Author Topic: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics  (Read 9377 times)

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Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2016, 07:53:11 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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Canada will soon take over.
Murray - Joseph
Wiggins - Sauce Castillo
Lyles
Thompson - Powell
KO

I just do not see them taking over, maybe winning one but taking over is a reach.   Out of those you list only Wiggins strikes fear in me.   Lyles is  young,  KO is soft, Powell is a funny addition.   

Canada basketball has come on strong and produced some nice NBA players.  But that list does not strike fear into international basketball.

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2016, 07:56:07 AM »

Offline Eja117

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Canada will soon take over.
Murray - Joseph
Wiggins - Sauce Castillo
Lyles
Thompson - Powell
KO

My, how the mighty have fallen - don't forget Bennett! ;0)
And Andrew Nicholson darn it

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #17 on: July 25, 2016, 02:59:06 AM »

Offline LatterDayCelticsfan

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If I remember correctly other teams were already sending their pros. Also our pros have been beat so I'm gonna go with no

My understanding is that "amateur" was mostly a euphemism for Wealthy aristocrat.
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Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #18 on: July 25, 2016, 03:37:05 AM »

Offline crimson_stallion

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I don't think so at all, and I'm not even American - I'm Australian.

When America was entering college teams, to my knowledge, those college players were playing against the opponent's professional athletes - and, for the most part, they were winning.

Then from memory the US lost one year (I think it was the Russia scenario, but can't recall for certain) and decided no more mucking around - for the sake of national pride, they would stop playing with amateurs and take on the opposing pro players with pro players of their own.

The Americans crushed everybody else, and the rest is history.

Is this unfair?  I don't think so.  The USA has the best basketball league in the world, but a LONG margin.  It has the best players in the world.  A lot of that has to do with the fact that the country has the interest, the money and the population size to constantly churn out high caliber prospects (who eventually become high caliber star players). 

Why should the US be penalysed for being better then everybody else?  That is to their credit for putting together such a strong infrastructure around the sport.

The whole idea of sport and the Olympics is competition. 

Competition improves the breed - as the saying goes.  The way you make yourself stronger at something is by competing against those who are better then you - and if you are talented enough and work hard enough, one day you will beat them and take their position on the podium.  If you take the opposite approach and simply put restrictions on those who are the best, all it does is lower the standard across the board.  Where is the challenge in that?

24 years ago, no team could come close to beating the US team.  They knew they couldn't, so they basically played for second place.  Since then the opposition has gotten stronger.  The US has already lost twice in the world championships - other Countries have proven that everybody - even the mighty US team - can be beaten, and the best international teams believe that now.  It's no longer a walk in the park for the US - if they don't play their absolute best, they seriously risk losing the gold. Hell even if they do play their best, they still can't be assured of victory any more.   

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #19 on: July 25, 2016, 04:10:11 AM »

Offline obnoxiousmime

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This is a supremely simplistic view of the Olympics. The Olympics are a massively profitable enterprise that makes money off its athletes under the pretense of amateurism. The NBA allowed its stars to participate to market its superstars around the world, and it worked. Now that they don't need the games as much you hear rumblings that they would rather not give away their assets for free, but it's hard for them to ban participation when superstars still want the right to play.

It's also a marketing platform for stars and rising stars to increase their own global profile, so the players benefit as well even if the Olympics doesn't really pay them an actual salary.

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #20 on: July 25, 2016, 04:31:24 AM »

Offline SparzWizard

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Whenever Kobe plays, Team USA wins gold!

It's probably the one time I root for Kobe, LeBron, and co and that's during the olympics as they're repping my country lol!


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Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #21 on: July 25, 2016, 05:07:30 AM »

Offline BornReady

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Part of me wishes that they only used young professional basketball players
Like a under 24s or something
So I can see the young international players play more

But then again we won't be able to see things like the dream team or Lebron and Kobe on the same team

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #22 on: July 25, 2016, 06:23:39 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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Whenever Kobe plays, Team USA wins gold!

It's probably the one time I root for Kobe, LeBron, and co and that's during the olympics as they're repping my country lol!

If he is on the team this year, it will be due to charity and not ability.

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #23 on: July 25, 2016, 09:49:35 AM »

Offline Surferdad

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I don't think so at all, and I'm not even American - I'm Australian.

When America was entering college teams, to my knowledge, those college players were playing against the opponent's professional athletes - and, for the most part, they were winning.

Then from memory the US lost one year (I think it was the Russia scenario, but can't recall for certain) and decided no more mucking around - for the sake of national pride, they would stop playing with amateurs and take on the opposing pro players with pro players of their own.

The Americans crushed everybody else, and the rest is history.

Is this unfair?  I don't think so.  The USA has the best basketball league in the world, but a LONG margin.  It has the best players in the world.  A lot of that has to do with the fact that the country has the interest, the money and the population size to constantly churn out high caliber prospects (who eventually become high caliber star players). 

Why should the US be penalysed for being better then everybody else?  That is to their credit for putting together such a strong infrastructure around the sport.

The whole idea of sport and the Olympics is competition. 

Competition improves the breed - as the saying goes.  The way you make yourself stronger at something is by competing against those who are better then you - and if you are talented enough and work hard enough, one day you will beat them and take their position on the podium.  If you take the opposite approach and simply put restrictions on those who are the best, all it does is lower the standard across the board.  Where is the challenge in that?

24 years ago, no team could come close to beating the US team.  They knew they couldn't, so they basically played for second place.  Since then the opposition has gotten stronger.  The US has already lost twice in the world championships - other Countries have proven that everybody - even the mighty US team - can be beaten, and the best international teams believe that now.  It's no longer a walk in the park for the US - if they don't play their absolute best, they seriously risk losing the gold. Hell even if they do play their best, they still can't be assured of victory any more.   
TP crimson stallion, so many good points here that are overlooked by younger folks who don't have a memory of the 90's and earlier.  Why should US college kids compete against pro players from other countries?  That is not fair.  Also great to point out that even though Team USA has won gold the last 3 times in a row, they haven't won 25 times in a row.  The International players have gotten a lot better and many are in the NBA.

Lastly, the NBA didn't start the pro player trend, they followed it so the title of this thread is misleading.

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #24 on: July 25, 2016, 10:23:40 AM »

Online Donoghus

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NBA hasn't destroyed the Olympics but the IOC corruption & incompetence very well could. 

Plus, sending NBA players in '92 didn't kill the amateurism.  That stuff was going on well before that especially with the old Eastern Bloc countries.


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Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #25 on: July 25, 2016, 10:52:49 AM »

Offline gift

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It's no longer a walk in the park for the US - if they don't play their absolute best, they seriously risk losing the gold. Hell even if they do play their best, they still can't be assured of victory any more.   

I disagree with just the bolded part. No one is beating the US if they are playing their best. Other teams need the US to play poorly to have a reasonable chance.

Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #26 on: July 25, 2016, 02:34:40 PM »

Offline SparzWizard

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It's no longer a walk in the park for the US - if they don't play their absolute best, they seriously risk losing the gold. Hell even if they do play their best, they still can't be assured of victory any more.   

I disagree with just the bolded part. No one is beating the US if they are playing their best. Other teams need the US to play poorly to have a reasonable chance.

Spain has given the US the toughest time.


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Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #27 on: July 25, 2016, 04:25:08 PM »

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Argentina won the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal.  They beat the US in the Semi-Finals 89-81.  The US beat Lithuania in the Bronze Medal game by just 8 points.

In 2008 and 2012, the US beat Spain for the Gold Medal.  The US won those games by 11 and 7 respectively.  In a weird coincidence in each of those tournaments the US beat Australia in the Quarters and Argentina in the Semis. 

Even before the 2004 Olympic collapse the US had a number of close games in the 2000 tournament beating France twice (by 12 and 10) and Lithuania twice (by 9 and 2).  Even the game against Russia was only a 15 point win. 

That doesn't even count the World Championships, which the US lost in 2002 and 2006 (thus the US went 3 straight international tournaments without a win).  And 2002 was an epic embarrassment for the US as it lost to Argentina in the Group Stage and then lost in the Quarter Finals to Yugoslavia and the 5th place game to Spain.  Thus the 2002 US team finished in 6th place with 3 losses.  In 2006, Greece beat the US in the Semis.  The US at least redeemed itself a bit by beating Argentina for 3rd place (Greece got crushed by Spain in the Finals).  That was the US only loss in the tournament (Greece only lost in the Finals and Spain was unbeaten that year).

This notion that the US is an unbeatable juggernaut is just silly. 
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Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #28 on: July 25, 2016, 04:43:23 PM »

Offline D Dub

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Quote from: jpotter33

Eh, I just don't see that happening, not on an individual country level, that is. We have several main advantages that will keep us squarely at the top: 1) massive country population, 2) massive popularity within the country (much more than other countries, at least), 3) superior programs and opportunities to raise and develop players due to our affluent status and the sport's popularity.

I just don't think there will ever be a single country that could challenge us in basketball due to all of those factors. Hell, I still think that it'll be a long time before Team World could beat Team USA (the 2014 All-Star Rising Stars game notwithstanding).

You are forgetting the biggest factor of all. 

Genetics. 

Can you think of another country that selectively bred a minority population of humans for 200+ years for the sole purpose of creating a bigger & stronger slave labor force?

Disgusting, but true.  In fact, you can see it right on the back of the jersey.   Not many African American athletes out there who still bear the last name of their African ancestors...



Re: Did the NBA destroy the Olympics
« Reply #29 on: July 25, 2016, 04:51:23 PM »

Offline footey

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color me unpatriotic if you want (I'm not), but I find myself sometimes rooting against the USA team, as my instinct is to just root for the underdog.