Author Topic: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***  (Read 35351 times)

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Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #135 on: August 21, 2016, 05:11:20 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.
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Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #136 on: August 21, 2016, 05:16:03 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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That Kevin Durant guy is pretty good.

What team is he on again?  If he has some help he could take a team all the way, I bet.
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Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #137 on: August 21, 2016, 05:48:20 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.

who posted US is prime to be beat? Nobody can beat the US in basketball if they put in half the effort necessary to win - Nobody !!!!

Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #138 on: August 21, 2016, 06:40:51 PM »

Offline manl_lui

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.

who posted US is prime to be beat? Nobody can beat the US in basketball if they put in half the effort necessary to win - Nobody !!!!

I believe in this statement as well. I remember watching the documentary on the dream team and how they said the Dream Team had too much ego so Chuck Daly messed up the lineup on purpose so they can lose to college players on purpose. All these players has some sort of egos and want to showoff to the world any one of them are superstars, hence the one on ones. What matters most is that they all came together when it mattered most, turned up the defense and shared the ball at the end to get us the gold

Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #139 on: August 21, 2016, 07:34:22 PM »

Offline Cman

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.

who posted US is prime to be beat?

I might've posted that. Even if I didn't, I sure thought it. They looked pretty shaky in earlier games, but of course it is great that they pulled it all together in the end and won the gold.
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Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #140 on: August 21, 2016, 08:24:14 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.

who posted US is prime to be beat? Nobody can beat the US in basketball if they put in half the effort necessary to win - Nobody !!!!

I believe in this statement as well. I remember watching the documentary on the dream team and how they said the Dream Team had too much ego so Chuck Daly messed up the lineup on purpose so they can lose to college players on purpose. All these players has some sort of egos and want to showoff to the world any one of them are superstars, hence the one on ones. What matters most is that they all came together when it mattered most, turned up the defense and shared the ball at the end to get us the gold

Agreed, I'm glad they locked in and finished the job with grace. For as much as they may have lacked motivation individually, I did believe it meant a lot to the team collectively, and especially Coach K, who I had confidence would ensure we brought home Gold.
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Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #141 on: August 21, 2016, 08:25:40 PM »

Offline Eddie20

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.

That's weird. Didn't they just beat Spain by just 6 pts? I give them credit because they absolutely steamrolled Serbia, but to say they weren't putting in effort simply because games were close is a copout. It's like the international losses of the past, including 3 losses and a Bronze medal finish in 2004, didn't happen. The fact is that foreign teams are closing ground every year and their style of play, as well as talent, makes it less of a certainty that USA winning yearly is simply a foregone conclusion.

Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #142 on: August 21, 2016, 08:45:46 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.

That's weird. Didn't they just beat Spain by just 6 pts? I give them credit because they absolutely steamrolled Serbia, but to say they weren't putting in effort simply because games were close is a copout. It's like the international losses of the past, including 3 losses and a Bronze medal finish in 2004, didn't happen. The fact is that foreign teams are closing ground every year and their style of play, as well as talent, makes it less of a certainty that USA winning yearly is simply a foregone conclusion.

I don't think we're going to get anywhere on this. Not trying to incite you (or others), though. So agree to disagree. That was my subjective impression, and while I did think there was a slight chance they could drop a game prior to elimination round, I expected the "shellacking" (in another thread I think) that we saw in the Gold medal game. They finally locked in on defense and the rest took care of itself.

I agree that international teams will be better in future years. Lots of young international talent coming to the US now. But they're still too young, reflected by lack of minutes and subpar performances from many of these guys (e.g., Hezonja) than to be expected in the future. Spain, Argentina, etc. have just aged, that's all. It was cool to out what was essentially the same Argentinian team of 2004, too.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2016, 08:50:55 PM by tarheelsxxiii »
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Re: ***Official Olympic Basketball Thread***
« Reply #143 on: August 21, 2016, 09:13:50 PM »

Offline gift

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Where did all the "US is prime to be beat" folks run off to? I guess it really was a matter of effort and motivation, in the end.

That's weird. Didn't they just beat Spain by just 6 pts? I give them credit because they absolutely steamrolled Serbia, but to say they weren't putting in effort simply because games were close is a copout. It's like the international losses of the past, including 3 losses and a Bronze medal finish in 2004, didn't happen. The fact is that foreign teams are closing ground every year and their style of play, as well as talent, makes it less of a certainty that USA winning yearly is simply a foregone conclusion.

It's weird that you say foreign teams are closing ground every year, but talk about a bronze medal finish 12 years ago.