USA Olympic Basketball *Official Thread*

[Kliq]

Did anyone happen to catch Germany VS USA today? It was a great game. I thought Germany had it from the get-go ... but the US really hung in there. Allen Iverson's buzzer beater came out of NOWHERE. Everyone including the camera thought the game would go into overtime. The camera shifted to the audience and then it came back to show the ball going in.

I was sort of confused until they ran the replay.

WHOOO USA!

[Greg]

Yay go USA, I hope we win the gold medal this year.

[shred_head15]

Um...what time is the Olympics on? And am I right in saying that it's on NBC? I heard the US team got beaten by the Italian team. I'm not sure if it's basketball, though.

[Kliq]

Its on ESPN.

Next game is on Friday VS Serbia-Montenegro at 7:00 (EDT) on ESPN.

For more on the Germany vs USA game:

http://www.usabasketball.com/seniormen/2004/04_msnt_exh3.html

[swifferman]

Yes, they were beaten by italy by like 11 points.

its not the olympics yet though, so this sint for medals

friendlies?

[Pro A.]

We're fucked. This team won't get a medal. We get clocked by Italy, a sub-level team, and barely beat Germany, a team with Nowitzki and not much else. We really need to go back to college players and build a national team.

[dncardman]

Yeah they never have the best players and they barely try. We used to own everybody by 30 points. So who do they have on the team this year?

[Sendok]

the olympics are on now?

[Eman]

These games dont count.. once the real games start usa will be killing everyone

[Kliq]

No, these are just exhibition games.

Here's the roster:

Allen Iverson
Carmello Anthony
Tim Duncon
Carlos Boozer
Lebron James
Emeke Okafor (didn't this guy JUST get drafted ...)
Dwayne Wade
Amare Stoudamire
Lamar Odom
Stephon Marbury
Shawn Marion
Richard Jefferson

We're lacking a "true" center ... we needed Shaq. I also wish T-Mac could have came ... or Vince Carter ... or Paul Pierce .... or somebody.

We don't need some of those guys .... like Shawn Mario, Marbury and Emeke. Emeke hasn't even played a single NBA game yet. Marbury is horrible and so is Shawn Marion. I would of settled for other players like Gilbert Arenas, Mike Bibby, Peja.

[Eman]

LMAO! emekas on the team? wow thats a huge insult to usa basketball...man my pistons could kick the usa teams ass.

[shred_head15]

Will the Olympics be on NBC? I don't have ESPN. :cry:
Wouldn't it be great if they had professional wrestlers in the Olympics. :D

[Kliq]

All I know is that the exhibition games are on ESPN ... not sure about the real olympic games.

[Pro A.]

I hear its a mix. The US doesn't have a real center. Duncan is the center but he is more of an outside shooter. They don't know how to play with one another and we cannot shoot. Also, this is third-tier for the most part. Lebron, Anthony, Marion, Jefferson, and Okafor shouldn't be on the team. This team has no cohesion. They will win the early games against wimpy teams. When they start playing teams like Argentina, Lithuania, Croatia, and Russia, we'll be dead.

[Kliq]

Yea, our team is WAY too young. And we're also a pretty small team as well. Our biggest guy is probably Duncan.

[Kliq]

USA totally pwned Serbia-Montenegro 78-60. The US pulled away in the second quarter and never fell back after it.

[Pro A.]

Serbia would have played better if they had their NBA stars like Peja, Milicic, and Divac.

[Eman]

Anyone get bombed yet?

[Kliq]

Anyone get bombed yet?

:wtf:

Anyways, we beat Turkey. We play them again on Tuesday.

[Kliq]

http://www.nba.com/history/dreamT_moments.html

The original Dream Team, the U.S. basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, was a phenomenon on and off the court. It mattered not that it dominated the Olympic competition, beating its eight opponents by an average of 44 points. What was important was that the Dream Team, the first U.S. Olympic team to include NBA stars, gave fans a glimpse of basketball at its finest, and an entire world responded.

Since 1992, basketball has exploded in popularity around the globe, rising to a place where it truly challenges soccer's status as the world's most popular sport. Much of that is due to the impact of the Dream Team, which attracted fans and followers wherever it went.

"It was," said Coach Chuck Daly, "like Elvis and the Beatles put together. Traveling with the Dream Team was like traveling with 12 rock stars. That's all I can compare it to."

And what a band it was. Start with three of the game's all-time greats: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Add the irrepressible Charles Barkley for a little spice, as well as seven more NBA All-Stars: centers David Robinson and Patrick Ewing, power forward Karl Malone, swingmen Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin and Clyde Drexler and point guard John Stockton. Complete the roster with Christian Laettner, the best college player of 1991-92 and a future NBA All-Star.

Opponents didn't have a chance, but they didn't care. One player, while trying to guard Magic Johnson, was seen frantically waving to a camera-wielding teammate on the bench, signaling to make sure he got a picture of them together.

"They knew they were playing the best in the world," reflected Daly after the team won the gold medal with a 117-85 win over Croatia on August 8, 1992. "They'll go home and for the rest of their lives be able to tell their kids, 'I played against Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.' And the more they play against our best players, the more confident they're going to get.

"Finally there will come a day -- I'm not saying it will happen anytime soon, mind you, but it's inevitable that it will happen -- that they will be able to compete with us on even terms. And they'll look back on the Dream Team as a landmark event in that process."


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Thats hillarious.

[Dorbin]

I think the team's just slacking off since its the preliminaries, and when the real competition happens, they'll gonna end up screwing up because they were busy dicking around half the time.

Of course, I haven't seen any of the games, so I'm just drawing a random conclusion. I'm probably wrong. ;)

[Perfect Agent]

You yanks think you fucking pwn at Baseball but you fail to qualify for the Olmypic Baseball leagues. How come?

[Haris]

We're fucked. This team won't get a medal. We get clocked by Italy, a sub-level team, and barely beat Germany, a team with Nowitzki and not much else. We really need to go back to college players and build a national team.

I know you did not just diss Nowitzki.

[Greg]

The U.S. team is in trouble, we just got owned last night. Teams just aren't as intimidated by the U.S. basketball team as they used too. Everyone realizes that they can compete with us.

[Koopa69]

^No...not really its just that Shaq and Kobe are afraid some crazy muslims gonna stick a grenade up their ass.

[swifferman]

^No...not really its just that Shaq and Kobe are afraid some crazy muslims gonna stick a grenade up their ass.


in Athens. Which is in Greece. Which is in Europe. Which is not remotely close to your humongous stereotype of the middle east.

Kill yourself.

Right now.

[Pro A.]

Well, we lost to Lithuania by four today. That team is favored to medal. On paper, this is a good sign, but it doesn't help that the team let a nine-point lead slip through their fingers.

[Eman]

FUCK USA FUCK USA!!!

i cant believe we are losing by this we just are showing no effort at all... playing our all rookie team against other countrys top pros killing us...

The other countrys caught up with us... we are in trouble not in just this olympic game but in the olympic games to cum

[Shayde]

Is there like a play-off type thing towards the end, or is it just whoever has the most wins after X ammount of games gets the medals? I don't know how the standings goes.

[Eman]

I believe its a tourney..hell it should be atleast

[aman]

Usa arent that good.

[Koopa69]

in Athens. Which is in Greece. Which is in Europe. Which is not remotely close to your humongous stereotype of the middle east.

Kill yourself.

Right now.

WELL they could hijack a plane to Athens and THEN do the thing wit grenades so booyah.

Seriously tho, i just really think the other teams are more talented because the real stars couldnt make it or just didnt want to. Lithuania has beaten us before in 2000 remember?So if our guys back then couldnt do it no way in hell the guys we have now could. The US had only lost 2 games in olympic history and we've already lost 2 in a WEEK.

[Pro A.]

We beat Spain! Glorious day! Rapture!

[Eman]

you people dont have a school or job? wtf?

i wouldve watched it but too had to go to that place where i sleep

[Pro A.]

I don't have school for another week. I was impressed that they really played like a team for a change. If they play Argentina, they'll be up for an even tougher challenge.

[Eman]

I thought spain was the best with gasol

and with that win usa is guaranteed for a medal right? even tho anything but gold is failing...

[Pro A.]

Its over for the gold. U.S. loses to Argentina 89-81.

[goku2057]

There were some shit calls in that game as well. I watched the entire thing, and aside from the shitness factor of teh referees, Argentina earned it. They played hard, real hard.

[Pro A.]

The U.S. got some lucky calls in the Spain game. Its a double standard.

They need to build a team of college kids or make the NBA Champion go, or maybe even the NCAA champion. You can't dump 12-14 players together, get them playing for three weeks, and hope for it to be okay.

[Zac]

Only problem with taking the NBA champion is that the whole team would have less of an offseason than everyone else, making it unfair.

[Kliq]

They had some really bad calls on Tim Duncan ... damnit, we didn't even have a true Center on this year's squad :cry:

[Eman]

we um had okafor..:/

[aman]

you guys got owned.

[Pro A.]

Long time coming, I guess.

Okafor is an unproven center. Not one minute in an NBA game. Duncan is really more of a power forward.

[goku2057]

WEll, I think this might be the best thing. The last few games, we've sent below par guys to play the Olympics, and now that we've lost, maybe some of the bigger names will go next time. It also makes the game smore enjoyable to watch, cause they're closer.

[dncardman]

We can still get the bronze, right?

[Eman]

the bronze dont mean shit! i wipe my ass with the bronze! ok!

and yes we got it but it still dont be shit! ..word