I am PROUD of the US Men's Olympic Basketball Team

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

The guys in Athens are not the ones you should be bashing. The likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, and Kevin Garnett refused to play for their nation. Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson answered the call. Iverson will be playing today with a broken thumb, to me and you that may not be that big of a deal but most NBA players would just sit out. AI wants to win more than anyone in the Olympic field, I can guarantee you that. Contrary to popular belief, this team is trying. They probably are NOT the best team in the world. This team has NO shooters, how can you expect a team without shooters to win. It was poorly put together, you have no role players whatsoever. I'm sure that the average NBA team would do better than this "All-Star" team (The Pistons or Pacers would easily cruise to Gold). Anyone can double team Duncan or Odom and let AI and Marbury shoot because they are not very good shooters.

If this team wins a medal that will be good. The bottom line is don't bash the guys who actually went over to Athens, if we keep doing that why would anyone say yes in 08?

 

[oogieboogie]

maybe if the USA team were comprised of actual college basketball players instead of pros making millions, I would cheer more for them.

As it stands, it is unfair for them to take the spotlight when so many other deserving kids should be in the olympics instead.

Sorry... I have no sympathy for pros in the olympics, be it basketball, tennis, or any sport for that matter.

 

[Distriv]

Originally posted by oogieboogie
maybe if the USA team were comprised of actual college basketball players instead of pros making millions, I would cheer more for them.

As it stands, it is unfair for them to take the spotlight when so many other deserving kids should be in the olympics instead.

Sorry... I have no sympathy for pros in the olympics, be it basketball, tennis, or any sport for that matter.

 

[DoeWDW]

I agree - let the Olympics be for the amateurs! If they want to have a separate pro division, fine.

 

[TennVolTony]

Proud? Of those clowns??? Not me....

 

[MinnieMe2]

Well said, Oogie Boogie, and I agree completely......

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

What did they do to make you call them clowns?

Like it or not, the Olympics are littered with professional athletes. From swimmers, to tennis players, to basketball players. It is not likely to change. I don't want the US to go to amateurs unless all other nations are mandated to do the same.

 

[Jcricket Fan]

I don't care about the losing....I care about the bad attitudes some of the players have shown ( I saw an interview with Carmello Anthony what a disgrace!.) It's not about them as individuals, this is a team sport something many of these men don't have to follow back in the USA because its all about them as "super stars".

I am watching the game against Greece right now and the USA is playing more of a team game right now. The subs on the side lines are cheering on their team mates on the court. That is what I want to see in our team.

I don't care about the professional aspect of this either. There are many countries who have pro athletes playing in the games...many who are pros in the USA and I see no mention about them having bad attitudes as they play for their home countries.

Our USA womens B-ball team is made from pro athletes they manage to play like a team and have a good time together while there doing it. Go Sue, Swin & Diana....A shamless plug for my beloved UConn Alumna.

Much talk has gone around about having a national team for the USA men so that a coaching staff would be in place year after year to get the team ready and have a core group of players who would belong to that national team to give some cohesive feel to it.

Hey, put Emeka in....the pride of the UConn Men Huskies!

Colleen

 

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by JoeThaNo1Stunna
What did they do to make you call them clowns?

Well, these clowns aren't associating themselves with the Olympic experience at all. They are too good for that. Instead, they are living on the Queen Mary 2 for the duration of their stay.

But these same clowns were absolutely dominated by Puerto Rico, They played terribly, and weren't even competitive. They can't shoot from outside 10 feet. They haven't made any adjustments to the international game. They play halfhearted defense (at best). Stephon Marbury makes $13M per season, and was run off the floor by PR's point guard.

 

[Deb in IA]

I'm not impressed with the US Men's/NBA team.

But I AM truly impressed with the Iraqi Men's Soccer team.

Perhaps our overpaid, pampered prima donnas can take a lesson from them on sportsmanship and adversity.

 

[Zurg]

I don't have a problem with Pros at the Olympics.

I do have an issue with pros who act like tourists; that is professionals who figure all star status in a pro league makes it unnecessary take the Olympics seriously, to become part of a team, play for the team win as if it was the championship that it is.

On that score these guys don't cut it. They didn't learn anything from the loss to Italy pre games. They looked past the past game as if it didn't matter and got slammed for it.

Olympians? nope.

 

[olena]

I could get behind amateurs. Maybe that's why it's so nice when the amateurs beat them.

 

[orvilleair]

I am proud too. I am mad at Shaq, Kobe, Kidd etc... sitting out. I like pros in the olympics. I want to see the best compete with the world's best. Look at baseball. We didn't even qualify for the olympics. It's an embarassment. Our amatuer baseball players are going against the World's pros. Cuba doesn't have a pro team, but they treat their amatuers like superstars. I wish more sportsmanship was displyed with the basketball team, but I'll still cheer for them.

 

[hulabird]

Like it or not, the Olympics are littered with professional athletes. From swimmers, to tennis players, to basketball players. It is not likely to change. I don't want the US to go to amateurs unless all other nations are mandated to do the same.

Sorry, but the professional athletes from the other countries are not like the spoiled NBA players and don't make near as much money. There is no comparison between the two.

 

[smiley]

It's not being professional that bothers me. Their biggest problem, by far, is attitude.

At the opening ceremonies as I watched each country walk in the parade the athletes were smiling proudly to be representing their countries. That is, until it came to the United States and their snot nosed basketball players who weren't smiling at all. I was embarrassed to have them represent the United States in such a negative way.

I hope they do lose. I really don't think they will be affected to much personnally, they don't seem to have the desire to be there.

The difference between these basketball players and players from the past is the guys who represented the United States before had the love of country and game.

Next time let people who are proud to represent the United States play.

 

[Grog]

I don't care about the losing....I care about the bad attitudes some of the players have shown ( I saw an interview with Carmello Anthony what a disgrace!.) It's not about them as individuals, this is a team sport something many of these men don't have to follow back in the USA because its all about them as "super stars".

ITA. Every article I have read following the loss talks about the US players whining and snivelling and blaming everyone but themselves for the loss.

Jim Rome had a pretty good take on the subject today...

The biggest thing is the NBA’ers don’t give a damn. They don’t care about the Olympics or representing America and because we really don’t care, we’re not going to get our best players. It used to be that we could cruise without our best players, but because everyone else has caught up, that’s no longer the case.

The Bottom Line - We can’t just take the first 12 guys that say yes, let them practice a few times and expect them to go out and win the gold. The international game is a different game altogether. It's a different style, different rules and they need to put that team together accordingly. You can't just take the 12 biggest names that say yes, throw them on the same team without any thought about how they’ll mix and match and deal with the international game and expect them to win.

What about the Selection Committee? What were they thinking? How do you not add a three point shooter? Emeka Okafor was a pretty good selection. The 12th guy doesn’t play and you wouldn’t want to use his spot for a shooter. They need a three point shooter to loosen up the zones that they’re seeing and they don’t have one…take: the selection committee thought they were good enough athletically to offset that deficiency, but they were wrong. They can’t shoot! They were 3-24 from beyond the arc and missed 16 in a row at one point.

Larry Brown is taking it hard. “I feel like a failure. I’m very disappointed, but very anxious to try to make it better and make it right. That’s all I can do” Brown said. Everyone else wants it much worse. Brown said, “if you don’t play with unbelievable effort, plus the fact that these teams are really, truly teams and want it so badly, what happened last night is going to happen again and again and again."

Allen Iverson is just doing his thing. You wonder why people can’t get with this team. Here’s another reason. Iverson said, “I hanged up on anybody who asked what happened. What kind of question is that? What happened? We lost. If my coach asked me a question like that, then I'd give an explanation or my teammates. But everyone else? For what? They wouldn’t understand anyway.”

And herein lies the very reason, Americans aren’t with these guys and in a lot of ways want them to lose, America wants to know how the hell we can get crushed by Puerto Rico and one of the co-captain’s response is, ask me that and I'll hanged up on you: I don’t owe you an explanation: and if I did give you one, you wouldn’t understand it anyway.

I can’t imagine why fans back home hate these guys.

 

[DIZNYFAN]

Well said Grog. I mean look at Canada and our hockey we are now having to turn guys away that want to play for our teams and for their country. Not just in Canada but in the US also it seems the hockey players have the pride of playing for thier nation unlike the B Ball players.

 

[kasar]

I really dislike most professional sport events. This attitude and sense of entitlement is what turns me off the most.

Why do we fawn all over these guys? Why do we spend our hard earned dollars to support them? Why do we buy their sneakers? I'll never get it.

Give me a trampoline star or badmitten player to represent our country any day.

Deb: I see your point about the Iraqi soccer players and they sure have faced a lot of obstacles to get to the Olympics. The thing that doesn't sit well with me is the fact that we're over there dying for them and they muster together a sports team? I don't know - it's great for morale and great for them but something just doesn't sit right with me about that. Not to start a debate - everyone has a different opinion, I'm sure.

 

[Lanshark]

I too have no problems with pros at the Olympics.

Seems these guys felt the Gold would be given to them for just showing up. I was very happy to see them humbled.

 

[Kallison]

The Olympics tried the amateur route and it didn't work. Other nations didn't comply. I'm not sure what the answer is? I think anyone who plays for their country deserves respect.