USA hoops: what do we think of this?

Come on, Starman. Just admit you were wrong about "losing by 40 points per game." One loss in 6 games. Ninth place is not indicative of the performance. They needed one more bucket in a points tie-breaker and they would have had a shot at gold.

Again, I wouldn't advocate sending mediocre college teams in the future. But if mediocre college teams can go 5-1, what could top college teams or pro teams accomplish in international competitions? They certainly can't do worse than the hastily thrown together teams we've been sending. The days of "all-star" teams bringing home gold are over. You seem to think we just need to hold our top individual players at gunpoint and force them to go. I say that wouldn't work anymore even if we could do it.

 

C'mon, starman, you were clearly proven quite wrong with that "losing by 40 points per game" statement. Own up to it.

I agree nothing short of winning these tournaments should be acceptable, and we shouldn't be sending teams that we don't think can win it. But this team did just as well as the college all-star (and even NBA all-star) teams that have represented us in international competitions the last 5 years.

That said, something is definately wrong with our International basketball system. We still produce by far the most world-class & NBA calibur players, yet we can't seem to put together a team that can win ANY international tournament anymore. It's gotten embarrassing. But this was at least an interesting experiment trying something different. Now if we'd sent North Carolina instead of NIU we might've actually won the sucker.

 

Against the only team they faced that doesn't dribble with both hands and wear sandals on the court, they lost by 34 points.

This summer simply shows how utterly fucked up, top to bottom, USA basketball is.

USA Basketball has 25 NBA players in Las Vegas in training camp. 12 of them will be sent to the FIBA Americas tourney (which the US must at least finish second, or NOT QUALIFY FOR THE OLYMPICS). 13 will be sent home.

A semi-all-star assortment of college players was sent to the Pan-American Games, where they got asskicked.

The University of Northern Iowa went to the World University Games, got annihilated in its only game against an opponent with a pulse, beat a bunch of Waldos, and finished ninth.

The NBA players should have been divided into two teams. The A team, sent to FIBA Americas, where winning is considerably more important, and the B team, sent to the Pan Ams. And both told to utilize a nonstop 40-minute press in every single game, even if -- ESPECIALLY if -- the margin climbed to 50 points and more.

The college all-star team should have been sent to the University Games. Also told to utillize the nonstop press.

Northern Iowa should have been shooting jump shots in the gym at home.

The entire purpose of USA Basketball seems to be to find out just how bad a team we can send, and just how lazily and unaggressively they can get away with playing, and maybe somehow just possibly we might still have a chance to win in any given competition. A CHANCE to win. That's the best they think the US should aspire to.

 

Do your homework. UNI beat Turkey by 22, and the (sandal wearing, double dribbling) Turks beat Lithuania by 11, which in turn beat UNI by 34.

That was the screwed up three-way tie. (All UNI had to do was beat Turkey by 24 or lose to Lithuania by "only" 32 and the entire outcome of the tournament changes.)

So really, you're just talking out your ass right now in an effort to hide the fact that you predicted UNI to lose to a bunch of supposed stiffs by 40 points a game. Funny that only since UNI won a bunch of games do you mention how bad the comp was.

 

Starman? Talking out his ass?
Never!

 

Next time, let's send Waterloo County Community College. They can probably pull off the 34-point loss to Lithuania, without the embarassing and unsportsmanlike victories over other teams.

The United States shouldn't be losing to fucking Lithuania or anybody else by 34 points. And we wouldn't, if we sent the teams who should be going, and told them to go out and fucking play and not worry about being unsportsmanlike and hurting anybody's feelings.

 

Dumbass, we don't have a Waterloo CCC. It's called Hawkeye Comm. College. And they don't have an athletic program.

Ninth place is not good, unless you consider how they got placed there. Several points separated them from three other teams with the same record. As a result, those three got to play for 7th, 5th, and 3rd in front of UNI. The Panthers ended up getting the short stick. They had one bad game and all hell breaks loose? At least it isn't Larry Brown on the bench and the entire ship goes down with 2 or even 3 losses. Look, UNI are what they are. They are not going to blow people out, unless you really suck against them, and they are going to play team ball. Period.

The next motherfucking time you pooh-pooh my hometown and the hometown colleges, I will personally hunt you down and inflict Fenian Justice, bitch.

Hejira, Grinnell is the school that scores 100+ pts. a game. You have to watch the Pioneers to see how they do it. By playing no defense, pushing the ball up and chucking 3s all night long. That tactic is fun and cute, but it doesn't get them into the D-III playoffs like Buena Vista and Platteville does on a yearly basis.

 

The purpose of "defense" is not to hold the opponents to the lowest score possible, as dimwits everywhere believe (including many who coach NBA teams and even Olympic teams).

The purpose of defense is a) to win the game, and b) to force the opponent to play in such a way it does not want to, and c) to force them to play the way YOU want to.

Grinnell was 17-7 last season (including finishing the season with 14 wins in 15 games). Scored 110.9, gave up 103.6.

 

Totally agree.