than other posters here.. i am neither russian nor american.. i am just watching the game and writing what i see.. and believe it or not i am not one of those you put in the "american haters" bandwagon.. i havent written anything offensive or out of place.. just told you what i saw.. but if you think i am not entitled to my opinion.. what can i say..

[bobo81]

Wow it's been like almost 2 pages since the game was actually analyzed, if any

Despite that I think Durant needs to cool it on some of those shots the kid is a monster. I hope he continues to play good, if not, better for the rest of our games. He is looking MVP status right now.

As much as I like Rose he just looks so unfluid out there. I am not sure if it's what Coach K has told him or the fact that this tourney is something different for him.

Odem can be useless, but this game he looked a little better. I cannot blame coach for starting him, Chandler is a bone head.

[Raa]

I think Russian team needs at least one sharpshooter (sounds ironic, I know) and they will be very dangerous team.

[bobo81]

I think Russian team needs at least one sharpshooter (sounds ironic, I know) and they will be very dangerous team.

I agree with you. I just think it's a shame since I was expecting JR and AK. Oh well, they have a bright future. I will be watching them in the Euros.

[Dtown]

Managed to watch the game live, but didn't have access to a computer.

Russians impressed me, but the US outlasted them.

I didn't see a problem with free throws, since Russia seemed far more perimeter based in the first half (I did miss the first quarter though.) When they attacked the basket later in the game the free throw disparity lessened.

Jimmy V: Survive and advance

Bring on Lithuania

[usagre]

Enlightenment is finding that there is nothing to find.So an ignorant is enlightened enough!

wow! you must be a descendant of socrates or plato.

[goga78]

Re-watching the game won't change peoples' perceptions. If you are one of the many who believe Russia got jobbed by the refs (despite two of the refs being European) then re-watching it is only going to re-affirm what you already believe. Truth be told, the officiating has been inconsistent all tournament long, but it's only when the result doesn't go the crowds' way that people start bitching and complaining. There's no mystery here: the US drew more fouls because they attacked the basket more; a style of play which is a staple of USA Basketball dating back to the 1960s. The FT disparity reflects that aggressiveness, so this conspiracy talk that FIBA is coaching its officials to give the US a break is ridiculous. How does it benefit FIBA to continually help the United States when as an organization they're seeking to grow the sport and generate interests? You don't do that by making the rich richer, so if anything, the US is at a disadvantage because ultimately it doesn't serve FIBA's interests to help the US if its goal is to promote the sport beyond the traditional powers.

Well, if the re-watch the game and take notes instead of overall perception of what has happened, it might help.

Officiating was quite bad throughout the tournament, since many refs from underdevloped basketball regions were allowed to blow their whistle. FIBA has to stop giving chances to refs from everywhere and start employing only truly good and battle-proof ones.

One of the refs yesterday was from DomRep. You've gotta pay attention to what he whistled and what the other two did. I don't believe in any conspiracy theories regarding FIBA and US basketball and there might have been a different team instead of the US one getting those calls yesterday but on this day, it was the US team being treated with preference at key moments of the game. Statistics at the end of the game (pretty balanced foul statistics) don't say much because those statistics can be easily balanced when all is being said and done. Russian Basketball Federation is the best example how such officiating can be done. Heck, I even experienced it myself ones, when we had a league game and had conceded only 19 points in the first half of one game, while having been whistled for only four fouls. When the refs saw this statistic, they started whistling every our move in the second half because in their minds, good defense without fouling much could not be done against a physical home team. Was there a conspiracy against us? No. Were the refs bad? Yes. The US team got lots of calls not by driving to basket but far away from it. Every contact and supposed contact was whistled.

The US team surely didn't get the victory handed out by the refs, rather by Billups and Durant who have played a really good game. Everybody else on the US team played like crap, especially given their abilities and limitations of their opponents.

Absolutely. The Russian team showed a lot of character in defeat. But don't sell them short either. Blatt's teams are well schooled and had the size and athleticism to give this relatively small US team all it could handle. They don't have a team of superstar individuals but they employ a solid team system of basketball that serves them well. Another Blatt coached Russian team, with slightly different personnel, give the US "A" team in 2008 similar trouble during an exhibition game in China, so coming into this contest it wasn't inconceivable that this lesser-US team could lose to Russia. At any rate, the refs didn't cost Russia the game, so people need to stop searching for excuses to explain the US victory.

These situations are not comparable. First, European coaches don't open all of their cards before the tournament and its meaningful games. US squads don't follow this rule as they don't have much to hide. Their players can be watched by everyone on Pay TV and the don't run a lot of schemes, instead relying on transition game. Second, while US players can easily substitute great players for good ones without a dropoff in shooting or athletic ability, Russia missed three key players in this tournament, who cannot be substituted, neither on defense, where all three agre great, nor on offense, which the are able to run, involving their teammates. There is no equal substitution for them. Even somewhat equal. The dropoff level is significant.

Blatt has once again squeezed everything and more out of this team. Their record is surel better than their overall game on this tournament but it's only the result that counts.

Is there any other PG on Planet Earth, who absolutely can't hit shots like Ponkrashov? I mean, if this guy would at least be inconsistent in his shooting... He is simply really bad. If he could knock down one or another jumper a game, he would give defenses lots of troubles, because his penetration is quite okay, while he also has a good eye for his teammates.