Humble team conquered gold (and hearts)
Seems like old times.
This is where I came in, with the U.S. dominant and its Olympic team playing its rear end off.
The first Games I covered were in 1984 in Los Angeles when Bob Knight drove his college players as only he could. With their star power – Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Sam Perkins – and that level of effort, the world was overmatched. The talk then was that it, along with the 1960 team with Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, were the best there ever were.
The 2008 U.S. team was like the pro version of Knight’s team, with the same effort and even more star power. That was fortunate for the Americans because when they got into that shootout at the end with Spain, they needed every bit of firepower they had.
Even in 1984, things were changing, although no one knew how much.
As good as Knight’s team was, there was someone out there capable of playing with them – the USSR – but it boycotted.
Four years later at Seoul, the last Soviet Olympic team with Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis and a cast of jump shooters whipped John Thompson’s U.S. squad fair and square. That did it for U.S. college players, who bowed out in favor of the NBA stars who were supposed to put the U.S. back on top forever, starting with the Dream Team’s triumph at Barcelona in 1992.
It turned out to be forever or 10 years, whichever came first.
Boris Stankovic, the far-sighted head of FIBA who made it possible for the professionals to participate, turned out to be even farther-sighted than he knew.
“Now NBA players are dominating,” said Stankovic at Barcelona, “but one day – not in my lifetime but one day – the world will catch up.”
Stankovic is still going strong and if the world hasn’t caught up, it has definitely closed the gap.
It wasn’t long before the Americans couldn’t just show up and accept everyone’s surrender. If they couldn’t shoot, had no chemistry and/or weren’t together long to prepare for the international game, they were in trouble. As U.S. scout Tony Ronzone, the Pistons’ director of basketball operations said in Beijing last week, “And that’s all we sent.”
At the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, the pros representing the U.S. lost their first game, to Argentina. For good measure, they then lost to Yugoslavia and Spain, too.
Then came the Athenian Nightmare in 2004, when nine members of the team that qualified the preceding summer bailed amid scare stories about terrorism. Larry Brown wound up with a makeshift team with Stephon Marbury at the point, Lamar Odom and Richard Jefferson at forward… And lost three more games.
Then the U.S. got serious, with Jerry Colangelo setting up an ongoing program and Coach Mike Krzyzewski making sure his team had plenty of time to prepare for the 2006 Worlds in Saitama, Japan, where they… lost?
Greece stunned them in the semifinals as point guard Vassilis Spanoulis ran pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll down the stretch and the U.S. broke down completely.
That was how far the world had come. Even if the U.S. players parked their attitudes, put in the time and took it seriously, they weren’t guaranteed anything if all the pieces weren’t there. Indeed, there was one piece of the puzzle missing but it – he – arrived the next summer in the person of Kobe Bryant.
Out the summer before after knee surgery, Bryant came joined the team for the 2007 Tournament of the Americas, determined to make an impact on defense. This was a suprise for anyone who didn’t know Bryant but he had seen the game against Greece – which aired at 3 am on the West Coast – which was all he had to see.
On the very first possession of his Bryant’s first game against Venezuela, he pounced on point guard Greivis Vasquez, a rising freshman at Maryland who had missed a triple-double by one rebound in his first game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Bryant tipped the ball away, dove on the floor after it and when Vasquez got it back, jumped up, stole Vasquez’s next pass and started a fast break the other way.
“That’s the clip Coach K always uses, Kobe diving on the floor,” says Ronzone. “You’re talking about an MVP player in the NBA who just made a statement to USA. basketball… And what that did is it took our defense to another level. What you’re seeing is something that started last summer in Las Vegas, which is amazing.”
Even the Dream Team wasn’t known for its defense but for its firepower and star power.
If the 2008 team resembled Knight’s, it’s no coincidence. Knight was once Krzyzewski’s mentor; Krzyzewski even broke down game film for him at Los Angeles. Kryzewski’s team would be one of the smallest teams the U.S. had sent in decades with no seven-footer and only Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh over 6-9. It was also probably the most athletic they ever sent with Howard and Bosh able to get out on shooters.
This team was more than just good. In a refreshing change, it was nice.
After years of arrogance and macho that turned the world off as fast as the Dream Team turned it on, Colangelo and Krzyzewski set out to show the U.S. could regain its preeminence without looking like an And 1 Mixtape.
The horror show had started in the 1994 Worlds at Toronto where the so-called “Dream Team II” with its Young Guns, put on an Ugly American Clinic. Bristling at comparisons to the Dream Team whose play they couldn’t begin to match, the Young Guns, notably Larry Johnson, Derrick Coleman and Shawn Kemp, showboated, rubbed it in opponents’ faces and talked trash.
That deal where the opposing teams wanted their pictures taken with the Dream Team? That ended at Toronto.
“I don’t know if vile is the right word or disgusting,” said Australia’s Andrew Gaze. “There should be at least some pleasure in playing the game, some dignity.”
Replied Johnson: “I didn’t come here to make friends. I’ve got enough friends.”
All it took was some leadership and all of that went away.
“I really do believe from everything I know from people I respect, the people in the world thought the American teams didn’t respect them,” says Colangelo. “Didn’t respect them as teams, as individuals, arrogant, that kind of thing. And that had to end….
“From those first meetings with players, I said, ‘Look, this is what people think of us. We have to change this. We have to come in with a whole new attitude. We have to show respect for our country, show respect for our team, show respect for our opponents. And anything less than that’s not going to fly.’”
Old foes like Gaze and Lithuania’s Sarunas Jasikevicius who had bristled at their old arrogance, noticed the difference.
“I think they’ve been outstanding, the way they’ve conducted themselves,” said Gaze, doing TV at Beijing. “They may be coming from a fairly low base from some of their predecessors in the way they’ve gone about it….
“I think they’ve really taken on the challenge, not only to resurrect the reputation of what goes on the court but what goes off the court.”
Nevertheless, as great as this U.S. team was, Spain stood up to it in the finals even while giving up 118 points, scoring 107, taking the formidable U.S. defense apart, highlighted the driving dunk Rudy Fernandez threw down in Howard’s mug.
I’m pretty confident Spain would have beaten the 2000 U.S. team that night. (Of course, it would have beaten the 2004 team. Like, who didn’t?) The 1996 team with Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley might have been in trouble.
Unfortunately for the game, which gains immeasurably from real drama in the Olympics – even if it doesn’t go over so well in the U.S. – FIBA is about to change things again.
By 2012 in London, the conical lane will be gone and the three-point line will have been moved back from it’s present 20-6, one foot longer than the college line to 22-2.
Insiders say FIBA is doing it to get one set of rules worldwide, in the sure knowledge the NBA won’t be changing its rules. The international rules evened things out, minimizing the impact of all that U.S. athleticism, enhancing the importance of the international teams’ shooting prowess.
Not only isn’t anything broken, it was really getting interesting, so why are they trying to fix it?
Anyway, there’s no doubt the U.S. is back. For how long remains to be seen.
And1 Said,
August 25, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
Hold on.Team USA won by an average of 28 points in the Olympics.Went 8-0.Beat Spain,the next “best” team twice by an average of 24 pionts.Lets not get too flowery about how much the rest of the world has “closed the gap”.And you can’t mention Ugly Americanism without recalling the cheap shots Austrailia and Argentina used to try and goad our players into ejections.I was there and saw it.America han’t cornered the market on arrogance.By the way,everybody else needs to line up behind Team USA to get thier Silver and Bronze medals in Turkey in 2010 at the worlds and 2012 in London.
ryan Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 12:05 am
I think there are still some instances down the stretch which can be avoided, like Kobe’s “shhhh” gesture and Dwyane Wade making a face with that pout. I know they’re just into the game, but I don’t see other teams doing it.
Mike Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 12:59 am
Mark, I enjoy your columns for the LA Times.
This was also a nice article, only one thing I’d strongly disagree with. I think the FIBA changes of getting rid of the trapezoid lane and moving the three-point line back will make it much easier for the more athletic Americans, because it will open up the floor for the guards and small forwards to drive and the bigs inside to back in and their opponents and dominate.
Better Version Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 3:24 am
From a purist perspective, the 2008 US Team played together and maximized their potential on the court. Bravo to them, they did what was needed. But aside from a couple of nice LeBron dunks, this squad was honestly pretty boring from a fan’s perspective - too nice and too humble. No one had anything remotely insightful or humorous or controversial to contribute, with any hope of the players expressing any individual opinions,(the atrocities in Darfur come to mind) stamped out by the conformist boot of Colangelo. The players were prepared like soldiers and performed as such. *Yawn* For me personally, I preferred the unfettered charisma of the Magics, Birds and Barkleys of the 1992 team - that was entertainment. This team was kinda meh in comparison.
Yakov Kestenbaum Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 10:19 am
It is true that the world has caught up because the sport grew so much and is now so huge all around the world. American fans never even knew the names of the players on the opponents’ teams before and slowly they are beginning to get nervous before games (even when we have LeBron James, Kobe, etc. and should be overly confident). 2 years ago Steve Nash, a Canadian was MVP, and Dirk, a German was MVP 3 years ago. The Euroleague is better than ever these days and should be even better next year when all these NBA players are going there to play. The Big point that needs to be made is that Olympic basketball is a different game than the NBA game. Just like Many superstar college players cannot convert to the style of the NBA, the same goes for NBA players to adjust to Global basketball. The European teams have also played together for years and know each other very well. One of the big reasons the US won is because they had a 3 year commitment to the Olympic program. That will also make the next year in NBA basketball so competitive and fun to watch. All the role players sat by the pool all summer while all the best players practiced all day long and won medals. the all star game should be so fun to watch.
some more suggestions for next olympics’ team are Paul pierce, Monta Ellis, and give iverson another chance!
observer Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 11:21 am
Nobody talks about the referees’ help USA Team had?? You know, FIBA’s Travelling, 3 seconds on the key…
LilDave Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
I truly agree with the statement that “the world has closed the gap, but not caught up”. Games are much tougher these days, but there is not a team in the world that can field a team like Team USA. The next best team in the world was Spain, and it took Navarro and Fernandez playing WAAAAAY over their heads to make that game close. Navarro couldnt find the rim the entire tournament, and all of a sudden he looks better than CP3? and Rudy Fernandez??? The dude has a ton of confidence, but everything he put up was going in. That is not his game. But, I do think Spain is a beast of a team. Don’t get me wrong. I am happy to see how well the world is playing as a whole. They all are gaining confidence and bringing some intriguing matchups between each other. There aren’t too many matchups that you know are going to be a “cake walk”.
And as for the “shhhh” by Kobe, and the frowning face by Wade…. I love it! Other teams arent playing nasty and doing all types of antics? Are you serious? Did you watch the final against Spain? Every non-foul call the entire Spanish bench would jump up and scream and yell at refs and US players. Throwing towels. Australian players known as hackers, trying to get under D. Howards and Carmello’s skin by hacking the crap out of them. It happens in every game. Team USA represented us extremely well with class and dignity. I loved every second of the competition.
Dan Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
Kobe was the difference. He set the defensive tone for the team, held off on his offense, and showed up with it in the final game when the team needed that firepower the most. He was indeed the missing component to the 2008 Dream Team.
Don Sellers Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
The most touching moment for me was when LeBron, Jason, and the rest of the team went over to Doug Collins and hugged or gave him a handshake one by one. That was first class. After coaching in China while the 2004 Greece Olympics were going on and having to answer media questions about how the world had caught up to the USA, I said then and will continue to say that they have gotten better and they are catching up, but remember who in most cases taught them the game. There were tours in countries by players back in Wayne Embry’s days, guys like Larry Farmer going across the water when it was thought of as crazy to go overseas to coach. Former NBA players like Mike McGee, Kenny Fields, Jawann Oldham and John Spencer being the first NBA guys to play over in China. Guys like Tony Ranzone, Don Nelson Jr. and hopefully myself going over and seeing or coaching players like Hui Wei Dong, Sun Jun, Yao Ming, Wang Zhi Zhi and now Sun Yue and working with these players and having a major influence on not only how the game is played in the USA. but the passion it is played with. Congrats to the 2008 Senior Mens Team and coaching staff for representing the USA passion, pride, and dignity. Another component that was crucial to the success of this team was the foreign experience brought to this team by Mike D’Antoni and the aforementioned Ranzone and scouting staff. Hell of a job fellas. The media talked a lot about Mr. Colangelo’s ability to relax the egos of this team and that is very true, but the relaxing of his own ego was a major component of this teams success, bringing in guys like Jerry West, Mike Jordan, Earvin Johnson and Doug Collins and people who had been through the highs and lows of the olympics experience to get an understanding of what it took before adding a player or a coach. Great job JC.
D-Sell
Simon Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 5:51 pm
Humble?? you’ve got to be sh*tting me right? Thats an attempt at humor? Right?
Humble would be not doing a “shhh” after hitting a shot. Humble is staying in the Olympic Village with Every other Olympian, wether you can afford a 6 star hotel or not.
The Bottom line is they were never humble. They were just the best on a day where Spains starting Point and NBA Star Jose Calderon didn’t play and they had to let a 17 year old backup take it to the Dream team and fall short.
mr. A Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
“NBA Star Jose Calderon”?!
REALLY?!
Jose Calderon is a good player, don’t get me wrong.. but a STAR in the NBA?!
hahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaa
D-Man Said,
August 26, 2008 @ 8:49 pm
Wow! If NBA star (huh??) Jose Calderon played, then the US would have lost the game?! Give me a break!! Spain played practically a perfect game and WAY over their heads to make it competitive.
What surprised me was how much restraint the referees showed given the constant bitching, whining and towel throwing the entire Spanish team showed. They should have received T’s at least a couple of times for their unprofessional behavior.
Team USA showed tremendous class in not giving in to dirty ball Spain was playing. i.e. Mumbru undercutting Dwayne Wade when he attempted a 3 pt shot at end of 1st half; Rodriguez throwing a sneaky but very obvious hard elbow that knocked C. Paul down.
Scola said it best after Argentina’s losss to Team USA “You have to play dirty ball against the US to take them out of their game and not Showtime ball because they jump higher, are quicker and stronger”
That’s what they did while questioning every call against them at the same time. Too bad for them Team USA had the focus, discipline and talent to prevail.
Skorpio Said,
August 27, 2008 @ 8:46 am
Yes, Calderon is an NBA Star last season almost in the All-Star Game.
USA 118 points because 2 tecnical foults in last minute.
Spain lost the game because USA Players are phisically better and took two or three wrong decisions and a Jimenez three shot at the final moments went out.
Referees were ok
If Spain had played a perfect game,now they would have gold medal,no doubt about it.(Perfect game=right decisions almost every time.)
I enjoyed every minute of tha game because both teams are absolutely great .Congratulations USA for the Gold and Congratulations Spain for the Great,Great Silver medal with gold taste.
Only one thing that i don´t like is some people in USA despises the rest of the world. Why?,i can’t understand,anyway,peace and love for everyone.
Dan Said,
August 27, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
If you forget about the jersey’s color and just look at the game as Team A vs Team B with FIBA’s rulebook at hand you’ll not¡ce that the referees forgot about some rules such as travelling, 3-seconds, offensive fouls in the paint positioning for rebounds, the zone defending team having more PF’s than the full-court pressure team, and guess which team benefited from it.
If they let Team USA play with NBA rules, at least they should warn the other teams.
About FIBA switching to the NBA 3 and paint, I think it’s fine that every court will be the same, but I think that FIBA rules are better because they force team play and tactics, while NBA rules help star players to shine. FIBA rules are better for a fine sport, while NBA rules are better for a marketing machine.
reggie Said,
August 27, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
I gotta agree with Ryan and Simon… While some of the US Team were humbleR than they usually are, they still showed disrespect throughout. As good as Lebron and Dwayne Wade are, there constant staring down opponents after dunks along with other intimidation tactics were unnecessary. Little showtime dunks showed their arrogance. Kobe played respectfully MOST of the time, but that “shhhh..” stuff told me he was just showing restraint from his real “I’m an NBA star” persona. Carmelo was also a mixed bag trying to pick fights.
I swear, the NBA players are a bunch of crybabies on all the calls. Half of them might as well have been named Jasikevicius (one of the few NBA-like Euro personalities) in the way they whined after every play.
Jonathan Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 7:18 am
Dear Rest of the World, In case you haven’t been paying attention, the U.S. Basketball team has had to tolerate remarkably inconsistent, frequently blatantly biased and routinely inept officiating throughout its history. Now we have an olympics where officiating finally is a non-issue and you, Rest of the World, must insist that there has been a grave injustice, that an honestly officiated game is not fair. To a degree, your passion must be lauded, but to us, you just sound like whining sore losers.
FIBA rule changes: You can argue about motivations all you want, but the fact is true: the changes will benefit the U.S. team’s superior athleticism by turning the international game into an inside-out paradigm. Look for Dwight Howard and any other U.S. big men to be the focal point of the new offense. Don’t worry, Rest of the World, I know change is scary for you, but you’ll eventually warm to the style of play the new rules foster. Now, if only they’d widen and lengthen the international court dimensions . . .
NENE Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 10:09 am
People, I think this is one of the best USA (Not America) teams we´ve ever seen, they play defense, ran the court and make the dunks, so why on earth would you think it´s boring, nothing that it´s good it´s boring, i know you may think San Antonio plays sh…y and boring but, do you know something about tactics or wisdom and hustle, it can´t be boring when the big man grabs the offensive rebound pass it out to the perimeter were a good ball rotation you find manu ginobili is all alone for a killing 3pointer. that´s pure bascketball, the world had caught up, if not why don´t you send Brandon Roy, Al Jefferson and Josh Smith onstead of Kobe LeBron Wade and conmpany????? you think those kid could take Spain, Argentina or Even Lithuania??? i don´t think so. By the way #1 said that Us people are not arrogance but he said that the world has to line up for silver and bronce for 2010 and 2012, are you kiding me????? if Us don´t send theire best the nightmares of 2002 and 2004 will repeat, that´s how you now the world has caught up, because yo can only defeat the world with the best
NENE Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 10:18 am
by the way i don think necesary to change the FIBA measures the NBA is only one league (The Best) it´s much more easy for the nba to adapt to the FIBA than viceversa. And for all of you to know, im from venezuela and i rooted against the 2002, 2004 and 2006 versions of US, because as a Bascketball player i didn´t like the lack of respect those team had for the players and the game played on the rest of the world. But the teams i saw in Vegas and China, that´s worth to see, don´t you think it was horrible in 2006 to see Dwight Howard making a super block and the looking for the camera for the picture??? now they play for the most beautifull thing, to win. And you should be gratefull to Kobe and Kidd the ones alongside Coach K and Colangelo reponsables of this US Basketball renasance
ryan Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
@LilDave
the things you mentioned aren’t in line with what I described. like I said, the ’ssshhh’ gesture and the D-Wade face. I mean, you already hit the shot. Get back down on D and stop posing for the damn cameras or trying to put the spirit of the other team down by making those gestures.
Besides, if they were throwing stuff at the Spain bench, it was for good reason. I was all for USA winning the gold until that final game. If you watched the game objectively for a second, you’d see it was definitely a job. I thought USA was getting jobbed by the refs the first few games, but this time the other team got the short end of the stick.
Doesn’t mean I don’t think the USA deserve the gold. They do. They prepared and got the job done. But I can’t take it when all the American columns go all “classy” and “humble” whe it comes to this team when there clearly is still a long way to go.
tl;dr version is: leave the NBA antics in the NBA.
DT Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 9:17 pm
First of all, I wasn’t sure who to root for, the U.S or Spain (I’m Canadian so not entirely impartial, but less biased than a home-crowd), when the tournament began, since I thought both had very competitive teams (to say the least). The U.S played well mostly, though they were often quite school-yard in their drive and kick game. Kobe was the difference in the 4th quarter of the final game, which is almost commonplace for him, but I think the players who get less recognition than they should for how the U.S performed are Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Bosh played an excellent international game, was physical, tapped at every ball. D-Wade was ferocious on the fast break and shot very well, too.
What surprised me was how chirpy the Spanish team was throughout the final game. You can mention travels from the U.S but also flops from the Spaniards. You can say, “Well they got 2 technicals at the end” but it was very clear the refs gave them a lot of lee-way throughout the game. Kobe “shh”‘d the crowd with a 3 when they were being very pro-Spain, and D-Wade clearly showed he had made another spactacular play. Good for them, they deserved a little celebration. It’s still a game, and no matter how professional you are you can still take pride and joy from doing something amazing.
In the end, I thought the medal placement was exactly how it should be. Congrats to both, it was a great game to watch.
Fred Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
Yeah, I didn’t particularly like the “shhh” by Kobe. I think your game should speak for itself. I thought many teams complained too much and didn’t just play through adversity. Usually, people complain when they’re losing and they need a little extra help and they know it.
The better way is to just play harder and more aggressive the whole game and usually refs reward the more aggressive team simply because they can’t call every foul. Of course, I’m not saying foul more but be more physical legally. Box out harder. Set harder screens. Back men down into position stronger. On the other hand, that might be harder to do when Team USA has stronger players but this time they had faster and quicker players. Not much you can do about that except out think them and beat them to their spots on the floor and possibly draw more offensive fouls.
I did, however, like the team play. I’m a big Deron Williams fan and I thought he played great. I’m glad Coach K played him and CP3 together. Although, I really loved watching him play with DWade. I thought Team USA played it’s best ball when those guys were in together along with Bosh.
Anyway, you can’t expect Kobe to change his style of play 100% overnight. He loves to get into the other teams heads. The “shhh” was a tactic to get them to quit. I honestly feel that it’s Kobe’s way of showing that he really does respect your game/team’s effort enough to have to use more than just regular play determine the outcome.
What do I mean?
Well, sometimes you have to use mind games to get the other team to quit earlier than they normally would. Star players have been trained by earlier star players to do this. I don’t really care for it, myself.
I thought the Gold Medal game felt more like an NBA game. I think Kobe just got a little too emotionally into the game and maybe let a little too loose. Who knows, maybe he’s been planning to do that the whole time? The bottom line is that they did play with a lot more restraint than they normally play with in the NBA. It is a process, but I think guys who play on Team USA can continue to improve in that area. Like the article said, it all starts with great leadership. Whoever coaches next should make it clear from the beginning to use self-control and just play for respect. There’s no need to taunt or anything else that goes along with that.
Overall, a great showing by Team USA. I’m glad that someone was able to compete all 4 quarters with them and especially glad it was the Gold Medal game. It was a great Olympics and I congratulate our athletes.
Jay Said,
August 28, 2008 @ 11:43 pm
The refs were arbitrary throughout the Olympics. They were usually random enough to counter their omissions and glaringly bad calls. I don’t know what games Dan watched but I saw all the teams do the things he points out. The refs didn’t enforce the rules consistently and Team USA was smart to adjust to the game. It makes no sense to stick to the rule book when it isn’t being applied.
jurban Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 7:09 am
Even when those “Ugly American” teams were playing and losing games, they never threw fits and whined as much as the Spain team did this time around. The post game quites from Spain about the officiating just screams “classless”. Combine that with that ridiculous photo of them slanting there eyes because of playing in China, I just don’t care what the Spain team has to say. Seems like most of the world wants to make the USA team look like the bad guys because they are so much better than everyone.
Celebrating a good play or win like the USA team does and always will do is not a big deal to me either. They aren’t directing it at the opposition. Other teams just get upset because they are get dominated either on a play or in an entire game and feel like USA is rubbing it in and they say that is “disrespectful”.
I got my own eyes and I can see what goes down and the USA team was respectful through out the tournament. Passionate? Yes. Disrespectful? No way. USA is always going to take full credit, whether that is in defeat or victory.
Dan Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 9:06 am
@Jay: I suppose you don’t get to watch many Euroleague games, if you did and so know the refs, you’ll be as surprised as I am . Ramunas Brazauskas and Carl Jungebrand are classic Euroleague refs, and they are the kind of referees who always follow the rulebook exactly as it’s written. Imagine Bavetta’s strangest game ever, that’s what happened and that’s why many FIBA Basketball conoisseurs are so upset.
I think it’s pretty clear for everyone that USAB had the best players and played their best basketball in (at least) ten years, but that leaves many people with a bitter taste because they didn’t need the refs to help them, they didn’t need howard to camp as long as he wanted on the paint, Kobe could have dribbled more than once during his longer-than-half-of-the-court sprint and they could have won anyway. To win a FIBA game you have to play it by FIBA rules.
Travelling rules are the same in FIBA and NBA, but NBA refs don’t call them when they are before the first dribble, while FIBA refs always call them. Players should know it and avoid doing it, they’ll win anyway, but without the rest of the world complaining of FIBA refs refering as NBA refs.
It was really easy to see who FIBA wanted to win and that’s the shame, it could have been a much better game.
noah Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
i think it’s fair to say the international community has closed the gap a lot. In 1992, and for several years thereafter, we could win easily without even trying. Now we have to try really hard to win easily
USA Team: ¿Divos o curritos humildes? « El blog del Pistolero Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
[...] mejor que todos los anteriores salvo el primer, el único, Dream Team). Y os juro que no exagero. Aquí y aquí tenéis ejemplos que respaldan lo que digo. Al parecer algunos creen que porque 12 [...]
JamesNaismith Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 7:25 pm
Hmmm … not sure which game Johnaton watched. To quote him “the U.S. Basketball team has had to tolerate remarkably inconsistent, frequently blatantly biased and routinely inept officiating throughout its history. Now we have an olympics where officiating finally is a non-issue and you, Rest of the World, must insist that there has been a grave injustice, that an honestly officiated game is not fair.”
Maybe he has foggy glasses but what he calls inept officiating from the past was a correctly applied FIBA rule book while during this last game it looks like the NBA and its rulebook bought the game. On a game with refs calling the reverse of how they did, the US could easily have lost.
The US team had the best of their best players, coaches, and all, and even then just beat Espagne. The US isn’t going to get any better, yet the ROW (Rest Of the World) is still improving.
Anyway, why is FIBA changing??? Hear what they say instead of speculating. They want to make the game more exciting for their fans. They want to lessen the amount and ease of three pointers (right now 40% of threes go down) and increase cutting and post play. The change of the key is to add more offense and less defense. The triangle key allows defense to double team big men easier. FIBA teams will easily adapt to this and will continue to improve. Soon the NBA will be more than 50% foreign players.
ryan Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
@jurban
they did not slant their eyes because they were playing China. they were made to do so by a sponsor because, duh, the Olympics is in China.
[anyway, this is Off-topic; just wanted to point that out.
jurban Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
Ryan,
I don’t care why they did, they still all chose to do it. If someone told me to do something like that I would tell them “no”…they weren’t made to do anything. If the team USA did this, they would be crucified…but it’s cool if Spain does it.
Bunch of hypocrites.
quinamo Said,
August 31, 2008 @ 2:51 am
Don’t feel this angry, Ryan. Spain and USA are diferent societies, with diferent reactions to the same thing. It’s sure that your players would be crucified if they did that. But they did not. Don’t judge foreign behabiours if you don’t like to be judged by others. Let the chinese people tell if it was cool or not.
I’m spanish and i didn’t think it was cool. They made a mistake, but it was not xenophobia, but lack of intelligence. They are one of the best teams in the world, and they don’t act as if the hole world have their eyes constantly on them. They act in a domestic way and this is not what is corresponding to them now.
bballer Said,
August 31, 2008 @ 10:22 am
good win by the us and there will be many more strong players coming down the pipeline in that country. but what about other countries? is this the last of the great Argentinian teams? what about the greeks, spanish or italian teams? or would the french, chinese, lithuanian and russian teams be the next powerhouse in international basketball.
if people are saying that international ball is catching up to the united states, i say that other countries are catching up to the spains and greece’s of the world. in 20 years, the battle for gold most likely will be the us vs. china. europe does not have the population base to compete with the us or china. so europe, enjoy your limelight now. darker days are ahead.
the nba will never be 50% foreign. the rest of the world does not have the talent base. look at the last few drafts barely any foreign players were good enough to be drafted in the first round. plus, more foreign players will come from china, france and maybe argentina, moreso any other country. those country’s players play a more physical and athletic game. there are reasons why ginoboli, parker, scola and nocioni are able to shine vs. other euros.
jurban Said,
August 31, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
Hey, I am all about equal playing ground. If the USA team does something idiotic, then they deserve the retribution of the rest of the world……BUT, I am going to do the same thing. I am not going to tell you: “Oh, you don’t understand…it is different in the US, don’t take it that way.”
Nope, if these foreign teams are going to take exception to Kobe doing something like the “shh” sign after a big play, I am going to look at them throwing constant fits on the bench, swinging elbows on the court, and doing the slanted eye thing and judge them by the same standards. I would love to just let teams do what they do and think the best, but that isn’t how things are these days. All I read is that the US is an arrogant country and the players are arrogant and selfish. Well okay then, I guess I am allowed to look at various behaviours of foriegn teams and make sweeping generalizations too. This is the bed the world has made, lets all lie in it now.
NENE Said,
September 1, 2008 @ 11:46 am
i think that´s a way to see it, i don´t think the “shhhh” gesture was that bad, it was made in a close game down the strech in a very emotional moment because Spain was closing the gap and the fans were getting real loud, so it´s like i said before, to make some of the critics you got to understand the situations, and for that you have to play real hard 5 0n 5 basketball for many years. I think it´s bull to talk about elbows and fits, have you ever played at that level, were talking about wars and warrior, that mean pride of yourself and your capabilities, that´s a “ssshhhh” gesture, when your sending a message to the other team that your not here just to see the game and lose the game and be cool about it, that´s an elbow, do you know how many elbow are in a game of basketball that the tv doesn´t show????? all over the world are elbows bad words, shhhh gestures finger mutombo gestures, complains to the refs that´s call basketball and in the end the important thing it´s winning
D-Man Said,
September 1, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
@ jurban
Well said.
Kideak Said,
September 2, 2008 @ 5:23 am
As it’s been said, USA can choose between a lot of very good players, and that’s not equal talking about the Rest of The World (ROW), just 15 players ( or less) to choose.
And right now, the changing rules ( minimum age for entering NBA, playing NCAA at least) is going to improve USA’s basket IQ.
Basketball is a team sport, the best ROW teams knows that and that’s the real advantage against USA, whose players are usually franchise players in the NBA.
Should have Boston Celtics have beaten Spain at Olympics? I really think that it’s easier for Spain to defeat USA team than Boston Celtics.
Finally, if the Olympics are under FIBA rules, everyone must play FIBA rules. There were many travelling on USA team, and that annoys not only ROW fans, players as well. It’s hard to play when you know that your opponent has advantage because of that and the refs are not going to take care.
P Lewis James Said,
September 2, 2008 @ 9:53 am
Someone should tell Carmello Anthony that the olympics are not the place to get street creds. He should not let some of the international players prod him into physical confrontations. He still has a way to go in the area of maturity. He should stop with the “boys in the hood act” and let his game do the talking.
john Said,
September 2, 2008 @ 3:39 pm
this is for simon….. team USA wasnt the only team that didnt stay at the village… and kobe saying shhhhh and wayde was a responce towards the crowd since they werent really friendly… they dont have to be humble they went there won 8-0 beat spain by 37 and beat them again at the final….. they proved when they play serious they are the best no one can beat them! if they had a stronger center then they could of won by more points…
phoenix hospitals Said,
October 2, 2008 @ 5:13 pm
phoenix hospitals…
) Some individuals or companies have abused the TrackBack feature to insert spam links on some blogs (see sping). Some weblog software…