Nice job Coach K. White basketball beats black basketball any day of the week.

9/1/2006 4:57:37 AM

We continue to isolate and run one on one plays. The USA has yet to learn to play as a team like the rest of the world does. Also, we still do not have the proper team make up, no "pure" shooters to help spread the floor and attack the zone defense. Once Kobe and Michael Redd are added to the roster, plus a lot more practice together we'll be good to go.

The USA will win the gold in '08.

But fuck this losing shit in the meantime.

9/1/2006 6:08:23 AM

^ have you been watching the tournament play? we do isolate alot, but that doesn't mean they're not playing as a team. they're actually playing pretty decently as a team. chris paul is leading the whole tournament in assists, and broke the usa basketball assists record. his turnover to assist ratio is somewhere in the neighborhood of 17:1. yes, you're reading that right - 17:1! dwayne wade and lebron are also dishing out the ball alot, especially lebron. matter of fact, there have been a couple of times where the unselfishness was detrimental to the game. the guys are setting some very nice screens. they're also making some crazy passes, especially under the basket, that have lead to some highlight scores.

the usa has been destroying zone defenses... when we actually attack the middle. there are three reasons we lost to greece today:
1. too many 3's, and we weren't hitting them. iirc, we went 8-28 or something on 3's today. that's about how badly we shot the 3 in the last game too. the only person who hit any were anthony and hintrich. we had great success driving the ball in, but the usa kept going by to the three for some reason.
2. free-throws. we only got like 50% or something near that. pathetic.
3. pick-and-roll defense. fucking dismal. i swear greece scored about 40 points off pick-and-rolls. no lie. with about 3 minutes to go, the guys finally woke the fuck up and played solid pick-and-roll defense with switches. i don't know what the fuck they were thinking the rest of the game.

9/1/2006 6:27:48 AM

The USA will not win until Kobe plays with them!

9/1/2006 7:42:54 AM

couldnt hit threes that are much closer than the NBA distance

9/1/2006 8:24:57 AM

we'll be playing argentina for the bronze tomorrow at 6:30am (espn2).

spain just beat argentina 75-74 in a GREAT game. it was tied at 74-74 with 21.1 seconds left. spain came out of a timeout with the ball at halfcourt, and their center out with a sprained ankle. argentina quickly fouled, leaving ~18 seconds on the clock. jimmy v got a little shot out here, as his well-known strategy of fouling to get the ball back was acknowledged by the commentators. spain's shooter missed the first; made the second. ginolbi dribbled up the court, and argentina ran a couple of seconds off the clock. ginolbi starts to drive in, gets walled, and he slips down but passes the ball off the a teammate in the corner. the guy misses the three. spain gets the rebound with about 4 seconds left. there was a flurry of arms swiped all over, and no foul was called. spain wins.

9/1/2006 8:37:47 AM

Quote :

"The USA will not win until Kobe plays with them!"

what, so we can run more one-on-one bullshit? [NO]

I'm surprised, but not shocked by this - Greece is a really solid team that understands what you're going to give them, and takes advantage of it - and, and it is just one game, but man is it disappointing - we had survived terrible outside shooting in other games, but today it finally bit us

and greeks aren't filthy, thank you very much

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 8:42 AM. Reason : ]

9/1/2006 8:42:20 AM

I'm sick of the NBA passing off their game as if it is "basketball". Does anyone beside me notice that you cannot watch an NBA game after watching a college game, does it bore others like it bores me? Or how about the "star refereeing", where a person can draw a foul for looking at Dwyane Wade and not touching him? International rules are pretty much college rules with some tweaks, yet the NBA acts as if it is Cantonese to them. How the hell does a star NBA player not know how to guard a pick-and-roll?

If I was an NBA owner, I would go and hire some star European coach, give him an open checkbook to sign players that would fit his system (which would be cheaper compared to Stephon Marbury), cause it looks like that system would win three titles in succession.

9/1/2006 8:46:06 AM

you can't talk shit about nba refs if you've seen international referreeing. hell, you'd think acc refs were amazing after you watch an international game.

it wasn't a problem with the guys knowing how to guard a pick-and-roll. of course they know how to do that. you have to remember that our guys have only been together for 3 weeks before the tournament. greece's national team has been together for 7 years or something. it simply comes down to communication, recognition, and execution.

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 8:55 AM. Reason : ]

9/1/2006 8:52:39 AM

^ International refs are bad refs for everybody, so over time it evens out.

Star refereeing is a bad ref for the benefit of one person, so that's worse than being a bad ref for everybody.

I don't buy the 3 week excuse. They had 4 games pre-tournament and the 7 games in this tournament before this game, so that's 11 games together. Plus Krzyzewski brought the team together to wittle his players down to 12 before the exhibition games in at least two separate camps. So more like 3 months.

Quote :

"Greece shot 63 percent from the floor."

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 9:11 AM. Reason : /]

9/1/2006 8:55:08 AM

ive read that Coach K wasn't coaching in a similar fashion as he does with Duke

maybe if he went with something similar to that, and actually had some kind of offensive system to work with

9/1/2006 9:20:12 AM

FUCK YOU COACH K

9/1/2006 9:20:49 AM

USA gold '08

9/1/2006 9:23:26 AM

The only good thing about this loss is that it is one less thing that ESPN and the rest of the sports media can slurp Coach K's dick over. Plus we won't have to hear Vitale gush all college basketball season about how K made USA good at basketball again.

9/1/2006 9:25:27 AM

Quote :

"Or how about the "star refereeing", where a person can draw a foul for looking at Dwyane WadeJJ Redick and not touching him?"

9/1/2006 9:29:00 AM

Quote :

"If I was an NBA owner, I would go and hire some star European coach, give him an open checkbook to sign players that would fit his system (which would be cheaper compared to Stephon Marbury), cause it looks like that system would win three titles in succession."

Interesting idea, but I wouldn't be quite so sure about that. I'm sure they'd beat the Knicks and Hawks of the league, but the best teams in the NBA are really good. I've long been a proponent (well, long for like 2 years) that a good NBA team would fare better in international competition than the all-star teams we've been sending. For example, I firmly believe that if we sent the Detroit Pistons (who had just won the NBA title) to Athens in 2004, they would have won the gold medal. Why? You can't knock this current US team for lack of intensity, selfish egos, or any of the other "off-court" issues that have plagued US teams in the past. They played hard, they passed a lot, and they really wanted to win. But until USA Basketball realizes that 11 games just isn't enough to make a team, we're going to find ourselves in this position a lot over the next few decades. This involves not just the higher-ups and coaches figuring this out, but the players realizing it and committing to off-season camps every year (longer than 2 weeks), and as many games together as they can possibly play. Maybe that's not possible with an 8-month NBA season, but no one said this was going to be easy.

Yes, this team did play well together on offense. But defense is a team effort too. You don't defend a pick-and-roll by being really intense and having your hands out and having good positioning. You defend a pick-and-roll by having weak-side help and having another teammate come up from the post to cut off the roll man. It takes more than one person, and this is what USA Basketball has to figure out.

That being said, we're going to win the gold medal in '08. 2 more years of experience for this team (average age ~23), combined with Kobe, Redd, and Billups on the team, and 20 more pounds on Bosh and Howard will do wonders for this team. The question is, when we win the gold again, will it be a good thing for USA Basketball?

9/1/2006 10:39:29 AM

the problem isnt the players on the team per se...its their chemistry...its the fact that they havent been playing together as long as the other teams...you can believe by the time this group of players has a couple more years of familiarity we will win the gold in 08

9/1/2006 10:42:04 AM

I know that defense is a team thing, but I still have a hard time figuring out how these NBA professionals are unable to defend against a simple pick and roll. It's not like Greece is running these complex offensive sets. It's just a pick and roll or a pick and pop.

And I thought we loaded up on shooters this time around..? Where have they all gone? If Joe Johnson is our best shooter, then yeah, we're in trouble. And it's a crying shame that we can't shoot when the international line is shorter than the 3 point line.

When Kobe gets back, he won't let this team lose again.

9/1/2006 10:49:19 AM

Quote :

"simple pick and roll"

again it comes down to team chemistry...people knowing who has who when switching men and all that...stuff that nba players take for granted on their real teams...time will heal it

9/1/2006 10:50:28 AM

the team was shooting ~45% from the 3 prior to the germany and greece games (~28-30% in those two). it could simply be that the guys are tired. from what i've seen, germany and greece weren't guarding the three much better than the other teams. matter of fact, greece played zone almost the whole game, and germany played both zone and man about equally. carmelo has been consistently money from behind the arc.

also, just because the international arc is closer, that doesn't mean shooting the three is easier than in the nba. one explanation i'll offer you is that a shooter can become calibrated to the nba line, and needs some time to adjust to a new line. i've noticed that carmelo, in particular, has taken some "nba three's". however, to play devil's advocate on myself, i'll say that most of the guys are 2-3 years removed from college and high school, so they haven't really "locked on" to the nba line yet.

anyways, all that wouldn't matter if we would've just hit better than ~ 50% free throws. i know that atleast 14 were missed (the last stat i remember). we lost by 6 points. prior to the greece game, we were shooting somewhere around 77% freethrows.

also, we had a decent shot of tieing or winning with a about 16 seconds left. we were down by 4 points, and greece just got a 5 second violation from right under our basket. we inbounded to chris paul, and he passes out to carmelo anthony. he jacks up a three with a defender all up in his face, and he misses of course. we had enough time to get two points, then foul greece to put them on the line, and then hope they miss atleast one. if anything, that shot shouldn't have been taken. if coach k ordered a 3, then anthony should've passed to someone who had a better look.

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 11:06 AM. Reason : ]

9/1/2006 11:00:10 AM

Quote :

"I've long been a proponent (well, long for like 2 years) that a good NBA team would fare better in international competition than the all-star teams we've been sending. For example, I firmly believe that if we sent the Detroit Pistons (who had just won the NBA title) to Athens in 2004, they would have won the gold medal. "

I agree with this, and you gotta wonder if it even crosses the minds of some of the officials.

9/1/2006 11:05:05 AM

i think it does, but think it about like this

you are the owner of the Pistons...your financial success depends on how well the Pistons do...do you really put them through dozens and dozens and dozens of more games in the off season than any other team in the league? Potential injuries, working the players too hard, etc

Then you have other factors...lets say you wanted to send the Spurs over there since they won a couple years back...well two of your best players, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli wouldnt be playing for the American team since they're not American

9/1/2006 11:11:15 AM

i agree with that also, and i think most anyone would. everyone knows chemistry is the most important factor, especially in basketball. that's why we were embarassed at the last olympics - too much selfishness, and unfamilarity with one another.

however, that's why we finally have a national team now, which we've never had before. the team playing now will be the official usa basketball team for, what is it, 8 years? i believe it's one of the main reason bowens was cut - he is 32 years old and the rest of the team is under 25. a national team is what teams like greece, argentina, turkey, etc. have going from them. they recognized long ago that to succeed, you must build chemistry. the world has caught up and closed the gap immensely in terms of technical ability. their single greatest advantage has been a national team setup. i don't understand why it took usa basketball so long to form a team. this usa team will be alot better in the olympics after 2 years of practicing together, and not just because we'll have kobe and chauncey billups too.

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 11:14 AM. Reason : ]

9/1/2006 11:12:23 AM

Quote :

"i think it does, but think it about like this you are the owner of the Pistons...your financial success depends on how well the Pistons do...do you really put them through dozens and dozens and dozens of more games in the off season than any other team in the league? Potential injuries, working the players too hard, etc Then you have other factors...lets say you wanted to send the Spurs over there since they won a couple years back...well two of your best players, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli wouldnt be playing for the American team since they're not American "

Good point. You could replace Parker and Ginobli with some allstars like D-Wade or Lebron, but I think the bigger issue is what you pointed out in that the owners dont want to put their teams through those off season workouts.

9/1/2006 11:19:54 AM

even if the Spurs were better if you swapped Parker/Ginobli with Lebron/DWade...the team wouldnt have the same chemistry

9/1/2006 11:34:19 AM

sitting next to a greek friend in class, yeah he definately wore a greek shirt with a huge flag on the back today

9/1/2006 11:38:51 AM

you should've called him a pusti (pronounced "poo-stee")

9/1/2006 11:41:15 AM

i called him a douche

what does that mean?

9/1/2006 11:41:58 AM

Michael Redd and JJ Redick could have done wonders for this team.

How many open 3s can these millionaires miss?

9/1/2006 12:22:26 PM

Quote :

"i think it does, but think it about like this you are the owner of the Pistons...your financial success depends on how well the Pistons do...do you really put them through dozens and dozens and dozens of more games in the off season than any other team in the league? Potential injuries, working the players too hard, etc Then you have other factors...lets say you wanted to send the Spurs over there since they won a couple years back...well two of your best players, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli wouldnt be playing for the American team since they're not American"

That's why it would never work in reality. I just posed it as a hypothetical situation. But it illustrates the point that you do need team chemistry, and that's not something that can be built up over 11 games and a 2-week mini-camp. I do like the strategy that USA Basketball is taking, trying to have the same players on the team for multi-year commitments. But it's still going to require a lot of work and practice together, and not just a commitment to play together for a few weeks every two years.

9/1/2006 12:26:18 PM

everybody keeps talkin team chemsitry, and I agree... so whats with all the Kobe supporters? There isn't another player in the NBA that can kill team chemistry like Kobe. He is the biggest one man show available. It's pretty obvious what happened to his Lakers after he had all the good players and coaches fired so he could be the "star"

9/1/2006 12:44:32 PM

^FTW. GG.

Kobe would take his usual 40 shots and make the team worse.

Plus the local women would be in trouble too.

9/1/2006 12:46:01 PM

also, as far as defense goes... i think the USA team made a statement about how they valued defense when they cut the best defensive player on the team, bruce bowen ... i think they thought they would be able to just outscore everybody

9/1/2006 12:46:44 PM

plus Kobe would go whining and have the coach fired and all the players kicked off the team after they lost... while he defiled all the young teenage girls in greece

9/1/2006 12:48:20 PM

course maybe he would put up 81 points

9/1/2006 12:49:14 PM

Quote :

"i think it does, but think it about like this you are the owner of the Pistons...your financial success depends on how well the Pistons do...do you really put them through dozens and dozens and dozens of more games in the off season than any other team in the league? Potential injuries, working the players too hard, etc Then you have other factors...lets say you wanted to send the Spurs over there since they won a couple years back...well two of your best players, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli wouldnt be playing for the American team since they're not American"

Another problem would be that instead of representing USA, they would be representing the city of Detroit in reality. Would a Bulls or Pacers fan be able to cheer for USA national basketball team if it's really the Pistons in different uniforms?

9/1/2006 12:50:55 PM

kinda like how there are Tarheel fans who want(ed) the US to lose just because K is the coach

gimme a break tarholes

9/1/2006 1:14:36 PM

Nobody loves Kobe bashing more than me, but I'm convinced Kobe will be a great addition to this team. He instantly gives you a veteran, i.e. someone over the age of 25, and someone with a lot of championship experience. With all due respect to Wade, LeBron, Anthony, and all the foreign players out there, Kobe is the most dangerous scorer in the world. As TreeTwista said, he's capable of going for 50 or more any given night. On normal night, he's a very good shooter, and on nights when he's on, his range is anywhere over the mid-court line. No team will be daring the US to shoot threes if Kobe is in the backcourt. He's an outstanding defender, and with his experience and guile, he won't be falling for the same tricks over and over again like some of our guys did. Kobe nearly beat the Suns (about the closest thing the NBA has to an international team, and leaps and bounds better than the Lakers) by himself. Surround him with some good players, and I guarantee you he'll be smart enough to realize that he doesn't have to take every shot, and he can be much more selective, and if necessary, score on anyone in the world at will. I'm excited to have him on the team.

9/1/2006 1:21:14 PM

he use to be surrounded by great players... until he got selfish and had them all shipped to other teams

9/1/2006 1:26:14 PM

Quote :

"couldnt hit threes that are much closer than the NBA distance "

That really does throw your shot off tho

9/1/2006 1:32:09 PM

Quote :

"I'm sick of the NBA passing off their game as if it is "basketball"."

this makes no sense at all

9/1/2006 2:11:13 PM

anyone who wouldn't want kobe on any team is straight out fuckin' craaaaaaazy as hell! the motherfucker can straight out play! and he really isn't a ball hog like some people try to say he is. i'm confident that he would pass the ball off alot, instead of taking some open shots - much like lebron has been doing (although i wish he wouldn't so much). not only that, he was one of the few players who really wanted to play on the last olympic team; unlike most of the other stars who made up all kinds of excuses for not playing. kobe would terrorize international competition.

9/1/2006 4:52:28 PM