HAHA! USA Basketball Team Loses to Puerto Rico

[Aristotle]

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer...ory?id=1859825

The only bad news is:

The loss was a blow to the Americans' confidence, but it did little to hurt their gold medal chances. They need only to finish in the top four of their six-team group to reach the quarterfinals.

I hope they lose a few more so they're right out.

I cannot even express how much I despise professional basketball and the worthless thugs that play it.

I actually like basketball, but the current state of the sport is an absolute disgrace.

They really should just get rid of pros from the Olympics. It was much better then.

[Dorain]

LMAO Truly a glaring example of how 'streetball' has ruined, (what used to be one of my favorite sports), professional basketball. Excluding rare cases like Duncan, it seems like none of our pro players know a lick about basketball fundamentals. You know the obscure ones, like passing the ball around, getting the high percentage shots. Of course they would be required to actually knock down those shots. Making free throws wouldn't hurt either.

I wanted to scream at the announcer when they spoke of S. Marbury. (Paraphrasing) "How playing international style of basketball made them have to revert to the college game..." I guess he was recalling on that plethora of knowledge he obviously picked up during that ONE year he used Ga. Tech. to promote himself.

[Yatar]

'They play the game the way it's supposed to be played,' Iverson said. 'It's not about athletics. That's the game the way Karl Malone and John Stockton play it. It's good for kids to see how the game is supposed to be played.'

Hopefully this year's subpar Olympic performance, the Pistons' annihilation of the Lakers in the Finals, and the influx of international talent into the NBA are helping to move American basketball in the right direction. It may take a couple of years for the U.S. to stop lusting after superstars and start appreciating teamwork again, but we're getting there.

[ejda]

Geez, this is interesting! I always thought people like basketball in US! Now I am confused!

[Yatar]

Originally posted by ejda
Geez, this is interesting! I always thought people like basketball in US! Now I am confused!

Well I know I'm probably part of the minority in these forums, but you can actually count me as an NBA-lover. But since I'm a San Antonio Spurs fan, that means I like good guys, teamwork, international players, and hatin' on the Lakers!

(Though I don't know what I'll do now that both the evils that were the Bulls and the Lakers have been tossed from their ill-gotten thrones. How can I be a devout fan without an evil empire to root against?)

[Aristotle]

Originally posted by ejda
Geez, this is interesting! I always thought people like basketball in US! Now I am confused!

I used to like it, before it was taken over by wanna-be rap star thugs.

NBA players choking their coach, beating up their wives, or murdering their pregnant girlfriends are becoming all too common.

Then they all have to drive around in their $200,000 Escalades with plasma screen tvs in them and playstation2s. Its ridiculous and juvenuile.

[Salimar]

It is not so dramatic!!! Teams from outside the U.S.A are getting better which I think is a good thing. It is completely boring to watch a basketball match with a very superior opponent.

I think that Puerto Rico played better than usual and the U.S. played under their possibilities. However, I wouldn't say that the U.S has no options to win the gold medal. This will be an interesting tournament.

Olympic games is about breaking records... bigger mountains have fallen like the 200 m from Mennea.

Salimar

[Ruick]

I saw the game, it was sad. If they had dropped that all-star team and put one regular NBA team in there and they woulda done ALOT better imo. They didnt even know how to work together, they were all running around aimlessly. The game was weak, the team was weak, and it sucks =)

[Aristotle]

We should either go back to college players or just send whatever NBA team wins the title that year.

[Yatar]

Originally posted by Aristotle
We should either go back to college players or just send whatever NBA team wins the title that year.

We could do the first thing, but the second one wouldn't always work so well. If the Spurs or Mavericks had won the finals this year, for instance, we would have had like three players to send to the Olympics. Their core players are mostly foreigners.

But sending this years Pistons might've been a good idea. They are Americans and probably would've torn it up. (Though I guess Rasheed would've had to pass drug tests, and that might've been the tougher challenge.)