Anything that requires sound fundamentals, discipline and regimented training won't draw the young audiences that the NBA believes is their audience. The real blood and guts viewers would return with a strong dose of following of the rules and excellence in execution. Duncan is not a good example there as he is dull in his own eyes. A de-thugging of the NBA would result in the cry of racism, but that's what would be needed. The NBA suffered when it became a slave to "Showtime" Lakers style of basketball. Back in the day (my youth), we would comment on the allowance of the extra step in a layup so the player could execute a dunk. We saw the allowance of carrying the basketball because of the smaller hands of players not being able to execute correct ball handling. We saw the game changing as the rules were selectively executed. Then came the Shaq rules. Shaq rules? Yeah, you couldn't call three seconds as that's where the big man had to live. In the paint! You also had to allow them to be a bit more physical as they were bigger and they couldn't be expected to be able to not bounce the smaller players around. Remember Daryl Dawkins, bustin' backboards? That was done starting from outside of the paint! That's what the white dominated audiences wanted to see. Massive players, battleships, dominating the game. Dr. J was too smooth. That game had to go. The game became more confrontational. Big men had to be seen (and allowed to be) dominating in the paint! I remember the birth of the "Big Guard." Reggie Theus, Magic, etc. The game started downhill from there, IMHO. Not these players, but the mindset of the league as to how to grow the game appeal from then forward. And now with the hands off new rules of the NBA, the "And 1" league must appear to be growing. This will be where the next phenomenon must appear to come from to justify the next slide in the game standards.
People keep saying this was an all star team. Well, so were the international teams. A quarter of the international players play in the NBA. We did not lose to the Red Army team of old. These are young guys just like our own team, who play in various pro leagues. Probably we would beat them in a best of seven series. So what? Didn't our guys understand it was one and done? The same way they decide the NCAA? Are the NCAA's now suspect because each game is not a best of seven series? The idea behind picking our team, ie to pick a real team with guys who had useful skills, not just allstars, was good but the execution was flawed. We had an ex-Duke guy, Shane Battier but probably needed J.J. Reddick instead. We had a Brad Miller but probably needed a defensive stopper like Bruce Bowen. We needed some hard-nosed guys who would play defense and not expect someone else to do it. I have to question the coaching as well. Whenyou have a total defensive breakdown, you have to look at the bench. Of course we had a self-confirmed genius and molder of young men, Coach K, so that couldn't be the problem. Or could it be that he had the same problem the players did? The ref's somehow didn;t seem to understand who he was either.
Adam Morrison would have helped more than Reddick. Bowen looked slow in tryouts. Bottom line? 59% free throws. No excuse, Shaq, Duncan, and Ben Wallace weren't shooting. I think each of the players on the USA team averaged better than 59% during the NBA regular season and NBA playoffs last year. You can blame coaching, but the players have to make the shots. 32% from the three point line? Again, pathetic. No excuse. Yes, defending the pick and roll would help, but the Lakers couldn't defend the pick and roll and they won 3 NBA championships with no defense for pick and roll. I blame the players, 100% for not showing the excellence in shooting the ball, as that really is the bottom line. The best players in the world can't hit shots? You think the players from Greece can actually cover these guys, that they can't get open shots? Can you imagine the first Dream Team shooting only 50% from the line, and 32% from the 3 point line? This team only had one player who had willed his team to an NBA championship, Dwayne Wade, and he was spent physically from the NBA Championship run. The first Dream Team had some of the greatest players of all time. Would Kobe have helped? Maybe, at least Kobe always makes his throws. Who was on this team who can take over and dominate when needed consistently? Do we really see a Magic, MJ, Robinson, Bird, Barkley etc. on this team? Not yet. These kids are still kids, and I think they got beat by grown men. We will see if 2 years of growth and maturity, and a bitter defeat helps motivate them...I have my doubts. p.s. Coach K has a losing record in Championship play. Decent Coach, but not sufficient to inspire men. I would go with an NBA coach over a college coach any time. Look at the NBA, how many coaches come from college gigs and do well in the pros, very, very few.
Great Story! I'd imagine you'll be telling that one for years to come, if not to your grandchildren, somebody elses! Basketball is much more susceptible to this type of Me-First degeneration because one player can take over a game, (Kobe's 81 points for instance). Our's is a celebrity obsessed culture, NBA stars are celebrities first and atheletes second. Not sure if you can blame them exactly, it might be the most profitable approach. You can't get away with this type of shit in football or baseball. Humility comes to fast and hard in these sports. I caught the first 3/4 quarters of US vs. Argentina, Argentina ran like a well-oiled machine in the first half. The US had no team cohesion at all. One pass, take a shot, ... I noticed they did an awful lot of whining about calls to the refs though. Kind-Of embarassing.
My point was not so much Reddick or Bowen, but the fact that they needed a couple of three point shooters and a couple of defensive stoppers. LeBron, Carmelo et al are neither, although they are fantastic open court players. In retrospect, they made a big mistake in cutting Gilbert Arenas, who is a terrific three point shooter. Actually, I think Kobe would have been just what they needed, a great shooter and defensive player. Plus, he seems to respect Coach K.
Not sure if they are America's biggest problems, but if you wanted to destroy a country from the inside out, introducing these types of influences on that country's youth would be a good first step. There was a time when kids spent the majority of their childhood learning respect ... for their family, their communities, their city, their state, their country, their god and for themselves. This god-damn cultural sewage teaches nothing but disrespect for all of the above... and I do include the NBA in that mix. A good next step would be to convince them that America is the cause of all the ills in the world, God and religion is a farce and the root of all evil, and competition and success is to be shunned, ridiculed and targeted for random redistrubution. In short, introduce today's "liberalism" and relativism ... sure way to destroy a civilization. Add an illegal invasion and porn, lots and lots of porn ....
76ers lose to FC Barcelona, 104-99 What excuses are they going to come up with now? Off shooting night? http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...YcB?slug=ap-76ers-barcelona&prov=ap&type=lgns
CSKA Moscow beats L.A. Clippers 94-75 in exhibition game [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-cskamoscow-clippers&prov=ap&type=lgns