USA Knocked Out By Greece

jjgold · 09-01-2006, 07:18 AM

Unreal that we are not even close to the best basketball World anymore, I do not care who plays in the Olympics we will not win that either.

James looked like he did not belong and dif not fit in. Anthony was the standout for team USA.

This has to be coach K's toughest loss ever.

pjesnik24 · 09-01-2006, 08:14 AM

fearless · 09-01-2006, 09:41 AM

They should ask the world championship NBA team to play in these tournaments! No prep time necessary, just a couple of weeks of work. If a player from the world championship team isn't American, that player can be substituted with an all-star of the team's choice.

Who thinks Greece could have beaten the Heat? I don't.

JoshW · 09-01-2006, 09:43 AM

Thought they had it enough together to win this year, guess not.

BadAzz · 09-01-2006, 10:01 AM

USA keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. They had a real program this year and still they managed to put together a team that lacks shooting, defense and team play just like the previous years. If you take a 10 players and each of these 10 players is used to handling the ball 50% of the time he spends on court and you try to make a team functioning out of that bunch, you will not succeed.

It looked better in the early stages of this program, but eventually all the role players were cut off. Battier and Miller excluded. Does anyone know why Miller did not play? is he injured? Bowen would have been nice against that pick 'n roll and he is also a good STAND STILL shooter.

If your starting 5 consists of 3 slashers, point guard and a big guy that cannot shoot form outside you'll have the whole opposing team standing under the basket. Melo, Wade and James are terrific players but you only need 1-2 of that kind on the court at the same time.

Back when USA was a powerhouse they had the likes of Reggie (excellent catch and shooter), Mullin (terrific stand still shooter),
inside scoring threat with Shaq, Malone etc. And only one Jordan, who was a "do it all"-package.

That is the problem with the whole NBA I figure, It is a 1 on 1 slashing contest nowadays and I hate that. It used to be so much better...

nikosgr · 09-01-2006, 10:25 AM

I think Greece could have beaten the Heat too.
Like it or not the distance between the NBA and the rest of the championship is getting shorter and shorter.

moses millsap · 09-01-2006, 10:43 AM

Greece

BigDaddy · 09-01-2006, 11:16 AM

its sad when we can't even win these things they need to form a team not a bunch of highlight reels if anyone watched this game it was all show for usa and all team for greece.

Bill Dozer · 09-01-2006, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Bowen would have been nice against that pick 'n roll and he is also a good STAND STILL shooter.

That move has to be questioned right now. They need to spread the floor.

Quote:

They should ask the world championship NBA team to play in these tournaments! No prep time necessary, just a couple of weeks of work. If a player from the world championship team isn't American, that player can be substituted with an all-star of the team's choice.

Who thinks Greece could have beaten the Heat? I don't.

I am starting to think this is the way to go to. At least invite them! I guess the problem is the two conf champs already had the longest NBA seasons.

They need time to prep too and if 2003 Mavs had won it, you would be out of luck.

scottyy11 · 09-01-2006, 12:23 PM

i'm not sure about this prep time stuff. I think its a poor excuse and the same one that we used here in Canada when we started getting beat in hockey. The days of the dream team are long gone.

mad · 09-01-2006, 12:31 PM

They were a little complacent. By all rights the U.S team should have won that comp. They certainly have the talent at their disposal, so no excuses i'm afraid.

Bill Dozer · 09-01-2006, 12:47 PM

Anyone have a box score? I wanted to see the %. ESPN's report on the game requires and INSIDER pass!

BadAzz · 09-01-2006, 01:00 PM

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_...mNumber=&zone=

bigboydan · 09-01-2006, 01:02 PM

after Greece went on that 22-5 run in the 2nd quater and blew that 12 point lead they had, the USA never recovered.

Bill Dozer · 09-01-2006, 01:10 PM

Thanks BadAzz. 58.8% FTs is too low for the words best guards.

Dark Horse · 09-01-2006, 06:24 PM

This is a different sport than the NBA.

This was the US when faced with the Greek zone defense:

And this was the US when faced with the Greek pick 'n roll offense:

And this was coach K about the necessary adjustments:

Other than that, I think the problem was mostly in the mind. The US came in with a 'just another game' attitude, and to Greece this was a playoff game. To illustrate, with US up by 12 pts the game turned around on a Hinrich jumper, in which he went up for a 3 pt shot, with no player in his face, and landed with the ball in his hands! This guy comes in with a playground attitude (that he'd shown before in the tournament), and it seemed the sign for Greece to take care of business. Greece picked up the slack and never looked back.

chano · 09-01-2006, 06:33 PM

One thing I have always wondered about is , why do they call the NBA championship winner, The World champs, And the same with MLB.
Clearly they are not, there are better teams in both sports in other countries. United States NBA Champs & Unted States MLB Champs is more like it. Just my thought

pjesnik24 · 09-01-2006, 06:40 PM